Magical Compass: A Supernatural Prison Story

by Jaymin Eve

  Looked like she was really starting to come around to the idea that she was one of them.

  Jacob brushed his hand over her hair, ruffling back some of the loose strands. “We’ll get to them before the hunters. You’ll never have to fight these battles alone, Grace. We’re family.”

  Grace craned her neck to look up at him. “Thank you. That means so much to me.” Her voice wavered, before she sniffled and pulled herself together. “Let’s do this!”

  It was incredible to see her tuck away her emotions like that. One moment so much was written across her face, the next it was gone. If I hadn’t been able to feel her in my chest, sense her in my thoughts, I would have wondered if she was feeling anything at all. But she was like Braxton right now, on emotional overload.

  Everyone else was already dressed, so I grabbed up the heavy winter jacket that one of the girls had found for me. It would be freezing in Jeste prison, and no doubt they would limit the magic we could use to warm ourselves. We then headed toward Louis’ home, summer heat beating down on us.

  It was a beautiful day, the forest full of life, supes everywhere. We waved at those who acknowledged us, receiving a few odd looks regarding our winter gear. No one questioned us, but the gossip would pick up as soon as we got out of hearing range. Maybe they’d think we were going on a skiing holiday. I doubted anyone would guess the real reason for these jackets.

  When we crossed into the back part of Stratford, it was far less crowded. “It’s starting to become a bit of an issue,” Jessa said, talking to Braxton, but all of us could hear, “you four having to leave Stratford all the time.”

  They were holding hands, and he pulled her to a stop as he asked, “What would you think about us passing this position on?”

  She didn’t answer immediately, her eyes slightly wide as she trailed them across Braxton, and then the rest of us. “I think that’s a good idea,” she finally said.

  Her decision surprised me, and Grace made a small, shocked noise in her throat. It drew Jessa’s attention. “You’ve always been so proud of that part of them,” Grace murmured. “How they were going to be the youngest leaders, and so powerful. I just didn’t expect you to answer like that.”

  Jessa nodded a few times before she said, “I am proud of them. We all knew from a very young age that these four egotistical assholes were going to out-power us by a million to one.”

  Braxton let out a chuckle; he found his brat of a mate way too adorable. She continued: “The most powerful supes run the councils. It’s the way we’ve always done it, so it makes sense that the boys would become leaders. The only problem is … they can do a hell of a lot more good not tied down to Stratford. To America even. It feels restrictive.”

  Mischa jumped in. “I agree to some extent, but remember how much trouble the council caused for us before. Right now, the guys have no one else to answer to, but if they lose their position, they’ll automatically have to follow the rules again.”

  Grace and Jessa both snort-laughed at that. Mischa shook her head, a small smile on her lips. “Okay, I know they’re not great at following the rules, but … they might have to once they no longer lead.”

  Grace shook her head, amusement tingeing her voice. “If by ‘not great,’ you mean terrible … never listened … did what they wanted and still scared the elders … then yes, they are not great at following rules.”

  Jacob’s eyes were filled with amusement. “You guys are screwed. Your females are going to eat you up and spit out the crumbling remains of your ba—”

  He was cut off by my smack to the back of the head. Not that he was wrong, but there were rules. Guys didn’t discuss the fact that our mates had us well and truly by the balls. We pretended we still called all the shots. We pretended we were the big strong men in charge. Even though everyone knew that was bullshit, there was an unwritten rule. Man code.

  Braxton wrapped his arm tightly around Jessa. “My balls are made of steel. They don’t crumble.” Jessa opened her mouth and he shifted around so his hand covered her face, cutting off whatever smartass reply she had ready.

  “Steel … balls,” he reiterated, dodging her elbow.

  She managed to get loose though, her teeth bared as she snarled at Braxton. “Let’s test out that steel balls theory, what do ya think?”

  It was a challenge, and as Braxton raised an eyebrow and eyed off his mate, I wondered how this was going to go down. Dragons loved challenges. Even my own had raised his head, wisps of the beast coating my skin.

  “Your eyes are different,” Grace murmured, catching my attention, and I turned away from the drama.

  “It’s the dragon soul. It mixes with the sorcery gold, and my natural color.”

  She regarded me carefully, before her smile turned up a few more watts. “I like it.” With a tilt of her head, my chest tightened and body went rock hard as she stared me up and down. Everything about her in this moment was sexy … sultry … siren.

  It reminded me there was a female fey inside of her, buried somewhere deep down. And even though they were dangerous and rare, I wanted that side of her free. I wanted every part of my mate.

  I wanted it all.

  Grace Carter

  I wasn’t sure if it was the sexual tension Jessa and Braxton were throwing around, or the fact that Tyson was staring at me that way again, but I was finding it very difficult to control myself. The longer I was with him, the more our bond strengthened, and the less my thoughts were dominated by the torture.

  I was starting to feel more like my old self. Which was a gift I never expected to receive. At my darkest moments with my cousin and SOB, it felt like I lost fundamental parts of myself. Permanently. Now I could see everything much clearer, and I knew there were worse things than the physical pain I went through. Perspective was an interesting concept. Thank the gods I lived long enough to see a larger picture than the hellhole that had been my gran’s little farm house.

  Tyson’s energy brushed across my mind, his warmth and strength. It filled me, and in this moment I was fighting a very real urge to tear his clothes off and discover what it was like to be loved by a Compass. I had an idea, but an idea was not good enough anymore. I wanted the real thing.

  “Come on, guys, we have to keep moving.” Mischa was the voice of reason, bravely stepping between her sister and the dragon shifter.

  Maximus let out a low curse, reaching out one of his long, long arms and yanking her out of the line of fire. “How many times have I told you not to jump in between these two hotheads?” He sounded exasperated, but also kinda amused.

  Jacob had been right before: Maximus and Braxton were screwed. They loved their mates and kids more than anything, and therefore let them get away with murder. These men – who liked to give orders and have them obeyed – were helpless to resist the needs and wants of the Lebron twins.

  Would it be like that with Tyson? The thought struck me hard, and I couldn’t easily answer. He had never treated me that way in the past, like he would still love me no matter how much of an unreasonable ass I was being. That was the sort of love I wanted. Unconditional. Don’t just love me at my best, nope, you had to take all of me.

  Silly little witch. The amused voice trailed across my mind, and goosebumps immediately appeared on my skin as my entire body reacted. You’re never an ass. And even if one day you decide to see how far you can push me, I can take it. I like your fire. I crave it. There are no conditions.

  Everything inside of me clenched so hard my ribs actually ached. The need I had for Tyson was very real, and piece by piece he was bringing me back to the light. Chipping away my past hurts and worries. The darkness inside of me was tamed; the time I suffered with my family fading. For the first time in weeks, I breathed deeply, freely.

  We have a clean slate. I pushed the words toward him, keeping our link open.

  He wrapped an arm around me, and Evie let out a little happy noise as her uncle came into her line of sight. Tyson brushed a single finger across h
er tiny baby cheek, before he lifted that hand and cupped my face.

  “No clean slate. I need to make too many things up to you. But we are moving forward, together. Always.”

  And there he went again, being a perfect mate. Before I could collapse in a pathetic puddle at his feet, we were distracted by Braxton growling loud enough to rock the ground we stood on. A number of supes who had been milling around took off in a rush.

  “Oh, I’m so scared of a little dragon growl,” Jessa scoffed, waving her hands up in the air in fake distress.

  Braxton grumbled, and in a move so quick I almost missed it, scooped Jessa up and held her against his chest. Jackson made a little grumbling noise to match his father’s, but didn’t cry out. “You’re trying my patience today, mate.” Braxton’s voice was a low, sexy rasp.

  Jessa flipped him off, crossing her arms across her chest. “Might as well make yourself useful and get us to the portal, mate.”

  Jacob let out a chuckle, and Braxton’s head whipped in his direction. The fey Compass didn’t even flinch. I would have flinched. Instead he gave his brother a shrug as if to say, what can you do? Braxton just shook his head, letting out a long breath. He then turned back to Jessa and before she could open her mouth for whatever taunt was next, he pressed his lips to hers.

  Their kiss had fire in it, an almost brutal sort of passion, which softened toward the end. When they finally pulled apart, I heard him whisper, “Don’t ever fucking change, Jess.”

  Her smug smile was all I saw. I missed her reply, but I didn’t need to hear it.

  Screwed. Totally screwed.

  It was calmer after this, all of us racing toward Louis’ home. It was behind the industrial area of Stratford, in a more natural part of our territory. It was beautiful here, a sense of peace stealing across me as I let my hands trail across a small pocket of flowers.

  “I hate that he’s still stuck between the worlds.” Jessa’s voice was low. She was back on her feet, her eyes locked on the tip of a roof just visible around a waterfall. “We should have done more to help him. It’s not good enough.”

  I swallowed hard, guilt rocking me. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you all. I should have been here in Stratford, not running away because I couldn’t handle it.”

  Many eyes were on me then and I wanted to hide. It felt like everyone was seeing my cracks. My broken pieces. And I didn’t want them to.

  “You went because you thought your family needed you.” Maximus’ voice was gentler than usual. “You were held captive and tortured. I think we’re the ones who owe you an apology.”

  Tyson had said something similar the last time my guilt got the better of me. It actually helped, knowing they weren’t blaming me.

  A hot blast of anger licked against my mind … Tyson. I doubted anyone would tell by looking at his stoic features, but he was furious. His eyes gave him away though, those gold, yellow, and brown-tinged irises. They were distinct, and captivatingly beautiful, like a mosaic piece of art.

  “We’re together now,” Jessa said. I broke away from the intense, fiery gaze of my mate to face her. “They will not defeat us. I refuse to let that happen. This pack is going to rip those assholes a new asshole. They’re going down.”

  Some of the heat in my mind eased. A small sense of amusement tinged Tyson’s thoughts as he drawled, “Rip those assholes a new asshole? I like the way you think, Jessa babe.”

  I liked it too. We had each others’ backs, and it was more than I ever expected. I just hoped this wasn’t the mission that would rip us apart.

  No one seemed to know exactly where this portal was going to appear – their conversation with the elder had apparently been brief, and lacking in detail – so we all spread out. As I started to explore, I couldn’t shake the abandoned, desolate sort of feeling around this place. It was almost like the land missed Louis and was waiting for his return. I had always admired and respected the powerful sorcerer – most magic users did – which made it hard to believe that anything could take him out. He had to be okay, though, our world needed him.

  Evie let out a gurgling sound, distracting me. “Hey, little girl,” I said, keeping my voice low. “You doing okay?” Her eyes were a rich, crystalline blue, a color I would be hard pressed to describe, bright, yet also dark, depthless and filled with pigmentation. Somehow everything within her eyes contradicted itself, but was still perfectly perfect.

  She smiled at me, waving her little fist, a snuggie clenched tightly in it.

  “Here!” I turned at the shout from Jacob, who was about twenty feet away, near a few large redwood trees.

  Wrapping one arm around Evie to support her, I hurried over to where the portal danced between the trees, the swirling magic expanding back in a long cylinder, looking more like a wormhole than a step-through. No doubt those elders knew some nifty travel tricks. They’d been around for almost a millennium. Tyson crossed to my side in a few powerful strides, and without thought I reached for him. As our fingers linked together, a sense of home hit me, and all my nerves fled. Crazy wormhole … no worries. We had this.

  As we navigated our way through the portal, there was a weird sense of weightlessness, which grew as we all moved further toward its swirling end. A light appeared a few feet away, and as Braxton and Jessa – the front of the group – stepped into it, they disappeared. I didn’t like them being out of sight, in an unknown and dangerous situation. Clearly I wasn’t the only one, because everyone picked up the pace, following them out into the light.

  I covered Evie’s eyes as the brightness increased, relieved it was only two steps before it faded away just as quickly. My boots crunched on snow, and I gasped as the first lashes of icy wind hit me. It was cold enough here to literally take my breath away. At least we had rugged up before leaving Stratford, but even so, I still felt like I was freezing.

  Pulling a small beanie from my pocket, I slipped it over Evie’s head. “You might be a little dragon baby,” I said, smiling at her while I adjusted her hat. “But I think even dragons would be cold here.”

  “If you need some dragon heat, I have plenty to spare, mate.” Tyson might have been joking, but I could actually feel the warmth he radiated now. Being dragon mated had changed more than just his eyes.

  “Are you going to keep calling me mate like that?” I shot back at him. “Like I’m a possession?” I wasn’t going to let him know how much I loved it, that every time he used it a tingle of energy zipped through me and turned my knees to jelly. Hells no, I was definitely not telling him that.

  Jessa interrupted us by handing me a thermal blanket. “Can you wrap this around Evie? It will cut out the chill.”

  “No problem.”

  Tyson helped me secure the sheath properly into the baby carrier. When we were done, the entire pack moved closer together, trying to figure out which direction to head. We knew we couldn’t stand still for long, it was too damn cold. Through the swirling snow, Braxton noticed a few buildings, off in the distance, so we started in that direction.

  As we moved, Tyson stayed right by my side. The warmth he was radiating was intoxicating. I wanted to wrap myself around him.

  “You’re not a possession.”

  I almost jumped at his low rumble near my ear, realizing he was finally answering my question.

  “Possessions are things. Stuff you own. You’re so much more than that. If anything, you own me.”

  I faltered slightly, my feet slipping on some ice. Tyson steadied me, our eyes not moving an inch off one another. The intensity he was radiating had my next words a little breathless. “Why do you call me mate all the time, then?” I might have loved the word, but it shocked me each time he said it.

  He chuckled, white teeth flashing at me. “Because I have wanted to say it for so long. And, fair warning, you should just get used to it. I’m not stopping anytime soon.”

  I shook my head at him, those overwhelming emotions clogging my throat again. Trevor used my skin like a carving board and I
didn’t shed a single tear, but a few words from Tyson and I was a regular fountain of emotion.

  “I’m okay with that,” I managed to say, without losing it.

  The ice and dark mass of energy inside of me lay dormant; the only thing filling my center was my bond with Tyson. Ever since we had connected fully, I’d felt like those dark, foreign parts were fading away. This was the right thing for me.

  Unable to linger, we hurried through the arctic landscape. I kept hoping we were closer, but the buildings seemed to be getting farther away.

  “Fuck this,” Jacob muttered, then bursts of fire erupted across his hands, spreading a sliver of warmth between us. “It’s not going to be as strong as usual,” he added, “it’s too damn cold here. But it’s better than nothing.”

  The boys ushered me, Jessa, and Mischa into the center, closest to the warmth, before they used their bulk to continue blocking us from the elements.

  I was a little ashamed of how I had judged the quads when I was younger, calling them arrogant and self-absorbed. I’d had no clue how caring they were. Sure, if you weren’t in their inner circle, you weren’t going to get a lot of direct protection from them, but they continued to put their lives on the line to save the world. To save supernaturals. And they did it all expecting nothing in return.

  Jessa broke through my thoughts. “Were we selfish to bring our kids? Maybe we should have left them with Josephina?” Her voice was hard. “No one told me how much worry would come with being a mom. Greatest joy, for sure, but trying to make all of these freakin’ decisions … I feel like I’m one fuck-up away from my kids needing therapy and they’re not even two months old.”

  “You’re doing amazing,” I reassured her. “You’re a natural mother, as is Mischa. You love and adore your babies, without limits. Trust me, not all moms do this.”

  Jessa turned her head to the side, a little wolf peering out through her eyes. “Thanks, Grace. I … actually really appreciate those words. I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that.” If I had been able to move my fingers, I would have squeezed her hands.