The Darkest Love Maleficent X Hades

24 The magic book pt1

Maleficent POV

Uliana had chosen tonight to steal the book, and here we were, huddled beneath the sprawling branches of a tree in the pouring rain. The sky roared with thunder, and the cold was biting, seeping through my clothes and into my bones. I shivered uncontrollably, and Hades, ever so attuned to me, slipped his arm around my shoulders. His warmth was a welcome comfort in the freezing night.

"Morgie, honey, you keep watch, alright?" Uliana's voice broke through the heavy downpour, unusually sweet, almost soothing. She tilted her head toward Morgie, her tone a striking contrast to the crackling thunder overhead. Morgie, already drenched, beamed at her, his excitement barely contained. "Got it! And if I see Merlin coming, I'll give a signal!" he said eagerly.

Uliana, now walking toward the library's entrance, threw him a more serious look. "If you see Merlin, Morgie," she paused, her voice snapping back to its usual sharpness, "don't make a scene. Just signal." 

"Ooh, should I do a wolf howl?" Morgie asked, his eyes lighting up as the idea took root. "Or maybe a dog howl?"

Uliana rolled her eyes, clearly not in the mood for his antics. "I can do different dogs!" he added, his excitement unwavering even as she began walking away, shaking her head. Hades and I exchanged glances, stifling our laughter as we followed her toward the library's entrance. The rain pelted down harder, creating small rivers along the cobblestone path, and every step felt heavier, the weight of the night pressing down on us.

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time skip

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"Wow, what a performance," Uliana drawled as she sauntered into the room, her voice cutting through the tense silence like a blade. The two girls, the redhead and the blue-haired one whirled around to face us, their expressions marked by exhaustion and surprise. They'd been fighting the magic swords for the last few minutes, and they obviously didn't expected us here.

Uliana's eyes gleamed with amusement, like a cat toying with cornered prey. She wasted no time, her tentacle slithering out with fluid precision, snatching up the infamous cookbook without a second thought. "Well... I'll be taking that," she said smugly, holding the book as though it were already hers, a mere formality.

The red-haired girl's eyes widened with fury. "Hey! Get your slimy suckers off that!" she spat, her hands balling into fists as she took a step forward, her determination rekindled despite the odds. Uliana met her anger with an almost pitying look, her lips curling into a small, cruel smile. "Aww..." she cooed mockingly, tilting her head as if she were speaking to a child. "I don't think so." The redhead moved again, ready to charge, but the blue-haired girl grabbed her arm, holding her back with a firm grip. "It's over," she muttered in a low voice, defeat lacing every word. Her eyes flicked to the group of us standing behind Uliana, and she seemed to understand that they were outnumbered. "There's too many of them," she added, her tone a mixture of resignation and bitterness.

A grin spread across my face, watching as their defeat sank in. The sight of their despair was almost satisfying, almost too satisfying. That's when a nagging feeling crept in, sending a chill down my spine. No. This was too easy.

"Uliana, stop. Don't open it yet," I said sharply, my voice cutting through the silence as I stepped forward. Uliana paused, her annoyance palpable as she slowly turned to face me, her brow furrowed. "And why exactly should we wait?" she asked, her voice laced with impatience. Her eyes narrowed at me as if daring me to question her judgment. 

I glanced at the two girls again, the way they were watching the book, too closely. Something about it felt off. "This is too easy," I muttered, shaking my head. "That book... it's probably got some sort of spell or curse on it. They wouldn't just let us walk out of here with it, not without a trap. Think about it."

Uliana's expression darkened as she turned the book over in her hands, clearly rethinking the situation. She hated being questioned, but the look on her face showed she knew I had a point. "Mali's right," Hades added from beside me, his voice steady as he crossed his arms. "There's no way they'd let something this important go without a fight. There's definitely something fishy going on."

I shot a quick glance at James, who, unsurprisingly, was still too busy making flirtatious faces at the two girls to pay much attention. I rolled my eyes and shot him a death glare. "James!" I snapped, and his head jerked up in surprise. "Uh, yeah, yeah, I agree with her," he said hastily, though his smirk was still lingering on his lips. He was hopeless sometimes.

Suddenly, the air was pierced by a long, drawn-out howl that echoed through the damp, stone halls. "AUUUU!" The sound of Morgie's howl rang out, unmistakable and loud enough to cut through the storm outside. Uliana groaned, her patience wearing thin. "Ugh, whatever. Let's go. That might be Morgie giving us the signal."

Without further hesitation, Uliana tucked the book under her arm, and we started making our way toward the exit. The rain outside pounded harder against the windows, the storm growing fiercer, but that didn't stop Uliana from turning to the two girls one last time, a wicked grin spreading across her face. "Bye-bye, girls," she taunted, her voice dripping with smug satisfaction. "See you at Castlecoming."

The red-haired girl clenched her jaw, eyes blazing with frustration, while the blue-haired one just stared at the ground, defeated. 

With a final laugh, Uliana slammed the door behind her, the sound echoing in the empty room as we made our way out into the storm. The rain hit us like icy needles as we stepped outside, but none of us slowed down. The cold wind whipped around us, soaking our clothes and plastering our hair to our faces, but all I could think about was the weight of the book in Uliana's arms. 

As we hurried through the rain-soaked grounds, a sense of unease still gnawed at me. This had been too easy. Something wasn't right.

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to be continued....

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heyyy sorry for the sporadically updates but I've been super busy with university and stuff, but hopefully now is over and there will be more regular updates, thank you sooo much for the 7K and let me know if you have some ideas or stuff you would like to read/see/know on the story because I don't know how longer my creativity outbursts will last, see you in the continuation of this chapter :)