Underneath

by Maggie Walsh

“That will be too long. My people need me. Let me out and then you can block the house,” Micah ordered.

  “We’re coming with you, Alpha. Open the spell and let us out,” Bastian commanded.

  “No, Bastian. You all stay here and protect the mates. Protect Jesse. I need to go to my people,” Micah said calmly.

  “No, Micah,” Raith said as he, Aaron, Rory, and Adam walked in. “This is what we were born for. We stand by our leader and protect our people. Taylor can stay here with the mates in the safe room and Ryland can put a spell over the house,” Raith said as he stopped in front of Micah.

  “Ryland, let us out,” Micah said.

  “As you wish,” he said, and chanted again.

  “What about Dante and his boys?” Xavier asked.

  Micah looked at Ryland. “Can you put a spell around them as well?”

  “Not from here. I will grab a few of my warriors immediately and send them to the prince. I will instruct them to put a spell around his home,” Ryland answered.

  “Good for now. Okay, all the mates into the safe room,” Micah ordered and picked Jesse up off the bed. Raith put the poker into the bottom brick of the fireplace and twisted it. The fireplace swung open.

  After saying good-bye and securing the mates in the safe room, Micah and his enforcers, along with Storm, left the pack house. They all stood in the driveway in front of the house, staring at it as Ryland chanted. A bubble of protection engulfed the house. He turned to Micah. “No one can get in and no one can get out until I return. I hope you know what you’re doing,” he said, and turned away. He opened a portal and stepped through. Micah and the boys watched as the portal disappeared.

  “Okay, men, let’s go do what we’ve been trained to do. Let’s protect our people,” Micah said, and then shifted into his wolf. The others followed and shifted into their wolves. Micah howled out a warning to the entire pack and then he and the enforcers took off for the tree line.

  * * * *

  Dante appeared in his office and dropped down into his chair behind the desk. He sat frozen for a moment as he thought about the loss of his father. Tears burned his eyes as the anger started to invade him. “Ahh!” he screamed out and threw the sweater that was in his hand. It sailed across the room and hit the wall, dropping onto the floor in a pile by the door.

  The door swung open and Dale and Dare rushed in, followed by Viktor and Nicco. “Oh, my love,” Dale cried as he ran across the room and threw himself at Dante. Dante caught him and held him tight as he placed Dale on his lap. Dare joined them and wrapped his arms around them both. Dante reached one arm up and around Dare, holding him close.

  “I am so sorry, babe,” Dare said against Dante’s head.

  “Is it true, Dante? Are they all gone?” Nicco asked in horror.

  Dante nodded. “Bring everyone in. All the guards. Pull them off their assignments and have them get back here as fast as they can. I want this house locked down. No one gets in or out without us knowing it,” he said, and buried his head against Dale’s neck as the tears began to flow. He gripped his mates tighter as the sorrow engulfed him.

  “We’ll take care of everything, Dante,” Viktor said, and turned to leave. A bright light appeared and everyone stared at it. Four of the biggest men Dante had ever seen walked out of the portal. They had to be at least seven feet tall and built like a truck.

  “Sasha, Matthew, Luke, Colby, what are you doing here?” Dare questioned.

  The largest of the group stepped forward. “We were sent by our king to protect all those within these walls,” he said with a voice that was as deep as the ocean. He bowed to Dante. “King Calebrese, we give our loyalty to you for as long as you need our services. We are now under your command. Our king has instructed us to place a protection spell around your dwelling. If it is your wish, we will begin.” He rose up and looked at Dante.

  “Yes. Thank you…?”

  “I apologize, your majesty. I am Sasha, leader of the fae guard. These are my men, Matthew, Colby, and Luke.”

  “Yes, Sasha. You may begin. But I do have coven members that will be trying to come home,” Dane explained.

  “That is not a problem, your majesty. As your people return, if one of your trusted men informs us that he belongs here, we will be able to allow them entry,” Sasha said.

  “Very well, Sasha. You may begin. But please call me Dante,” he offered.

  Sasha smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Dante. It is my honor.” He turned to his men. “Warriors.” The four giants turned back to back, facing the four walls, and began to chant.

  * * * *

  Jesse lay on the bed in the safe room as Taylor sat by his head, stroking his temple and staring into space. Aaron, Rory, Noah, and Adam sat on the floor in a circle huddled around the Grimoire.

  “It’s been four hours since they left, and two days since my mate and my brothers-in-law went missing. Do you think any of them are still alive?” Taylor whispered out the question. They all looked at him with concern. Aaron stood up and walked to Taylor. He sat next to him on the bed and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

  “I think that they are all very big, very strong, and very smart men,” Aaron started.

  “Even Crew?” Taylor snickered with a hint of a smile.

  “Okay, well, maybe not all of them. But they are together and they know what to do. We need to keep the faith that our men will do what is necessary to protect our pack and us and then return to us. We…”

  “I think I found it,” Rory cried out. Taylor and Aaron jumped off the bed and sat on the floor next to the others. They peered at the Grimoire.

  “Where? What does it say?” Taylor asked.

  “Here, look. It says here that a mind-trap spell can only be removed by the one who cast the spell, or the person who is trapped within their own mind will die if another tries to remove it,” Rory said.

  “Great,” Taylor bit out in frustration, and stood up. “There’s no way in hell we can get Malachi here to remove the spell. So Jesse stays trapped like this forever or he dies? Just fucking perfect.”

  “No, wait, Taylor. It also says that if the one who cast the spell cannot be found or will not remove the spell, only someone with stronger power than the one who cast the spell can remove it by saying this spell. Taylor don’t you see? You can remove the spell. You are the guardian,” Rory said in excitement.

  Taylor looked at him in awe and then dove for the floor next to him. He grabbed Rory’s face between his hands. “You are a genius, Rory. I could kiss you. I will kiss you,” Taylor said, and then planted a hard kiss on Rory’s lips. Rory’s eyes went wide and he froze. Taylor pulled back and heard a hissing sound coming from his other side. He turned to look at Aaron. The little kitty was not happy. “Sorry, Aaron. I just got so excited and carried away,” he shrugged. “If it will make you feel better you can kiss Gabriel when he gets home and I won’t set your ass on fire.” Taylor smiled sweetly. Aaron and the others all burst out laughing.

  “It’s okay, Taylor. Just don’t do it again. He’s mine,” Aaron said, and pulled Rory onto his lap and kissed him. Rory melted against his mate’s chest and wrapped his arms around his neck. Aaron pulled away and started to rub his face all over Rory’s face as Rory giggled.

  “Okay, man, stop scenting your mate. We have work to do.” Taylor laughed. They pulled apart, giggling. “Okay, so what do I do?” Taylor asked. Take all their power into you and save the heart. Taylor looked around for the female voice he heard. He had a memory of that voice, but he couldn’t remember from where.

  “What is it, Taylor? What’s wrong?” Rory asked.

  “The lady speak,” Noah said.

  Taylor’s head snapped in his direction. “You heard it, too?”

  Noah nodded happily. “The lady say take our power to save, brother. Take mine,” Noah said, and grabbed Taylor’s hand.

  “The lady? What lady? I didn’t hear a lady,” Aaron said.

  “It must be one of the gods. They can talk t
o the guardian. Noah can probably hear them too because he is fae,” Adam explained.

  “And she told you to take all their powers to save Jesse?” Aaron asked. Taylor and Noah nodded. “Rory’s, too?” They nodded.

  “Okay, so how do we do this?” Rory asked.

  “Are you sure, baby? What if you can’t get your power back?” Aaron asked.

  “Then I will live without it. We need to save Jesse, Aaron. You know you would do the same thing if our roles were reversed.”

  Aaron smiled at him and cupped his cheek. He gave him a quick kiss. “You’re right, baby. I would do anything to help Jesse.”

  “Okay so what does the book say we need to do?” Taylor asked.

  Rory looked at the book again. “You have to sit beside Jesse. After the first verse you have to lay one hand on his head and one on his chest. Then say the second verse, after that, move your hand to his heart and say the last verse. But it warns that when Jesse awakens he will most likely return with all the memories of what happened,” Rory explained with sadness in his voice.

  “Shit,” Taylor said, and rubbed his face. “We need to get him out of this hellhole he is stuck in. Then we’ll help him get past what happened.” Taylor stood up and walked to the bed. He knelt on the floor next to the bed and held out his hands for Noah and Rory. “Give me your hands and let’s do this,” Taylor said. Noah and Rory clasped his hands, and Taylor closed his eyes. Rory’s eyes turned yellow and then faded. Noah gasped as he and Rory released Taylor’s hands.

  “Wow, that strange not feel magic,” Noah said.

  Adam moved to the top of the bed and held the book open for Taylor to read. Taylor leaned down and kissed Jesse’s lips. He pulled back and whispered, “I love you, Jesse. Come back to us.” He straightened up and looked to the book.

  “I call upon the gods and goddesses of the universe. Break this spell that binds this soul in darkness. Allow your power to flow through me to help awaken this soul. Break this binding spell which traps this soul within itself and let it be removed for eternity from his body.” Taylor finished the first verse, and placed one hand on Jesse’s head and one on his chest. “Gods and goddesses, allow your power to flow through me and unbind this soul and remove it from him for eternity. I call upon the elements to break down the walls and set this soul free from that which imprisons him. Fire, water, earth, and air, cleanse him of his suffering and bring forth his light in peace.” Taylor moved his hand to Jesse’s heart. “Gods and goddesses, use me as your vessel to bring this soul forth, back into the light of his life and bring him peace.” Taylor finished and looked down at Jesse.

  Jesse’s eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. Suddenly the distant, hollow gaze in his eyes was replaced by a conscience light. He blinked, and his eyes shifted to Taylor. He stared at his friend and a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Why are you all looking at me?” he asked. “Do I have food on my face or something?” Taylor started to cry and laugh at the same time as he threw himself on top of Jesse and hugged him.

  Aaron, Noah, and Rory all began to cry happy tears as they watched Taylor hug his friend. “Thank the gods and goddesses you’re back. I can’t believe you’re back. I missed you so much, Jesse,” Taylor cried.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go,” Jesse whispered as he held onto Taylor.

  “You remember?” Taylor asked, and pulled back to look into Jesse’s eyes.

  Jesse nodded his head. “Yeah, I remember,” he said, and struggled to sit up. Taylor grabbed his arm and helped him. “I also remember everything that happened around me, too. Thank you all for taking care of me. I love you all,” he said, shifting his gaze to everyone and settling on Adam. “Even you, Adam. Without you, who knows how long I would have been trapped in there. Thank you,” Jesse said tightly, and swallowed the lump in his throat.

  “So you know Adam and saw everything that happened?” Taylor asked in shock.

  “Yes. Have they come back yet?” he asked in concern.

  “No,” Taylor answered, shaking his head.

  Jesse shifted his legs off the bed and placed his feet on the floor. “We have to do something. We need to help our men.”

  “Yeah, but what?” Taylor mused.

  Chapter 10

  “I read something in this book that mentioned escaping a protection spell,” Rory said as he started skimming through the pages of the Grimoire.

  “Yeah, but once we escape this house, then what? What do we do? Where do we go?” Aaron asked.

  “Yeah, do we go into town and help Micah or do we go to that cave and rescue Gabe, Cass, and Raffy? And once we get to them, how do we help them?” Taylor asked.

  “Adam, didn’t you say something about Raffy helping to bring on powers faster? And along with Taylor’s powers it should really speed things up?” Aaron asked.

  Adam nodded. “Yes, The omega and the guardian together could unlock someone’s powers and bring them forth.”

  “Where are you going with this, Aaron?” Jesse asked.

  “Your powers, Jesse. The prophecy and Adam both said that your powers were going to be super strong. I’m just wondering if we had your powers, along with Raffy’s, Noah’s, Taylor’s, and Rory’s, if it would be enough to get the guys out of that cave and then we could go to Micah, Raith, and the others and help them,” Aaron said.

  “Could we do that, though? Remember, I don’t have any powers yet and from what Ry…” Jesse stopped. He inhaled quickly. Tears burned the backs of his eyes and a lump formed in his throat. Taylor wrapped an arm around him and gave him a squeeze. Jesse took a deep, cleansing breath and blinked the tears away. “Ryland,” he said with a clenched jaw, “said that my powers wouldn’t come to me yet.”

  “That’s not entirely true,” Adam said.

  “What do you mean, Adam?” Taylor asked.

  “Remember when I said that the fae were born with their powers? That it is a part of them that grows as they mature?” Adam asked. Everyone nodded. “Noah, you were born with your powers, when did they start to show?”

  “I little, small boy. King help me. He teach me control them. They grow as I grow,” Noah explained.

  “So you were born with them and needed to learn how to use them?” Adam asked. Noah nodded. “So that means Jesse must have been born with them, too. But because of where he was raised he didn’t have anyone to teach him how to use them. And if Malachi knew who Jesse was all along, he may have bound his powers,” Adam explained.

  “Maybe Ryland or Phenex know if he has powers or not?” Aaron asked.

  “Yeah, but we can’t get out of here and no one can get in from what Ryland was saying,” Taylor said.

  “Yeah, but if we got out of here we could call Phenex and see if he could help,” Rory said with a big smile, and held up the book.

  “What did you find, baby boy?” Aaron asked, and joined Rory back on the floor.

  “Two very interesting spells.” He smiled and pointed at the book. “While I was skimming for a spell to help get us out of here, I came across this. I hope it means what I think it means,” Rory said.

  Adam sat next to him and looked down at the page Rory had open. He read what it was and smiled. “Yes, Rory. I think this would work.”

  “What?” Taylor said as he and Jesse joined the others on the floor.

  “It says to undo a spell that has bound someone’s powers, the quickest way is to take the blood of a parent and siphon their powers at the same time. It would kick-start the powers of the one bound, because the powers would essentially be new and they would override the spell and shatter it, therefore releasing the original powers,” Rory read.

  “So it would be like jump-starting a car?” Taylor asked.

  “Pretty much.” Rory giggled.

  “Well whip me, beat me, call me Edna, let’s get one of Jesse’s pops in here and jump start his ass. But where do we put clamps for the wires? Nipple and balls or just all nipples?” Taylor smirked. They all burst out laughing.
r />   Jesse hugged Taylor. “Thanks, Tay. I missed you.”

  “Anytime, sexy. You know me, I love to jack the tension out of a room,” Taylor snickered.

  “Along with jacking other things.” Jesse snickered.

  “You know it.” They both laughed.

  “Okay, so we get out of here first, then call who? Ryland or Phenex?” Aaron asked nervously.

  “Phenex,” Jesse whispered. Everyone could see the tension on his face. They all gave him a thoughtful smile and nodded.

  “Okay, so we get out of here and we call Phenex. He helps Jesse jump start his powers and we go get my man, Cass, and Raffy. Kill a couple of evil dudes and hightail it back here to help the other guys. Sounds like any other Friday night. Let’s do this. How do we get out of here?” Taylor asked, and looked at Rory. He smiled and turned pages in the book.

  * * * *

  The wolves all heard screaming and shouting as they got closer to the town. Micah was afraid of what they would find once they got there. He increased his speed and the wolves all followed. They stepped out of the tree line to find their pack members running around in all different directions. People were screaming and crying.

  “The council has fallen and all the leaders of the paranormal world have been killed. What are we going to do?” They heard one voice shout.

  “We need to get out of here before we’re all next,” another voice shouted.

  “No, who knows what’s going on outside of our town? We don’t know who is behind this or if it is safer out there.” A large bear of a man spoke.

  “Our Alpha is dead! Who will protect us now?” a young woman cried out.

  Micah stepped into the middle of the chaos and let out an ear-shattering howl. Everything became quiet in an instant as everyone froze and looked to the large wolf.

  “Alpha, you’re alive!” someone shouted.

  The enforcers all joined Micah as the people of Sanctuary gathered around him. Storm, in his white tiger form, stepped up next to Micah.

  The two shifted and looked out over the crowd. “First, you all need to know that the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” Micah said with a smile, and everyone chuckled. “Second, yes, the council and all leaders of the world have been destroyed. All except for myself, pride leader Storm Winthrope, who as you all know has taken sanctuary here, and Prince Dante Calebrese. Now King Calebrese. There is an evil force that is trying to take over our world. Nigel Brighton and a witch named Malachi have found a way to create rogue vampires.” Everyone started to mumble, and fear showed on their faces. Micah held up his hands. “Everyone. Everyone, please.” The pack members all quieted down. “Thank you. Now I know you are all scared, but I want you to know that we are safe here. We are fortunate enough to have King Ryland, king of the fae here with us and he has promised to assist us in keeping our lands safe. But until we know exactly what’s going on I will be putting our territory on lock-down. No one in, no one out.” The grumblings all started again. “I know you all have a million questions and concerns, but for right now I ask you to keep calm and to report any suspicious behavior to either myself or your enforcers. Right now, more than ever, we need to stick together. King Ryland has gone back to his realm to gather his warriors to come and help us. They will be putting a protection spell around our territory until further notice.” Micah continued to explain events to the pack and try to calm them.