The Legend of the Eight: The Twisted (Book 3)

1: Drowning, Drowning Girl

ONE: DROWNING, DROWNING GIRL
MARCH 30
WIL DIAMOND

SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD.

She should've been on the floor of that cell in the Shadow Lands, soaking in a pool of her own blood. Jeremiah Stone stole her magic, draining every ounce of it. Wizards did not survive once they lost their magic. And even if survival was possible, once Jeremiah syphoned her magic away, he took his knife and dragged it across her throat, killing her right there. She remembered every second of it—every horrifying, brutal second. She shouldn't have been alive.

But she was.

Because she was Wil Diamond.

And Wil Diamond was an effing survivor.

Once she escaped the Shadow Lands, Wil found herself in the Mortal World with the Eight after Jeremiah and his Darks claimed the World of Magic for themselves. Her parents joined them; along with Damon Donovan, and Chloe Lawson.

"You brought my daughter home to me and I owe you my life."

Once Damon returned to the World of Magic with Wil and Chloe, Walter showed him the utmost amount of gratitude and respect. In fact, Wil had never seen her father so emotional before—tears in his eyes and his hands shaking when he saw her walk through that portal. It was in that same conversation that Walter invited Damon and Chloe to come with them to the Mortal World, escaping Jeremiah's wrath. They were no safer in the World of Magic than the Eight so Damon was quick to accept the invitation on behalf of Wil and his sister.

In the Mortal World, a large estate was move-in ready, complete with an eight-bedroom main house, guesthouse, pool, and private vineyard. It was smaller than the palaces Wil was used to but certainly a step up from the old boarding house in Purgatory.

After arriving at the house, Wil's parents left to run errands for the day while the Eight and Chloe moved into the main house. Damon had the guesthouse to himself which Wil made her way over to in no time. Since escaping the Shadow Lands, she hadn't left his side. She couldn't. The thought of being apart from him was worse than having a chunk of her soul ripped out. It was unbearable.

They sat across from each other at the kitchen table and despite the fact that they hadn't been more than a few feet apart since their escape, they hadn't spoken much to each other. Neither one knew how to deal with what was almost the end of Wil Diamond—or how to explain her miraculous return to life.

So they sat in silence. And the silence drove her mad.

She picked at the cuticle on her ring finger when a yawn rose in her chest and he looked at her like she was about to say something. As desperate as she was to have a conversation with him, she knew he wouldn't initiate one. He was being quiet for a reason. Hell, had the roles reversed, she probably would've been the same way. But eventually, the silence became too much and she groaned loudly, startling him.

"Look," she said with a sharp inhale, sucking it up and having the hard conversation. "I get it. It was an emotional situation and your dad was about to kill me and I was a mess. I was bumbling like an idiot, saying all of these big things, and you felt pressured to say big things too. So that's okay. You said the thing that you were supposed to say but you can take it back now. We can pretend like it didn't happen."

He tilted his head to the side and he looked at her, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"Before I died, you told me you loved me. And you've been acting weird ever since so I'm giving you an out. If you want to take it back and if you want to pretend like you never said it---fine. It's fine. I'll be fine. Everything will be just fine."