Hellfire | Hayley Marshall

Chapter 48

Eisa's comfort came from thinking of Hayley.

"Merry Christmas," she'd told the hybrid, after Klaus had taken Hope to her crib, and Jackson had gone outside to help Marcel and Elijah chop more firewood.

"Merry Christmas," the woman replied, smiling at her. "Where did everyone else go? Did we get landed with cleanup duty?"

Eisa grinned. "It would seem so. Aya needed to report back to Headquarters. Likely some Strix business I wasn't invited to. She'll inform me of any major happenings."

Hayley came closer to her. "Are you sure there's nothing I can help with?"

"You could continue to keep yourself safe, you know. That's my wish for you. That you value your life more, be more careful, and ultimately just be happy. I promise, we'll be alright, Hayley."

"Do you want to know my wish for you?" asked Hayley. "I want you to be happy, too. I want you to be free. I want you to continue to inspire all the people you do. I wish all that, because I want to keep seeing you smile the way you do."

Eisa patted her shoulder, sighing for only a brief moment before the two got back to work.

"Eisa?"

She looked up at Aya, who was waiting for her to step into the water.

"Sorry," she said, glancing at the pale witch who was waiting to look into her mind. "Ariane, is it? I'm afraid I was not prepared for anyone to look into my mind today."

"I understand," said the girl in response. "I only just had my vision this morning. It is quite short notice."

"She will find the weapon quickly," promised Aya. "Before Tristan gets back."

Eisa nodded, slowly sinking in beside the girl. "We need to hurry, then," she said. "We've only a limited amount of time before he returns from wherever he's keeping Aurora. I cannot stand to witness his attempts at feigning respect for me any longer. He's plotting something, and unless we find the weapon, we'll be useless to stop it."

"I will continue to search for potential traitors on our end," said Aya as Eisa laid back in the water. "Unfortunately, it will be near impossible to tell who on Elijah's end is truly aiding Tristan, and betraying you. We cannot get close enough to enter their minds."

"Then we should hope that by the time Davina makes her choice about whether she's joining or not, we have procured the weapon to ensure an advantage against them. Tristan is clearly cross that the Serratura was deactivated, and he's more cross that Aurora had another episode because of my sister and I being so rude to her. Until I find out exactly what he's up to, I can't risk asking the other witches to bring my brothers back."

Ariane, who seemed to think she was talking too much, and moved toward her, putting her hand on Eisa's chest, the other going to her head. Eisa felt nothing at first, then let out a scream of pain, thrashing around in the water and holding Ariane so tightly, she nearly shattered her bones.

Her entire life truly flashed before her eyes, and it ached. Every memory ached, not just in her head, but in Ariane's.

The two leapt away from each other, and Eisa panted, scrambling out of the water and rushing to touch land, feeling as though she'd briefly left reality, and died.

"Did you see it?" asked Aya urgently. "The weapon?"

Ariane looked at Eisa, her eyes wide. "All your family has endured... and yet the worst is still to come. An unending darkness lies before you. A lone figure. A pale horse. A flame that will burn you all."