When the door shut above the stairs, the Native American pointed at the wicker seat in front of me. I shook my head. I wasn’t going to sit down in front of all these people, I’m not dumb, “I don’t plan to be here that long.”
No one looked pleased by my presence, or my words. Unfazed, I jutted my chin towards the model looking man with a black t-shirt and red scarf. “Who are you?”
His eyes narrowed in amusement, “I’m Antrom.” My fire flickered. He was the one who wanted to hurt Cory and her family. This was not starting off well, not that I expected it.
I rolled my eyes dramatically and looked at the person sitting next to him. This person was stocky, with dark brown hair, a red beard, and a plaid green shirt. I didn’t have to guess, this guy was Irish. The woman next to him had red, bushy hair. She was pretty and even though I knew she didn’t like me outright, I had to give her props on her navy colored dress.
The man pointed at himself with beefy fingers, “Finn.” He crooked his head to the woman next to him, “My wife, Roisin. We rule together over the house of the witches.” He leaned back and pointed at the old grey haired witch standing fastidiously behind them, “This is our advisor, Duretta. She’s the seer.”
The old lady had yet to look at me. She was just staring at something or maybe she was getting a vision. Which to be honest, pissed me off. Mere minutes ago she talked to me like she was the Carver’s defender and now. . . nothing.
Next to Roisin stood a man in a white button-up with grey slacks, slick black shoes, and matching belt. He looked Slavic. He was clean shaven with a strong jaw line, dark eyes, and thick eyebrows. He half smiled, showing his vampire teeth. His way of letting me know he was a vampire, “I’m the Horde king, Deyan.”
I hope my face didn’t express my surprise. I heard stories about this guy. And even though he was dressed sharp, he looked every bit of the scary-ass man that I read about. Defensively, I would have to take him out first if I had any chance of getting out of here alive, if it came to that. Behind him was a Middle Eastern, tall man, with shoulder length black hair, and deep-set eyes. He had high cheekbones and an angular face. He was as tall as the Horde king.
“One of your enforcers?” I asked without sounding nervous, even though I was starting to feel it.
“Kresso is my head enforcer.” His words sounded like they were friendly, but there was definitely something itching at him. His enforcer didn’t look at me. He was looking behind me, studying something carefully. His eyes were moving back and forth as if he were reading something. Vampires must have good vision. The sidekick must not find me a big threat because he was ignoring me all together.
Interesting.
“And you’re Dar’s father,” I say to the man who looked at me with the most disgust out of all the members. And that’s saying a lot with a fairy in the room.
“Jeri.”
The first one to speak after several moments of silence was Antrom. “We know the Carvers see you as their chosen. Our seer,” he pointed in Duretta’s direction, “was the one who first saw the vision. A Carver spy reported it back to your rebels when you were born.”
Finn interjected, “We’ve heard this before Antrom. I doubt this is new.” He looked at me pointedly, “Is it?”
“It’s probably best if you just tell me what you want, or what you think you’re going to charge me with.” I took a moment to reflect to myself on how lucky I was to not only meet and piss off Shane’s father, the leader of the Carver’s rebellion, but now I am front and center at a Magical Council hearing, informally of course, because they were trying to keep this low key. If anything went wrong, they could twist the story. I wondered if they knew how stupid it was to put a person like me, a living fireball, in an enclosed area.
The Horde king turned his wrists at his side and I heard several joints popping from his arm joints. His expression, calm, but I felt anything but. “You killed my enforcer, Patra. Your sister has a contract out on her head because she’s made forbidden potions and performed fae magic in front of humans. You were once under the informal protection of the Magic Council while we ascertained your power source and how to destroy someone like you. However, that time has passed. Your time is up.”
I forced myself not to show weakness. Instead I used my only form of defense. I tapped my lips with my right index finger, looking dramatically confused.
“Is that straight forward enough, Beth?” The Horde king stood unnaturally still. Only his lips moved when he spoke. I wanted to do a full-body shiver.
I peered to my right, then left. I had a mouth full of comebacks. I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut it as the thought occurred to me.
I’m underground.
The entire Magical Council is right in front of me, and I stupidly thought they didn’t have a strategic plan in place.
I exhaled, letting the dread surround me.
Carvers had strong power sources, but they weren’t the only ones who could wield spells and magic. I had completely stumbled into their web. And their cocky attitudes were confirmation that they felt they had an ace up their sleeve. An ace, by the name of Dar, who had the power to control me.
I had another second before they realized I knew what was going on, so I pushed at my power and told time to stop. Amazingly it did.
I took a relieved breath and tried to teleport. Nothing. I didn’t move.
Not good.
I walked up the stairs to confront Dar and to have a very fiery talk about giving me over to the Magic Council, but the door wouldn’t budge. I pushed harder and then tried to use my magic. Nothing.
He locked me in? With the council?
Inhale. One Mississippi . . .
Exhale. Two Mississippi . . .
Inhale. Three Mississippi . . .
I made myself go back down the stairs, into the place that felt like it was already getting smaller.
It was just my imagination. I knew that and I wasn’t going to let this situation get the better of me. No way.
It was plenty big. I didn’t see a vent, but I told myself it was okay. There was plenty of air. I stood by Jeri and noticed the color under his chair was oak, not dirt like the floor was. Then another thought pinged my mind.
Fearing the worst, went to brush Jeri’s shoulder and my hand swept right through him. Hologram. Crap!
He was watching me with sadistic amusement. They weren’t even in here. They must be upstairs because there was no wood anywhere. I walked to each person to confirm my theory.
A few were smirking but no one said anything or laughed, they just sat there in their unlatching, raggedy looking chairs that could have been held together with a few nails, if that, and stared.
This was their move. They planned to catch me like a rodent in a cage. They were idiots. As soon as I figured out how to get around their dumb magic I was out of here.
I yawned at them. This was so beneath me. I rolled my back while I thought about a few things I could do to get out of this dumb cage. After a second I looked over to the wicker seat.
I sat down on the wicker chair and reclined in, getting comfortable. Then I felt something move underneath me. I sat up at the same time the movement slinked down my legs. Everything happened so fast
Something had punched through both shins and tied me to the legs of the chair. Then the same bone crunching feeling ricocheted up my arms as the wicker pushed through my forearms and wrapped my arms, tying me to the chair.
I screamed. And I kept screaming. And my fire ignited in my stomach rushing up my throat. My screams were coupled with fire similar to a flamethrower. My fire kept coming out and filling up the room. The chair tipped over and the pain vibrated through me like a massive electric current.
This was too much. I couldn’t take this. Then I felt pressure and another snap as the wicker chair punched through my stomach. I instantly vomited blood. I think.
Die. Why wasn’t I dead yet. There was a constant
circulation of electrical current running through my body. I screamed fire. I vomited blood. Over and over.
My fire surrounded me and had taken hold of the house. I could have imagined it but my mind seemed to be in a world of everything and nothing. I knew without really knowing that the house was on fire and I also knew that I was the only one in the house. The fire knew and therefore, somehow, I knew.
My skin ripped. My screams changed to screeches. My vision blurred to white. I felt heavy. Really heavy. The pain stopped screaming inside of me. Instead it felt, bearable, like a fire ant bite.
I tried to move but I felt stuck, like inside a box. I pushed and I felt the earth below me move. I pushed harder and the box started to break around me. One last push and I was free.
The white haze started to fade. I looked around and my vision was different. I could see currents of colors. I was on the floor, on my belly. When I tried to get up I found my hands were claws, and my wings had claws, and my belly was large, and my legs were thick and strong, and I felt my… tail swish behind me.
Tail? Wings? What. The. Hell?
I’m a dragon?
I could see the entire basement was outlined in a pepto bismol pink. I could smell the fire still eating the house. It had not finished, and it wouldn’t stop until the house was ash. The fire had planned to eat through the walls around me, the only problem I could tell was that the basement was already collapsed and the magic was still in place. I was trapped.
Inhale.
Exhale . . . ball of fire.
Inhale.
Think. I can do this. Cory said I limit myself to my own perceptions. My own rules limited myself. There’s a way to do this. Think!
Time. I had frozen time. Was it still frozen? Dar could tell me. That bastard owed me.
Dar? I said in my head wondering if the blaggard would even answer me after ditching me to this fate. No answer. Typical.
DAR! I screamed mentally getting a picture of him in my head.
Beth? His voice was soft as if he was unsure.
Dar, is everyone still frozen? I asked letting my disgust for him coat every single word.
What the hell happened? His internal voice was small. Beth? Where are you? No way was I falling for that lame as trick. He knew.
In the fucking basement where you left me asshole!
He was silent for a few moments and then I hear, Did you blow up my house? Fuck Beth!
I didn’t feel an ounce of remorse for the bastard’s house.
Wait, you’re where? You would think he would at least pretend to be concerned. But no, not Dar, he was yelling in my fucking head!
And worst of all, this anger was starting to make me feel better.
Beth! Then I heard shuffling and his voice calling from above. “BETH!” I heard him move something above and then there was light where the door once stood. Dar bounded down the stairs and stopped. Eyes wide as he stepped back. “Beth?”
I snorted smoke. Yes.
His eyebrows spiked, “You’re a dragon, Beth.” He looked around, and I could see something light blue wrapped around his throat. And then I could see something white tied around his chest, where his heart beat.
“How did you get like this?”
I knew he could hear all my thoughts and from what he said before he could also see my thoughts, so I replayed everything from the time he left me. His eyes glowed as each new scene played out. I made sure he knew exactly what happened. When I finished he took a step forward.
I flinched. He saw and frowned. I wanted to believe he didn’t knowingly leave me like a worm on a hook, but, I couldn’t convince myself to trust him. I didn’t flip that fast. There was nothing I could even think of that he could say that would make me change my mind.
In fact, I would prefer to throw him into the black sea with a thousand pound weight tied to his feet. He ditched me. I tried to move away from him, but it didn’t work. The basement was too small. He kept moving towards me with one hand out as if he was urging me to trust him. I moved my wings, trying to stop him, but he ducked those. He dropped to the floor, eyes glowing and touched my face, “Turn back.”
His words sounded soft, but it was a commanded, and my fire gave up the hold it had on my dragon form. My fire always felt worse when it was obeying him instead of doing what I wanted. I morphed back into my human form slowly, and with a lot of very uncomfortable moments when my bones shrank. When it was done, I was on the dirt floor naked.
Way too close, I moved away from him. He snatched my wrist in the process and crept closer. I felt him move my empty hands and pressed them on my stomach, “Dress.” My magic responded to him and I was now dressed in a long, grey shirtdress that stopped mid-thigh. He pulled me up and his eyes were still glowing.
“I swear I don’t remember anything after you teleported out of my bathroom,” he swallowed. “Please believe me. I would never have left you.” He leaned his head towards mine. Our foreheads touched and I could feel his skin on mine. I could also feel his guilt, as odd as that sounds. I hated myself, but leaned further into him, needing the warmth. I wanted to crawl in his lap but I was able to refrain being that ridiculous. He may not have ditched me, but he didn’t want me.
“I’m sorry,” then he pulled me closer into his lap, and pressed his lips on mine.
Stunned for a half second, I pushed him back. Dar shook his head and I was unsure if he regretted it or not.
He smirked and ran his finger across my lips. Soft.
I stood there, aware that I was scantily clothed and he was half dressed. He leaned in and my eyes closed when his lips touched mine. He was firm and fierce and I wanted to break under him. Stupid hormones.
His kiss intensified and I pressed my chest into him and wrapped my hands around his neck. Dar grabbed my waist and lifted me up against the stone wall. He pushed into me and rocked against my core. I could feel a steel bar between us.
Holy…
"Tell me to stop Beth," he said between kisses. One hand was holding me under my thigh and the other was inching its way over my left nipple.
Um . . .
"Tell me you don't want me," he hissed, then his tone softened as if he was battling something inside. The words sounded like an order, but my fire was not compelling me yet. "Tell me what you want," he whispered.
I would, but his tongue pushed inside my mouth and I accepted it with vigor.
He left my mouth and moved down, bring the tips of my breast into his mouth, through the thin shirt.
Oh damn…
"Tell me to stop," he commanded. His eyes were fading some.
"Stop?" I moaned. He felt amazing. But did he want this? I pushed myself against him because he was perfectly situated between my thighs, and his roughness was pressing beautifully against my throbbing need.
He bit my lower lip. I could feel him everywhere, "Not convincing, baby." Then I felt him run his hand up my dress, pushing the long t-shirt up and over my chest. His tongue slipped into my mouth as his thumb began to circle my nipple. He squeezed.
"Please…" I begged, and tried to push my clit against his jeans. I was so ready to come.
He pushed against my hands, stopping me from trying to touch him. "I can't baby," he said as if he was out of breath.
My need for him was overwhelming. I needed him, I needed to come. Slowly, he moved his hand between us and pushed a digit inside me. I bit my lip. Damn he felt good. He pushed up several times and I wanted to ride his long, thick finger. Then I felt myself stretching as he added another digit. I couldn’t think. I need this. I begged him. I fucking begged. I was throbbing and I needed more. So much more.
He shushed me with a light kiss and brushed his thumb over my folds, slipping it in between, working masterfully, circling my combination.
It started from all around me, the tingling, the pleasure, the heat building inside of me. Oh yes, I wanted him so bad. I rode his hand and mounted my pleasure until it flowed ou
t and through me like Niagara Falls.
He continued until I cried for him to stop.
Oh my…
I exhaled slowly, and my fire circled both of us. My legs were tightly wrapped around his waist and I had his shoulder in my mouth. I opened my eyes, worried about what I was going to see. I had bit him. Bad.
Dar was not looking at me. He was breathing heavy. He let go of me and I slowly stepped onto my shaky legs. And he walked away. No words. No nothing. When he reached the top of the stairs he said, “When I get you out of here, be prepared to be bit.” Hard, he says in my mind.
I push my shirt down, not sure what I was feeling. I looked around at my new cage and wondered what exactly did we just do? And more importantly, could he actually get me out?
Unfreeze them Beth. His tone was back to being harsh and authoritative.
I obeyed and felt my stomach drop.
CHAPTER TEN
BETH
I gave her my heart. I never thought I would ever give anyone my heart. I knew I didn’t possess the ability to love like others, and so, I knew I would never want to give my heart to anyone who was willing to settle for my shitty kind of love.
But, Cory was dying and I couldn’t allow her to die. Not that she is doing any better now. I’ve been watching her sleep for what feels like minutes, but it’s been days now. The healer, Sidney, said Cory is in a coma. She said her potion was very potent and had begun to disassemble her from the inside. I wish she had bought that stupid potion from someone so I could beat the ever-living hell out of him. I’m so scared I’m literally steaming from my pores. My fire wants out, but I won’t leave her for a second to let it vent. Giving her my heart is the only thing keeping her alive, it stopped the potion’s attack.
When Cory had first arrived at Sidney’s house, and her homemade werewolf hospital, she didn’t waste a second. Sidney had me shoving my healing magic in her while she cleaned the potion out of her. It was horrible. I had to watch Cory’s chest cut open, then watch her insides move around and bounce. Ugh. There was black slime everywhere. That nasty stuff was hard to get out because it would start decomposing anything that touched it. We went through rags, gloves, towels, and a lot of gauze.
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