Prologue for Sacred Magic *unedited*

Prologue – Silas

I float through an infinite darkness—alone and completely fucking panicked.

A moment prior, Willow’s warm hands cupped my face gently. She stared at me with those perfectly bluish-green eyes and she whispered that I was going home. Only, the pained expression on her face told me an unspoken story that she wouldn’t be joining me.

And there was nothing I could do about it.

I should have acted. Done something. Anything.

I would have been a fool to think I stood any chance against Balial, but I could have tried.

I spent what felt like an eternity in Hell with him, being tortured day in and day out. To be by her side again, to feel her skin against mine, was a shock to my system. Part of me was worried it was another brutal simulation the master of Hell was putting me through. The thing about being completely and permanently in love with someone though, is that you’ll know for sure when it truly is them standing in front of you. There is a certain familiar comfort in their presence that is so incredibly impossible to mistake.

I ached for that moment to last, for her touch to never leave my pale skin. For her concentration to never be averted from mine. I longed for a millisecond more.

The truth about reality is, we don’t always get what we want.

And when her body disappeared and was replaced by a dim-lit endless void, I knew I had lost her again.

I land abruptly, face down on a hard surface. Light pools in my eyes and it takes me a few blinks to adjust.

Hands grip my shoulders and I flinch at the thought of this being another trap.

“Silas,” a recognizable voice calls out.

I register where I am. The old sacred building not too far from Harper Academy.

I breathe in, the scent of sage and pine filling my lungs—a much welcomed aroma compared to what I was forced to endure during my stint in Hell.

The rapid pounding of Sydney’s heartbeat thuds loudly in my ears. I tune out the blood rushing through his veins, despite wanting so fucking badly to sink my teeth into his jugular and suck every ounce of life out of his body.

Willow may be gone, but I would never risk hurting her like that.

A second pulse registers to me, followed by the musty dog-like smell. Deghan.

Still, it’s better than the putrid death and hot burning of flesh I was subjected to.

I tilt my head, finally taking in their long faces.

For me, it was as though years had gone by, but by their appearances, it may have only been a matter of days or weeks, maybe months.

I clutch at my empty chest and note the shift in the tether that binds me to Willow. It’s faded. Barely hanging on. And that alone fucking kills me.

I’d desperately wished for this moment to come, to be back here, just never did I imagine it would have been without her. I’d trade it all again to make sure that she was safe. I’d endure Hell a thousand times over if it meant she never had to experience that kind of torment.

I open my mouth and my voice cracks.

My fangs ache. They’re nearly throbbing with want, with need.

Nothing could ever top the desire I have to get her back.

“Willow.” I spit out.

“Silas, where is she?” Sydney plants his hands firmly on my arms and centers me. Tears well in his frantic eyes.

I flit my gaze to Deghan and am surprised to find him completely silent, except for his pounding heart. Usually he’s the chatty one.

I garner my strength to stand and find that it comes a little easier in this dimension. It was like the gravity was turned way down in Hell and my strength was robbed from me. Slowly but surely, I begin to feel more like myself.

At what cost though? The woman that shares a part of my soul? I won’t accept that.

Sydney tightens his mortal grip and attempts to shake me. “Silas?”

Why is he asking me where she is? There’s no way that Willow could have done this all on her own. He had to have played a part in her travel to the underworld. That’s when it dawns on me.

“Open it back up,” I demand. This time it’s me that clasps onto him.

Probably a little too hard considering the way he winces at my touch.

His green eyes glisten and he rocks his head back and forth. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean? You summoned the entrance. Do it again.”

Deghan holds a stone in the palm of his hand and gawks at it idiotically.

I drop Sydney and use what I can of my vamp speed to snatch the rock from Deghan.

He gasps and reaches out to take it back.

“What is this? Did you help, too?” I let out a sigh. “What were you guys thinking?”

Deghan’s lip quivers. He snarls at me and for a second, I’m sure that he might shift into his wolf form.

The cold hard thing floats out of my hand with the assistance of a light emerald stream of power.

“It’s not what you think it is.” Sydney finishes his task. “Willow gave it to Deghan. They’re both connected to it. She has one, too. If he squeezes his, she feels it. And vice versa. She’s responded once, before you came back.”

I accept his explanation for what it is. Deghan would have never been so foolish to help in this suicide mission. And given what was at stake, I’m surprised that Sydney did. “You have to send me in.”

“You’re not understanding me. I didn’t open it. Willow did. Even if I wanted to, there’s a reset period on this kind of thing. Trust me, I’ve tried. Plus, there are no guarantees. I’m not entirely such which Hell realm she went to.” Sydney digs his hand through his hair and genuinely looks like fucking shit.

Maybe he’s not lying.

We may have our differences, but Willow was always a priority to both of us, to all of us.

I grit my teeth. “There has to be something. You expect me to just do nothing?”

“Tell me what happened. Where were you?” Sydney becomes desperate for any piece of information to guide him toward a solution. This is the version of Sydney I don’t hate.

“The king of all devils.” I internally shudder at the memory. I consider myself a fairly strong man—I was no match to him, though. Neither was my sweet Willow. “I was with Balial.”

Sydney flinches, too, only slightly, yet enough for me to notice the shift in his features.

Deghan glares at me and holds the stone between his palms, desperately clenching it in hope for some sign of life from the other side.

“I told her not to. I didn’t have the strength to act quick enough. She tried to make a deal with him. Her life for mine.” The recollection rips my dead and motionless heart in two. “He declined. Said he wanted a sacrifice. Balial whispered something into her ear. I couldn’t make it out. My powers had been weakened for quite some time. Next thing I know, she’s kneeling in front of me with a sad goodbye written across her face. Everything went dark, then I was here.”

Sydney nods and absorbs the story, averting his gaze to the wood planked floor. “Step out of the way.” He barrels past me and into a chalk design on the floor. He glances over his shoulder at both of us. “I’d back up if I were you.”

I disobey and move toward him. “I’m going with you.”

“If, and I mean if this even works, there’s no way you’re going. Willow would stop at nothing to save you. It should have never been her.” A strange sadness consumes him.

Is he insinuating that he would have been the one to come rescue me?

His words momentarily stun me.

Sydney hates my guts, why would he risk everything for a measly vampire?

That’s when I realize, he wasn’t doing it for me, he was doing it for Willow.

The same thing any of the rest of us would have done—give up everything for the chance at making her happy. Love brings out a truly selfless nature in people, and in this very instance, for Sydney LeBlanc, I’ve never met someone so willing to perform a noble act in the name of love.

A new level of respect grows between us.

Sydney mutters incoherently under his breath and waves his hands around in his confined area. His power flows from his fingertips and dances in circles.

But that’s all that happens. There is nothing else. No magical opening of the dimensions, no portal to Hell. Minutes and minutes go by with Sydney trying with all of his might to break through.

He collapses into a heap on the ground, his face lowered in defeat. A faint whisper leaves his lips, “I can’t get to her.”

And with that declaration, I nearly lose my god damn mind.

I see red. Not from Hell, but yet the sheer rage that builds from losing the person I spent my entire existence searching for. How is it possible to have everything and then nothing in the blink of an eye?