by Riley Storm
Amber shook her head, biting her lip. “You’re ridiculous.”
They were in a mostly unoccupied portion of the Manor. Somewhere on the lower levels, where the walls were made of stone. This was part of the original Manor, according to Kasperi. It was mostly just for storage now, the air damp this far underground.
“Who doesn’t like sleep?”
“That’s twisting the question,” she protested. “You can’t do that.”
“I can and I did,” he boasted, puffing up his chest.
Amber giggled. They might not be doing any holding of hands or kissing, but she wasn’t about to be impolite to him. Their conversations were mostly still light-hearted, but she kept them as friendly as possible, avoiding any sort of flirtation, or temptation to. Just because she wasn’t letting herself get close to him, didn’t mean she didn’t want to. It would be easy, it had been easy. But she needed to keep a distance.
One of them being stuck in a downward spiral and unable to control their power was bad enough. But if he succumbed to it as well, Amber knew she’d never be able to stop him the way he did with her. Besides, they probably didn’t make collars big enough for him.
The thought of the collar automatically sent her hand to her neck, but she couldn’t find it. The metal was gone. The weight of it, gone.
At Kasperi’s insistence, they’d started working their own training regime, practical control of her magic. Not unleashing it, but working to prevent it from taking over. Breathing exercises. Mental work. Amber practiced it all at every waking minute, and by the end of the first day, she’d been able to go without the collar for two whole minutes.
Today, she was working for ten. They were nearing the five-minute mark, and shortly would turn and head back for the practice room. Kasperi had the collar tucked away, just in case, but she didn’t feel the need for it. Her brain was calm, and the power held back by the control she was developing. It wasn’t much, and she knew by the time they got back, her head would hurt like hell and she’d be done for the day. But this was more progress then she’d made in the first week.
It felt good. Really good. Though she kept it buried away, not letting it show, a tiny sliver of hope had worked its way into her. Hope that she could harness the energy, even as it built behind her wall, she couldn’t help but smile, because there was a wall now. If she could get this far in two days, imagine what another week would be like. Two. A month!
I can do this. I won’t be ruled by my power any longer. I will make the decisions.
“Time to head back,” Kasperi said, grabbing her arm and turning her around with a bit more force than was necessary.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said tightly, picking up the pace. “We should be heading back. I, um, I have to go to the bathroom.”
Amber looked up at him. “There are washrooms all over. You can use one of those.”
He shook his head, pulling her along after him. “Nope. Won’t do.”
“Why the heck not?” He was weirding her out.
“I have to shit, okay? I don’t like doing that in bathrooms that aren’t my own.”
Amber coughed. “Oh. Stage fright?”
He made a sour face. No laughter at her joke, not even a smile. Just a slightly tighter clutch of her arm—the first contact he’d made with her since the last kiss. Something wasn’t right. She could feel it in the air.
Then her ears caught it. Footfalls. Headed their way. They’d purposefully followed a path that took them through back corridors to avoid any unwanted foot traffic, so that she could learn to focus on her own, without any interruptions—without anyone seeing she wasn’t wearing the collar.
“Collar,” she hissed, sticking out her hand. “Give it to me.”
Kasperi winced. Something was wrong, she realized. Very wrong.
“Give me the collar,” she whispered.
“I don’t have it,” he said, sounding sick.
“You what?”
“I left it in the practice room. I knew you didn’t need it, but you wouldn’t have come along if I didn’t bring it. So I said I did, but I didn’t.” He looked down. “I knew how excited you would be to make it back without needing it, and I wanted to surprise you by showing you that you’re making better progress than you think.”
“Are you stupid?” she snapped.
Kasperi wilted. “I was just…I wanted to show you that I trust you. That I truly believe in you.”
She hated seeing the big man hurt like that, knowing he’d meant well. Now though, if someone saw her, she’d be in big trouble. Like the someone, no someones, that Kasperi was trying desperately to get them away from.
No longer questioning him, Amber sped up, moving as quickly as she dared, without breaking into a full-on run.
“There’s a passageway just around the corner up ahead,” Kasperi said. A gold vase on a pedestal marks it. Pull it and the wall will open. If it comes to it, I’ll hold them off; you get back to the magic room.”
She nodded, too nervous to speak. Inside, the wall was wavering ever so slightly as her emotions grew stronger, amplifying the magic, giving it more control over her. Eyes closed to slits, she went through the breathing exercise, forcing herself to relax. Things weren’t dire yet.
Ahead of them, an Asp stepped around the corner, arms crossed, looking smug and full of himself.
Okay, now things were dire.
“Well, what do we have here? The lovey pair, out for a stroll,” he sneered, then pretended to look surprised. “Oh, and what’s this? They seem to have misplaced her collar, the poor dear. Moving about the Manor unsupervised? Without your magic restraint? Tut-tut. I think that’s against the rules. Don’t you, Kasperi?”
“Get out of my way, asshole,” the towering shifter growled from next to her, taking a half-step forward, putting him between her and harm’s way.
The footfalls behind them came to a halt. Risking a glance behind them, she tapped Kasperi on the shoulder so he could look too. Another pair of Asps, blocking that direction as well. They were trapped.
“Now, Kasperi. You wouldn’t willingly break the rules, would you?” the lead Asp said, taking a step closer. “To put her life in danger like this? That doesn’t seem like something you would do.”
Amber moved closer to her protector, clinging to him tightly, working to stay calm. Deep breaths. Relax the tense muscles. Focus energy forward, and contain it. Her mind strengthened, and Amber smiled, feeling more in control now than ever before. This was important, and she wasn’t about to let anyone down, including herself.
“What do you want?” Kasperi spat, looking back and forth slowly between the man in front, and the one behind.
“Want? What do we want? Justice, Kasperi. That’s what we want. She broke the rules. Again. How many times will it take for you to see she’s a threat, that she needs to be eliminated before it gets worse, before she truly lets loose and destroys everything around her? She’s not salvageable, Kasperi. You know that.”
Trembling against him, Amber tried to ignore the words. To pretend like they didn’t affect her. She wasn’t evil! Why did they assume that? Couldn’t they see the progress she’d made in the last few days? She wasn’t lashing out at them, flattening them with her power. It would be easy to do. So very easy; all she would need was to think, to focus the power inside of her and lash out. The temptation was growing by the second as fear for her life grew.
“Look. She’s ready to boil over now,” one of the pair behind them said, chiming in with the taunts. “Are you scared? Scared to die? Poor thing. Too bad you deserve it.”
“One more word out of you, and I promise you’ll beat her to the punch,” Kasperi said flatly, eyes boring into the Asp, forcing him back a step simply from the weight of his gaze.
“You can make your threats,” the lead speaker said, motioning for his subordinate to be quiet. “But it doesn’t change the cold, hard truth. The evil is in her. Look at her, Kasperi. Look at her. She knows it
. It’s in her eyes. You can deny all you want, but she doesn’t belong.”
Amber wanted to be afraid of what they were saying, terrified of the threats to her life. She should have been, it would be logical. Yet for once, logic wasn’t something she gave a shit about. These people were threatening her and putting Kasperi in a hard place, forcing him to defend her. Anger welled up, pooling, growing, eating away at her restraints, at her wall of control.
“Stop,” she whispered to herself, struggling to maintain her breathing, to keep calm. It’s not worth it, Amber. It’s not worth it.
But the darkness disagreed.
“I’m not evil!” she howled, eyes snapping up, red energy flowing down her arms. “Do you hear me?”
Flames erupted in her hands, moving without her orders, lashing out in giant streams at her antagonizers. The Asps shouted and ran for cover. It felt good. Amber growled and the power flowing from within her redoubled, and doubled again.
“Amber, stop it! Stop it! This isn’t you!” Kasperi shouted, moving to stand right in front of her. “I know you better than this. Breathe. Build your control. You can stop now.”
She stared up at him, feeling like a child throwing a temper tantrum, but on an entirely different level of strength. She could do this, tear the entire place down, kill everyone who treated her poorly. It would be so easy.
I am not like that! Screaming at herself internally, Amber fought back the darkness. The flames cut off abruptly and she bent in half, panting as the wellspring was closed. For now.
“Amber?” Kasperi said her name lightly, taking a step closer.
She looked up at him, eyes wide, panicked. “Help me,” she whispered.
Then she blacked out.
20
“This is unacceptable!” he shouted, his voice bellowing louder than the clamoring of members of the House from all sides. It was the first time he’d spoken since they’d convened, and the sudden outburst quieted those nearest him first before spreading to the rest of the room. People sat slowly, yielding him the floor.
As they should. He was wearing full combat gear, both swords strapped to his back, and a special uranium bullet-firing pistol to his waist. It was a very illegal pistol, that he’d kept on his persona from a raid on House Canis weeks before. He’d worn it to ensure he commanded attention.
The Queen’s Own were tense. They didn’t like anyone but themselves possessing the weapons in the Throne Room, but Kasperi didn’t give a shit. The Queen wasn’t his enemy. Quite the opposite; if anything, she was an ally, though she couldn’t be openly, because of the stupid, fractured bunch that his House had become. Everyone was clamoring for power.
He eyed the empty seat of the Knight of the House. As long as that position went unfilled, there would be bickering as various parties angled to get themselves upon it. Only once the Ursa Council was complete would things begin to subside. He was sure the Queen had a reason for waiting so long to fill it, but Kasperi didn’t know what it was.
Shaking his head, he reminded himself with a glance to his left, that the empty chair was not why he was there. No, he was there for Amber. Green-eyed, long-haired, beautiful, gentle, caring Amber, a woman driven toward a fate others had determined for her, not by her own actions, but by those who wanted her to fit into their narrative, ones who did not wish to believe she could be redeemed.
“You all should be ashamed,” he snarled into the silence. “Your hate and your prejudice have blinded you to the fact that not all magic users wish us harm, only those brought up to believe it. Just like you have been taught that all magic users are evil. Can you not see this self-replicating pattern? We must break it at some point!”
Someone rose to try and speak, but Kasperi simply lifted a hand to the hilt of his sword, staring them down until they sat. He had the floor right now, and anyone who wanted it from him would get it only if they could cut him down. The threat was clear, and he saw several others sit back, letting him proceed.
“We must be better than this. Better than our internal bickering. Since when did we become creatures of hate, I ask you?” He turned slowly, staring down the Title Holders. Some met his gaze openly, calmly and with acceptance. Others, such as Kvoss, stared at him with unbridled hatred. Still more, a small handful, simply refused to meet his gaze entirely.
Kasperi continued his turn, looking over the assembled crowd and daring any of them to speak up, to justify their hatred.
“We’ve seen this happen in the past!” someone cried. “The magic is strong, untrainable. She burned down half our home!”
Kasperi snorted. “I didn’t realize you lived in fifty feet of underground tunnel squalor, Kodan.”
Snickers erupted in the audience as the shifter in question went beet red and slammed back down into his seat angrily.
“By the way, it was stone, for the most part. The carpeting burned, as did some pictures on the wall, yes. I won’t deny that damage was done. Yet the greater damage was done by this man, and his men.” He stabbed a finger at Kvoss.
“Watch your words,” the Assassin of the House said, his voice almost too calm, too unruffled.
“Watch my words like you have ordered your men to watch Amber? To stalk her? To provoke her?” He swept a finger around the cluster of Asps off to the side of the chamber. “Yes, in case some of you were unaware, three of this man’s goons approached us in the tunnels. Cornered us. Provoked us.”
“Is this true, Amber?” The Queen spoke now, stealing the floor from Kasperi.
Reluctantly, he let her. If there was one person in the room he was unwilling to cross, it was her. Not only because if she spoke, then he trusted she had a good reason for it, but also because she was a genuine badass and he did not want to tangle with her. Only an idiot did that.
“Yes,” Amber said quietly from Kasperi’s left. “It’s true. All of it. I lost control. I lashed out and attacked them. Used magic on them. I couldn’t control it.”
“You see!” Kvoss snapped. “There, she admits it.”
Kasperi watched in horror as his mate sagged lower, nodding in reply to the accusation. No. This couldn’t be. Looking closer, he saw the darkness in her eyes, the fear she was becoming what they all already believed her to be. So scared was she of going down that path, that her mind was already twisting in upon itself, beginning to believe she was already there.
His heart cracked, then shattered as she looked away, refusing to meet his gaze. Pain stabbed into his chest, his stomach, forcing Kasperi to reach out and rest a hand on the desk.
“Are you okay?” Kaelyn asked from her throne, a Queen worried about her subject.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Just…I’m fine.”
None of them knew the truth. About Amber, about him. Only Kincaid. He glanced at the Hunter, and saw the truth in his eyes. He understood, he knew what Kincaid was feeling. A slight incline of his head in support. Now was not the time to broadcast to all that she was his mate.
Yet Kasperi wasn’t going to give up on her either. He straightened, at the same time as Kvoss stood and walked down from the elevated stone thrones at the rear.
“This charade has gone on long enough,” he pronounced. “This time, it ends. Now.”
For the second time in consecutive Council meetings, Kasperi moved to intercept the man, both blades whipping out from their sheaths and pausing less than a hair’s breadth from Kvoss’ neck.
“Move one more step and I take your ugly, twisted head from your shoulders,” he snarled. “Same if you go for whatever is in your pouch. Arms out to the sides.”
Kvoss snarled, but did as he was told. “Is this how you let your subjects treat your lords?” he called to the Queen.
“You threaten our House!” Kasperi called, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. “Your actions, and your actions alone are splitting us. We were fine in that tunnel. She was making great progress, learning to control her power. The only reason she lost control was because your men provoked her.”
&n
bsp; “Remove your swords from my throat,” Kvoss ordered. “Or I will have my Asps tear you limb from limb.”
The dozen men readied themselves. On the dais, the six men of the Queen’s Own drew weapons, gun in one hand, sword in the other, ready to defend their Queen.
“That is enough,” Kaelyn snapped, her voice like a whip, snuffing out whispers and low conversation throughout the room. “I will not have my House bickering like children. Kvoss, return to your seat, order your men to stand down.”
“My Queen—”
“Now,” she said icily. “Lest I give you a reminder that your position on this Council is a privilege, not a right. You seem to be losing sight of that these days. You sit up here because I believe you are able to improve the lives of the others of this House. Not because I believe you to be better than them. If you forget this, perhaps it is time you rejoined the House as one of the subjects you believe them to be.”
Kvoss shuddered, anger flooding his muscles with blood.
“Do it,” Kasperi whispered. “Give me a reason to tell everyone here the truth about you. About your real motives.”
It was the closest he’d ever come to accusing someone of treason, of being a traitor.
Kvoss’ eyes narrowed. “You don’t know shit, boy.” Then he turned and ascended the steps, taking his chair, waving off the Asps.
Kasperi purposefully kept his swords out. It was a symbol, a sign he wasn’t done with this fight—that he would never be done with the fight. This was his mate, though nobody knew it, and he would not let these piss-ants determine her future.
The Queen spoke again before anyone else could work their temper up.
“Kvoss, the Asps will no longer follow Amber around while she learns. The same goes for you.”
The Assassin tried to speak, but Kaelyn violently slashed an open hand between them, silencing him instantly.
“I am well aware of your feelings,” she spat, “but do not cross me. Is that understood?”
Even Kasperi’s eyebrows lifted at the vehemence in her tone. Normally, the Queen did her best to avoid politics, but she was wading in with both feet this time and firmly setting herself against Kvoss, one of the longest-serving Title Holders in Ursa—one with a very large backing of other powerful players. It was a risky move.