Chapter 423: The Most Powerful Witch In Existence

"What does that mean?" Victoria demanded.

"It means she’s the most powerful witch in existence," Thalia said simply. "More powerful than any Morvaine has ever been. More powerful than me, her mother, than you, than our entire bloodline combined. Because she has access to magic that no living witch should be able to touch."

Victoria thought about everything Elena had told them Lilith will be able to do once she is resurrected.

"The outbursts," Victoria said. "When she’s unstable. During the attack....."

"That is a fraction of what she’s capable of now," Thalia finished. "And she doesn’t even know it yet. Doesn’t understand what she’s become. Doesn’t realize that every supernatural creature with the ability to sense power is going to feel what she carries."

"Other covens," Victoria said, understanding dawning with horrible clarity.

"Other covens," Thalia confirmed. "Other witches. Wizards. Supernatural entities of all levels. They’re all going to want a piece of the power Lilith brought back from the Veil. They’re going to hunt her. Try to steal it. Try to bind her and drain her and use her as a conduit to access magic they were never meant to have."

"No," Victoria whispered.

"Yes," Thalia said. She set the book down and looked at Victoria with those black eyes. "Lilith just became the most valuable and most endangered supernatural being on this continent. And the only reason she’s still breathing is because most of them don’t know yet. But they will. Soon. The power she carries is too strong to hide for long."

Victoria felt like the world was tilting beneath her feet.

"But the good news for me," Thalia continued, "is that I paid a deposit."

"What?" Victoria said.

Thalia’s smile widened. "The resurrection. The deal we made. The binding magic between us. All of it gave me what amounts to VIP access to the power Lilith now carries. When I come to collect my payment, when I demand what she owes me for her own resurrection....she won’t be able to refuse. The magic will compel her to comply."

"What are you going to demand?" Victoria asked, even though she was terrified of the answer.

"I haven’t decided yet," Thalia said. She walked back to the altar and continued dismantling the ritual. "But it will be something befitting the service rendered. Something that makes proper use of the unprecedented power she now wields. Something that advances my goals while ensuring Lilith understands exactly what her life cost."

"I won’t let you hurt her," Victoria said.

"You can’t stop me," Thalia said without looking up. "The deal is sealed. The magic is binding. When I decide to collect, you’ll have no choice but to watch."

Victoria felt helpless rage building in her chest. "When? When are you coming to collect?"

"When Lilith is ready," Thalia said. She picked up the soul anchor crystal.....dark and lifeless now, and examined it. "She just came back from death. She’s traumatized. Grieving. Unstable. Demanding payment now would be pointless. She needs time to adjust. To understand what she’s become. To grow into the power she carries."

She set the crystal down and finally looked at Victoria directly.

"So I’ll wait," Thalia continued. "Days. Weeks. Maybe months. I’ll wait until she’s strong enough to be useful. Until she’s confident enough to believe she can refuse me. And then I’ll come. I’ll invoke the binding debt. And I’ll take exactly what I’m owed."

"I’ll find a way to break the deal," Victoria said. "I’ll research. I’ll find loopholes. I’ll..."

"You’ll fail," Thalia interrupted. "Because the magic is older than you. Stronger than you. And sealed with my blood and your agreement and witnessed by the entity itself. There is no breaking it. No escaping it. Lilith will pay my price or the magic will destroy her trying to enforce compliance."

Victoria felt tears of frustration burn behind her eyes.

She had saved Lilith. Had brought her back from death. Had done the impossible.

And in doing so, she had bound her niece to a debt that would destroy everything.

"Go home, Victoria," Thalia said. She turned back to the ritual altar. "Go back to the Blackwood estate. Keep an eye on Lilith. Protect her from the other threats that will come. Because she’s going to need you. She’s carrying power that makes her a target for every ambitious witch and desperate supernatural who hears about what she’s become."

"And you?" Victoria asked bitterly. "What are you going to do?"

"Plan," Thalia said simply. "Research. Prepare for the day when I collect what’s owed. And Victoria, " She looked back one more time. "Don’t tell Lilith about the debt. Let her believe the resurrection was a gift. Let her think Nicholas’s sacrifice was enough payment. The truth will only make her desperate. And desperate witches with unprecedented power tend to make very dangerous mistakes."

Victoria wanted to refuse. Wanted to scream. Wanted to find some way to undo everything.

But Thalia was right.

The deal was sealed. The debt was real. And all Victoria could do now was try to prepare Lilith for what was coming.

"I’m leaving," Victoria said.

"Safe travels," Thalia said without looking up.

Victoria turned and walked out of the sanctum.

The Underworld felt colder than before. Darker. More oppressive.

Or maybe that was just the weight of what she had learned pressing down on her.

She made her way back through the middle realms. Back through the grey nothing. Back to the space where she could open a portal to the mortal world.

She pulled out her remaining portal components, depleted but still functional, and began drawing a circle.

This one would take her directly to the Blackwood estate. To Lilith. To whatever aftermath awaited after Nicholas’s sacrifice.

As she worked, her mind raced.

Lilith was alive. That was the victory.

But she was also in more danger than she had ever been. Carrying power that would make her a target. Bound by a debt to Thalia that could not be broken. Marked by the Veil in ways Victoria did not fully understand.

And her.....

She is the only one who knew. The only one who understood what was coming.

I need to make her ready, Victoria thought as she activated the portal. I need to teach her. Train her. Help her understand what she’s become and how to protect herself from what’s coming.

Because an indefinite war is coming. And Lilith is going to be at the center of it.

Victoria stepped through the portal.

The Underworld disappeared behind her.