Once upon a Midnight | BOOK I

Ten

Angela only stopped her divination when the force that was resisting her flung her out of the lake with a fierce gust of wind. My teeth chattered together as I gasped for breath when I returned from my state of oblivion. I sucked in wind sharply as Mikoto tried to calm me down. "Breath," she kept saying as calm as possible. I realised that our actions had brought the attention of the other nymphs and the boys. Some wore confused looks, some had blank looks on their faces, Nicolas was smiling, and Hannah had a hateful look on her face. Patricia had gone to where Angela's body had landed, while Hannah moved closer to my face.

"So how does it go on in your family, huh?" she sneered. "You're Shadow Queen Kim the first. What are you going to do too? Destroy the world like your grandma?"

"Hannah. Enough," Mikoto cautioned.
Hannah looked at her with a fierce confused look. "She's the granddaughter of the shadow queen. The blood of darkness. You heard all what Angela said. This is the shadow prophecy in action."

"We both know prophecies aren't always true," Mikoto said.

"Look, I don't understand what's going on and what prophecy you're talking about, but I am not the shadow queen. So, get your fingernails off my back," I spat and began to make my way out of the water.

Hannah wasn't done with me. She pushed herself towards me and grabbed me by the shoulder, turning me around. "Well the shadow queen killed my family members," she growled.

"And what do you expect me to do? Apologise? I literally just found out your so hated shadow queen is my grandmother a minute ago, so, get the bloody hell off me," I said with a growl to match hers. She glared at me and before I knew it, I was dragged underwater. The view above me blurred as vines wrapped themselves tightly around me and pulled me further underneath. I screamed and tried to cast a spell, but my mind was too disoriented to think of something. My mind could only fall on one thing; Midnight. I head a splash into the water and small ice-cold hands gripped me and pulled me out of the water. I sucked in a loud breath as I reached the surface. The nymphs shrieked and moved far away from me when I came into view. I couldn't blame them. They were staring face to face at my shadow familiar.

Midnight drew me out of the lake and took my shivering body away from everyone. He'd taken a goblin form, I realised. He was an impish creature, barely reaching to my waist and it looked like he was made out of solid darkness. I heard someone else leave the water and when I looked behind me, I saw Nicolas jogging towards me.

"Get me out of here," I informed my familiar, and before Nicolas could reach us, my body was plunged into the dark realm I'd been when I summoned the shadow. I was only there for a second, and the next second, I was back in my room, shivering like a cat that was thrown into water. I slumped my wet body on my bed and got under the covers immediately. Midnight transformed back into his false face and joined me in bed.

I wrapped my hands around him and muttered a thank you while the tears began to slide down from my eyes. I wasn't sure how long I cried, but I got back up soon to get dressed, and resumed my study of the Mesopotamian curse.

It didn't take long before I was plagued with a knock. I didn't bother asking who was there before I said, "Don't come in." My voice was cold and filled with anger. Nicolas came in either way and I cursed the fact that the doors in Blackstone castle didn't have locks. Now, I understood how Ayesha felt when I bursted into her room. I sent a glare at Nicolas before turning back to the grimoire. When Hannah attacked me, no one tried to save me. I was more furious with myself for not being able to save myself. It made me look weak, and even though I truly was weak, I didn't like seeming weak to others.