Royally Elected

by Catherine Banks

  Her eyes widened as she looked at me then him but didn’t say anything.

  “Four beers for us, then whatever you guys want,” I said, feeling annoyed.

  “There’s a bench table outside big enough for all of us,” Turbo said. “I’ll go snag it.”

  “I’ll come with you,” I said and followed him out to the back patio. There were about ten people in the back, but most were sitting at the small tables with groups of two to four.

  We sat at the table and Turbo turned to me. “You sure you’re happy with those guys?” he asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “You just don’t seem like you have much in common.”

  “We do. They play games just not as much as us.”

  “You mated with filthy casuals?” he asked in mock horror.

  I laughed and nodded. “Yeah.”

  “They seem to legit care about you.”

  “Yeah? You can tell after four hours?” I teased.

  He nodded. “They spent the whole night making sure you were happy. They stayed with you, but not to try to keep guys away, just because they like you.”

  “You can tell all that?”

  He smirked. “I’m pretty perceptive, even if I tend to run headlong into battles.”

  Nico teleported behind me and Turbo cursed. “Could you stop that? You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

  Nico smirked. “Sorry.” He set down a mug of beer for me and one for Turbo.

  The others joined us with their own beers. I raised mine and the others followed. “Congrats, Dragon!”

  “Congrats!” everyone said.

  We drank and talked for hours. It was well past midnight when we decided to leave. I hugged my clan and said goodbye as they climbed into a taxi.

  My mates stood several feet away, leaning against the bar’s wall, just watching me.

  “What?” I asked and stumbled towards them, giggling. I was both drunk and exhausted.

  “You’re different with them,” Rhys said.

  “What? How?” I didn’t try to act different.

  “You didn’t stop smiling the entire time we were here. Even when you were complaining about a game, you didn’t stop smiling,” Deryn said.

  “We never talk about anything serious. Our entire relationship is based on having fun. We use each other to escape from reality most of the time,” I explained.

  They hadn’t moved from their spots against the wall of the building. So, I walked to them, standing just in front of the quad. “Let’s go home. I’m tired and I drank more than I should have.”

  “Okay,” Fox said and picked me up. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 14

  “Jolie, put the knife down,” Fox whispered with his hands held out placatingly.

  Knife? When had I picked up a knife? We’d walked home from the bar and…that was the last thing I remembered, coming home from the bar.

  “Something’s wrong,” Deryn whispered.

  “I can see that,” Fox snapped.

  “Jolie,” Rhys said.

  I turned and faced him, adjusting my grip on the kitchen knife.

  “Put it down,” he ordered me, using his alpha voice.

  “That shit doesn’t work on me!” I snapped.

  “Time to sleep,” Nico whispered behind me.

  I spun, but he put his hand over my mouth and covered my face with the cloth he held. I had no choice but to inhale, and the chloroform did its job and knocked me unconscious.

  Brayden had been right, they were trying to control me.

  The effects didn’t last long, but it was long enough for them to tie me up and transport me to the wolf den. They had put me in a containment cage meant to hold loup wolves, wolves who had lost their humanity and were crazed and attacked anything and everything.

  “Let me go!” I screamed and struggled against my restraints.

  Nico, Fox, Rhys, Deryn, and Dan stood outside the cage, all scowling.

  “Mind control,” Dan said. “Which means that asshole is nearby.”

  “Not necessarily,” Rhys whispered. “She told me he was able to communicate telepathically with her. He could be doing this from far away.”

  “How do we stop it?” Fox asked.

  I turned my skin into scales and snapped the ropes holding my arms. “Let me out!” I screamed and breathed fire.

  Nico put up a barrier around the cage, keeping the fire safely away from them.

  Those jerks were going to pay for imprisoning me!

  “I am Princess Jolie of the Sirens!” I yelled at them. “Release me or you will be declaring war!”

  “How long until Leona gets here?” Deryn asked.

  “Tomorrow was what she said,” Fox answered.

  The bars of the cage were made with extremely strong metal. How could I escape? How could I get out of here?

  “When did this start?” Dan asked, moving closer to the cage.

  I shifted into a wolf and snapped my teeth at him.

  He scowled and his eyes shone gold. “Sit,” he ordered me.

  My body trembled, but I held my head up higher and growled. No. I would not obey him.

  “I’m not shielding her,” Deryn said.

  “It started when we got back from the bar,” Fox answered Dan. “She was drunk and happy one moment, then grabbed a knife and tried to stab me.”

  I shifted back to my normal form. “You won’t be able to keep me here forever,” I threatened. “I’ll escape sooner or later.”

  Dan arched an eyebrow. “How do you think you’ll escape?”

  “He’s coming for me,” I said and smiled. “And he’ll kill you for imprisoning me.”

  “Let him come,” Rhys said and growled, his eyes turning into dragon’s eyes.

  Shifting my hand into a wolf paw with claws extended, I reached through the bars and tried to grab Rhys, but he was just out of my reach. I screamed and swiped my clawed hands at him.

  They always stayed just out of my reach.

  The five males left the room, and I was alone. I screamed angrily and thrashed against the cage. I sat and began blowing fire on the ceiling of the cage. And all metal melted if heated to a high enough temperature.

  Covering myself in dragon’s scales, I jumped up out of the hole in the cage. Then, I leapt straight up through the house, through three floors until I made it out into the open air.

  “Jolie!” Dan yelled from inside the house.

  I was finally out of Nico’s range, so I teleported to the park and immediately shifted into my combined form. The princes would come and when they did, I would destroy them.

  As expected, the four males found me quickly. They stood in a line before me, scowling.

  “Just let me go,” I said angrily.

  “Go where?” Rhys asked.

  “Home,” I said.

  “Your home is with us,” Fox said softly. “We are your mates.”

  “You tricked me,” I snapped. “All of this is a lie.”

  “I’m going to tear his head off,” Deryn snarled.

  “Why do you think that?” Nico asked me.

  “Brayden freed me from your spell,” I explained. “He showed me what you’ve been doing to me.”

  “He’s the one manipulating you,” Fox said calmly. “You can feel us through our bonds. You can sense our feelings. We love you.”

  “I don’t feel anything now, thanks to Brayden,” I snarled. “You can’t toy with me anymore.”

  “Yep, I’m going to kill him,” Deryn muttered.

  “You have our bloodstones,” Fox whispered. “You can’t fuse them unless it’s voluntary. We did not force you.”

  I reached up with clawed fingers. “I’ll remove them.”

  Nico held out his hand and metal cables wrapped around my arms, pinning them so I couldn’t reach my face. When had he learned to do that?

  I screamed in pain and Deryn punched Nico’s shoulder.

  “Ow,” Nico said.

  “You’re hu
rting her,” Deryn growled at him.

  “Would you rather she clawed the bloodstones out of her face?” Nico asked.

  Deryn growled in response.

  “I didn’t think so,” Nico grumbled and rubbed the spot Deryn had punched.

  I shifted into a dragon, my scales protected my bones as I did, and the metal cables fell away. I roared and spit flames at them.

  Rhys shifted and roared back, making me cower and take a step back. He was the most dominant male I had ever met. He grabbed the back of my neck with his teeth and bit down, hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to draw blood.

  I was supposed to submit. Part of me wanted to submit. But, Brayden had shown me how manipulative they had been. I couldn’t stay here. I had to leave.

  Dropping down slowly, he believed I was submitting, but as I neared the ground, I leapt up and clawed his eye nearest me.

  He roared in pain and stumbled back two steps.

  I shifted into my combined form as the other three approached and fought them in earnest. None of them had drawn weapons, but Deryn and Rhys took warrior forms to better protect themselves.

  Nico used a spell to freeze me, but I teleported across the park and out of his range.

  “Who taught her to teleport?” Nico snarled.

  I couldn’t just run. No. I had to defeat them. I had to rid the world of their manipulation so no other girls fell for their ploys.

  In my combined form, I charged Deryn, cutting his shoulder and kicked Rhys in the chest when he tried to grab me.

  If Brayden hadn’t blocked their bonds, I would feel their pain. I was glad he had thought to block them.

  Where was Brayden? He had said he would come for me.

  Fox tried to use plant vines to tie me up, but I burned them before they could touch me, then used my powers to tie his legs with vines. He cursed angrily and tore at them.

  Rhys tackled me from the side and pinned my hands above my head while he sat on me. “Stop trying to hurt us.”

  “You must die!” I screamed.

  “He’s controlling you!” Rhys yelled. “Don’t you see that? He is controlling your mind and you are letting him.”

  Drawing in a big breath, I exhaled fire, but Rhys just laughed.

  “Your fire doesn’t hurt me, Sunshine.”

  I shifted into my warrior wolf form and rolled us over, so I was atop him now.

  Deryn wrapped his arm around my throat and squeezed, cutting off my air. “Don’t fight me. Just go to sleep. Please.”

  I clawed deep gouges into his arms, digging in until I scraped bone.

  He growled, but held on, his arm tightening even more.

  I collapsed in his arms and held my breath.

  “Fuck!” he yelled and pushed me onto my back on the ground.

  “Deryn!” Nico snapped.

  “She’s not dead,” Deryn said. “I didn’t kill her.”

  My eyes snapped open and I exhaled fire. He jumped back, yelling in pain. Fox ran to him, using his healing magic to treat the burns.

  I stood and faced Nico. His anger was palpable.

  “I’m done. You’re not yourself,” he said. His body began to glow, and I knew I was in trouble.

  I opened my mouth and began to sing. All four screamed and clutched their heads. Brayden had taught me a song to hurt whoever heard it. It hurt anyone who wasn’t a siren.

  The four males clutched their heads as I sang, and blood began to drip from their noses.

  Nico lifted his hand and a clear ball formed around me, cutting off all sound. My singing didn’t penetrate the ball.

  Fuck!

  I pounded my fists against the ball, but nothing happened. They were talking and wiping their faces off while staring at me.

  My breathing became erratic as I felt the ball closing around me, taking away the air I needed to breathe. I pounded on the ball and screamed, my breaths quickening along with my heartbeat. Fear consumed me, and I tried to shift into a dragon, but the ball was too small. My body reverted, and I screamed. I fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

  The ball disappeared, and I gulped in fresh air. That had been too close. I needed to take him out first.

  While digging my fingers in the grass, I silently aimed a tree root behind Nico. He squatted down in front of me and I raised my hand. The tree root shot up out of the ground and pierced Nico through his back and out of his chest.

  He gasped, and his eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the root.

  “Nico!” Deryn and Rhys yelled.

  I turned and ran, headed out of the park, but a force field cut me off, sealing the park off from the rest of the city. Glancing back, I saw Nico with one hand raised, a determined look in his eyes. His other hand pressed around the root and the blood stain spreading outwards from the injury.

  I raised my hand, preparing to jerk the root out, but Fox punched me in the side, making me gasp and drop my hand. I hadn’t even seen him.

  He pointed his sword at me and snarled. “Stop! Jolie, just fucking stop!”

  “Not until you’re dead,” I whispered.

  I tried to teleport but couldn’t. I walked slowly up to Fox who watched me but stood still. I snatched his second sword from his hip and pointed it at him.

  Tears slid down his cheeks and he whispered, “Please don’t do this.”

  I screamed and swiped at him with the sword.

  He easily deflected it. “He’s manipulating you, but you’re still in there. I know you are. Fight him, Jolie! Fight him!”

  I screamed again and attacked, our swords clanging together as he blocked my strikes.

  Dammit, they were too strong!

  Deryn approached, a sword in his hand. “Baby, you’re stronger than him. You can break his hold on you.”

  I attacked him and yelled, “I only need to break your hold!”

  Rhys stood with Nico, his arm around him to keep him standing.

  I raised my hand, but Deryn’s sword grazed my arm, making me jerk back.

  “I am your queen!” I yelled. “Obey me!”

  “You can’t order us around when you’ve closed our bonds,” Fox said behind me.

  I spun and tried to cut him, but he deflected my blade easily.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone new approaching. No, not some one, but multiple people. It was the kings.

  “Leave!” Deryn ordered them. “She’s not herself.”

  “That’s why we are here,” Katar said.

  I brought my sword down, aiming for Deryn’s shoulder since he was distracted.

  Dan caught the blade with his bare hand, blood dripping to the ground as it cut into his palm. “No,” he said and pushed me back. “I won’t let you hurt them.”

  “One is about dead,” I said. “I’ll finish them off too.”

  Johann looked over at Nico and his eyes darkened. “Enough playing around.” He whispered something and a red circle with magic runes appeared below me. Chains slid up out of the circle and wrapped around my legs and arms.

  I tried to pull free, but electricity traveled from the chains into me. I screamed and fell to my knees, my vision swimming.

  “Stop it!” Deryn yelled.

  “Stop hurting her!” Fox snapped.

  “This is the only thing her kind understands,” Johann growled.

  “And all you understand is defeat at the hands of women,” I snarled and began singing, my voice directed at him.

  He screamed and clutched at his head, which made the circle and chains disappear.

  I shifted into my combined warrior form, well aware that my strength and energy was quickly running out.

  Dan and Emrys shifted into their warrior forms and attacked. I kept singing, my voice and powers aimed at Johann, so he couldn’t use his magic on me. Fighting the two kings was difficult, but Dan was trying his hardest not to hurt me.

  Johann collapsed, so I stopped singing.

  “How can you let them do this to me?” I asked. “How can you
stand by and let them control me?”

  “Brayden is controlling you,” Leona said.

  I spun around and stared at her in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to train you,” she said. “If you broke Brayden’s hold, you would remember.”

  She’s a traitor. She is trying to steal the throne.

  I snarled. “You’re after the throne, aren’t you?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You and I both know that I would suck as a ruler. Come on, Jojo. Fight him!”

  Jojo? She called me that when were kids.

  She wants to keep you chained to the princes.

  “I won’t be their pawn!” I screamed at her. “I thought we were friends! Why are you helping them?”

  Johann tried to put me in a shield, but I held out my hand and made the vine in Nico’s chest move, which caused him to scream in pain.

  Johann dropped his hands and glared at me. “I should just kill you,” he snarled.

  “Try it,” Nico panted. “I’ll destroy you.”

  Even while I was killing him, he was protecting me from his father?

  It’s a ploy.

  Leona stopped before me and smiled. “Hello, Jojo.”

  “You’re a traitor!” I snapped.

  “You’re stronger than this,” she whispered. “Let me help.”

  “Help me by killing them,” I said.

  She began to sing, and pain engulfed my body. I opened my mouth and sang louder than her.

  “Barrier!” Dan yelled.

  Johann put a barrier around me and Leona, our songs now contained to only hurt each other.

  Louder and louder I sang, but Leona was more experienced and with just a different pitch, she broke my concentration and pain engulfed me like being thrown into lava.

  I screamed and clutched my head. The princes yelled and tried to come to me, but the kings held them back.

  Leona continued to sing, walking closer and closer to me. My legs gave out and I fell to my hands and knees, still screaming.

  How could a melody that sounded so sweet cause so much pain?

  Kill her!

  Brayden. That was his voice. Why wasn’t he helping me? Where was he?

  “He isn’t here,” Leona whispered. “He is using a connection he made with you to control you. You can break it and free yourself.”