Wicked | Ambrose Spellman and Nicholas Scratch [2]

24 | blackwood must die

twenty-four
blackwood must die.

DORIAN HIDES THEM, and the trio's not surprised when some boys from the Judas Society show up, looking for Ambrose. However, when they do, Ambrose has on a glamour that makes him look like Dorian, Selene uses an invisibility spell, and Dorian hides in his painting.

Once they're gone, Dorian jumps out of it, looking like he'd just seen his worst nightmare. Ambrose removes his glamour, and smirks at him. "That is a nifty trick. Hiding in your own portrait."

Selene studies the painting, surprised that's how Dorian really looks. The Dorian she knows looks like a young, handsome warlock. The painting, on the other hand, shows an aging man with parts of his flesh gnawed off by demons. Knowing he has two sides makes Selene feel slightly uncomfortable as she removes her invisibility spell.

"It's hell in there. Literally," Dorian comments, disheveled by what he'd just seen. He then glances at Selene, his eyes softening. "But your girlfriend's a friend, so.." He pauses once he sees the look on Ambrose's face. "You don't look well."

"I don't feel so-" Ambrose cuts as his feet give out from under him. But Selene and Dorian catch him before he hits the ground.

"I'll get you a drink," Dorian informs, rushing behind the bar and pouring him a glass of water. Ambrose appears to be choking as Selene holds his face gently, trying to get him to calm down.

"Breathe," she instructs him softly, but she's hiding the desperation that she's feeling right now. She can't lose him. She just can't. "Hey, look at me. You're alright. It's gonna be oka-"

She trails off as her boyfriend spits out the body of his familiar. He had thought that Salem had eaten him, but it seems that Leviathan climbed inside of him, and slowly but suddenly, it clicks for Selene. "Unholy hell."

"Oh, dear Satan. He climbed inside me," Ambrose realizes, staring at them in shock. "Why?"

"My father," Selene breathes, feeling her hands begin to shake. "He killed the Anti-Pope. You were just a pawn in his game."

"Not surprising," Dorian grits his teeth, clearly displeased. "He loves his boys, Blackwood, until he doesn't. Every warlock I've known to get close to Blackwood ends up dead."

At this, Selene bites her lip. He's right. Her father recently told her his second in command, Luke died in service to him. She feels her head begin to spin as she thinks about all of the mysterious deaths that have occurred since her father became High Priest. And then something else hits her like a brick—there's no way he'd be able to do it alone. He'd have to have someone on the Council working for him, but who?

"But I'm not dead yet," Ambrose points out, his voice cracking as he says it. He's clearly not ready to give up, after he's finally found happiness. "And I'm not about to roll over, either."