The Unraveling

Chapter XIV, Possession part II

It felt like she had been cast out of her body as her archaic magic took a hold of her and moved her without permission. Like a puppet on a string, her limbs numb and not her own through every movement, unable to do anything other than what it commanded her to. Its silent bidding was the only thing that seemed to matter until his voice cut through the fog like a beacon, setting alight the dark corner of her mind where her cursed gift had expelled her to.
She had cursed herself countless of times for being relentlessly obtuse—but perhaps that was the quality that saved her now, allowed her to claw her way back to the forefront and push away the intruder in her bones.

Her skin crawled with the all too familiar ghost of her magic and the remnants of its control still lingered in the tightness of her muscles, the writhing of her veins. The dispelling of the ancient magic was starting to take more and more effort each time, she could feel the toll it took on her body, the exhaustion creeping in.

Eloise's heart hammered in her chest as she finally realised what she had been doing, or rather; what her magic had possessed her to do. For a moment she found herself unable to breath as she took in the sight of Sebastian's bloodied frame suspended in the air in front of her, levitated by an invisible force still tethered to the current in her palms. His clothes were torn and stained with crimson, the wounds made by her hands deep and gushing. How could she have allowed it to get this far away from her?

Eloise moved her hand down once the magic had retreated back to the depths of her and the low sound of his voice had pulled her out of her stupor, lowering him to the ground as carefully as she could in the state she was in. Her boot-clad feet dragged across the wooden floor as she neared him with small, stilted steps. As if she were afraid to come closer, that her traitorous gift would sneak up on her and cause her to do more damage, to hurt him more.

To her surprise, he did not flinch away— no, he smiled at her. Eloise's brows knitted together as her hands instinctively reached for him. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply in an effort to remain calm and not show him how desperately she wanted to hide. "I hurt you," she said.

Sebastian didn't say anything as he took in the witch in front of him. How she lowered herself to her knees at his side and how her delicate, deadly hands ghosted over his injuries. He couldn't stop himself from wondering if she was truly in control again, and if so, how much of it was temporary. "Yes," he finally said. "Does it matter? I've survived much worse than this, love. These scratches are nothing I can't handle."

They weren't just scratches, but truthfully that wasn't what bothered Eloise. When they were younger she and Sebastian had duelled before, often, and they had never held back. But this? This was different. If she told him just how close she had been to ripping him to shreds, she wasn't sure he would believe her. She couldn't tell him, though, and she never would.

Her dark brows scrunched together, her forehead creased and clammy, as she leaned forward on her knees and gingerly trailed her fingertips over a particularly deep gash on his chest where her magic had cut him straight through his jacket. His blood coated her pale skin and her breath caught anxiously in her lungs, ashamed of herself; she did this, this had been her doing, her fault.

He sat perfectly still as she examined his wounds, eyeing the woman curiously, dumbfounded at how gentle she was now, when she'd been inches away from taking his life not five minutes ago. Despite how hard he tried not to show his ache, he winced. Eloise's dark eyes flitted up to his, wide and guilty, and he shook his head fervently as she instantly retracted her touch. "No, Eloise-" he uttered in a voice weaker than he cared for, "it's okay. I'm okay, I'm fine."

His long fingers curled around her slender wrist, preventing her from moving away from him as she sat back on her haunches. His gaze searched hers and he blinked slowly, forcing a soft smile onto his lips like he was handling a wild animal that he was desperately trying not to startle.