Allurement | Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 22 - The Scriptorium

The wall in front of them rumbled and shifted, a dark passageway was revealed in its place.

"Nice work, Lili."

Sebastian stepped forward to enter first, with Liya close behind and Ominis bringing up the rear. The air was stale and thick with dust. Liya's nose wrinkled at the scent of damp stone and something faintly metallic - like old blood.

Behind her, she could hear Ominis's breathing, steady but tense. He wasn't one to show fear easily, but the slight hitch in his breath told her he wasn't at ease. Neither was she. Something about this place felt wrong - as if the shadows weren't just tricks of the dim candlelight but something watching, waiting.

Sebastian had already made it to the bottom of the stairs, while Omins and Liya took their time, careful as to not trip and fall the precarious steps.

"Dark ominous corridors, my favorite."

Ominis sighed, and made no further move to respond.

"Oh come on, that was a good one!" Liya could practically see Sebastian's lopsided smirk, and the very thought of it made her heart flutter.

The trio had to face a myriad of challenges and obstacles to proceed onto the next corridor. And with each new space they stepped in, the doors behind them locked. They really couldn't turn back now.

Everything was going relatively smoothly when they stepped into the final corridor. It was a long passageway lit up with the warm glow of the candlelight stuck to the wall.

At the end of it was a door which showcased a horrible image of a figure screaming in pain...to the right was a pile of bones and Noctua's final note.

The mocking words of CRUCIO, the unforgivable curse, tainted the floor, glowing bright red.

Red like blood?

Liya took a deep breath. It was painfully obvious what they had to do. Noctua had died because she had no one to cast Crucio on.

En route to meet Ominis, Sebastian had briefly told her about Ominis past: his family liked to cast Crucio on muggles like a sport, and little Ominis refused which caused his own family to cast it on him as punishment.

She was certain Ominis wouldn't want to cast it again - he had made his stance on the Unforgivable Curses clear. That left only one option.

Sebastian.

He had told her once, in not more than a few words, that he knew how to cast all three of them. At the time, she hadn't pressed him for details.

Before Liya could regret her decision, she spoke out, her voice firm but with a small wobble. "I won't cast it on you. You need to cast it on me."

Sebastian's face broke.

He stared at her, frozen and unmoving.

"You can't be serious." His voice was barely above a whisper, but the sheer weight of his disbelief made it feel deafening.

Liya swallowed, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "Sebastian, we don't have a choice."

His hands curled into fists at his sides, jaw clenched so tightly she thought he might break his own teeth. He shook his head, as if trying to physically reject the idea. "There has to be another way."

"There isn't," she said softly. "Ominis won't do it. I can't. That leaves you."

Sebastian let out a shaky breath, his entire body rigid with hesitation. He had never been one to shy away from dark magic, but this was different. This was her.