Ramsey stopped, and when I kept walking, he reached out and touched my arm. I recoiled, not wanting to even have that minor touch between the two of us. He wasn’t my friend.
“You don’t understand,” he said, his expression crestfallen. “If we hadn’t gone to investigate Ryland’s magic, none of this would have happened. We’d be safe.”
“Is that when you betrayed me, then? Are you trying to say everything up until this week was the truth, and one genie was able to convince you to turn against me after everything we’ve been through? After everything I’ve done for you?” I slapped his hand away as he leaned toward me again. I knew he was just trying to calm me down, but I was so far beyond that. So far beyond anything he could possibly say to make this better. “I bought Briar tampons because you were too chicken to do it.”
Ramsey’s face looked ravaged. “It’s not like that.”
Honestly, up until that moment, I had hope that it was one bad trick. That I’d find out that all of it was a lie. That look, though. I knew every single one of Ramsey’s expressions. It was a side effect of training and working together like we had for as long as we had. This is the one that told me he was telling the truth. He’d betrayed me. He was throwing me to the wolves, or in this case, the genie.
My shoulders slumped. “What happened?”
“She appeared as soon as the spell took root,” he said quietly.
He leaned against the wall. I took in every inch of his body and his movements. The way his muscles flinched when they came into contact with the cold stone that lined the hall. I saw the way his eyes held the weight of the world, and how even his fingers seemed to twitch with the desire to make everything go back to the way it had been.
“Tell me all of it,” I demanded. There was no venom in my voice, no anger. Just resentment that he’d done something I would never be able to forgive.
“She appeared as though she’d been summoned.” Ramsey looked down at his hands, clearly ashamed of what he was confessing. “Not even Huntsman was able to stop her. She told us about the future, what we were all going to lose. She showed me what happened to Briar, to our family. All of it because we wouldn’t surrender you. She told us that you were the target. That in order to save everyone else, we had to sacrifice you.”
“This isn’t Heroes,” I said. “You can’t just sacrifice one person to save the rest.” My hands balled into fists, and I struggled to get a handle on my emotions.
Ramsey was shaking his head, though. “Yes,” he said determinedly. “She’s bound by the laws of magic, Charisse. She’s not able to lie, not when she’s in her true form.”
I snorted. “You’re so sure it was her true form?”
“There’s more,” he went on. “The reason that we couldn’t tell you. The reason that we had to come back to New Haven.”
“What?” I scoffed. “What’s so important about this place?”
“You haven’t changed that much.” Ramsey shrugged and met my stare. “You would burn the world down to save Abram, to bring him back to you. In this place, you remember what putting him first does. What it has done to your family. To your friends.”
Ramsey’s words sank in like the well-placed blow they were. They dug deep into my soul and refused to let go. He was right. I really would sacrifice everything else to have Abram back.
“We could have fought whatever this is,” I told him. “We could have done this together. Remember that.” I cursed. “You did this. Not me. I never want to see you, or any of them, ever again.”
The pain was too much, and I knew I’d never forgive him for this.
I was too busy wiping my eyes, trying to keep the tears from falling down my cheeks. I didn’t hear anyone approach.
“I thought I told you to bring her to me.”
I jumped, turning to face the person behind the sugary-sweet voice. She was stunning, but there was no mistaking the fact that she was Ryland, the genie. Her long black hair was bound around her head, with pieces hanging down her back. Her skin was tan, like she’d spent her entire life playing in the sun.
But it was her eyes that gave her away. They were bright purple, and even though she was wearing a smile, I knew that she would just as soon slit my throat and walk away. Her dress, though, was something I would have worn in my days as a model. It was pale lavender, with black lace detailed into the hem, and skintight, hugging every one of her curves. She wasn’t as full-figured as I was, but she had curves that most women would kill for. Not only was her appearance a dead giveaway that she was supernatural, but so was the fact that I could feel her magic coursing over my skin.
I rolled my eyes and sniffed to cover up that I’d been fighting tears. “Queen Ryland, I presume.” The sassiness was real, and there was no way I could control it at this point, so I wasn’t even going to try.
“That’s me, Charisse Bellamy.” She turned to Ramsey and dismissed him without saying a word.
He practically scurried down the hall, without so much as a glance over his shoulder to make sure I was okay. Just one more thing to add to the pile of hurt.
“Follow me.” Ryland spun on heels I hadn’t realized she was wearing. She flounced through a doorway, and I followed, determined to learn everything I could and fight to the end.
“So,” I said to cover being so far out of my league it wasn’t funny. “You’re a genie. Like from the children’s movie.” It wasn’t a question, and she likely saw it for the insult it was meant to be.
Ryland twirled her long hair around a slender finger. “Do you know what a genie is capable of?”
“Nope,” I said with a pointed look around. “I don’t have a clue. Oh.” I snapped my fingers. “I know. You can turn friends against one another.” I ticked a finger. “You can transport the entire town a hundred years into the past.” One more finger down. “You can bring people back from the dead.”
The genie’s laugh stopped before I could spit more vitriol at her.
“What?” I snapped. “You think it’s funny?”
Ryland snickered before she wiped her eyes and waved to a small coffee table that sat in the center of the room between two chairs. I glanced around, taking a moment to see what I hadn’t noticed when I walked in. I was surrounded by a huge, marble expanse. There wasn’t a throne, though.
“Do you know what impresses me about you, Charisse?” Ryland smiled at me when I looked at her again. “The fact that you think this is me.” She waved a hand around her.
“What are you talking about?”
“Everything, and I do mean everything that I know about you, told me that you would forgive your friends for their betrayal. And yet, now I’m not so sure. You continue to surprise me, and that is hard to do after hundreds of years trapped in a bottle.”
I looked at her, the genie, and I saw something I didn’t think I’d see. I saw a human side to her. She was supposed to be a monster. A creature that I could condemn back to the bottle to save Huntsman. That plan had been shot to shit, though. I didn’t have a plan anymore, and I really didn’t have anyone to blame for that.
With a sigh, I took a seat at the table Ryland had motioned to earlier. Defeated, I waited for her to join me.
“I’m impressed by you,” Ryland admitted. “Your propensity for forgiveness extends to a man who you love with every fiber of your being even though he’s not that man. Yet the friends who have stood by you through your darkest moments, you will not forgive.”
I shook my head. “You wouldn’t understand. You’re not human.”
As soon as I said the words, I regretted them. Why? I had no clue. But I could tell they hurt. Thinking quickly, I decided to go all in. If I was going to die, I might as well inflict damage any way I could.
“You sent a shadow monster after me,” I said bluntly. “You did all of this. I never did anything to you, and I wouldn’t have even known you existed except for the fact that you came after me. Now, you’re going to try and kill me.”
I huffed. Saying that
, putting the words out there into the world, took the air from my sails. It was really happening. Not just something I could wish away.
“I’m not going to kill you,” Ryland said. “I was never going to kill you. That wasn’t my plan. If I had wanted to kill you, you’d be dead. It wasn’t easy to trap Huntsman. None of this was easy, especially with how volatile you are.”
She sat down, and everything shifted. The cold marble room that we’d been in changed, taking on the appearance of a warm and inviting kitchen. It looked like my kitchen actually. The only thing that was missing were my ridiculous decorations.
“I thought this might make you feel a little bit more comfortable,” Ryland said. “Maybe if you’re comfortable, you’ll give me a chance to tell you what you’re not understanding because you’re so stubborn.”
Immediately, my back tensed even more than I thought was possible. “I’m not stubborn,” I insisted while shaking my head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
My refusal just made Ryland laugh, which made me angrier. We weren’t getting anywhere, and I was losing time. Time that I needed to figure out my next step. To figure out how to stop her. Although, I didn’t know why I cared anymore.
“If you’re not going to kill me,” I said, “does that mean I can leave?”
She shook her head, and my hopes were dashed. “Charisse, there’s a reason I summoned you here. Unfortunately, your friends were the only way to get you here. If I could have done so without the need for them to betray you, I would have. Believe me.”
Her words, and the way she looked at me when she said them... There was something I wasn’t understanding, something I should be able to piece together.
“New Haven is the epicenter of the magical storm that even you know has been on the horizon for over a year now,” Ryland continued. “You’re needed here now, where your magic has wreaked the most havoc.”
“My magic?” I laughed. “I didn’t do any of this. You did.” I looked around. “I had nothing to do with any of this.”
“Of course you did.” Ryland’s eyes shone with laughter, and she started to tap her fingers on the table that sat between us. “None of what’s happening in New Haven has anything to do with me. I just followed the massive amounts of power that were seeping out. When I got here, I found a town that was seriously out of whack. Plus, there was a crazy man walking around talking about how you’d murdered him.”
Dalton. She was talking about Dalton. Plus, she was saying that none of this had to do with her.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I mumbled. “I’m not powerful enough for this.”
Everything was wrong, so wrong.
“I didn’t bring Dalton back to life. I didn’t send New Haven back in time. I didn’t do any of this.”
“Charisse,” Ryland said.
I looked up at her, and she reached across the table to place her hand on top of mine.
“I know that you’ve been doubting yourself the past year,” she said. “But you’re the only conduit who is also a supplicant. You’re the only Dual that I’ve ever heard of. You’re the only person in the world who I know could ever be powerful enough to do something like this.” She waved a hand needlessly around the room.
“You’re wrong,” I said.
“I’m not,” Ryland said with pity in her voice. “Your worst nightmares… I saw them after I sent the Shadow Elf to you. Dalton, his murder, haunted your dreams for a year. New Haven, the way the townspeople acted like they were straight out of the past. The way they hunted and hurt Abram. These things came from you, from the power that you can’t control.”
I groaned. “No.”
My hands shook, my heart raced, and my head pounded against my skull. I deflated. Physically and emotionally. I couldn’t do this.
“Don’t do that,” Ryland commanded. “Do not doubt yourself. You’re the only one who anyone in power seems to want. Hell—” She laughed. “—they want you so badly that they’re offering me my freedom in exchange for me bringing you this letter and seeing the completion of their contract.”
“What?” I looked down at the table, where there was a piece of parchment paper I hadn’t seen before. “What is that?”
“That’s the best offer you’re ever going to get. I hope you take it. Because if you don’t, the power flowing through your veins is going to keep growing out of control. It’s going to destroy you, and it’s going to destroy everything you’ve ever touched.”
“How do you know that?” I touched the parchment, and there was something familiar about the handwriting scrawled over the top of it.
“Because The Brothers told me that the only way to fix this is for you to choose. I just hope you make the right decision, because the fate of the world lies in your hands.”
Chapter 24
I opened the letter from The Brothers with trembling fingers, unable to stop the trickle of fear that slid down my spine. Ryland had put the weight of the world on my shoulders, literally, as I read the words addressed to me.
Dear Ms. Bellamy,
It has come to our attention that you are displeased with the current state of affairs in your life. While we understand and certainly sympathize with your plight, we regret to inform you that there is only one way for you to resolve your predicament.
You were warned, through various means, of the danger we might bring to your life. You made the conscientious decision to ignore these warnings. As a result, we have sent an emissary to guarantee that you will listen to reason.
We, of course, are aware you have no desire to listen to what your current options are. As a result, we have chosen to take away every other avenue you might have. The only way to save yourself from destruction, our dear Ms. Bellamy, is to go back to before you discovered your magical ties.
As you can see, your only option is to give up your life of magic and return to the mundane existence that was your life. Your friends have betrayed you, and would rather sacrifice you than suffer the fate that we have in store for them.
We hope you will find it within yourself to come to terms with your new situation. Our emissary has the power to grant your wish, as it were. Provide her with your answer posthaste, and have your greatest wish granted. Of course, by that, we imply that you will take the only chance you’ll find to go home.
Go home, Ms. Bellamy, and live a life free of magic.
While we wish you well, we hope never to speak again.
The Company
“You’re kidding me, right?” I stared down at the letter, hoping that I was hallucinating. “You’re going to send me back in time? If you have the power to do that, why are we going through all of this in the first place?”
Ryland, with a grace that I should have expected from her, shrugged and then patted my hand. She smiled and shook her head at me the way a mother might while dealing with a ridiculous child.
“Think about it, Charisse.” She tapped the letter I was still clenching in my hands. “On my own? Not a chance in hell I’d be able to send you back. The Brothers? They’re the ones with the power. They’re the ones who are going to send you back. But even they can only do so if you wish for it yourself.”
“I doubt they’d do anything to help me,” I mused.
“They’re not.” Ryland laughed. “The Brothers only ever do anything to help themselves. Anything that comes off as altruistic is only because they want it to seem that way, to get the results they need with the least resistance possible. They’re not so bad, though. There have definitely been worse men in power in my long life.”
“Yeah.” I scoffed. “If you’re so sure they’re not bad, then why would they send you to convince my friends to betray me?”
“What would you rather have, Charisse? Would you know the truth of your situation, or would you bury your head in the sand for another year? Would you fight a pointless battle, one that you have no hope of winning? Or would you rather go back to a time when you were happy?”
“I—I—You don’t—” I shook my head, as if that would help the words come, but I didn’t know what to say.
I wanted to argue that I was happy, that I am happy. I couldn’t, though. She was right, and it was time to face the fact that I didn’t have anyone in my corner. Not anymore.
But how far back could they send me? Till before my mom died? Would she die again? Would The Brothers ensure I never crossed paths with Abram? And could I bring myself to make that choice?
“Do you want to see something?” Ryland asked, smiling at me like there was nothing wrong. Like I wasn’t going through monumental discoveries about myself.
“What?” I laced my fingers together and pressed the heels of my palms together, needing to feel something real. Needing the minor comfort it offered. “What do you want to show me?”
The look on her face told me two things: one, she was sympathetic to whatever I was going through, which made it harder to hate her on the principle of what she’d done to me. And two, she was just as mischievous as Stacey was, and that meant I had no clue what would happen next. As it turned out, I really had no idea what was going to happen at all.
She squealed and then clapped her hands together. “This is going to be fun.”
Everything shifted, and I was left feeling majorly disoriented. Frantic, I grabbed the edge of the table, trying to steady myself. My hands fell to my sides, though. The table was gone, and everything vanished in a cloud of bright purple smoke.
I gasped. “What the hell?”
Ryland’s smile, now purely mischievous, vanished along with the rest of her. I tried to run. To get away, to use my power to break whatever spell she was casting, but I was stuck. I should have known I wasn’t safe.
The room around me spun, and I closed my eyes, trying to find even the slightest bit of relief from the chaos surrounding me.
My stomach rolled. Wind whipped around me, my hair slapping me in the face no matter how much I tried to keep it tamed. I was stuck in the middle of a hurricane, right in the center of the throne room of Ryland’s castle.
Granted by the Beast: A Steamy Paranormal Romance Spin on Beauty and the Beast (Conduit Series Book 4) Page 18