225. PARENTAL CHOICES

225. PARENTAL CHOICES

~CAMILLE

“We need to poison him,” Kalista repeated her suggestion despite the shock etched on everyone's faces.

I tried to take it in but I just couldn't.

“That will kill him,” Viktor growled, turning to face me. “And our children.”

“Yes,” I quickly agreed with him, “Odette mentioned that killing Azarel will only be our undoing. The boys will go berserk!”

“That's not what I am talking about,” Kalista corrected, her firm voice tripping the tempo in my chest.

“Giving the monster poison— if it's even possible— will kill him, no?” Nathan slipped in.

“No, the kind of poison I am talking about won't kill him,” she replied. “It will only stop him from being strong enough to hold the convergence in place—”

“By convergence you mean this thing he has going on with my sons, right?” Viktor cut in.

Kalista’s eyes narrowed as if Viktor's interruption had raised a nerve.

I was almost expecting her to flare up at him but instead, her cold eyes only rolled in irritation before she continued;

“This will snap the Ravenwood boys back to consciousness… provided they are able to set themselves free from the inner battles they must be facing as I speak.”

Her last words echoed heavily as Viktor met my gaze with a swirling wave of panic.

Fearing he might trigger her again, I turned to Nathan.

“Please set her free… let her work on the poison or whatever it is she needs,” I begged, joining my hands before him.

His features morphed into a frown as he threw Kalista a look before meeting my gaze.

“Do you understand what you are asking me? Letting this Witch have control of her powers will thin out the chances for my Morgan's survival!”

My throat tightened. “Nathan, please… this is the only way we know…”

The frown on his face wavered as he shook his head. Then he stepped closer and placed my hands gently down.

Without a word to me, he moved closer to Kalista and lowered himself into a squat.

“If I set you free, what will become of my daughter?” He asked in a husky tone of a man that refused to show his pain.

“I know what you are thinking… and I have no reason to fight back—” Kalista started with a heavy sigh that made my stomach twist.

This was not to be good…

“—I have already bound myself to your daughter's soul. Pulling me out might be too risky for you.”

Nathan's eyes turned glassy but he pushed; “What is… this risk you speak of?”

“One of us will have to die for the other to be free… it's either me or your Morgan… it's either the world or Morgan… so what is it going to be?”

The questions hit all of us with different levels of emotions. But Nathan had the largest share.

Viktor wanted to speak, but I held him back.

We had no right to interfere in Nathan's decision— This was his daughter's life.

While we told ourselves that we were doing this for the world, we all knew deep down that this fight… It was for our children!

And having to gamble the life of another man's child for the safety of ours was something he had to decide for himself…

As the silence stretched, I could feel my heart dying a little bit with every passing second.

The pain already clawed its way to my chest and my brain was already thinking of how we could make this work without using Kalista's full powers…

I was on the verge of suggesting this when Nathan straightened up and then released her.

I released a breath I didn't even realize I was holding as he took the black stone far away from the room.

“You have to start working on the poison now. We don't have time.” Viktor growled, already moving a table towards her. “What do you need?”

Barely looking at him, she stretched her fingers instead.

“Wi—” he started to roar but I was quick to stop him.

“Kalista, please, what do you need to begin?” I asked instead.

A small smile crawled on her face as she met my gaze. “Nothing. I have everything I need right here…”

As soon as she said the last word, the table instantly got filled with strange kinds of herbs and bowls!

Viktor scoffed and snatched his hand out of my hold. “Show off!”

He went to the corner of the room where Nathan now stood watching as Kalista got to work.

“Kindoki sangisa sangisa…” she chanted as she moved the herbs over the bowls.

Her chants moved through strange rhythms. They went slow and then really fast.

She was going through the process while we all stood there watching her work.

Suddenly she stopped. Cocked her head to the side and glared at the sealed walls.

My heart skipped.

I turned to Nathan and Viktor. But they shrugged also not getting what she was doing.

“Kalista, is everything okay?” I asked, my voice dropping really low.

She shook her head, mumbling something incoherent as she resumed working and chanting.

It was almost like it never happened. Until she stopped again.

This time before I could speak, she raised her hand.

“I keep getting the feeling that someone is watching us… but I can't see them…” she said.

Nathan pulled off the wall he was leaning on and quickly went to check his facility.

But moments later he returned empty handed. “There is no one. The place is clear.”

Kalista kissed her teeth and resumed working. “They will show themselves when they are ready…”

I felt cold air wrap around me and I could only pray that my daughters were safe.

When Kalista finally finished the poison, she raised the clear vial for all to see.

And it was at that moment the most important part of this plan struck me;

“Who is going to give Azarel this poison? Whoever it is has to get close enough…”

As the words left my lips, unease filled my chest as it struck me. Only one person could do this…

Odette.

“The most important thing is to get the poison to the castle first. I— we can decide who will give it to that chaos… later,” Viktor said.

I wanted to protest, but I held my tongue and nodded.

“It wouldn't be wise to use the same exit you employed when coming out here, no?” Nathan countered.

But Kalista —who already packed her things away— started leading the way.

“That will not be a problem. There is a way to enter without being detected by Azarel,” she said, as she walked out of the room.

No one debated on that. We all simply followed her lead.

When we got close to the castle, she took a different path that wound through tunnels that led us underneath the castle.

Even Viktor had his brows reaching his hairline in shock of how Kalista knew this place— but thankfully he kept those thoughts to himself.

Finally we reached the end of the tunnels and as usual Kalista unlocked the last door.

But as we stepped into the castle grounds, our legs froze with terror—

There was someone standing there!

“Are you pathetic little creatures going to join me out here or not?” Odette's voice suddenly rang out.