The stone chilled my back as I settled onto its smooth surface. I’d witnessed countless memory trades from the sidelines, butnever imagined becoming the subject. Still, it wasn’t fear of the spell that had me frozen. Everything could still go wrong, and this was my last chance to get Callista back.
Charon reached into his robes and produced four coins. “One for each eye. One for the mouth. One over the heart.”
The first coin settled over my right eye. Cold seeped into my skull, carrying whispers from shores I’d never harvested. The second coin followed, plunging my vision into absolute darkness.
Charon moved closer to my head. “Open your mouth.”
The third coin touched my tongue. Power flowed from the metal into my throat, down through my chest, seeking the source of my abilities. The final coin pressed against my heart, directly over the incomplete soul bond that ached for Callista.
“Now we begin.” Three words, and it was the only warning I received before Charon’s magic slammed into my consciousness.
I blinked, and the next thing I knew, I found myself standing before an enormous gate. Black iron bars stretched impossibly high. Ancient chains sparked with defensive energy, forged from something stronger than physical metal. Beyond the gate, something massive stirred in the shadows.
“Interesting.” Charon appeared beside me in this mindscape, eyeing the gate with visible intrigue. “Your weave-line creates locks I never anticipated. But no matter. We can still do this.”
Charon’s magic hammered against the barrier. The gate shuddered under each impact but held firm. Cracks appeared in the bars, and the chains groaned under the strain.
Something roared behind the gate. Whatever slept beyond those barriers awakened, and it despised this intrusion.
It was a warning, and I felt it through every fiber of my being. “Stop. This is wrong.”
Charon paused and turned toward me. “It’s your choice, Theron. But my word stands. If I stop now, Callista’s memories sink into Lake Acheron’s depths forever.”
Forever. The word echoed through my consciousness. No second chances, no alternatives. If this plan failed, Callista would never remember choosing me. She’d belong to Phonos permanently, while I carried the knowledge of my failure through endless centuries.
“Continue.” I reached for the chains myself, grasping the links with both hands. They burned against my palms, but I pulled anyway, tearing them from the gate. “Whatever the cost.”
The iron bars buckled as I ripped the defenses apart. Charon’s ritual magic surged through the gaps I’d created, seeking the ancient secrets that lay beyond.
Three heads emerged from beyond the gate, each bearing my features but magnified into something primordial and terrible. All focused on the intruder with eyes burning brighter than any hellfire I’d ever summoned.
For the first time in our acquaintance, Charon’s certainty faltered. “No. This isn’t right. This isn’t possible.”
The three-headed Cerberus opened its mouths in unison and roared. The sound shattered the mindscape, tearing apart the structure Charon had built. Reality collapsed as the creature lunged forward, seeking the ferryman who had disturbed its slumber.
I stood directly in its path.
Three sets of jaws closed around me, lifting me from the crumbling ground. Fangs pierced my consciousness, and I surrendered to the power I’d tried to sacrifice for love.
The last sensation before darkness claimed me was the taste of my own transformation.
Chapter 9
The Cerberus
Theron
Theritualhadfailed.Silver slag pooled under my paws, the only thing that remained from the payment that should have brought back Callista’s memories.
Reality splintered and reformed around me in angles that both made sense and didn’t. I stood on four paws that felt huge and unfamiliar, like someone had replaced my legs with tree trunks. Everything hurt, but I couldn’t have cared less.
My last chance. Gone. They took her. Again. They’ll pay.
Heat built in my chest like three separate furnaces, each one burning hotter than anything I’d experienced. When I tried to speak, what emerged was a snarl that came from three different snouts.
In front of me, Skaros stared at me, his pupils dilated with something akin to… fear. “Theron… What’s happened to you?”
I couldn’t reply, but Charon did so in my stead. “Skaros, you need to stay back. The extraction went very wrong.”
