Jacob~
I couldn't shake the feeling of Mariel's threat burning down my spine. Even hours after she disappeared into her violet mist, her words slithered through my chest like venom. Two days.
Two days to betray my children or lose Easter… and Rose.
I paced the darkened hotel hallway, silent as a ghost, my boots brushing against the worn carpet. My powers hummed beneath my skin like an angry swarm, clawing to be released. I could destroy Mariel with a flick of my wrist. I could unmake her existence, bend her mind into nothingness, but… the damned contract.
Gods above, I hated myself for signing that damn contract in a moment of desperation. Even back then, I'd known full well what she had become. Dream Weaver. Nightmare Crafter. She had long twisted her powers into something dark and vile, but I let my desperation win. And now, because of that cursed contract between us, my will was hers to command as long as she upheld her end of the deal.
