Chapter 31
I could feel Amelia fading. There was something else taking her over and it was snuffing out her light. Amelia fought, but she didn’t fight the thing inside her. She fought to stay there, to stay present. Determination ripped through me and my wolf howled, the sound filling my ears and quieting the AniMages around me.
“We have to get to her! Something’s wrong. Show me—now!” I grabbed Micah and shoved him, needing movement, needing to know I was getting closer to her.
Swearing, Micah took off around a corner. “This way! This should get us to her.” I followed him and found an open door. Rynna had said the maze would help us and I thanked whatever Gods existed this one was doing what it was meant to do.
I ran behind Micah as I tried to split my attention between Amelia and what was in front of me. We barreled down hallways and then stairways, a line of Mages and AniMages running toward who knows what. I could feel so much coming from Amelia, power so strong I could barely stand it. Adrenaline, excitement, exhaustion. I heard the whoosh of her pounding heart and the small drumbeat of something of else. Unsure of what else to do, I did the only thing I could. I wrapped her thread of power with my own until they merged.
It took longer this time, but the two finally snapped together and I immediately started funneling whatever I could to her. My body slowed. I was giving her a part of myself, but right now, she needed it and I knew I was getting close. The nearness of her set off my wolf once again, but something else built inside me. My chest tightened and I had the urge to rip the door we were approaching off its hinges. Something had popped the top off every ounce of anger I’d ever stored away and I was ready to kill to get to her.
A Hunter came through the door just as we got to it and instead of attacking, as I was about to, Micah stopped and spoke to the man. They both turned to us, finding a pack of AniMages baring teeth and ready to pounce.
“Just hold on! Baleon is a friend. He is different. He isn’t controlled by my mother. He will fight for us, won’t you, Bale?”
The Hunter nodded and pulled his closed fist to his heart. “I serve Prince Mikail and no other. I fight for our freedom. All of our freedom.” The Hunter looked tired. Faded bruises made his brown skin look patched with black and he took shallow breaths, as if fighting broken ribs. I wasn’t sure how much good he was actually going to do.
Micah nodded and continued. “We don’t have time to argue, we’ve got to get in there. Don’t hurt the women unless they are clearly Hunters! They are our future,” Micah yelled back to me and everyone else, but didn’t wait for questions as he dove through the door.
I followed, but then stopped abruptly. I had no idea who was fighting or why. The Hunters, mostly female, were grouped in small semi-circles, clearly trying to corral groups of angry pregnant women into small clusters they could contain. A Hunter, who I knew was Rhi, was fighting another Hunter who stood with a cheetah and a tiger.
I heard Elias yell as he also found his way into the insanity. I couldn’t understand what he said, but he took off running toward the cheetah, now also fighting off Rhi.
It took me seconds longer than it should have to find Amelia. She was wrapped around Cole and looked close to passing out. He was sweating profusely and shaking as he cradled her. I saw her hand outstretched and clasped around the woman in the bed, who was also holding the hands of the next, and the next. What the hell was she doing?
She was so pale and her heartbeat was a faint thump in my mind. I could barely find the threads of her power and I knew she was giving everything she had to help those women. I couldn’t let her. I couldn’t let her kill herself for just a few people. We needed her. We all needed her. I needed her.
The burn of a power blast singed my shoulder and I turned to find two female Hunters coming toward me. All I could think was I needed them to be gone and I didn’t have time to waste, I had to get to Amelia. The vise grip in my chest tightened until I thought my heart would explode, and then, like a launched rocket, I let out both a screaming roar and threw my hands away from my body. Every Hunter in the room flew backwards, slamming into walls and sliding to the floor. Everyone else looked at me with open mouths and confused stares, but I didn’t waste time. I rushed to Amelia.
“What’s happening? What is she doing?” I yelled to Cole as I approached. Just as I got to Amelia’s bedside, Nathaniel, Rynna, and Derreck surrounded the bed.
“We have you guys covered,” Nathaniel declared. He looked down at Amelia, a pained expression transforming his face, before he joined the circle around our bed. I watched the three Mages shield us from the fight as it resumed. The Hunters weren’t overtly attacking the women, though it was obvious they wanted to. Their collars glowed red as the Queen sagged against a wall, her eyes closed.
“I-I don’t know,” Cole said. “I don’t know how to help her anymore. I’m doing everything I can.” He was struggling to speak and it was clear he couldn’t hold on much longer. I could feel his power inside her, struggling to push back the darkness Amelia was feeding instead of fighting.
She looked at me then, her eyes unfocused and glazed over. “Aidan,” she whispered, the sound barely audible over the melee around us.
I put my hands on either side of her face. “I’m here, doll. I’m right here. Let me help you.”
I closed my eyes and pushed everything I had into her, disregarding everything around us. I pushed at the darkness crowding her system, taking up too much space in her head. I stoked her tiny flame with my own and tried to give her back control of herself, but the darkness did the opposite of what I expected. It didn’t fight me as it did her, it pulled at me. It pulled at my power and sucked it from my system in draining gulps. I was terrified to leave Amelia alone, but the rate at which I could feel myself depleting sent a new and deeper fear through me. I couldn’t protect her if I couldn’t fight for her. I swayed on my feet and struggled to stand. The power inside her sighed and simmered, finally calming, but it was more than I could handle. I snapped our connection apart and the cry erupting from Amelia’s lips was like having all the air ripped from my lungs at once. I steeled myself, knowing this was the only way, and turned to Cole.
“Help me, and then help her. You can’t leave her alone, but you have to help me.” I stumbled a little and fell into Cole.
“I don’t know if I can do for you what I do for her, but I’ll try.” Cole reached out and wrapped his hands around my forearms. I instantly felt more stable and the room stopped spinning around me. I pulled away and directed him back to Amelia. I probably should have taken more, but he had only so much to give and she needed it.
Cole gave me a curious look. I ignored it and pulled Amelia into my arms. “You stay close to me and you stay connected to her. I can get us out of here, but you keep her with us.”
Nathaniel, Rynna, and Derreck moved to surround Amelia, Cole, and me. I had Amelia tucked into my chest and it was like carrying a child. She burrowed her head into me and tightened into a small ball. Cole grabbed her ankle, keeping their connection, and stayed just a step behind me. Whatever he had done had at least brought me some balance, but all I could think was I had failed her. How could I be her mate when I couldn’t save her? When it was clear I fed the evil inside her?
Chapter 32
He was a hazy blur in my mind but I was sure it was really Aidan I saw. He was real. He was here. He told me he would come and he did.
The Keeper had taken hold so tightly, I could barely form a thought of my own. All I knew was there were more women to help, more who were still chained to their beds, bound by the Hunter’s power. Someone was holding me and it felt like a safety blanket. Cole. Somehow, he was keeping me away from the pain boiling right under the surface. His green energy was surging through me and she hated it. She pushed and shoved at him, agitated he took up space and stopped her from spreading herself everywhere.
And then it changed. A trail of blue fire with single-minded focus wound its way through me. Once it foun
d my core, it churned and whirled around my single flame, pouring itself into me. For a brief moment, I sighed with the relief they brought me. One bringing calm and the other replenishing everything I had given. But she wouldn’t let it last. She found him, too, and took hold. She was just as thrilled as I was, but she pulled from him, wrapping herself around him until I couldn’t find his light anymore. She stole his gifts to me. He stumbled and I cried out when his presence was gone. They were both gone. They had left me alone to face the demon I had unleashed.
I was ready to give up when suddenly the green energy was back. She wailed in protest as I tried to pull the calm and protection he offered and wrap it around myself, making a cocoon she couldn’t find me in, hoping I could make myself smaller and smaller until she just didn’t believe I was there anymore.
There were more to help. The thought was there and gone, replaced with quiet retreat. I pulled away from them all and finally let my mind stop. I had to stop. I had to save myself.
Chapter 33
We were running as a unit toward the door when Rhi leapt out in front of us. I hadn’t expected him, and with Amelia in my arms, I couldn’t do anything. The Mages stayed with us, the green and red mixture of their power a shield between him and us. The battle hadn’t stopped around us, though the women and the AniMages seemed to have the upper hand.
“Do you honestly think your pathetic little spell will stop me? I will have her, Nathaniel. I told you I would have her and I have had her every day since. Just give her to me and I won’t do to your son what I did to you.” I wanted to punch him until the smile he held was nothing but teeth scattered across the floor. I didn’t want magic power; I wanted ten uninterrupted minutes to smash his head into the concrete.
I could only see the back of Nathaniel’s head as he stepped forward, breaking the circle. Rynna and Derreck reestablished the protective barrier but she cried out, “Nathaniel, no! She just got you back!”
“What happened to you, Rhi? We were friends once. We sat around the same fires growing up and we told stories about the world we wanted to live in when we grew older and took the power from our parents. What has my daughter done to you? What did Liana do to you? Why are you bound to terrorize my family?”
I watched the green power building around Nathaniel and the smile I hated form on Rhi’s face again. “Do you want my sob story, Nathaniel? Do you want to know what broke me and sent me to this place? You. Your wife. All of you. You did this.
“It was me she was supposed to marry. All those years, I watched you with her and you were nothing. Nothing. Just some Mage’s son. I would rule our people and Cane would stand by my side. My brother would be my second and we would make the dreams you spoke of come true, but I would have done it with Liana. She was mine. The Elders had blessed it, yet they still let her go! You took her from me and they let you. And then Zendrick took my brother. Murdered him before he was even a man. You took everything from me, Nathaniel. So I have taken everything from you. I will do it again. I will bind you and your son and you can watch while I torture your pretty little girl until she gives us everything we need to restore this world to the proper order.”
I had been watching Nathaniel as he inched closer to one of the medical carts, his lips moving quickly, though no audible sounds were coming from him. Rhi was so busy gloating for all of us, he didn’t see what Nathaniel was doing. I pulled Amelia closer to me as Rynna and Derreck shared a surprised look. Nathaniel stood in front of the cart, holding a handful of instruments behind his back.
“She never told anyone who it was she was supposed to marry. Not even me,” Rynna whispered.
“You will not touch either of my children. Not now. Not ever!” Nathaniel took off for Rhi before any of us could stop him. He ran directly at him, pelting the Hunter with blasts, and knocking him backward as he shouted words I didn’t understand.
Cole moved to help Nathaniel and I shouted for him to stop. Derreck grabbed Cole and shoved him back toward Amelia. “No, Cole. She needs you!”
“But so does he!” Cole screamed, fighting against Derreck.
Micah and Baleon came running from behind us as Rhi unleashed his fury on Nathaniel. Soon, it was a combination of red, green, and orange flying back and forth. The Queen was screaming from her knees on the ground, her hands at her temples as she shouted for Rhi to stop and not hurt Mikail. Baleon moved to shove Micah behind him, pushing him toward us. Rhi froze momentarily, the collar around his neck glowing bright red. It finally gave Nathaniel the opening he needed. His lips moved faster and the metal in his hand glowed bright green. But just as he threw the blades, the red of Rhi’s collar faded and he was able to move again. At the last moment, Rhi was able to throw out a hand and deflect all but one of the enchanted scalpels. That one sunk deep into his chest, near his heart.
Rhi was flat on his back as Nathaniel ran to him. Nathaniel lifted his arms, power surrounding him and going for what I assumed was the deathblow, when Rhi suddenly yanked the blade from his chest and hurled it at Nathaniel. “You aren’t out of the fight until you’re dead, Nathaniel. Isn’t that what they said when your friend Zendrick killed my brother?”
Cole roared from behind me as Derreck restrained him and Rynna screamed. I pulled Amelia to me, praying she had no idea what had just happened, what her father had done for her.
Nathaniel sputtered, the blade buried in his neck. He started to fall backwards, but Baleon caught him and laid him on the floor as blood poured down his chest and spurted from his mouth and nose. Micah appeared in front of me, yelling and gesturing. My head finally snapped back to the present. I had never watched someone die, but I had to focus on the life I had to save in my arms.
“Let’s go! This way, Aidan!” He led us to the only open door and directed us up. “Go until you get to the library. Just keep going up. Once you’re there, Tragar will lead you into the maze. We’ll do what we can to get the rest out. I’ll send as many as I can up in the next ten minutes. After that, get out of here. Run until the maze gives you an exit, just keep thinking about needing to get Amelia to safety and one will appear. Her father’s death cannot be in vain.”
He was just as beat up as I was and I didn’t know how to thank him, so I simply nodded and took off up the stairs. Derreck had somehow gotten through to Cole and by the time we reached the maze, he was back in step with me, his hand around Amelia’s ankle as tears streamed down his cheeks.
As we hid in the maze, waiting for the others to emerge, he turned to me. “I never had the chance to tell him I was sorry. To tell him I understood what he had done for us.”
The last thing I expected was to see a parade of pregnant women and two large cats following Elias, Derreck, and Rynna into the maze. Micah, Baleon, and the unknown Hunter had fought with us to give the women time to get out. They left Nathaniel’s body and we had to restrain Cole from going back down to retrieve it. I sent some of the birds ahead to get vehicles as we ushered the women into the woods. We needed to get out of there and our only hope was that Julia was still incapacitated. Rynna said she was unconscious on the floor with Rhi by her side when they left, giving them the opening to get themselves and the women out. Realizing the women were Julia’s only link to the future she hoped for, we knew the Hunters wouldn’t come at us full force. They would have to regroup and find a safe way to recover the women. It was our saving grace.
We made it to the cabin and in only a few hours, we were back on the road, headed to California. Micah and Baleon didn’t show up. We knew it was no longer safe for them at Cresthaven, but Rynna assured us they knew where we were headed and would find us. We had no idea how to unbind the remaining pregnant women Amelia hadn’t gotten to, but Amelia was the only person I could worry about now.
I hadn’t left her side. Once we reached Derreck’s cabin, I alternated between pacing the room she slept in and lying beside her. She would call out for me while she slept, screaming my name and crying. She never fully awoke, but I could feel the pain inside her
. I could only get so far from her before the screaming would start and Cole was still grieving his father, so he couldn’t help me calm her down.
I was afraid to connect to her again. Rynna had explained her power and how they called it the Keeper. I could feel the so-called Keeper there, but I could barely find the trace of Amelia’s power. It was still deep inside her, but it was a tiny thread that used to be a rope I could connect to. And after what had happened—the way the Keeper had responded to me and taken so much in such a small amount of time—I was afraid if I tried again, I would lose myself to it. That I would be the reason we lost her completely.
A soft knock on the door drew me out. I hadn’t allowed anyone in the room with me, not even Bethany, who now stood in front of me. Charlie had stood sentry, not trying to come in, but helping to keep everyone out. He dropped his head as Bethany scratched his ears, clearly welcoming the affection and break from his duties.
“How long are you going to keep this up?” she asked. There was no accusation and I could plainly see the worry on her face. “Don’t you think it’s time to ask for help?”
Away from the AniMages, the pregnant women I still didn’t completely understand, and the Mages, I could finally tell someone the truth. Bethany and I went through this together and she was the only one I’d been able to be completely honest with. With her, I wasn’t the King of the AniMages or Amelia’s mate. I wasn’t half of a prophecy. I was just Aidan.
“They all think I’m her mate, which means I am supposed to be the one who pulls her out of this and brings her back. But Cole is catatonic, Rynna is trying to help the women, and I don’t even know what Derreck is doing. Who’s supposed to help me, Bethany?”
I sighed and dragged a hand through my hair. I needed a shower. I needed sleep. I needed her to come back to me.
“You need to cut yourself a break, Aidan. Remember, she got herself into this. She chose to put herself out there to try to save those women. I’m proud of her, but she allowed herself to get to this point. You can’t be expected to save her from herself. All you can do is give her a reason to come back to us. Maybe you should take a walk. Get some air. Give your mind some time to process. This has been a lot for you, too. I know you can’t go far, but I’ve seen you outside. You don’t have to be gone long, just take some space to breathe.” Amelia had always talked about Bethany’s tendency toward getting right to the heart of things and I appreciated it more than she knew.
Bound by Spells (Bound Series Book 2) Page 25