She made her way to us, stopping every so often to tap the end of a bed and tell a woman she looked healthy, to comment her baby was growing so well, or to ask her how she felt. They murmured responses without meeting her eyes and Julia didn’t acknowledge their fear or the complete silence overtaking the rest of the room. She finally made her way to stand in front of me, but before she could speak, I did.
“What’s going on here?” I demanded. “What are you doing to them? I thought our people couldn’t get pregnant.”
I scanned the women once again and only the redhead would meet my eyes. Now her look was different. She looked at me with interest—hope even. Our eyes locked and I wished I had time to create a connection with her, but I had to focus.
“I knew after last night you wouldn’t listen to words. I wasn’t going to be able to convince you of anything unless you saw it for yourself.” She turned to survey the room and I could feel pride radiating from her. She truly believed what she was doing was the right thing.
“What I see are women being held against their will.” Violet smoke still surrounded my hands and I took a few breaths in an attempt to temper my power and calm the emotional storm brewing inside me. I was outraged on so many levels but Micah had warned me she was unstable. I had to play the game.
Julia faced me again. “When Mikail’s father died, all I wanted was revenge. I wanted to see the AniMages punished for their crimes. They were always the weakest link and the Elders allowed their magic to pollute ours. They claimed the mixing of magic furthered our abilities and evolved our lines, but the truth was, the Elder control inhibited our growth.” I wanted to interrupt. But, though Julia was speaking to me, she clearly wasn’t present. Her far-off gaze and hollow words made it obvious it wouldn’t matter what I said. She wanted to tell her story, so I bit my lip and let her.
“Mages were put in charge of the people because we are the purest lines. We are not animals. Our instincts are not to hunt and destroy. So, yes, at first, I took my revenge upon the AniMages. It wasn’t easy, mind you. First, I had to convince the Hunters and other Mages I was correct. I needed them to believe AniMages weren’t worth saving. And then, I tried to convince the Elders, but in the end, I just used their love of people against them.” Julia smiled to herself, a satisfied quirk of her lips.
I hadn’t known how disturbing a smile could be until it was attached to stories of murder and genocide.
“The Elders serving on the council wouldn’t leave their chamber in the main castle, so I attacked their mates to draw them out. I knew one couldn’t fully function without the other, and I can be so creative with my torture techniques.” Julia smiled to herself, the memories that turned my stomach and provided history I wanted to forget bringing her satisfaction once again.
“Once the Elders were no longer there to meddle in royal affairs, I drove the AniMages from our lands and disposed of their leaders. But I ordered my Hunters not to kill any children. I was pregnant with Mikail at the time and couldn’t bear the thought. They were to bring the children to me in hopes I could cleanse them of their vile blood and they could help build the next Immortal generation. They were part Mage. I had hoped to simply make them all Mage. I had come to my senses and realized it made no sense to kill off an Immortal species simply because I could. It made far more sense to simply alter them to be what we all needed, which was to be fully Mage. Then, they could be trusted. They could be taught. But, as my Hunters swept the countryside of our homeland, they found there were few children and even fewer pregnant women—both AniMage and Mage. I knew then something had to be done. So, instead, I asked Rhi and his men to bring the pregnant women to me. All of them.”
Her words sunk in as I scanned the room again. The women were of varying ages and lineage. “How long have they been here?” I asked.
“It depends. Once they can no longer conceive, they are of no use to me.” Julia shrugged, as if her statement had no further implications.
“What happens to them when they can no longer conceive?” The words were slow to exit my mouth.
“That is no concern of mine. Rhi and the female Hunters handle such things.” She spoke the words as if my questions were stupid as she waved a hand in the air, swatting the notion away like an annoying fly. As if I should have assumed not all of the women had been here for years, and of course, they would be disposed of once they were no longer useful. I looked toward Rhi and he was smiling again. A disgusting twisted grin confirming the poor women were dead.
“Does Prince Mikail know about this? Does he understand what you’ve been doing?” I prayed she would say no. I couldn’t fathom Micah being a part of this.
“Of course not,” she snapped. “My son has no idea and it will continue as such. He doesn’t need to concern himself with this. He is not built to handle the pressure of ruling. Joran and Rhi are the only males allowed here. Female Hunters guard the women and Mikail has only seen the Huntresses as servants. He would never consider I have alternative uses for them.”
“And the Huntresses, do they have the same problem?” I caught Joran wince ever so slightly from my peripheral vision.
“Not that it matters, but since they have come to work for me, no, the Huntresses have borne no children.” I turned to scan the room again, but really only wanted to see Joran’s reaction. His features may as well have been stone, and he stood as if there were a metal rod in his back. There was more to Julia’s story than her casual dismissal of their worth.
I took a minute, letting her words and his reaction sink in. Everything about this was too much. I wanted to free the women and AniMages right now. I wanted to stab Rhi in the heart with the nearest scalpel and pin Julia to the wall while I let the shifted AniMages feast on her body. Revulsion pooled in my stomach and bile built in the back of my throat.
“Why am I here?” It was the million-dollar question. I couldn’t fathom what it was she expected me to do.
Julia’s cold smile sent chills down my spine. “You, dear, are here because not one of these women can actually give birth to an Immortal child. They either miscarry or the poor thing is born human.” The way she said human, with such disdain and loathing, made it clear she hated humans even more than AniMages.
“What happens to the human children?” The words slipped from my mouth as I exhaled, though I hadn’t meant to say them.
“She kills them! She takes our babies and she kills them! MURDERER! SHE’S A MURDERER!” The shrill screams of one of the women made me jump. She pulled on her restraints, tears streaming down her face as she continued to scream, “MURDERER!” She was one who didn’t have an obvious belly. I was sure she must have recently had a baby who had been taken.
Julia stared in her direction, entirely indifferent to the wailing accompanying her outburst. “Where are the guards? Sedate her before she riles the others.”
Rhi didn’t wait for guards, or call for anyone. Instead, he stalked toward the woman. Her screams stopped and she pulled herself into the corner of the bed, trying to become as small as possible. He grasped around her ankle, his hand glowing orange. She yelped and I heard his low words, a vibration filled with painful promises.
“You will be quiet and grateful, woman. You are alive. You will have more children. You will build the future.”
Her eyes glazed over as he spoke and I heard her mutter, “I will be grateful. I will build the future.”
“I-I don’t understand. How can I possibly fix them?” My confidence was waning and the grief and fear emanating from the women was overwhelming my system. The longer I stood there, the more aware I became of the weak heartbeats of the mothers and the pattering beats of the babies growing inside them. Even with the cuff, my Keeper was reacting strongly to the situation. I worried I wouldn’t be able to contain it, and had no idea what would happen if the five orbs were somehow triggered.
Meeting the Queen’s eyes, I knew right then I wouldn’t like her answer. A part of me had known all along I wouldn’t, but I had t
o help these women. Somehow, I had to right this horrific wrong.
“You will either take off the cuff and use the power you demonstrated with your brother to give the fetuses back the power they should have, or I will take you to the room where the infamous prophecy was born and show you what it took to get Lavignia to share it with me. The choice is yours.”
Chapter 21
I approached the group of AniMages from the back. Braxton saw me before anyone else. He pushed his glasses up and with that one movement, I knew exactly where I’d seen him before. He had come into one of the classes Amelia and I shared to announce class was cancelled. I committed his face to memory, thinking he was some perverted professor with the way his eyes lingered on her.
I watched his chest puff up as he decided how to react to me. I intentionally walked through the center of the crowd, tapping the other AniMages on the shoulder and politely making my way through. As more caught on to me being there, they all turned and moved out of the way, making a path as they whispered to each other. I passed Nathaniel, Derreck, and Rynna, and Amelia’s father gave me a short nod. I returned the sentiment, silently thanking him for standing up for me. By the time I made it to Braxton, Melinda had joined him. I wanted to laugh as she draped herself over him.
“Opportunistic, are we?” I addressed her first, knowing the slight would likely piss Braxton off even more. I preferred him to be off-kilter. She laughed loudly, clearly a show for the audience.
“Always choose the winning team, sugar. The odds are not in your favor,” she said as she pecked Braxton on the cheek.
He wrapped an arm around her, clearly not realizing he had picked the most insane woman in the bunch. I was sizing him up, trying to decide whether I should punch first or try being diplomatic.
“Do you have something to say to me? I don’t even know who you are, but I understand there’s some question as to who I am.” I could have had a PhD in mind games at this point. My second foster home was a constant stream of no-win scenarios and manipulations. I just needed to get this guy to make an ass of himself so I didn’t have to do it for him.
“You don’t know who I am?” He looked past me at the others, shaking his head. “He’s supposed to lead us and he has no idea who we are. He doesn’t even know how to shift. He can’t remember what happens while he’s gone. He isn’t AniMage…not really. Who knows what he is.”
As Braxton’s insults piled on top of each other, I could feel the power in me building. The need to assert myself and prove my dominance was back. My breaths were coming deeper and I had to hold back my wolf.
“You know nothing about me.” I decided to play his game and turned to the people staring at us. Some looked intrigued, some angry, some confused. My eyes landed on Dillon as he stood with his arms crossed, glaring at his fellow AniMages. I knew what it felt like to be an adult in a child’s body. He had seen too much too young, and so had I. I pulled my eyes from Dillon and worked my way back across the crowd.
“He’s right. I don’t know you, but until yesterday, I didn’t know myself. I was born to Zendrick and Kayla Montgomery. Yesterday, for the first time, I was able to see my own memories of my parents—to know what it was like to be a young pup. But I also saw them murdered by Hunters. The same men who killed your friends and family took mine. Not only did they take my family, but one bound the AniMage in me. Yesterday, those bonds were broken.”
I took another step forward and held out my hands. With one internal command, blue power gathered in my palms, a mix of smoke and electricity. I closed my fists, reopened them, and fur sprouted. Seconds later, my hands were paws. And then they were hands once again. I got a few approving head nods from the crowd. “I can shift at will. And I now have all the memories I lost.” As I turned back to Braxton, my wolf shared a critical piece of information. There was only way to settle this dispute. The way our people had been settling challenges like this for generations.
“But, if you would like to officially challenge me, I will accept. Right here. Right now. Man to man, for the pack to see and decide.” My voice echoed and the crowd was silent.
Red crept up Braxton’s neck. He clearly had no intentions of taking it this far and hadn’t expected me to call him out.
“Come on, baby. You can take him. Show them. Show me,” Melinda cooed in his ear, and Braxton had no choice but to accept. He would have been humiliated otherwise. He’d end up there anyway, but at least this way he could say he fought.
I smiled as he stepped away from her. Cole had always called it my ruthless smile. The one I saved for opponents in the ring moments before a fight. This smile told you I was more likely to let you break my arm than tap.
Elias broke through the crowd and stepped between us. “You fight fair—no shifting, no magic. If you’re meant to lead this pack, you have to be able to do it as a man first. Got it?”
I gave him a curt nod and my smile grew as Braxton swallowed, his fear showing in the sweat on his brow and the shake of his hands. I kept smiling as realization hit me. He expected me to be scared of the unknown—of what we were. But nothing had felt more right than knowing I was an AniMage.
I dropped into my fighting stance and bounced on the balls of my feet. For the first time in weeks, I felt at home. My body and my mind were mine to control. I was whole and my wolf and I were one. He was excited. He was ready, too. I had wanted to punch something for weeks. This poor schmuck had no idea what he was in for.
A part of me knew I shouldn’t actually want to hit Braxton, but I did. The need to prove myself to Elias and everyone else in the pack was overwhelming. I wanted them to know I was my father’s son, that I belonged here. Somewhere in the last ten minutes, my whole mindset had shifted. I wasn’t on the fence anymore. I wanted to make my father proud and continue our family legacy. And I wanted my pack to help me get Amelia back. I wanted her to know we belonged in this world together—fighting a common enemy who had taken too much from all of us.
Braxton attempted a fighting posture but it was clear he had no idea what he was doing. Like so many, he was all talk. Guilt crept into my mind. The realization that this guy was probably some book nerd who shifted into something fairly harmless came to the forefront. He was probably the last person I should be taking my pent up anger out on.
“Wait.” I held out my hand, a stop gesture. I stepped toward him and was actually impressed when he didn’t take a step back. I lowered my voice and turned my back to the crowd. “You don’t want to do this and you don’t have to. Just yield.”
As I finished my statement, his eyes glowed blue and his fist shot out, connecting with my nose. I stumbled back a few feet and shook my head, wiping at the blood pouring from my face. Braxton wasted no time, not giving me more than a second to recover. He had played me and was taking full advantage. He leapt at my waist, attempting to take me down. I sprawled, putting my weight into my hips as I pushed him toward the ground. I hit my knees just as I gave myself the room I needed to wrap my right arm around his neck in a chokehold and my left under his right armpit. It was fairly obvious he was a street brawler with no formal fight training, which made this easier than it should have been. He had no idea how to get out of the hold I’d put him in, yanking and pulling in all the wrong ways. With a quick spin, I was on his back, tightening my arm into his throat and cutting off his blood supply.
I vaguely heard the yelling from the crowd, and registered “Look out!” just as claws tore into my back and teeth sunk into my shoulder. Braxton was still underneath me as pain shot through my shoulder. I reached back, grabbing my attacker by the scruff of its neck, and tossing it over my head. The small, reddish wolf went flying. It was easier than it should have been. Was super-strength a Hunter trait? I knew staying human wasn’t going to end this fight soon enough and these two already weren’t playing fair. My wolf had been waiting and as soon as the thought formed, he took over. I shredded my clothes as I shifted, still on top of Braxton. I dug my nails into the back of his body, simply t
o make a point, and was rewarded with a howl of pain.
I leapt at the wolf, realizing it was Melinda who had come to Braxton’s rescue. I was easily double her size and able to knock her onto her back. As I clamped my teeth around her neck, she brought her back legs up, kicking into my belly. Sharp claws sliced open my skin, forcing me to retaliate. I didn’t want to kill the wolf, but I understood what was at stake. I quickly pulled back and snapped at her ear, tearing away the corner. She instantly started yelping, but she also stopped kicking. I moved off her, the blood from her wound in my muzzle and stuck to the fur around my mouth.
I looked up for the first time, only to realize all of the AniMages had shifted and fighting was everywhere. It was clear I had come into a house divided and Braxton’s words had more impact than we expected.
Take control. They are your pack. Stop this madness.
It was the first time I had heard his words, but I knew it was my wolf.
But how? How can I stop this? I sat there, feeling powerless.
Nathaniel, Derreck, and Rynna were circled, their backs to each other, shooting bolts of magic at the group of AniMages surrounding them. I didn’t envy them not having the ability to shift. Dillon was high in the air, fending off hawks and other birds diving at him. Elias and Will were shifted, but fighting together. They were completely encircled by all kinds of animals—from a hyena, to a mountain lion, to a grizzly bear.
Just tell them to stop. Command them.
Still in my wolf form, I did the only thing that made sense. I let out the deepest, longest howl I had in me. I infused the sound with the command to stop fighting, to listen to me, and to yield to their true leader. I stood on all four legs, my tail in the air and my ears pricked. I made myself as big as possible. When I started, my eyes were closed. I was focused on pulling up all the power I had inside me, collecting it, and sending it out in the sounds vibrating from my core. I continued howling until I heard nothing but my own voice.
Bound by Spells (Bound Series Book 2) Page 19