by Lola Gabriel
“I’m fine. I—”
“Okay, that’s enough,” Flint said and Romi’s voice was muffled by what Nyx could only imagine was a gag. “It that enough proof of life for you, Nyxon?”
“What do you want with her? To get to me?” Nyx demanded.
“It’s amusing that you deem yourself so important, Nyxon, but it is true. I did take her to get to you, which was my initial plan, but as I mentioned before, it turns out she is much more valuable than I thought.”
“You are going to regret this,” Nyx growled.
“I doubt it.”
Before Nyx could respond, the line went dead and he swore under his breath.
“What’s going on? Where is Romiera?”
“She’s been taken by the bears,” Nyx said.
“Why would they want her?”
“Flint said it was to get to me, that was his initial plan, but then he realized how valuable she is,” Nyx answered. “I have no idea what that means.”
“I do,” Henry admitted.
Nyx raised his eyebrows expectantly and ordered, “Tell me.”
“Romiera has the Ambrosias blood and magic flowing through her veins. She can transform humans into Immortal shifters.”
Nyx’s eyes widened and he pursed his lips briefly. “That’s why he wants her. He’s building an army. We have to save her and kill all the shifters he’s forcing her to create. Everyone.”
“I know that look,” Henry pointed out. “Your father had that same look in his eyes before he ordered my entire family to be burned at the stake.”
“Maybe my father had a good reason, just like I do.”
Nyx shoved his phone, as well as Romi’s, into his pocket and rushed back inside his apartment, with Henry following closely behind him.
“What are we going to do?” Henry asked.
“We’re not going to do anything. I’m going to track Romi and kill all those bears, Flint included, by myself,” Nyx answered as he retrieved his small backpack containing a change of clothes from the closet in the hallway. The closet was where he stashed many small backpacks, just to be safe. He never knew when he would need them, and at that moment, he was glad he had them.
“Don’t be stupid, kid. While I admire your bravery, which looks a whole lot more like stupidity, you can’t do this by yourself,” Henry pointed out. “I’ll help you.”
Nyx spun around and glared at Henry. “No, you’re not.”
“She’s my daughter. She’s the only person who I care about in this world, Nyx.”
Nyx heard the underlying pleading in his voice and slowly shifted his weight. “Fine.”
“Thank you. What’s in the backpack?” Henry asked.
“Just a change of clothes,” Nyx answered.
“Right, you dragons go through clothes like it’s nobody’s business,” Henry muttered.
“First of all, if you’re going to be coming along, I’d appreciate it if you didn't refer to me as ‘you dragons’, and second of all, it’s our cross to bear, so just deal with it,” he snapped.
Henry held his hands up in defeat and said, “We need to make a stop at my house.”
“Why?” Nyx asked as he motioned to Henry to follow him out of the apartment.
“There’s something I have to get. It’ll help Romiera to escape if something goes wrong,” Henry answered and received a threatening stare from Nyx, “not that I am insinuating that you are not capable of killing a pack of bears—”
“Alright, that’s enough,” Nyx said as he rolled his eyes and walked up the street.
“Where are you going?”
“To get my Jeep,” Nyx answered. “Try to keep up, old man.”
“I thought kids were supposed to respect their elders,” Nyx heard Henry grumble behind him as he rushed around the corner to a garage which was cleverly concealed by a roll-up store door.
“You do realize I am older than you, right?” Nyx said. “By thousands of years. So, you can start showing that respect any minute now.”
“Hmph,” was Henry’s only reply.
They climbed inside the Jeep and it roared to life. Within seconds, they were speeding down the street in the direction of Henry’s house.
It didn't take them very long to get to his house, and Henry quickly ran inside. Nyx scanned the house and his jaw clenched. The house was the epitome of what a witch’s house would look like, and it baffled him that the neighbors hadn’t reported anything strange to the authorities. Maybe they did, and nothing came of it, or maybe they were too afraid to.
Sure, Henry was intimidating and scary as hell, especially when he wanted to rip Nyx’s head off, but the man was also devoted to his daughter, which made him seem a little less daunting than before. Nyx could understand how Henry only wanted to protect Romi, but he did so a little too intensely, therefore pushing her away more than he had anticipated.
Nyx glanced at the digital clock on the display of his main console and tapped his fingers impatiently on his steering wheel. Within a few minutes, Henry exited the house carrying a small purple tote bag. Nyx wasn’t sure what was in it, but he knew that it was definitely something that could help them. Henry seemed like an organized person and determined to save his daughter.
“Sorry I took so long. I grabbed us some snacks for the road,” Henry said as he climbed back in the Jeep, tapping the bag with a satisfied tone.
Nyx looked at him, narrowing his eyes in anger, and repeated, “You grabbed us some snacks? We’re not going on a road trip, you know.”
“Technically we are, so shut up and take one,” Henry retorted.
Nyx sighed, knowing this was going to be one long trip. This, however, gave him the motivation to step even harder on the gas pedal. The faster he drove, the sooner this would all be over.
As the Jeep sped down the motorway, leaving the city of London behind, Nyx caught Romi’s scent and was relieved that he was going in the right direction. He was deliberating in his mind what his plan would be when he heard Henry clear his throat beside him.
“Can I ask you a question?” Henry asked.
“Sure,” Nyx answered, keeping his eyes on the road and stuffing a chip into his mouth.
“How do you know this bear called Flint?”
“What do you mean?”
“You talked to him as if you know him.”
“I do know him, from a long time ago,” Nyx answered.
“So, tell me, so I know what we’re up against.”
“It’s a long story.”
“Well,” Henry pointed out as he motioned to the road, “apparently we have time.”
Nyx tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “I met Flint in Scotland. My family and I lived there for a while. We moved around a lot, since my father found it hard to settle in one spot after Lunca.”
“Probably because of all the shit he did,” Henry muttered.
Nyx glared at him for a moment and grumbled, “Do you want to hear this or not?”
“Stop being so touchy, kid. It is what it is, right? Your old man is a tyrant who has no conscience, and that’s just the way it is.”
Nyx pursed his lips and shook his head. Henry was right—that was who his father was, and nothing could take away or erase what he had done.
“Anyway, you were saying,” Henry prompted.
“The rolling hills of Scotland were perfect for my mother. She enjoyed the openness of everything, the countryside appealed to her, obviously more than it appealed to my father. My older brother and I went to scout the area around Loch Lomond, and we met Flint and his two brothers. They also lived in the area. They had been for a long time. It wasn't a struggle for power or territory with him. They were too glad to have another Immortal family in the vicinity. It got pretty lonely there in the middle of nowhere.”
“You became friends with this bear?” Henry asked incredulously.
“Yes, at first,” Nyx answered. “Flint and I developed an interest in the same girl, at the same time, which was more u
nfortunate than you know. She was a part of their pack; her parents and Flint’s parents grew up together. It was always an unspoken thing that they would end up getting married and all that nonsense.”
“But they didn’t because you came between them?”
“For me, she was a fling. I told her to go back to Flint because I could never lover her,” Nyx stated and cleared his throat. “She didn’t. I told her it would never last and she still picked me.”
“And Flint wasn’t happy about it.”
“Right. He challenged me to duel, of sorts. He was a bit old-fashioned, set in his old ways, which I never was.”
“You sound like Romiera.”
Nyx clenched his jaw. “The duel went a bit sideways, and Flint got hurt, although it was more of his pride being bruised than his actual body. He vowed to get revenge on me one day, and now he has.”
“No, he won’t.”
“Flint may look like a complete buffoon, but he’s scary and vicious and shows no mercy. This is not going to be easy, even for a dragon and a warlock.”
“An elder warlock and a Dragon Prince, you mean,” Henry corrected him.
“Thanks, Henry.” Nyx glanced at Henry for a moment and nodded. It was a strange feeling which arose inside him at that moment, one he had never truly felt before. It was as if Nyx had found an ally in Henry, despite their obvious differences in opinions and beliefs. A father figure almost, which was something Nyx never had with his own father, or any adult male in his family.
“Don’t get soft on me now,” Henry scoffed and stared out the front windshield, his eyes darkening ominously. “Just remember, if anything bad happens to my daughter, it’s on you, Dragon Prince. I will make sure you spend the rest of your life plagued by guilt.”
Nyx snorted and slid his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose. “Just add it to the pile.”
8
The sound of metal on metal sawed through Romi’s head in the most painful manner imaginable and her tired eyes opened slowly. Normally she would try to make a run for it, or at least attempt to fight off whoever was going to drag her out of her cell and up the endless stairs leading out into the clearing, but her weak body lay motionlessly on the narrow bed. Brute hands grabbed her and dragged her out of her cell and down the dark corridor.
The endless stairs taunted her as she tried to keep her mind strong for what was going to happen next. Again and again.
She wasn't sure how long she had been held captive by a moronic-looking bear shifter, with eyes like a stoned cartoon character and a monotonous voice which could put even the most hyperactive person to sleep, but it felt like forever. Between her fainting spells and the cruel ritual he insisted she perform between the ancient ruins of Stonehenge—as if that would make it more magical—she wasn’t sure what day it was, and how long she had been there. All she knew was that it happened at night, when the stars were at their brightest.
Chains rattled as a metal door leading to the outside was opened and the fresh air hit Romi right between the eyes. An overwhelming urge to breathe in as deeply as she could came over her and she gasped for air until her chest ached.
The ancientness of the ruins was evident in the air, as though one should hold their breath so as to not disturb the perpetual mysticism of it. The collapsed stones served as a reminder that despite how far the ancient monument had come, it would ultimately succumb to the elements.
Romi raised her head as she was dragged to the middle of the ruins, where the idiotic-looking bear, called Flint, waited for her. To his right stood a line of males who seemed to be under a trance, simply standing still, waiting.
As she was thrown to the ground, her knees aching from the sudden impact, she looked up. “That’s too many. I won’t be able to…”
Flint crouched down in front of her and his evil eyes narrowed. “You don’t get to decide that, little witch. Now do as I say, or I’ll have to kill your boyfriend earlier than expected.”
Romi’s jaw clenched and she knew she didn't have any choice in the matter. She had to do what he wanted, as many times as he wanted her to. If she didn’t, he promised to kill Nyx, and her father, and everyone she cared about.
When Romi was attacked in her home and taken, she didn’t know who her abductor was and why he had taken her, but as time progressed, and Flint introduced himself to her—in a very polite manner—everything made more sense.
Flint knew she was an Ambrosias descendent, as he had his men follow her around for quite a while. They needed confirmation that she was, and finally found it when they saw her react to the flame n the restaurant. Only an Ambrosias descendant’s eyes would flash that certain hue of red when coming into direct contact with fire. It had been unsettling to hear this from someone who seemed as polite as Flint, but when he revealed to her what he planned on doing, her blood had frozen in her veins.
Flint wanted to build a bear shifter army, but he needed to capture an Ambrosias descendent to make this possible, as only a witch carrying the blood of her powerful ancestor could turn humans into Immortal shifters. At a price, of course. With each Immortal she created, her life’s essence would drip away, leaving her wasting away until she succumbed to the emptiness. Many witches had the same fate when captured by Immortals who were power-hungry and set out to conquer a weaker species. The Norse dragons had done so, as did the Russian wolves, and unfortunately, so did Arlo Veskovic, the Dragon King, at the start of his reign.
Romi knew the consequences of creating an Immortal army of bears for Flint, but she had no choice. He threatened to kill everyone she cared about, including Nyx, and she couldn't allow that to happen. She would rather sacrifice herself than allow anyone to harm Nyx or her father.
Flint’s words echoed in her ears. “You said you wouldn’t kill him,” she whispered weakly, her lips already chapped from the strain her body had taken.
“I won’t, but I am pretty sure my army will.”
“You know he’s a lot stronger than all of you combined, right?” she pointed out hoarsely.
“Then I’ll just have to grow my army even more,” Flint smirked and stood upright. “Get on with it, little witch.”
Romi straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath as the first man in line stepped onto the collapsed stone which was once believed to have been an altar. Romi stared at the man in silence, not moving at all.
“Don’t make me wait again,” Flint’s menacing voice threatened, and she knew well enough to not disobey him, especially not now.
It was as clear as daylight that Romi’s words about how Nyx would be stronger than his entire army of bears had made Flint nervous. He wasn’t the powerful and unwavering ruler he believed he was. Romi also noticed his moves weren’t calculated and organized. His motive was revenge, which made him act rashly and on a whim. He was too emotionally invested to see things clearly or make rational, logical decisions.
This made him sloppy and, judging by the hint of uncertainty in his eyes only Romi could see, made him even more vengeful.
Romi slowly rose to her feet and approached the altar, trying to compose herself the best she could. She needed to be strong in order to pull this off. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to keep it up, but the longer she did, the longer Nyx had.
She wondered if Nyx had discovered that she was missing, or if he was still mad at her for not telling him about being related to Rhaena. Was he even worried about her, or should she just accept that he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore?
Deep in her heart she knew that wasn’t the case, and that he had vowed to always be there for her when she needed him, like now. But the mere thought of Nyx gave her the strength she needed to raise her hands up, and an orb formed on each palm. Her eyes glowed a bright red, and she noticed the satisfied yet evil smirk forming on Flint’s lips. She murmured the words of the spell, sounding like a melody floating in the wind. The air around the man on the altar illuminated in a soft orange hue before exploding into a bright red. The
energy orbs blasted thick streams of red bolts toward him, and his body elevated off the flat rock he stood upon. Suspended in mid-air, he slowly started to transform into a bear, which was both unsettling and fascinating to see. Although Romi had seen many Immortals shift back into their original forms, there was something quite different about knowing she had created that specific Immortal, especially since it was created unwillingly. The energy which pulsated from her palms slowed down and soon what remained was only a thin thread which contacted them. Romi’s glowing red eyes returned to their usual sapphire blue and her hands dropped down to her sides.
The spell was complete.
Flint crossed his arms, happy by what he had seen, and motioned to the newly created bear shifter to be taken to the outer circle of stones with the others.
Romi turned her head toward Flint and did a curtsy out of pure sarcasm and sardonicism.
“Don’t get cocky, little witch. You’ve still got a lot more to do.”
Romi knew it was the grim reality of the situation, but she needed to insert a bit of humor and snark, otherwise she would not make it out alive. As she glanced at the long line of men who stood waiting to be changed into shifters, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that getting out alive wasn't even an option anymore.
“Get on with it!” Flint shouted from where he stood, flanked by his two henchmen, the one even more stupid than the next, in Romi’s opinion. All brains and no brains. She would know, as they had roughed her up on numerous occasions when her snark was too much for Flint, or them, to tolerate.
Flint had advised them to not go too far, as Romi was crucial to his plan, much to the two blundering idiots’ dismay.
Romi motioned to the next man in line to step up to the altar and she gave him a quick once-over. He looked as terrified as she was and she could understand why. Having to give up your human life to become an Immortal shifter to a power-hungry lunatic wasn’t anyone’s idea of a good time. These bears were disposable, pawns which Flint used to prove a point and stroke his wounded ego. She wondered what Nyx had done to piss Flint off the way he had, but it was more than likely his father, the Dragon King, who had pissed Flint off. It was the only thing which made sense.