The Last Hope

45 - Intruder

SONG FOR THIS CHAPTER - Terrible Love, Birdy. Linked above! If you enjoy the chapter please vote, it means a lot.

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Mercy had a terrible headache. The kind of headache a person had to sleep for three days just to get rid of. But as she tossed and turned, the pain just worsened.

She supposed if she could just stop thinking, the pain would leave her. But that was like telling the sun to go cold. It could happen, but only with cataclysmic consequences.

Water. She needed water. A quick glance at her bedside table revealed her glass had been stolen. She sighed deeply, ripping off the bedsheets and exposing her bare skin to the freezing December chill. Goose flesh rose on her arms and legs.

Outside her window, the full moon shot a pale beacon of light into her bedroom. She followed its path out the door, down the stairs to the kitchen. She didn't glance towards the alcove, and the body she knew was lying on the altar, blanketed in protective spells. The wards around Sebastian - the magic keeping him alive - was now so thick no one could even bear to approach the room; for fear they would be catapulted away, or turned into a toad, or whatever fun things Mona had woven into her magic.

Mercy didn't look, but she knew he was in there. Since the beginning, she'd always known when he was around. A strange force drew her to him, and now she understood why. The pull was weaker now, faint as a whisper. And its absence was like a gaping chasm spanning the length of the room.

She ignored it, as she passed the alcove and rounded the corner to the kitchen. And immediately reach for the dagger she kept strapped to her thigh. But her hands came up empty, brushing against bare skin and pyjama shorts. Fuck.

"Who the hell are you and how the hell did you get in here?" Mercy didn't mean to yell, but the surprise made her voice rise three octaves. Above her, she heard scuttling, like she'd woken the others.

Perched on the kitchen counter, perusing the Book of Souls, sat a woman. She looked up casually at the outrage in Mercy's tone. Her golden skin was a complete contrast to her shockingly white hair, the colour a perfect match for her bright teeth as she beamed. Slightly upturned, almond-shaped eyes were rimmed with thick lashes, and disturbingly violet pupils lit up with joy. Her face was rounded, with a pert, pretty nose. She smiled wider. "Hello."

Mercy shifted around the counter to grab a knife, it hissed as she drew it from the knife block and aimed it at the stranger. "I won't ask you again."

She blinked curiously, looking perturbed. "My name is Nastka." She gently closed the Book of Souls and slid it off her lap, tipping her head in analysis. Footsteps thundered as the Sentinels and Mona finally made it to the kitchen. Lincoln appeared first, in a flicker of light. He had a weapon at the stranger's throat in seconds.

She looked mildly amused by the threat. "Your little knife won't hurt me, Sentinel."

"How did you get in here?" Mercy asked again.

"You can relax - I'm not going to harm any of you. Even the human hiding around the corner. You're all safe." Mercy glanced past the kitchen to watch Felix sheepishly appear. She couldn't look at him without feeling rolling nausea from his betrayal, so she quickly glanced away.

"Lincoln, drop the knife." Begrudgingly at Mona's words, Lincoln lowered his weapon and took a few steps away, still ready to pounce. Mona cleared her throat and stepped forward, "this whole place is heavily warded. No one gets in or out unless I let them. No one even knows we're here - yet here you are? How?"