by Eve Newton
“Stop,” I fight to get out. He’s so close, overwhelming my senses and preying on my weakness.
His fingers slide into my hair and he angles my head, making me look him in the eyes. I can feel his heat. I can smell his desire. It’s…it’s too much. I can’t think. Shit.
He smiles slyly. “Mmm…I know you want this.” He leans in to kiss me.
Aria. You are in danger?
What the hell?
“Cahl?”
“What?” Jacob says, drawing back. “I’m Jacob.”
I push him back. “I’m not talking to—”
Tell me. I am sensing your struggle for control.
What the fuck is this? How is…how is he doing this?
“Shh,” Jacob tells me, his hands on either side of my face now.
I snap back into focus to see him leaning in to kiss me again.
“No, Jacob,” I say, weakly.
In the next second, an arm wraps around my waist from behind and lifts me off the couch. I scream from the shock of it.
How did I not sense the approach?
A blast of black magic hits Jacob in the chest, propelling him into the far wall several feet across the room. He curses as he ricochets off it and lands hard on his stomach.
I turn my head to see Cahl holding me. Of course! He must’ve blocked my wolf senses with his magic again.
“How did you escape?” I gasp in shock.
He doesn’t answer.
His focus is all on Jacob. I turn back to see that he’s now on his feet and glowering at Cahl. He flicks his wrists down and calls his magic, blue fire sparking to life on his palms. Just like his brother’s. Maybe a little dimmer and less vibrant, actually.
“She is not to be touched,” Cahl’s deep voice booms in warning.
“She wanted it. Needed it. The wolf needed—”
“You were taking advantage of her predicament, boy.”
“Boy?” Jacob hisses. “I am a powerful warlock.”
“You are weak with much to learn.”
Jacob shifts his weight. “Let’s see, shall we?”
Cahl lowers me to the floor and gently ushers me behind him. What the hell? “Cahl. Stop. I’ve got this. I can take care of myself.”
He completely ignores me and steps forward.
Jacob makes a move to fire his magic, but Cahl shocks us both with his incredible speed. He fires a bolt of black magic so fast that Jacob has no time to react before it slams into him and rips him off his feet. He crashes into the huge fireplace, the impact taking a huge chunk out of it.
Wow.
My wolf senses alert me to the sound of heavy, hurried footsteps on the stairs down the hall. But I push it aside. My focus is on this insane fight.
As Jacob tries to shake off the chunks of stone covering him, he takes a sudden, underhanded shot at Cahl.
Cahl’s hand shoots out and catches the bolt of fire. He glares at Jacob menacingly as he closes his fingers around it and snuffs it out as if it’s nothing. Holy crap.
“Do you need further demonstration?” Cahl threatens, taking another step forward.
“That won’t be necessary,” Draven says, striding into the room quickly, his own magic at the ready.
Ember is right behind him. She must’ve just stepped out of the shower, as she’s fiddling with the belt of the black silky robe wrapped around her. Hmm…it looks like Draven didn’t join her after all, as he’s still dressed to the nines in his same designer suit from earlier and completely dry.
“What the hell happened?” she exclaims, as she examines the mess that is Jacob. Her eyes widen as she takes in the fireplace and the two walls that now have huge chunks taken out of them.
“This maniac Ambassador scum attacked me,” Jacob cries, looking to his big brother for support.
“She is not to be touched,” Cahl booms, making another move to step forward.
Instinctively, I throw out my hand in an attempt to hold him back. I hiss as my arm brushes his right hand that’s still live with magic.
He calls his magic back in a split second and then takes hold of my hands. “You must learn to be careful around magical energy, princess.” He glances at the burn on my arm, his eyes wild and full of concern. “I am sorry,” he says, his voice thick with regret. He’s like a gentle giant, his six-five, muscular frame towering over me. “Let me heal you.”
“Uh…no. It’s fine…it’s…look…it’s healing already.”
“Princess?” Ember questions. “Seriously?”
I pull my hands from Cahl and turn back to see Ember, Draven and Jacob all eyeing us incredulously.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Ember demands, glaring at Cahl.
“You dare to address me, Tainted beast?” he says, with disgust. “I can sense the energy of those you have recently murdered from where I stand.”
Ember takes a step forward, vamping out, flashing her fangs and claws at him. “Why, you sanctimonious fuck! I can smell the ash and blood of those you have killed recently.”
Draven is there in a second, erecting some sort of shimmering magical barrier between her and Cahl.
“Ember, please remain calm so we can resolve this promptly,” he tells her. Before she can get another word out, Draven rounds on Jacob and demands, “Did you touch Aria?”
Jacob shrugs unapologetically. “She was up for it.”
“What?” Ember snarls.
“Jealous?” Jacob throws at her.
“How dare—?”
“Enough!” Draven bellows, the room vibrating with the fury of his magical energy. He glares hard at Jacob. “Aria is wolf. She recently shifted after many months of repressing it. She has great trouble controlling it. What you did was manipulative and reprehensible, and you have put my Coven in great danger. You will not go near her again.”
Jacob moves to argue, but Draven lunges at him and fists his hand in his shirt. “You just risked unleashing the wolf and the wrath of Cahl on my Coven. Do you understand that he escaped, because of your misguided actions?”
“What? I have nothing to do with him escaping,” Jacob cries. “Maybe your magic wasn’t strong enough to hold an Ambassador Commander, huh?”
Draven’s eyes narrow at the insinuation that he’s not powerful enough. “Wrong, as usual. He has a connection to Aria’s wolf. He sensed her predicament, meaning, dear brother, that it must have been on the verge of release! You fool! Her wolf could rip this place apart, you included!”
Wow, okay. Just talk about me as if I’m not even here then. Argh!
Draven releases him roughly and tells him in a low, menacing tone. “It is obvious what has spurred your actions tonight, so know this: Ember is mine. You may have had a taste, but that will be all. You will not go near her again. Or Aria. Your jealousy and immature actions do not have a place here. Now get out of my sight.”
Jacob storms to the door, skillfully avoiding my glare and Cahl’s, but serving Ember with an angry scowl before he finally disappears down the corridors, cursing everything and everyone.
Ember runs her fingers through her hair, her claws still out in her agitation. “You said Cahl sensed Aria was in trouble?” she asks Draven. “That there’s a connection between them powerful enough to…what…break through your magic?” she asks with disbelief.
“Only because I wasn’t anticipating it,” Draven tells her, stiffening and clearly not happy about his power being called into question. Wow, what an egomaniac.
Ember demands angrily, “That asshole brutally stabbed me not long ago! Lock him back up, Draven. If you don’t, I will end him. He’s one of them! For fuck’s sake, can no one else recognize that anymore?”
“I am no longer serving the Jurisdiction, vampire,” Cahl tells her.
She scoffs. “Oh, really? So, what? You spend your whole life taking their orders and you get one look at Aria’s mystical tits and all that’s over with? You’re suddenly on our side?”
“Ember!” I growl. How dare she talk about
me like that? “Watch your goddamn mouth.”
“Instead of wishing for more enemies, you should do yourself a favor and accept a new ally, especially one possessing my power. You are already at a disadvantage. The Jurisdiction’s resources exceed yours by far.”
Draven steps forward and asks Cahl, “Why did you defect?”
“I have recently discovered that the truths I had believed in were merely lies masquerading as such.”
“But you’re bound by duty. How are you able to leave?”
“I am not. When word travels of my betrayal, I will be marked for death.”
“Right,” Ember cuts it. “So, you’re risking death for someone you barely know. This is all bullshit!”
I growl at Ember, getting pissed that she won’t shut the hell up and just listen, so that we can get to the bottom of all of this.
“Shh,” Cahl says. “The wolf is at the surface. You need to calm.”
I hold up my hands and blow out a breath. “It’s okay. I’m fine. I have it locked down.”
He points to me as he tells them, “I have defected because of what she is.”
“Because her mother was one of your kind?” Ember queries. “I’ve got news for you: so was mine and so was Draven’s.”
“Her mother was Alessandra, Queen of the Realm.”
“What?” I choke out. “Queen?”
“Yes.”
“So…you…you did know her?”
“Yes, princess.”
“Do you know…do you know how she…died?”
He nods.
When he doesn’t elaborate, I demand, “How? Tell me.”
“Now is not the forum for such a discussion.”
“What? That makes no sense.”
“We are discussing whether or not I am truly your ally, yes? The rest is personal information that is not part of the agenda of this impromptu discussion.”
“Agreed,” Draven says.
Cahl leans down and whispers in my ear, “Rest assured that I will tell you all about her death. Just not now.” He rights himself, squaring his shoulders as he addresses Draven and Ember. “What I do need to reveal now is the one thing that will put your minds at ease; that will prove to you that I am your ally now.” His eyes stray to me for a second and a weird look comes over his face that I don’t understand. He looks away and goes on, “I ignored the connection during my first encounter with Aria due to the heat of battle and my overarching duty. But she possessed my mind such that I realized I needed to investigate the root cause. That was when I discovered that she was Alessandra’s daughter. I knew of her existence, but the Jurisdiction had claimed she had perished as a baby. They made a fatal error in sending me after a ‘particularly powerful wolf,’ as they referred to her. They knew she and Ember were…special…of Ambassador blood. But what they were unaware of was my connection to her.” He takes a beat and then looks right at me as he says, “Alessandra had marked Aria before she was even born…as mine. She was chosen for me.”
“What?” I basically shriek like a maniac.
“Uh…seconded,” Ember says. She still hasn’t retracted her vampire, keeping it out to show what she is, probably. Like we could fucking forget.
“Why…why would my mother do that?”
“We were friends. I helped her escape imprisonment in the Realm, so she could come here to…create you. So, she gifted you to me and created a magical connection between us, upon your conception, that bound us together.”
“Gifted me? I’m not property!”
He shakes his head. “That is not what I meant to imply. I apologize. I am saying it incorrectly.”
Ember blows out a breath. “Jesus, what is wrong with you two control freak assholes?” she asks, giving Draven a death stare before shooting Cahl with the same. “We are not yours to claim. This you-are-mine crap is really starting to piss me the hell off.”
“Right there with you, babe.” This is crazy.
“Aria and I decide who we fuck around with. End of story,” she goes on.
As if to stress that, she makes an overt display of eyeing up Cahl, who is standing here in nothing but a pair of boxers.
Draven catches it and, in the next second, he snaps his fingers and Cahl is clothed. Cahl seems oblivious to all of this interaction and eyes his new outfit with a questioning look. Dark jeans, a white ribbed t-shirt and a black leather jacket. Mmm…nice.
“Why not a suit?” Ember asks, amused at Draven’s jealous reaction.
“Because I know that’s what you like.”
“Well—” she says, eyeing Cahl again. She has a look of utter distrust in her eyes, making it clear to me why she won’t get rid of her vampire. It irritates me. We can trust him.
Draven grabs her arm and warns, “Do not test me, woman. Believe me, you won’t like the outcome.”
She grins with a quick flash of her fangs, clearly liking this dark side of him. “Don’t be so sure.”
Draven lets go of her and asks Cahl, “You said Alessandra came here to create Aria? What did you mean by that? She knew about the prophecy and came here to attempt to fulfill it?”
For the first time ever, I hear Cahl laugh. It’s a deep, throaty laugh. “There is no prophecy.”
“Excuse me?” Draven demands.
Ember slumps down on a nearby couch and folds her arms across her chest. Her eyes are flashing in anger and she is baring her fangs at us. “Oh, this is going to be good. What lies are you going to tell us now? I am a Seer. I have had visions of a prophecy.” She looks at Draven. “Draven’s mother was also a Seer and she told him all about it.”
Draven walks behind the couch and lays his hand on her shoulder. Shockingly, it calms her down instantly. She retracts her fangs and claws as she looks up at him. “Let him explain.”
Cahl looks at me, probably for my reaction.
But I don’t have one.
I’m too shocked by all of this. I’m just standing here frozen, my mouth open, and pretty much looking like a completely dumbstruck idiot.
He shifts uncomfortably in his new clothes, frowning at them for a moment, before saying, “All will be explained.” A somber look clouds his features as he starts recalling the past. “Alessandra, although Queen and equal ruler of my realm, was forced into submission by the King. Allowing his own darkness to consume him and desiring sole power, rather than sharing power with Alessandra, he amassed an army of followers and challenged her. These followers became what you all know as the Jurisdiction. As you are aware, it is the governing body that controls our army—the Ambassadors. The King and his followers desire power above all else. They have conquered many realms and the human realm is their current point of focus. However, the Tainted are an obstacle to their goal. They possess power. Half-human, half-supernatural blood. That is why they are hunted. The Tainted—warlocks, witches, vampires and werewolves—are the only beings that possess enough power to provide a resistance to their will. They must eradicate them in order to achieve their goal of conquering your world.”
“We know this already,” Ember says.
“Except the parts about my mother,” I tell her.
“Right….”
Cahl just ignores the interruption and goes on, “Alessandra despised this agenda and her forced submission.” He smiles at me. “She was strong and willful, like you.”
I don’t know why, but I blush like a fool. Argh. I can’t seem to control my reactions around him.
“She and two of her closest allies devised a plan to bring down the King and the Jurisdiction.” He looks at Draven. “Your mother, Orna.” He eyes Ember. “And your mother, Traela.”
That is enough to shut Ember the hell up for once. She gapes at him in shock while Draven stares at him with narrowed eyes as he tries to absorb it all.
“They designed a failsafe. A Circle of Three. Three beings who would be bred from a Tainted father and each woman, creating three beings stronger than all other Tainted and with abilities that my kind do not possess
. For example, we cannot transform into beasts like werewolves. Nor do we possess extraordinary speed like vampires. Our enhanced strength is not natural to our species; it is magically induced. Also, unlike warlocks, who can wield all types of magic, we cannot wield light.”
He takes a beat and then goes on. “The intention was to enact the failsafe plan immediately, however complications interfered. Ember’s father stole her away from Traela and murdered her to keep the power of a gifted being for his own gain. Orna crossed into the human realm once the uproar back in my world over Traela’s death had subsided. She met Draven’s father and bore him. Alessandra had intended to go with her to find a wolf, however, the Jurisdiction acted swiftly after news of Orna’s entry into the human realm spread and she was imprisoned. It took me a long while to reach a position where I was able to free her and bring her here to create Aria.”
“Holy shit,” I gasp out.
Ember twists her body to look at Draven. “How old are you?” she asks rudely. “Assuming any of this is true, it sounds like your mother wasn’t that far behind mine with this…failsafe mission.”
“One hundred and thirty.”
“What?”
Draven cocks an eyebrow at her. “Too old for you? You’re two hundred.”
“No, I…it’s just a surprise. But you’re not…for me. This is all crap. Especially the part where I had to find Aria first. I could have looked for you decades ago. Why Aria? Why did I have to wait so long?”
“It makes perfect sense to me,” Draven argues. “However, you are right, sweet vampire. I will need to verify this. And you ask a good question. How come I was last? We could have had many decades together.”
Ember grimaces at his endearment, but doesn’t say anything. She just pales and stiffens even more. Uptight bitch.
“Maybe because you are the power source?” Ember says after a long pause. “Maybe I needed to find Aria first to solidify our partnership?” She looks at me with a curious gaze that makes me uncomfortable.
“How can you verify this? All of our mothers are dead,” I ask, completely ignoring everything else.
Draven flashes that arrogant smirk of his. “By contacting the dead, of course.”