I grabbed Malachi by the shirt and lifted him up above my head. I could see the white colored glow coming out of my eyes through the reflection of Malachi’s. I didn’t recognize myself. A side thought questioned how any of this was possible. I knew I was supposed to be stronger and have all these other powers that no one sorcerer had but this much strength and the ability to link with Nathan wasn’t on the list of things that were possible.
“You killed my father!” I yelled as I threw my arm back, bringing it back forward, slamming into Malachi’s face. I didn’t let go of his shirt. I was going to get as many hits in as I could before I finally killed him. I hit him again, this time, blood flew from his nose and mouth, giving me a satisfaction that I only felt when we were at the farm and his spell didn’t work.
“Your father killed himself!” he laughed. “He had every opportunity to fight back and he chose not to.”
His words hit me deep when I thought about the possibility. He said he wouldn’t make it out of this alive, but I guess I never thought that he would be taken and killed willingly. I wouldn’t let Malachi’s words get to me no matter how much it hurt to hear them.
“My father did what he had to do to save his people!” I snapped back, breaking his nose with my fist. I glanced back at Nathan who still seemed to be fine. I’m pretty sure he underestimated our strength when he said we would be outnumbered. “You’re too selfish to make a sacrifice like that!”
I threw two more fists at his face before I finally slammed his hunchbacked figure to the ground, making sure I put every ounce of energy into making it hurt as much as possible. He continued to laugh, which only made the rage inside stronger. I kicked my right foot up into the air bringing it down on his chest, the choking sound coming out of him bringing a smile to my face.
“I’d love to stay and finish our chat,” he coughed. “But it looks like my ride is here.”
Before I could say or do anything else, a bright white light that matched my glowing eyes began to form underneath him. I bent down to grab him before he could slip away but just as I was about to grip his shirt again, he fell through the ground, disappearing right in front of me. I dropped to my knees and looked at my palms, the lightning disappearing from them as my body started to calm. How could I let him get away like that? I had him right where I wanted him, and he still got away.
“No!” I screamed as my arms lifted above my head, my hands forming fists before I slammed them down on the ground. The trees around us shook as Nathan came up to my side, bending down and wrapping his arms around me.
“Kota, relax,” he whispered. “It’s over now. Just relax.”
“It’s not over!” I yelled as I pulled myself away from him. I stood up and walked a few steps before my hands found their way to my head. “He literally slipped through my hands. I was about to kill him, and he just disappeared like he had it planned this whole time.”
“Kota, I need you to listen to me,” he begged as he grabbed my shoulders, attempting to get me to look at him. “You did more than anyone ever has before. Look at your hand.”
I glanced down at my right hand and saw the blood that covered it. I wasn’t sure what he was getting at because all I saw was evidence of my failure.
“Don’t you get it?” he asked. “That’s his blood. When we’re ready to go after him again, we’ll be able to find him and it’s because you punched the shit out of him.”
“What if he hides like he did with the Alphas?” I asked trying to remind him of all the flaws that came with hunting Malachi down.
“I happened to know five very special women who were able to get passed that,” he smiled as he bent down and kissed my lips, calming down, making me forget about what just happened.
“You two have so much explaining to do,” Luna’s voice echoed around the fenced area. She and Declan stood just on the other side while the others joined them, arriving at different times.
“Thanks for your help, Luna,” I responded. “You couldn’t use your perfect timing to show up when we actually needed you?”
“Well, that backfired,” Luna muttered as Declan tried not to laugh.
She was right though. We had a lot to explain and I wasn’t really sure where to start.
Chapter Fourteen
Deja
When the girls and I saw the call signal up in the sky we knew it had to be Malachi. Convincing the others that we needed to follow it was hard because no one else could see it. They were having to work with blind faith and even though they were used to that by now it was still hard for them to just walk towards trouble. We were half way to the cave when we changed directions, running as fast as we could to get to Malachi before he got away again. When we arrived, we weren’t expecting to see Kota and Nathan with their eyes glowing a bright white and small lightning bolts hovering their hands. We were all at different distances away, but no one missed that scene. Kota looked upset and Nathan was trying to calm her down, the bright lights in their eyes disappearing as their conversation continued. We were gathered around them now just outside a short bush fence. What was it with Malachi and fences made of bushes? At least we could step over this one and there wasn’t a cloaking spell on it.
“You two have so much explaining to do,” Luna’s voice was loud and demanding. Did she really have to insert herself into their conversation right now? It couldn’t wait until we checked to make sure they were okay? Who was I kidding? It was Luna, so of course, she wasn’t going to wait.
“Thanks for your help, Luna,” I heard Kota answer as she took a few steps away from Nathan. He watched her closely, his worry for her was so strong that I don’t think he could hide it even if he tried. “You couldn’t use your perfect timing to show up when we actually needed you?”
“Well, that backfired,” I heard Luna mumbled under her breath. It was hard not to laugh because everyone knew that Luna barged in whenever she wasn’t needed and the one time that would’ve come in handy she was nowhere to be found.
“Kota!” Kory yelled as he and Kody finally caught up to us. Our brothers weren’t with us when we changed direction, but our energy was strong, so they must’ve followed it until they found us.
“I’m fine, Kory,” she said as we all stepped over the bush fence to crowd around them. No one wanted to miss this explanation.
“What the fuck happened?” he asked looking back and forth between Kota and Nathan.
“It’s a long story,” Kota told him.
“Well, start talking,” Kody demanded. Kory looked at him sternly telling him to cool it before he turned his attention back to Kota and Nathan.
Kota started to explain how something was tugging at her to come in this direction instead of going towards the cave. She was struggling to tell us what had happened because so much occurred and she was worried she was forgetting something.
“At first, I thought it was the cave that was tugging me in its direction but then it changed, and we were going in a whole new direction,” she said. “As we got closer I started to recognize the energy.”
“And it was Malachi’s, right?” Kory asked.
“No,” Nathan answered. He turned his glance over to Roman before speaking again. “It was Rosco’s energy.”
“He’s the one in league with Malachi,” Kota continued. “He said there were other members from all the Councils that were involved but it looks like he was the first one to align himself with that asshole.”
Roman didn’t look surprised but I could also tell that he was hurt. Not only was his dad an awful father but he was a traitor as well, and that does something to a child who still has hope for their parent to be better. It was starting to look like Rosco wouldn’t turn his life around and Roman was going to have to deal with it eventually. Nova wrapped her arms around his and leaned into him, attempting to comfort him. He was going to need her as he gets himself through this. I hope she’s prepared for that.
“Malachi brought up the journal and how he wanted it back,” I heard Kot
a start talking again and all of our attention switched back to her, giving Roman a break. “That’s when the fight started.”
“So, he started it?” Kody asked, getting angrier as more of the story was revealed.
“No,” Nathan and Kota said together, but it was Nathan shaking his head roughly as if he told her not to do it but did it anyways. That sounds more like Luna, but I guess if Kota is pushed far enough she can act that way, too. When it comes to Malachi I’m not sure what any of us would do.
“I started it,” Kota admitted.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Kody snapped.
“I’m not going to tell you again to cool it, Kody,” Kory whipped his head towards him. “Let her finish. We can scold her later.”
“How did your eyes glow like that?” I asked, still trying to figure out how it was possible. I had never seen or heard of any species being able to do that and I hadn’t read it in any of the history books either.
“Nathan tried to stop me from attacking Malachi and when he touched me our energies combined,” Kota explained.
“Excuse me?” Juda questioned. “What do you mean by that?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” she said, frustration growing in her eyes. “All I know is I had his energy along with mine and he had my energy along with his. It made us stronger even though we weren’t touching each other the whole time. He saw the call signal that Malachi sent out, too.”
“He sent a call signal out?” Levi stepped forward, his curiosity no longer staying silent.
“Where do you think all these bodies came from?” Nathan asked as his eyes searched the grounds. Along the bush fence dead bodies were scattered, some of them in one piece and others in several.
“This is a lot to take in,” I said as I glanced over at Kota. I wanted to make sure she was okay but with so many other people around wanting to ask questions, it was impossible for me to get to her. I was worried about her physically. She was walking and showed no signs of being injured so I knew she was fine. I was concerned about the mental side of it. She came face to face with the enemy and came so close to killing him. She had to have so much going on in that head of hers.
A noise came from the other side of the bush fence, causing all of us to turn our heads to see what it was. A male figure began to move and when his face showed itself, Roman pounced, landing on him before he could stand up.
“You fucking traitor!” he yelled as he punched Rosco over and over again. Nico and Juno ran towards them, attempting to pull Roman off of his father but it seemed to be impossible.
“We need him alive, Roman!” Nico yelled as he continued to tug at Roman’s shoulder. Juno was attempting to put himself in between Rosco and his son but Roman continued to find a way around him. “He may know information that we need. You have to stop!”
“He’s a traitor!” Roman yelled finally turned to face Nico, only to turn back and continue beating his father. Rosco face was covered in blood now, the whole area now one color.
“I know he is and he will pay for what he’s done!” Nova yelled from over Nico’s shoulder.
“Nova, get back!” Nico yelled, doing his best to protect her from Roman’s outburst.
“Shut up, Nico,” she snarled as jumped over the three of them so that she could face Roman. “Listen to me! He will pay the price for his actions, but this isn’t doing any good.”
Roman looked up at her, his eyes angry and filled with blind rage. Nova didn’t seem to be scared of him though. She stayed right where she was, continuing to talk him into backing down.
“I know he hurt you,” she whispered. “But this isn’t the way to go about this. Let him go.”
He finally pulled back, leaning into Nico as he caught his balance. Nico and Juno helped him up, making sure he was calm before letting go of him. He was breathing deeply as he looked down at the man who was unconscious. Nico and Nero would make sure Roman didn’t get in trouble for this, but I knew a lecture would be coming later when we got back to the castle. As second in command, he had to control himself even when it came to his sketchy father.
“We need to get him back to the castle,” Nico suggested. “Kory, can you open a portal?”
“Are we all going back or just you?” Juno questioned as he carried Rosco over his shoulder.
“Just me,” Nico answered. “We still have to get to the bottom of whatever is at the cave. I’m just going to drop Rosco off at the dungeon and then come right back through.”
Kory had the portal open now. Juno offered to go through with him since Rosco was already over his shoulder. They were gone right before our eyes only to return two minutes later. While they were gone I took this moment to go to Kota and make sure she was okay. She was with Nathan when I approached her who was doing some spell focusing on her hand. He flicked his wrist after muttering a few words and the blood on Kota’s hand started to float. Nathan flicked his wrist one more time, a smile vile appearing in his hand. The blood began to float its way into the vile where he sealed it up and then put it in his bag for safe keeping.
“That was the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” I said as I broke the silence.
“It’s pretty cool I guess,” Kota seemed like her shy self again.
“How are you doing?” I finally asked.
“I’m angry,” she admitted. “I let him get away.”
“Not without a badass fight,” I told her. “You seriously almost took down the most evil bastard in all of Medova by yourself. Give yourself some credit.”
“You’re probably right,” she shrugged.
“There’s something else bothering you,” I noticed. “Did he say something to you?”
“It was just Malachi getting into my head,” she said. “There’s no reason to think about it anymore.”
“What did he say?” I continued to pry. “It obviously bothered you. Just because it was Malachi who said it doesn’t mean it’s nothing.”
“He said my father killed himself because he didn’t fight back,” she finally told me.
“And because your father said he would have to die in order for you to do your part you believed him,” Nathan said, putting the pieces together just as quickly as I had. He was getting to know the way she thought and processed things just as well as the girls and I could. It made me smile thinking about all the ways their relationship has grown ever since their binding ceremony. They really did love each other.
“I know it’s stupid,” she said shaking her head.
“It’s not stupid,” I assured her. “It’s only stupid if you give his words more life than they deserve.”
A flash came through the portal and Nico and Juno came through ready to continue on with our journey. It was hard to believe they were only gone for two minutes. Juno had some blood on his shirt from Rosco’s bloody face, but Kory somehow made that magically disappear. These sorcerers were showing off a lot.
Kody walked over to us once the Alphas gathered around themselves to discuss where to go from here. He seemed sincere when he started to speak, apologizing for how he spoke to her earlier.
“I didn’t mean to be so harsh,” he said. “I was just worried about you and the thought of you fighting that bastard by yourself didn’t sit well with me. I know Nathan was here with you but by the looks of it he had his own shit to deal with. I don’t like that my sister and my best friend were in the fight of their lives with no back up.”
“Apology accepted,” Kota said as she wrapped her arms around her brother’s neck. “But next time, at least let me finish what happened before you freak out on me. It’s hard to keep explaining when you’ve been interrupted.”
“I will do my best,” he smiled.
The Alphas started walking back towards the cave signaling us to follow them. Gavin came up behind me waiting for me to start moving. It took a lot out of him to listen to me today. He really wanted to fight with me about following something he couldn’t see but, in the end, he trusted me. Ju
st like Nathan and Kota’s, our relationship was starting to grow. I wasn’t sure what that meant but I was becoming more confident in the fact that he would always be by my side. We were going to be bound, there was no doubt about that now, but I was worried that it would be a loveless relationship because it was forced. Everything after the decision was made showed me that I was wrong in thinking that. If anything, it was easier to let myself open up to him, almost like I should’ve been doing it all along.
“Are you okay?” he asked me as we followed behind our group. We decided to stay together this time instead of covering more ground. It was getting later in the day and we would have to set up camp once we arrived at the cave. It was best if we stuck together.
“I’m fine,” I told him. “It’s just a lot to take in. First, we find out that my dad might still be alive and then Malachi and Rosco. It’s just hard to process it all right now.”
“I knew Rosco wasn’t the nicest guy in the world, but I never would have said he was a traitor,” Gavin said as he thought about his interactions with Roman’s father.
“I never would’ve thought that either but, then again, I never really spoke to him,” I admitted. “I kept my distance from the Council no matter what territory we were in.”
“I hope you know my father isn’t any better,” he said quietly. “I don’t think he’s one of the members aligning himself with Malachi, but he has a lot of faults and he’s not a very good fairy.”
“I’m aware of some of the things he and the other members of our Council has done,” I told him. “But what does it matter? You’re not your father.”
“No, but you will be binding into our family just as I will be binding into yours,” he said. “Your family is honorable but mine isn’t.”
Deprived (Daughter of an Alpha Book 2) Page 23