I open my eyes and look down to see the plank has now shrunk in length and width, as if the board is closing in on me. Taking a deep breath, I return to focusing. I can do this. My eyes squeeze tighter when small bomb-like explosions begin to disturb the once still water. I hear splashes around me, indicating the casters that have lost their balance and have hit the water. I decide to keep my eyes closed for as long as I can, as I tap into my other senses, so I can keep from getting distracted. I can hear more casters falling down, but I refuse to open my eyes and break my concentration. A few more splashes, and I continue my mantra of self-encouragement.
When there is nothing but silence, I dare to peek my eyes open. I see Evan right away and squeeze my eyes shut again, after I saw him standing above the water on an almost invisible tight rope. His eyes were also closed, as if he was meditating. The second I saw the large, scaly back of an alligator swim around him, I almost lost my concentration and felt my balance wavering. Closing my eyes again, I focus so intensely that I don't even hear the blast go off. “Scarlet, you can open your eyes now and step down.” Evan’s sweet voice sounds in my head. I open my eyes to see Evan standing directly in front of me. I fall into his arms, feeling off balance. “Whoa, love. Let’s get a drink,” he says, as we both slowly walk toward the refreshments as Ava appears. “Very well done, casters.” She compliments those of us who stayed afloat. I look over to see Derek and Lucas completely dry. Ava snaps her fingers and dries up the casters that did fall in the water.
“We are almost done with day two! Only two events left, and we will have our prophesied coven!” Ava shouts, getting full-blown cheering from the crowd in the stands. It is so intense that I feel the ground rumbling. Ava raises a hand, and the crowd silences. “Game 7 is Survival Match. You are given two baskets to fill, one with things that can harm you and one with things that will keep you safe. You have 15 minutes to get every item into its designated basket. Good luck, casters!” She announces then disappears. As I look ahead, I can tell that this event is similarly built like Game 3. Each location has their own room with their own cubicles. The blast sounds, and we all run into our rooms. The guys and I take the same four cubicles that we took before, and waiting for us are holographic-looking cards floating in the air in front of us. Evan was right. This is almost exactly like when the other Sisters, and I chose the games for these Matches. On the cards are pictures like poison ivy, a banana, grenade, or a yellow snake. They seem pretty self-explanatory, so I get through it quickly.
With only ten cards left, I rush to finish my turn. When I do, I step back to get a look at everyone else’s time. Evan has only three cards left, and his cousins look to be struggling a bit. Lucas has less cards floating than Derek, but they both seem slightly stumped. And before I could watch the others, the blast sounds. Derek loudly curses and throws a punch that just goes through the holographic cards. “Drama queen.” Lucas chastises him.
The other casters from the other locations pile out, and we all take our drink and quickly make our way to stand in front of the last event. We are all eager to end these Matches. Ava appears, and she looks just as anxious as we all do. “We have come to the last event of our Caster Matches! After you defeat your beast in the fight box, you may join your families in the stands. When Scarlet completes her turn, we will meet at the buses and make our way back to the estate. There will be food and drinks for everyone as we await the results of the Matches. In this event you will have to defeat the same creature you were given yesterday. Only there is no use of magic. After all, self-defense is something you need to know to survive. When you have completed your event, your power will be unsealed.” She nods her head and disappears.
The blast sounds, and the first set of casters run forward to await the battle of their fears. As Evan and I take a seat on the ground, we patiently wait for our turn. Sometime in the middle of the event, I looked up at the Elders’ section and saw Ava is having a hard time keeping herself together. “Be right back,” I say to Evan. I walk up to where the Elders are seated since our powers are sealed. The Sisters are crowded around Ava, so I make my way to her. When I see her, I instantly get to my knees, kneeling in front of her. “Ava, what’s wrong?” I ask her full of worry.
“I called Dimitri to see if I can get through to him, but he snubbed me out. Lenora took the phone and very rudely told me to leave him alone,” she says, sadly. “What? That’s it! I’ve had enough,” I say with conviction, as I stand up to pace the room. “I am going straight home to have a word with Dimitri, and I don’t care what this woman has to say about it,” I say with anger in my tone. Ava stands and stills me with her hands on my shoulders, “Honey, he isn't home anymore. She told me she is taking him somewhere for the night. She says he shouldn't be getting hassled by us when he’s with her.”
“Ugh. I can’t wait to give this lady a piece of my mind,” I say under my breath. I am now highly pissed off. Because the plan after the Matches was to go home and speak to Dimitri and try to ascertain what the hell is going on with him. But if he isn't there, how can we try and help him? “Well, I guess I'm staying in Eden tonight, then,” I say, more to myself than anyone else. Hunter jumps up. “Yes! And I can see it in your eyes. You look like a mad woman. I can only imagine the wonderful delicacies you are going to make when we get back,” she says, not really worried about how selfish she sounds.
And I can’t blame her. She is right. I can definitely bake up a storm right now. And now I can’t wait to get home. “Definitely baking something when we get back there.” I confirm her thought. She pumps her arm in the air then quickly retracts it, as she realizes her celebratory attitude is not helping Ava or me feel any better. Nova gives her a stink eye, and Belle swats at them and continues consoling our head Elder. “Scar, your turn is coming up,” Hunter says quietly, as she tries to recover from the momentary embarrassment.
“Thanks,” I tell her, before giving her a nod of encouragement. “It’s going to be okay, Ava. We are going to fix this,” I say before Hunter transports me back down to the arena grounds. I appeared just in time to see Evan slice the dragon’s neck with his katanas. He loudly cheers for himself, as the adrenaline from the fight is still driving him. And he jogs off of the event. Instead of leaving to the stands, like the other competitors did, he stands there and waits for me to finish my turn. The blast sounds, and the other casters walk off of the event.
Quickly after, the blast goes off again, and I run forward to the now empty space. I await my evil counterpart to come out of the box and already know she can fight like me, but she isn't as skilled. I can see her moves before she makes them. And now with all of this angry energy running through me, I can’t wait to take it out on her. The black smoke floats out of the box as evil Scarlet begins to form. I don't even wait for the smoke to dissipate before charging. The minute her head is formed, I run forward and send a flying kick right to her abdomen.
She bends down in agony, and I take the chance to attack again. With all of my strength, I punch her directly in the jaw. She reminds me of the clown yesterday, when she looks up at me to reveal her broken jaw hanging off of her face. She sees me hesitate from the disgusting view and throws a sucker punch at my face. I see it coming too late, and the heel of her palm connects with my nose. I lift my hand to catch the blood that instantly begins to run down my face. Bitch!
If I was pissed before, I'm heated now. There is nothing that’s going to stop me from killing her. I run forward to grab her by the head, and I forcefully slam it down, as my knee is coming up. I do this two, three, four times until I hear the cartilage in her nose crack. There’s blood on her face, on my legs. There is blood everywhere. Her body goes limp in my hands, but I don’t stop attacking. I kick her in the midsection, cracking some ribs. I pick her up by her head and twist, and I feel her neck snap, letting her go in one motion as her body slumps to the ground. The sound of the blast snaps me out of my combative trance. When I see all the blood on my hands and clothes, I stumble backwards
.
Thankfully Evan was there, waiting to catch me. “It’s all right, love,” he says, as he pulls me in a tight hug. “Come on. Let’s go.” He tries to get me off of the field and away from prying eyes, so I attempt to keep it together just a little longer. We go straight to the bus before anyone else gets there, and we take our seats. As I explain to Evan what happened when Ava called Dimitri, I can see the annoyance also fill his eyes, especially now that we are not going back to New York to settle this. But he stays level-headed. And that is something that I have to learn from him. Casters begin piling themselves on the bus, and I get momentarily happy to finally be done with the Caster Matches. As much as I am thankful for the practice and the knowledge I accumulated, I think I will like it more when I just get to watch with the other Elders.
“I cannot wait to bake something,” I say to him. He claps his hands and rubs them together. “Oh, hell yeah!” I'm thankful to have people like Evan and Hunter to make me feel better when I'm down. “So now that we’re not going to Dad’s house, what are the plans?” I ask, not entirely ready to hear what is to come. Evan takes in a deep breath and looks over at me. “Well, love, we can shower when we get home, then have dinner, like we did last night. You can bake something while they announce the casters who are selected to be in the Light Coven. I was thinking that maybe you can invite them over to your wing to try your heavenly desserts. Then we’ll most likely have your ceremonies,” he says in a matter of fact kind of way.
I grunt, and it causes him to hug me just a little more tightly, which is exactly what my body craves right now. “I’m ready if you are,” I say, as I rest my head on his shoulder. He kisses me on my head and responds in mind speak. “As long as I'm with you, I’ll always be ready for anything coming our way, love,” he says, resting his head on mine. If he only knew just how much I actually do need him by my side.
Chapter 38
The Light Coven
Evan and I raced to my wing in the Elders’ estate, and the second we ran through the big black doors, our clothes started coming off. I struggle behind Evan and giggle as I see him pull his shirt over his head. The muscles in his back flexing as he peels the sweaty tee off of him. My cheeks get red as I remember seeing him naked in his house the first night that we found out I finally had my power. I follow him in a hurried rush as we both undress throughout the front of my enormous wing, as we keep heading towards the showers.
He peeks back at me as he reaches the stairs and winks, taking off two steps at a time to our bathroom. I run forward and attempt to catch up in the midst of undressing my tight and sweaty pants. Halfway up I get tired of the struggle and snap my fingers, casting my pants to disappear. I rapidly run up the rest of the stairs, and when I reach our room, I hear that the shower is already on. I want to do something that will surprise him because I want to show him how grateful and appreciative I am of how wonderfully supportive he is to me.
Although tonight is not the night to seal our bond, I can still make this more fun for the both of us. I close my eyes and focus on the lacy red panties and bra set in my closet. I flick my wrist. When I feel my power escape my fingers, I feel my chest get slightly pushed up. and I look down to see them lifted higher than normal. As my hand touches the doorknob to the bathroom, I feel the electric wave run down my spine, and I shiver in anticipation. I push open the door feeling the goose bumps rise all over my entire body. The rush of his closeness is enough to have me reacting like a fiend. When we’re alone like this, it’s tough on us both to keep our hands off of each other. But right now, I don't want to fight it. I want to feel his hands on me, my hands on him. I step into the shower and watch my Anima Partem wash the shampoo out of his hair. His lips look so luscious as the water runs down over his mouth, and the water pouring down his abs, making his body glisten. I look down further to continue checking him out, when his deep and raspy voice echoes off of the shower walls.
“Oh my...” He pulls his hair out of his face and slowly saunters over to me. Taking my body in, I see the hunger in his eyes escalate. Evan brings his soft wet hands to my waist and pulls me into his steaming body. He flicks his wrist and my hair falls out of the ponytail it was in. Slowly he turns us around but continues to stay so close to me. As he pulls me into the hot water with him, he runs his hands through my hair. I close my eyes to savor the intimate moment. “You are so beautiful, Scarlet,” he says in a deeper tone. Even with my eyes closed, I know he’s admiring my body. And I want him to.
I raise my hand to his back and pull him closer to me. Our bodies gently collide against each other, and I feel like this steaming hot shower is going to make us both explode. I push forward and open my eyes to see his round hazel ones are devouring my entire body. When his eyes make their way back up to mine, neither of us have enough strength to keep the other away. Our lips crash down on each other, and we lose complete control. Staying interlocked that way until somehow, in the midst of our intense connection, we ended up on the floor of the shower. We don't start laughing about it until he tries to help me up from the slippery floor. He gives up because he’s laughing so hard, and we both end up laying back down, with the water from the shower raining on us.
“I love you so much, Scar,” he says gently, taking my lips in his once more. “I love you more than you will ever know, Evan.” I respond in mind speak. This time, when he tries to help me up, I can see the laughing completely stopped, and his features suddenly turn serious again. He slowly gets me to my feet and takes my hands in his. “Scarlet, I have never felt anything like what we have together. My love for you continues to grow every single minute of every day. I am so proud that I get to call you my Anima Partem. And although I know things have been hectic, I can’t think of a better time to ask this request of you. Love, will you do me the honor of having our Anima Partem ceremony when everything cools down?” He asks. There are tears in my eyes from the rawness of his devotion for me.
Evan snaps his fingers, and a gorgeous golden ring with a stunning red ruby appears in the palm of his hand. “Yes, Evan. A million times, yes,” I reply, shakily, as he takes my hand and places the ring on my finger. “It’s not tradition for casters to seal the engagement with a ring like the mortals do, but I wanted it to be what you always thought it would be like. This was one of my mother’s rings, Scarlet. And I would love for you to have it,” he says, raising the top of my hand to his lips. With tears still in my eyes, I take his face in my hands and pull it down closer and closer to mine. And the moment our lips touch, we return to the heated frenzy we were just in a moment ago.
Only this time we don't end up on the floor. Evan pulls away so we can both catch our breaths, and I decide that since Evan is eventually going to be my caster husband for eternity, then I shouldn't be so nervous about bathing naked with him. Evan turns to grab the sponge, and I take the moment to snap my fingers to make our undergarments disappear. When he hears the sound my fingers make, he quickly spins around, almost slipping on the floor. And when he sees my bare-naked body standing before him, he stands up straight with wide eyes. He slowly makes his way to me, and I can’t help but unashamedly look at his soapy manhood. He takes my chin and lifts it up to look into his eyes.
“Heavens, you are divine,” he says, as he softly placed a kiss on me. “And all mine,” he says, before placing another kiss on my lips. “And I can’t wait to seal our fate together.” He places another sultry kiss on my swollen lips. And as hard as it is to not bond right this moment, we keep strong. We vow to save that special moment for our ceremony night and finish our shower in steamy silence. As soon as we walk out of the bathroom, Comet runs to my bare feet, rubbing up against my ankles and purring in excitement. I smile as I watch the pendulum around his neck fill with pink, indicating his happiness. I bend down to retrieve him and bring him up for a snuggle.
“Am I going to have to compete with this guy for your love now?” Evan jokes, as he comes up to leave a kiss on Comet’s head. “Of course not. You know he always comes
first,” I say jokingly. Evan turns towards me as he tackles me onto the bed. Comet meows and escapes the wrestling, and I feel my towel fall off, gasping in surprise. With a sinister look on his face, he holds my hands above my head, leaving a trail of kisses from my neck, down through my cleavage, to my bellybutton. Then comes back up to place one on my lips. Desire fills the room in thick tension as we stare into each other’s eyes. The struggle is tough, but I know we can hold on and pull through until our ceremony.
“We have got to have this ceremony already.” I say, panting out loud, when I meant to keep it to myself. Evan’s head falls down on my shoulder, chuckling his agreement. “I can’t agree more, love,” he says, handing me my towel. We hear someone’s loud laughter downstairs, and both look at each other confused. The plan was to meet in Ava's wing when we were ready. But instead, it sounds like there are people here, in my wing. I snap my fingers to make the map appear in my hands. “It shows that all of the Sisters are here,” I say, beginning to grow concerned.
Evan snaps his fingers, and his clothes appear quickly on his body. It looks like he is expecting me to also cast my clothes on. But instead, I take his hand, and I tell him to do it. He smiles wickedly and instantly snaps his fingers. I look down to see that I'm dressed in an extra tight all leather body suit that is cut and open, revealing my cleavage, my stomach and my back. “Evan!” I playfully shout at him. “We are definitely going to be putting this in the closet for another day,” he teases. I feel my face turn red and give in, nodding my head in agreement. He chuckles and snaps his fingers again, this time, dressing me in comfortable yoga pants and a small white camisole tank top. My hair is loose and damp from the shower, but it has a white cotton headband in it, pushing the hair out of my face. This looks like the outfit I wore the first time that we saw each other. “Much better.” I say with relief as we join hands and make our way down to the noisy kitchen.
Winter's Awakening (Light Coven Chronicles Book 1) Page 37