by Claire Marta
“Hanging around out here too long isn’t wise,” Dane said abruptly. His sea green eyes scanned the greenery around them warily. “The Satyr’s aren’t the only things out here. You’re lucky the fairies weren’t feeling hungry or they could have attacked. People have been known to go missing.”
Jasmine glanced at him in confusion. “Hungry?” He had to be joking.
The wizard nodded. The motion made his snow white dreadlocks and cables ripple and click together. “They’re cannibals. They can strip the meat of bones in minutes. We have somewhere safe to lie low. We can take you there.”
Jasmine was happy not to hang around. Learning that the cute, little creatures she had read in fairy tales like to eat flesh was more than unnerving. She followed as Dane and Ella moved away. Benedict stayed at her side. He was making her nervous. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him checking out her arse in the oversized dress. The guy seemed to have one thing on his mind. Did he always think with his dick?
“Any idea what’s going on inside the city? I don’t have a clue since the attack,” she asked, trying to ignore him.
“Somehow they’ve found a way to bind everyone’s magic up there. We seem to have escaped it down here in the forest,” Ella replied. Her hand was still laced with Dane’s as they carefully picked their way across the forest floor.
“I bet it has something to do with that fucking orb,” Jasmine muttered as she clambered over a fallen tree trunk. The rough surface grazed against the cuts on her palms and bare legs. She hissed with the discomfort. A pair of big hands spanned her waist. Before she knew what was happening, Benedict had lifted her gently and placed her down on the other side.
When she turned to thank him, she found his gaze glued to her chest. Not even bothering to look and see how much boob he was getting an eyeful of, she yanked the material back into place. His reaction to the action was a huge toothy grin. Jasmine flipped him off.
“You saw it too?” Dane asked, pausing to wait for her.
“It’s how Teasag is controlling the Jinn,” she replied, not waiting for Benedict to negotiate the tree trunk. Instead, she hurried to catch up with the other two.
“Ah, that explains a lot,” Ella murmured beside the wizard. “Is your magic still working?”
Jasmine hesitated. Morgana had said she would meet allies. Unless anyone else was about to randomly pop up out here, she had a feeling these were the ones the Sorceress had meant. She was going to have to trust them with the truth, especially if they were going to help her go up against Teasag and her coven. It wasn’t like she had much choice.
Jasmine cleared her throat. “I can’t do magic,” she admitted awkwardly.
Ella’s eyes widened in surprise. “I knew it. She’s a mortal!”
“So on my bucket list to do.” Benedict’s smooth voice said from right behind her.
Jumping, she turned to glare at him. “It isn’t going to happen, arsehole.” One of her hands was pressed firmly to the material covering her breasts. There was no way she wanted to give him another peep show. This would probably give him ideas. The bard laughed. A deep rumbling sound, it worked its way up through his thickly muscled chest.
“We keep taking peeks inside the city,” Dane continued, patiently ignoring him. “But that’s about it so far.”
“Peeks?” Jasmine was now curious.
One side of the wizard’s mouth sloped up into the start of a smile. “We’ll show you.”
The sound of a generator hummed softly in the background. Jasmine was lying nervously in an adjustable, leather, padded chair. Like the kind tattoo artists use. Cranked back, it had her lying flat. Her fingers brushed the padding as she fidgeted. The urge to dig her fingernails into it was a strong one, but she resisted it.
Taking a steadying breath, her gaze darted around the spacious room. The underground bunker was well lit and comfortable. Several old couches were against one wall. The throws which had been laid over them were tie dyed and bright. Laptops, computers and other types of small handheld tech were scattered along with crystals and potions on an old coffee table. In fact, they were spread out over any available surface or side.
Discarded mugs lay in a cluster on the floor where someone had not bothered to clean up. A waste bin in one corner was over flowing with screwed up pieces of paper. The place had a college dorm feel about it. A tangle of bushes had hidden the entrance, and it had only been noticeable if you knew what you were looking for.
Dane moved to stand by the top of her head. He had stripped off his shirt, bearing his chiselled, tattooed chest. As he turned, she noted the metal sockets that had been surgically merged into his spine. Three holes to be exact. One was at the base of his neck and two lower on his back.
Magic was humming against her sixth sense. The feeling was electrifying. At its core she could feel a tiny spark similar to Twitch’s. Dane, though, was much more powerful.
Ella was busy gathering thick, metallic cables. They were attached to the bunker walls. With care she began to slot them with a click into the waiting holes on Dane’s back. He grunted as if the action pained him. The wires glowed in a soft, white light. The wizard’s eyes blazed with the same growing radiance.
“You’re going all Matrix on me, aren’t you?” Jasmine quipped, biting tensely on her lower lip.
Dane smirked. “This is the only way we can see into the city without them knowing. Any other time I wouldn’t need so much tech but we have to be careful or they might sense us.”
Benedict grinned down at her from her left. “This might tickle a bit, Red,” he murmured, running a hand through his blue, spiky hair.
“No one will be able to detect you.” Dane placed his fingertips lightly on her temples. Jasmine immediately felt her skin buzz with a vibration. “You won’t be able to communicate with them either. You’re just observing. Nothing can hurt you as you’re not physically there.”
Magic swirled around Dane’s hands in spirals of wispy blue and white. Jasmine could see the colours clearly. Slowly, they worked their way towards her. Trying to keep her breathing even, she swallowed down a bout of nerves. There was no warning from her sixth sense. She trusted it to warn her if she was in danger.
Benedict’s hand slipped into hers. The skin to skin contact was warm and comforting. With a gentle squeeze he kept a tight grip. Jasmine was grateful for the reassurance. She was glad when he didn’t open his mouth to say anything dumb.
Magic penetrated her mind. Pins and needles slowly moved over her scalp. The sensation increased. Her breath came out in frightened, little pants. Then, suddenly, she was having tunnel vision. Everything went narrow. The colour drained from her sight.
Jasmine’s fingers tightened painfully around the bard’s. She was trying hard not to panic. Heart pounding, it seemed to rise up into her throat. Suddenly she became weightless. Jasmine blinked, not sure what had happened. No longer was she lying in the padded chair. She was in a windowless room. The only light source was coming from a stark bulb above her head.
Twitch sat on a narrow, lumpy bed. Head bent forwards, his face was concealed by the fall of his long, crazy hair. As usual it was knotted and in disarray. He had been stripped to his black, cotton boxers. All the old burn scars he had received from his magic were now on full display.
They marred most of his skin with bright pink and silvery blemishes. The marks were everywhere. Jasmine’s gaze skimmed over his lightly muscled chest. She had already seen the jagged, long discolouration’s there. Now she could see how they covered his legs and thighs too.
A spreading collage of purplish welts were blooming across his ribs and torso. They looked fist sized and painful. Someone had beaten him. He had a defeated slump to his shoulders. His long, nimble fingers lay idle in his lap. Twitch seemed almost broken. Defeated.
Jasmine felt a burst of compassion. She wanted to grab him in a tight bear hug and tell him everything was going to be all right. Seeing him like this was painful. She tried to speak, but noth
ing came out. Trying to raise her hand, she realised she had no limbs. Panic screamed through her. What the fuck had happened? Somehow she was bodiless.
As a sense of hysteria tried to claw its way up inside her, she remembered Dane’s words. The wizard had told her she wouldn’t be able to interact. All this had to be normal.
Taking a breath, or at least an imaginary one, she pushed down the fear. She couldn’t waste this opportunity. Freaking out was not going to help. It wasn’t going to last forever. She needed to forget any discomfort and get on with snooping.
The sound of bolts being dragged back pulled her from her thoughts. As the large metal door swung open, Melinda stepped inside. She had changed into a pair of tanned trousers and a white frilly shirt. A hint of pink lip gloss graced her lips. As usual, her curls so similar to her twin’s had been brushed and preened into stylish neatness. Her peridot green eyes were narrowed on her brother.
Slowly she sauntered into the room. Behind her, two Jinn followed like pet pooches. Both dressed in black leather, their masks were slightly different variations of grotesque beasts. Jasmine noted neither were Kaysin. This made her wonder where that particular mysterious Jinn was. She had asked him to look after Twitch. He wasn’t doing a good job.
Annoyance swirled through her. Who the fuck was he working for? This was so confusing. Was he on their side or not? At the moment it looked like he may be playing both sides. If that was true, what the fuck were his true motives? Carbrey had been convinced they could trust him.
“Feeling a little weak without any technology at hand brother?” Melinda asked as her gaze worked its way over him.
Twitch raised his head. He was a mess. Bruises decorated his face. Congealed blood was dried across several cuts on his cheeks and forehead. Some dotted the corner of his mouth. One of his eyes was puffy and swollen shut. Jasmine knew he wouldn’t be seeing anything out of it for a while. He had to be in pain.
They might have stripped the mage, but he still had his dignity and his smart mouth. “Get lost, fuck nugget.”
His sister gave laugh. “Aww, come on now, don’t be like that.”
He eyed the smart phone that was hanging on a chain around her neck. When Twitch tried to get clumsily up, one of the Jinn shoved him back down. With a grunt, he subsided back onto the mattress. Pain flashed across his face.
“Mel, why are you doing this?” he muttered, brushing his chaotic curls from his features. “What the fuck did I ever do to you to make you hate me so much?”
“You couldn’t just be normal could you, Morgan?” Anger sparkled in Melinda’s gaze. “We already had a hard time fitting in thanks to Mother and Father.”
“Is this what this is all about? You want to be in the IT crowd?” he asked incredulously.
Melinda wrapped her arms around herself and hugged tightly. “I want to be seen as more than the daughter of an outcast.”
“Mel…”
“No, Morgan, you don’t understand and never really have.” Her words were bitter. “You’ve never cared about fitting in. Finally, I got you to leave and that still wasn’t good enough. So I shunned mother too. It was all slowly coming together until Grandfather had to call you back. Then of course everyone knew you were coming, and our family was thrust into gossip again….I just can’t escape.” Twitch gripped the metal frame of the bed beneath him. He seemed to be trying to stop himself from grabbing and shaking his sister.
Slow, dawning horror filled his one good eye. “For fuck sake, are you blind? All you care about is your own sad existence. Mother lost everything because she loved someone she wasn’t supposed to. Don’t you think she felt just as rejected by her own family? Don’t you think I felt just as lonely, just as excluded? Spurned and unwanted. That’s why I acted like I didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. Why do you think I left so easily?”
Melinda’s lip’s flattened into a white line as she replied. “You left because you were weak.”
Twitch released a shaky breath through his teeth. “So you teamed up with Psycho witch and her merry band of brain washed zombies?”
Her arms tightened even more around her waist. There was a lost look dancing across her lovely face. “It didn’t start out like that…Teasag listened to me...really listened…and now...”
“Melinda, my sweet, what are you doing in here?” The husky voice of Teasag made both of them jump. The veiled coven mistress was standing just beyond the doorway. In a swish of crimson skirt’s she moved into the space with long, graceful strides. One hand was playing idly with a lock of her long, silken, brown hair which flowed from beneath her veil.
Flustered, Melinda’s cheek pinked. “Just catching up with my brother before he dies.”
Head tipped to one side, the shrouded woman regarded the mage thoughtfully. Jasmine could just about distinguish the gleam of eyes and the slight curving of a wide mouth. Not being able to see the witch’s features left her feeling uneasy. It made her wonder why they all covered up. Did they perhaps have a secret to hide? Why else stay hidden?
Without a backward look Melinda abruptly strode from the room. After a brief glance at their prisoner, Teasag followed. Her pace was more sedate. Jasmine hesitated. Glancing at her friend she found he had curled up on the cramped little bed in despair. She could do nothing for him now. How she wished she could let him know that she was there. But there didn’t seem to be a way.
Making a quick decision, she floated after the witch. It took her only a few minutes to catch up with them. They hadn’t gone far along the corridor. Screams and sobbing filtered out from other rooms. It sounded like people were being tortured. How many did they have imprisoned? And where in the city were they?
“Do you feel sorry for him?” Teasag was asking in her low tone.
Melinda shook her head, curls bouncing around her face. “No. You’re sure my brother is virgin enough for what you need?”
The veiled head of the crimson witch nodded. “The scent of innocence is thick around him. Trust me he is untouched, and the bloodlines he holds in his veins is exactly what I need. Why so tense, Melinda?”
Twitch’s sister fiddled with the smart phone she wore on a gold chain around her neck. “I don’t know…” she muttered. Her gaze slid nervously towards her companion. For a moment a flash of anxiety tightened her expression.
Jasmine narrowed her eyes. Melinda was definitely frightened of Teasag. Had she realised now that she might be in too deep? Could she be having second thoughts? She tucked that bit of information away. They had entered another room. The witch hung back, letting the other woman precede her.
Jinn stood at attention by the door. Solemn and silent, they stood immobile like finely carved marble statues. Their golden eyes watched the females with a detached interest. Jasmine shivered. Those things had really creeped her out. She knew now there was nothing human about them. They were alien in every way.
“Second thoughts?” Teasag suddenly asked, mirroring Jasmine’s own.
Melinda halted abruptly and swung back towards her. “I…I didn’t think we were going to hurt anyone, just take over, that’s what you said,” she admitted nervously. “To make things better for outcasts like me.”
Lifting a hand, the witch played with a lock of Melinda’s hair. “The houses of Merlin and Le Fey have long been arrogant in their rule.” Her voice was deep and soft. Long fingers continued to rub the strands together. “It is time they learn to kneel to a new Master. A ruler they should have bowed to in the beginning. You and your brother are going to help me achieve that. You have no idea how long I have waited for twins with the blood of Morgana and Merlin to be born.”
Jasmine noted again the meticulously red painted fingernails. Teasag had rather large hands for a woman. Her size alone made her a towering veiled Amazon.
“But the torture…you murder those who won’t break,” Melinda whispered. Stare locked on the witch, who stood inches away from her, she couldn’t seem to look away. Either that or she was afraid to.
“Is a necessity,” Teasag continued in that strange sultry voice. “They won’t bend freely, they must fear me. I need it. I am tired of watching and waiting. I have been here far longer than any of you. I was here before your ancestors arrived. They took my Kingdom and made it their own, leaving me half dead. But that was their mistake. Now I intend to take it back, and you my dear, are going to help me.”
A commotion at the door drew Jasmine’s attention. Glenna was being dragged in by a couple of Jinn. Her lovely, faded, blue gown was ripped at one shoulder. Long hair, a jumbled mess, hung to her narrow waist as her arms were being held. The freckles on her elfin-like face were in stark relief against her paper white skin. Dark smudges were beneath her hazel eyes. Her mouth was trembling as she tried to fight her captors. Yet twisting her slender body did nothing to free her.
Eyes round with fear, she stared disbelievingly at her daughter. “Melinda?”
“Mother?” Melinda questioned in shock. From the look on her face this was a turn of events she had not been expecting. Almost dazedly they continued to stare at each other.
Teasag moved between them. Jasmine noticed how the witch didn’t block their views. She wanted to see Melinda’s reactions. As if they pleased her.
“Your mother will make an excellent addition to my handmaidens. It’s a treat to no longer have to find females wandering in the forest to enslave.”
Melinda’s gaze snapped to the mesh covering Teasag’s features. She had visibly paled. “I should get back to the search for my Grandfather...”
“No, Melinda.” The witch replied softly. She dropped one hand on her shoulder to halt her escape. “I wish you to remain and watch. You have never seen how I bind my victims and I think it is beyond time you witness this.”
Melinda’s throat bobbed as dread crept over her expression. Fear now was clear in her gaze. The towering woman in crimson turned to survey Glenna.