Page 23 of Tethered Fates

Frightened, internally begging, I look on as Summer pulls out a bottle of paint remover and a scrub brush from her bag, then marches to the wall opposite us, her face determined, lips pursed. Unceremoniously, she unscrews the lid and splashes the harsh chemicals all over the white wall, before dropping the empty bottle with a clatter and scrubbing the wall in hurried, wide arches. The whole time, that strange bead remains bobbing above her pointer finger.

A bizarre shape drawn in black paint is revealed; the outline of a door surrounded by jagged symbols. My panic ignites, and I redouble my useless efforts as Summer steps back, a film of sweat shining on her forehead.

“Nearly over,” she whispers, staring at it with a twist of revulsion to her upper lip. She reaches down to her ankle, tugging up her jeans leg to slide out a long, pointed black dagger hidden in her boot. Turning to me, she nods as if to reassure me that everything will be okay.

My stomach sinks.

“I had to get in here without setting off the alarm to give myself enough time…” She sighs, the sound so heavy her shoulders droop beneath it. “You’re gonna hate me after this. Just like Kai and Apollo…”

I try to tell her with my eyes that if she just lets me go, I’ll never hate her.

That I’m scared and just want to go home.

That I’m only twenty-two and I have so much life left to live.

“Oh, Teagan. I am so sorry. I didn’t want this to be you—or anyone really. But I took an opportunity and…well…” Summer breathes out as she approaches me. “Here we are, I guess. But I promise I only need a little of your blood, and mine, too. Mostly mine, okay? That should be enough, and no one needs to die. I don’t…I don’t want to hurt you!” The last part comes out in a frustrated yell.

She’s crazy, and fuck—I’m going to die down here with her.

Gently, Summer slips off my bomber jacket and folds it, placing it to the side and out of the way, and whatever regrets she has don’t stop her from slashing a deep wound on my frozen forearm.

The pain is unbearable, my legs shaking with the unnatural effort it takes to keep me standing, my chest bulging from keeping my screams locked inside. I expect my blood to flow out of my arm—it doesn’t.

Somehow, like I’m trapped in the worst fucking nightmare, my blood is leached from my arm, each drop feeling like it’s being clawed out as it flows in a current towards that strange doorway. Then, the moment my blood splashes into the middle, filling the outline in red, the gnarled doorway begins to glow the same colour as an infected wound.

Summer cuts into her arm with little hesitation and a single grunt. Her blood pours out, carried by the same invisible force to twist around mine, the two becoming a horrible, wet torrent that fills the doorway.

A small, wrecked whimper leaves me, and all I can hope is that Kai isn’t the one who finds my body. That Luuk doesn’t blame himself. That Apollo doesn’t go crazier. I hope my little brother knows I love him. I hope my parents think I was brave, even though brave is the last thing I’m feeling.

Then, Sen…I guess we were never going to have enough time. I wish I could close my eyes and picture his face. I don’t want Summer to be the last person I see.

“I told Emma that no one needed to die,” Summer murmurs, her wide eyes locked on whatever the fuck is happening with our blood.

The agony is something I’ve never experienced; it pulls and rips and demands I give everything up, even when I have nothing left to offer. Even my tears have stopped, and the effort it took to cough up weak, hoarse moans becomes insurmountable.

At least Summer is struggling, too. She’s drenched in sweat, heaving like she’s run a marathon. The bead above her finger starts to wobble, and I dig deeper than I ever have before, down into the lowest pits of myself, to drag up the last dregs of energy I have left.

I push at the invisible chains. Every muscle strains, my bones stretched to their absolute limit.

Summer glances at me, down at the quaking bead barely holding onto its structure. She moves—it’s too late. The bead drops. And I drop with it. Finally freed, I scream out my pain, my anger, my confusion. It splinters from me in a long, fragmented wail.

Summer yells my name.

Somewhere above us, a roar shakes the air, followed by a crash, then a shadow blurs into the basement at impossible speed to coalesce into a man, and through my fuzzy vision, I find Sen.

He takes one look at me on the ground. Then he whips around, face furious, and grabs Summer by the neck.

“STOP!” She screams, grabbing hold of his wrist. “My spell! The door is nearly open!”

“You. Fucking. Hurt. Him!” Sen growls, lifting Summer.

Our blood that was filling the doorway splatters to the ground, and the glowing stops. The pain should stop with it. Instead, my throat tightens until I can’t breathe. Frantic, I kick my legs, making choking sounds and clawing at my throat.

“Teagan?!” Sen calls as his grip on Summer tightens.

I slap at my neck, thrashing on the floor, desperate to drag in air. But my throat refuses to work.

Sen drops Summer, taking a step in my direction. The second Summer is freed, my windpipe relaxes, and at the same time, Summer and I suck in a mouthful of life-saving air.