Knight Casefiles Book 1: Revelations

Revelations [Chapter 29]

Chapter 29

Remember the saying, “It’s always least expected.”? That was an occurrence that rarely happened in real life unless you were the kind of person who rarely pays attention to the things happening around you, which was why I truly believed that I was in a dream that moment. A nightmare, even. One that would end soon. One that I would wake up from.

“Why?” was all my jumbled thoughts could ask. “Why are you helping that asshole, Adam!?”

“On the contrary, Chris, he’s helping me,” she said. “And you have, too.”

I tried to stand back up but was weighed down by the old woman’s power.

“Don’t fight it, young Knight,” the hag rasped. “You cannot defeat me.”

I struggled against her power with my own will but her words rang true. She had far too much juice for someone like me to resist. My knees shook with the effort, every single muscle in my body aching against her will. I glared at her, despite the fear that was slowly descending upon me.

“You’re Marzanna, aren’t you?” I asked hollowly.

The old woman’s face stretched into a wrinkled smile. “In the flesh.”

The sound of footsteps added to the menagerie of sounds in the room, most of which was probably just the ringing in my head and my own strained grunts. Alfred appeared, taking a position beside Margaret. He looked disheveled, his face reddened. He was panting, his clothes damp with sweat.

“I lost the girl,” he announced with more than a little fear in his voice. “I apologize, my Lady. She must have had a veil.”

Marzanna smiled sweetly. “It matters not. We’ve all we need right here.”

“Of course the butler’s in on it,” I muttered, turning my glare to him. “All those years working for the Whistler’s, I should’ve guessed.”

“Butler?” Alfred asked amusedly. “And here I thought you’d figured everything out.”

“Can we get this thing going?” Margaret asked impatiently. “I’d like this all to be over tonight.” She held up her hand and I could immediately feel the power gathering into it. Silver mist drifted from all over her body, concentrating into her splayed fingers, shimmering into a ball of light. There wasn’t that much power in it, at least not as much as heavy hitters like Sigrun or Marzanna had, but Sigrun had been right about Margaret’s skills. I had no doubt that she could kill me while the goddess held me down.

“Remember, child. We need the Knight alive,” Marzanna purred.

“Why?” I repeated with the remainder of my strength. “If Marzanna’s already been raised, why do you need to do this?”

The Old One looked at me with an expression one reserved for their favorite pet. “Maintenance, dear child. The years have not been kind, and with the coming times, I will need much more power than I now hold. It should not be much of a surprise to you. Your Guardian has been involved in similar dealings in the past, has she not?”

“She never killed anybody for it.”

Marzanna smirked. “As far as you know. She plays her part well. As had Ms. Wright here.”

I scowled at Margaret. Behind her, something moved. “I thought you were my friend. It had all been a lie, hadn’t it?” Her face didn’t give way to any emotion other than strain, as she concentrated her power. “I’d been banking on your abilities, hoping you’d pick up something Sigrun couldn’t because of her condition. But you’ve been misleading us all along, haven’t you?”