I was thankful the scene went dark before I had to watch the rest. I couldn’t let myself imagine what that Hunter had done to poor Nell. What he had said echoed in my mind. That was Rhi — the same Hunter who murdered my mother.
When Elias removed his hand from my cheek it was all I could do to not crumple to the ground. Bethany caught me as I bent over. The hurt, pain, and despair that cascaded through me was more than I could handle. Elias’s leftover emotions charred my heart as I tried to separate myself from him. I reached up to place my hand where his had been only to realize I couldn’t move as the sobs wracked my body. I cried for that poor woman and Elias’s heartbreak. When I looked up at him, the tears were falling from his eyes in slow rivers. He didn’t move to wipe them away and neither did I.
“Is that what you knew?” he asked, sorrow seeping from his words as the blood had from her wounds. I could only shake my head. Nothing Cole had told me prepared me for what I had just witnessed. I, too, would never be able to erase her screams from my mind.
“There is more, Amelia. So much more. I hold so many truths that you need regarding how to control what’s inside you. About the prophecy. About your mother.”
My head cleared at his mention of my mother and the power I had done my best to hide. My curiosity peaked, but I had no reason to believe he knew anything more than Derreck had. “And, why is it that I’m supposed to trust you, Elias? You just finished telling me how everyone lies to me. Constantly. Why would I trust anything you say over them? Your story is terrible and I am so sorry for what you went through, but what makes you different?” I leaned heavily on Bethany as I finally stood tall and fixed my stare on his.
His tone was grim, but determined. The tears gone. “Because I started our relationship with truth. I haven’t lied to you. I manipulated you to get you here, but I didn’t lie. I don’t lie.”
He stepped back from me a few paces and gestured to the beasts around him. “These are all people, Amelia. People who have been running their whole lives. Who, like me, watched their friends and family murdered, or worse. I am not Julia. I don’t want to use you. I want to help you. I want you to help me — us. But, the choice is yours. You can always find one of us here, in this place. I know that you cut off the communications to your brother and the prince, and they are likely to come for you soon. You should go.”
Bethany and I reacted simultaneously. “The what?” I yelped at the same time that she said, “Who’s a prince? Prince of what?”
Elias smirked and looked far too smug for my liking. “Another half-truth, Amelia. Ask him. You know exactly who I’m talking about. I just thought you realized. Ask him why he’s really here, Amelia. Then, come back and we’ll talk some more. Just be careful with what you share. He, like so many others, is not what he seems.”
Bethany and I watched, our hands still gripping each other’s, as Elias, Melinda, and all of the animals melted back into the tree line. In mere seconds, it was as if they’d never existed. Bethany turned to me to say something and I interrupted her before she could ask. “Not yet. There’s so much I have to tell you, and I will. Just give me a minute, okay?” She swallowed and nodded, standing silently next to me while I tried to slow my racing heart and make sense of what had just unfolded.
Thankfully, Bethany was quiet as we made our way back toward the apartment. My mind was swimming. Micah was the prince. He had to be. There weren’t any other options. That meant I was betrothed to Micah. And, judging from what Elias had just said, Micah knew it.
I felt the dark magic rising within me and forced my thoughts away from Micah and back to Elias. To his words, his excruciating memory, and the promises he had made me. He used the only thing he knew would sway me — the allure of truth. And it was working. I wanted to deposit Bethany in the apartment and run back to where he had stood. I had so many questions. Everything I’d learned in the last twenty-four hours was a convoluted mess in my brain. It seemed like the only thing anyone agreed on was the fact that I couldn’t go to the castle. I couldn’t play into the queen’s plan. But, outside of that, no one seemed to agree on anything.
Uncle Derreck wanted me to find my mate. Elias wanted me to help the AniMages. And, then, there was Bethany, to whom I owed a lengthy explanation. Everywhere I turned, someone needed something from me. What I needed, was time to think. To sort all of the madness out in my head. I needed more than just a few minutes between catastrophes. Somewhere in this mess was a choice I had to make, but at this point I didn’t have a clue on where to find it.
As we neared the complex, Cole and Micah burst from the back door. Bethany went running for Micah and he swept her into his arms. For a millisecond, I was happy for them, then Elias’s words came back and squashed any joy I held for my friend. Cole came toward me a little more tentatively.
“Ame? What’s wrong? I can’t get a read on you, there’s too much going on.” He gave me a sideways look that said he could tell that she was taking hold of me. “What happened up there? Why did you shut us out?” I could only stare over his shoulder at Micah. Pure, unadulterated hate was all I had for him. I had trusted him. I had thought we were friends. My limbs started to tremble. I made the conscious decision to stop fighting her off and stood taller as the layered effect of her power gave me the necessary strength.
“Amelia,” Cole said slowly. “What is going on? I can feel it. This isn’t good. Talk to me, Ame.” He tried to reach for me and I flinched away, shaking my head.
“I need to talk to Micah. Alone. Now.”
Micah pulled his head up from being bent into Bethany and his eyes widened when he met mine. I saw the instant he realized I knew. Apologies reflected back at me, but I wouldn’t acknowledge them. I wanted him to feel badly about what he’d done.
Cole looked between us, and when Micah asked him to take Bethany inside he agreed, but didn’t look happy about it. He took a step toward me. “I’ll be just in there, Amelia.” I nodded, my eyes never leaving Micah’s. “Stay in there.” I waited for Cole and Bethany to go inside before I spoke.
I found it hard to form the words; to put the accusations into syllables that would make sentences. I opened and closed my mouth a few times before I could even do it.
“You lied to me. You’ve been lying to me from the beginning, haven’t you? You never wanted to be my friend. You asked me to trust you and I did!” The more I spoke, the stronger my voice became. My violet smoke surrounded me. My breaths became shallow and the pressure inside me quickly became too much to bear. I couldn’t stop the eruption. After everything I’d just been through, I wanted someone to pay. To feel as beaten and twisted and tortured as I felt in that moment. I had no idea which way was up or what I was supposed to do. So, I funneled all of that into Micah.
“I thought we were FRIENDS!” I shot a blast at him, not giving it everything, but trying to give myself a release. He was ready for it. Sadly, he understood my power probably better than I did, at least the parts he had seen, and he countered. Red and violet crashed into each other, electricity popping and snapping as the two magic’s battled between us. I held both hands up in front of me, pushing at him, wanting him to do something. To say something.
Sweat popped on his brow as Micah finally yelled over the sound, “We are friends, Amelia. I came for you, but not for the reasons you think. I came to help you. To protect you.”
That only set me off further and I pushed harder, forcing Micah to take a few steps back. “To protect me? How? By figuring out exactly what I could do so you could report it back to your demented mother? I’m nothing but a puppet to her. A means to an end. I won’t do it, Micah. She doesn’t understand what I am. No one does.”
Suddenly, I was exhausted. Drained of hope and will and the energy to even hate Micah the way I wanted to. I slowly backed myself down and Micah did the same. I doubled over, my hands on my knees as I fought for air. I looked up at him from under a curtain of hair, happy that he was at least visibly exhausted, too.
“Ameli
a, it isn’t what you think. Really.” He coughed out between deep breaths.
“Isn’t it, though, Micah? Is that even your name? Who are you really?”
A deep voice came from behind me, sending chills up my spine. “He is Prince Mikail. You would do well to remember that, girl. Keeper or not, he is your prince.”
I turned around. At the sight of him, my world spun. Standing feet from me was Rhi. The Hunter who murdered my mother and Nell. Elias’s scar still remained a thick line running from his temple to his chin. I should have killed him. I should have maimed him. There were so many things I should have done. Instead, I passed out.
Chapter 22
I woke up on the couch in the living room of my apartment. As I squinted my eyes open, sending a little jet through me to dull the pain in my head and the aches in my body, I saw Cole and Bethany sitting at the kitchen table. I looked around and Micah was gone. Or Prince Mikail, I suppose.
As soon as Bethany saw my partially-opened eyes she was next to me, helping me sit up. “Hey there, girl. What can I get you? Tea?” I nodded weakly and she disappeared into the kitchen. I turned myself so that I wasn’t taking up the entire couch and found myself eye-to-eye with my very irritated brother.
“Would you like to explain what the hell just happened, Amelia?” His anger was at new heights, but I didn’t have the energy for the argument.
I laughed a broken laugh. “Only if I knew where to start, Cole. I wish I could.”
“Well, honey, why don’t you start with what you’ve been hiding from your best friend?” Bethany stood in the kitchen, filling my mug with water and refusing to look at me. “Then, you can tell me what in goodness gracious I just witnessed out there, and you can end with why you were trying to kill my boyfriend! After that, we can get to why he brought you in here comatose before he disappeared. Those are really the high points we need, isn’t that right, Cole?” Her sarcasm was tinged with hurt and it killed me to know that I had done that.
I stood up from the couch and took a few steps toward Bethany, taking the tea mugs from her and then yanking her in for a hug. I held on for dear life, for my sanity, and to try to show my friend in some small way that none of this was to hurt her. The realization that I had done exactly what had been done to me — lied to protect her — was a bitter taste in my mouth.
I finally let go, picking up our mugs and taking them to the couch.
“This is the short version, B, because it would take days to explain the long version. It’s probably pretty clear that we have some…uh, different abilities than you do.”
She snorted, “Really, Ame? Abilities? Your crazy magic business pretty much takes the cake.”
I laughed at little. “Well, you seem to be rolling with it pretty well. Yes, we have some crazy magic business. Both Cole and I. Mine is a little different from his. I’m…uh, special. And I have some power other people don’t. The people who took you are AniMages. They are a kind of Mage that has less power, but the ability to shift into animals. You saw what they can do.”
“And they want your help? Who forced them out? Why? That Elias man seemed decent enough, but I’ll tell you what, you scared the beejesus out of me when you went blank out there. What was that?” She was tapping her nail against the ceramic cup, the tiny ping-ping in rhythm with her foot tapping on floor. I was so impressed that she hadn’t had her own meltdown. I could only imagine that there weren’t many humans who could walk away from this ordeal without losing it.
I put my hand on her leg to stop the bouncing. “Too much, B. I’m going to skip some questions for now. The AniMages do want my help, and Elias showed me a very painful memory of his past.” I looked up at Cole, whose concern was etched in the furrow of his brow, his lips pursed, and worry lines around his eyes. At my mention of sharing memories, sadness filled his eyes. Yet another dark piece of a limitless puzzle we now shared.
“And Micah? What happened between you two?” she asked.
I couldn’t explain that to her without Cole going ballistic, so I didn’t. “I won’t lie to you again, B, but I can’t tell you that yet. I will, but Cole and I need to talk first.” She pulled back from me, hurt again.
“Oh. Well, then.” She stood up and I grabbed her hand, stopping her exit. “Hey, look at me.” She stared straight ahead for a moment but finally looked down at me.
“This is a lot, B. It’s a lot for me. So much has happened in the last day that I don’t even know how to talk about it. I don’t know what it means or what’s going to happen. But, they’ve come for you once. I don’t want them to do it again. Just give me time, okay? Pinky swear, you’ll get the full story. I just need time.” I held out my hand, pinky extended.
She sighed in acceptance. “Okay, girl. But, you hear me now. In the last twenty-four hours I’ve been snatched from a parking lot, stared down a wolf that I watched turn into a demon woman, had my hair burnt, watched my best friend light up like a damn glow stick, and my boyfriend spit red fire from his hands. I won’t say I haven’t cried, but all in all, I’ve kept my shit together pretty well. No more holding out on me. Got it? We are best friends and I’m in this for better or for worse. I deserve the truth.” With her hands on her hips and scowl on her face, I’d never loved my best friend more.
I got up and hugged her again. “Deal. Now, go pack a bag. We’ve got to get to Cole’s. It’s safer there.”
She looked down at herself and wrinkled her nose. Her dress looked like it had been dunked in a mud puddle and her hair was in knots. “Can I at least shower? This is just unacceptable.” I laughed and looked up at Cole for confirmation.
“Twenty minutes, princess, and we’re out the door. Make it happen.” She rolled her eyes and sauntered toward her room. “Oh ye of little faith, I only need ten.”
As soon as the water started, Cole was next to me.
“What aren’t you telling her?” His words were hushed, but I wasn’t sure they would stay that way. I gave him the short version of what happened with Elias. He nodded and asked a few questions, but didn’t seem overly shocked.
“I knew there were AniMages out there, I just don’t know how they found you. Or knew about all of this? You know we need to talk to them, don’t you?” He was rubbing his face, the last few days wearing on him as well.
“I know, Cole, but we have bigger problems. Elias also told me that Micah is the prince. Prince Mikail, to be accurate. I passed out because when we were arguing, Rhi showed up. His Hunter. The Hunter. The one who killed mom.”
That sent fire into my brother’s eyes. They lit up like bar neon, glowing green. “Prince? You’re telling me the guy we’ve been trusting, the one who has been helping us and dating your best friend, is the prince? As in, the one you are betrothed to?”
This time, it was me putting my hand on his. “You’ve got to calm down, Cole. I don’t know how to explain this to Bethany. I don’t even know what it means.” I wasn’t sure how I had become the voice of reason, but I couldn’t stop myself. “He says he was here to help me, to protect me. I think we have to hear him out. I don’t understand how that Hunter fits into all of this, but there are too many players in the game. I don’t know who to trust. I don’t know what to think. So, we just have to hear them all out and make a choice. Don’t you think?”
He huffed in response. “How did you become the rational one?”
I smiled. “Trust me, I’ve made enough impulsive decisions lately to last a lifetime. I just don’t see another option.” It occurred to me I still hadn’t seen our uncle. “Hey, where’s Derreck? Shouldn’t he be here? It’d be really nice to hear his take on all of this.”
Cole shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve called and called. He’s not answering, so I told him just to meet us at my place in my last voicemail. Speaking of, her ten minutes is—”
At that second, Bethany emerged from her room, toting an overnight bag. “Looking for me, honey?” Her smile was syrupy-sweet and victory shone in her eyes. I couldn’t stop the la
ughter that bubbled over as my brother stared open-mouthed at her perfect hair and make-up, shaking his head in disbelief.
He snapped his mouth shut. “Let’s go. In the car, everybody. Now.”
He went first and I gave B a silent high five as I grabbed my own bag and headed out the door.
I crashed hard once we got to Cole’s. I was planning to eat and take a shower once we got there, but as I laid down to close my eyes for a few minutes, I was out cold. Then, the howling started again.
I don’t know how to explain it, other than to say that I knew I wasn’t in my own body. Everything was sharper; more crisp. I could smell the soil beneath my feet, the different plants and animals, even the ocean air — all of it taking on a different taste than anything I’d ever experienced. I ran and ran, trees whipping by and barely glancing off of me. The howling varied. Sometimes long, eerie wailing and then furious-sounding baying.
It took a long time for me to realize those noises were coming from me.
I awoke with a start, once again sitting straight up in bed. I was covered in sweat, my hair matted and sticking to the back of my neck. I kept looking left and right, expecting to be surrounded by trees. It didn’t make sense. Why would I be howling? Why would I be dreaming about being something that could howl? Had Elias done something to me when we merged?
As I laid back, I groaned at the realization that it was another day that likely held more questions than answers.
I rubbed my eyes, feeling the film of yesterday’s events still on my skin, and decided it was time for my shower. I could see light through the shades. Why not get the next potentially life-threatening day going already?
I mean, really, there’s positivity and then there’s realism.
After my shower, I found myself alone in the kitchen. Charlie lumbered in, his gigantic paws landing in my lap as I sat at the bar counter. He nuzzled and whimpered, licking my hands and diving his head into the crook of my arm. I tried to send him reassuring thoughts but instead was assailed with all of his worry from last night. He was not pleased to have been left at home and was trying to show me how he could have patrolled and helped me. He also showed me how he had slept outside my door all night and heard my dream. Apparently, I was making quite a bit of noise as the lone wolf was howling its way around the woods. I dropped my head to Charlie’s and scratched behind his ears. All I could do was tell him I was okay. He dropped down and plopped a few feet away on his humongous dog bed, letting out an indignant woof.
Bound by Duty (Bound Series Book 1) Page 23