Training Tia

by Isabella Laase

  Hearing the words out loud fed my misery, and I frowned to fight the tears. Their sexual connection was still shared in my memory no matter how many times he told me that it was meaningless.

  “Look for him,” she said. “If you focus your power, I bet he couldn’t block you at all. He only tells you that you’re submissive to keep his control. The whole mating ceremony isn’t nearly as big of a deal as he says.”

  I stared hard at his portal, but couldn’t bring myself to call him out. Part was the fear that I would see him with Selena, but the bigger part didn’t want to challenge him while I was emotional. Anxiety won and our tie became noticeably weaker.

  Emily spoke bitterly. “Don’t forget to look at the doors, too. Zane’s only told you about windows to our portal, but doors allow you travel. He doesn’t want you to recognize your own powers because you could get away from him. You’re stronger than he is, Tia. Don’t ever let him tell you otherwise.”

  With my new knowledge, several doors came out of fuzzy corners, and I was intrigued. “Where do they go?”

  “They access your energy field. The doors go to the safe places you’ve already been. One probably goes to your parents’ house in Ohio, another to Quinn’s castle. Zane wouldn’t tell you this, but the energy field is your real source of power. The rest of it’s just tricks and games.”

  My emotions continued to quiver, but I spoke hesitantly. “I don’t know. Zane says there is a lot of danger that I don’t understand.”

  “That’s crazy. He’s telling you that to keep you submissive. You’ve never seen Simon or Zane struggle, and you’re stronger than both of them. Find the door to New York. You’ll see it before you step into it.

  “Kim will help us. My father and Owen can be here in minutes, and they’ll protect you. Zane won’t even be able to find you if you keep him blocked. You’ll be safe from his temper.”

  Too many days had gone by since I’d embraced Zane with open communication, and our tie continued to waver dangerously under the added weight of the closed portal and Emily’s revelations.

  “Even Owen’s worried about you,” she added. “But Zane won’t let him close. Come to New York, and we can bring them here.”

  Still afraid to take action, I asked another question. “What did you want to say about my biological parents?”

  A low rumble came from Zane’s portal, and she must have felt it, too. She looked over her shoulder in a panic. “I have to hurry. If Zane finds me talking to you, he’ll kill me. I wouldn’t be the first person who’s gotten in his way. Go to the library in Quinn’s castle. The history is all there. Zane and Quinn stole your birthright. You should be ruling the coven, not them. They had the most to gain by your parent’s death.”

  Emily’s portal disappeared as the fuzzy doors came into clearer view and the ominous rumbling grew louder. Zane was looking for me someplace in the house. I didn’t have much time.

  The first door opened easily to my apartment in New York. I didn’t see any people and the furniture had been changed, but I recognized the rest. Even the wall had been repaired.

  Emily’s promise of finding Kim and getting away from my mate for a while was enticing, but I wanted to go home. I needed Owen and Anna. They had the answers to my questions about Zane, submissives, and even my birth parents. I closed the door to New York and looked at the next one.

  My parents sat on the other side and didn’t notice me at first. With no small amount of trepidation, I closed my eyes tightly and stepped through the crazy motion but landed in the familiar kitchen of my home in Ohio.

  My parents were stunned. Owen spoke first. “Tia, what are you doing here? Where’s Zane?”

  Anna took me into her arms, but I didn’t have much time before my entire entourage became aware of my absence and my world exploded.

  “Tell me about my birth parents. How did they die? Is Zane hiding anything from me?”

  “Shame on you,” Owen interrupted. “You were raised better than this. Running away? Questioning your master? What kind of submissive are you?”

  I’d grown a lot since I’d last faced an angry Owen. I loved and respected him, but he no longer possessed the same level of dominance over me.

  Hoping that Zane’s discipline control hadn’t been given to Owen, I met his stern gaze. “I pretty much suck as a submissive. Now, I need answers. What’s everyone hiding from me? Tell me the truth.”

  Wrapped in my own power, I was strong and Owen knew it. Unfortunately, he had the ultimate trump card. He just called for Zane.

  There was a minor burst of energy, and Zane was there with his full angry presence. I might not have been submissive to Owen, but the emotion returned quickly in front of my master.

  His eyes locked on mine, and my knees buckled under his power. I tried to go back through the door just to get away from his glare, but the portal to California closed and, within seconds, so did my entire subconscious. My powers were gone, and I felt like he’d stolen an organ.

  Confused fear collapsed into anger, and our weak tie lessened even further.

  “Give them back, Zane.” I snapped in defense. “You took them from me once, and I won’t let it happen again.”

  I’d misjudged his emotions, and my comments were just fuel to a very angry fire. “You won’t allow it?” he said incredulously. “Since when do you allow anything? You aren’t even allowed to leave the house, but yet here you are. You could have been killed going through unknown doors.”

  He grabbed my arm with a tight grip. I couldn’t even glance at my parents before I was dragged back to my nursery.

  “Really, Zane. This is the best you can do?” I said sarcastically.

  I should have held my tongue. With a wave of his hand, my clothes were gone and he held a wicked, skinny stick.

  Abandoning our argument, I ran to the bedroom to escape his wrath before I realized that was where he wanted me. With another wave of his hand, I was pinned over the bed with my bottom in the air. He didn’t touch me, but I recognized the effort it took to regain his temper.

  I waited fifteen minutes before he spoke in a calm voice that hinted at solid steel. “You disobeyed me, and could have been killed. You will take this punishment before we talk.”

  He did not require a response. The sound of a swishing branch filled the air so I tensed before it hit my ass with a biting sting. He delivered a dozen of them, and each one connected to the next with a magic of its own. The intensity remained consistent, and he never layered his correction. The enforced position and the confusion from the last few days ended my rebellion. I sobbed without words, without promises, and without even trying to wiggle away. With no emotional tie to Zane, I was defeated.

  He left me without cuddling or snuggling. Stripped of my powers, I was alone with a sore bottom and a broken, confused heart. The fact that nobody had answered any questions about my biological parents rested heavily in my misery.

  The next morning, I was awakened by a cold stranger. I didn’t ask her name, and she didn’t provide one. She quietly arranged a light breakfast without any small talk, and the doorknob disappeared behind her to return me to my lonely existence.

  My familiar nursery held no comfort. I sat or dozed quietly until she returned to repeat the noon meal and again disappeared without a word.

  There was enough self-pity to generate an endless supply of tears. I had taken my powers and my family for granted, and Zane’s abandonment represented the ultimate loss. Time lost all focus without any access to the outside world, and I had no idea how long my isolation would last.

  As always, Zane’s power appeared before he did.

  With no tie to his soul, the last twenty-four hours had left me wary and fearful, but if that’s what Zane wanted, I would give it to him. I stood when he entered and kept my eyes lowered in submission. “I’m sorry, Master.”

  Zane’s anger hadn’t fully abated. “You could have been killed opening doors. I told you never to try anything new without talking to me. Th
ere are huge elements of your powers that you haven’t even begun to access.

  “You obviously can’t be trusted without the fear that you will destroy yourself. You’ll stay isolated for your own safety until I decide when your powers will be returned.”

  My sadness won. “I don’t want them back, Master. I don’t want any of this. All you want is a slave. Let me have Simon, and I promise that I won’t cause you any more grief. I’ll have your babies and do whatever you want. Just give me back my only friend and the only person who has ever cared about me.”

  Zane flinched as though I’d struck him. “You don’t mean that, Tia. You’re just pouting.”

  I raised my eyes and returned his glare. “I’ve never been more serious in my life, Master. Would you like to fuck me now? I’m sure that if you allow it, I could become pregnant quickly. You’ve controlled even that part of my life.”

  His frustration was apparent. “You can’t have a baby while you are coming into your powers. It wouldn’t be safe for either of you. We’ve talked about that. You have years of training ahead of you.”

  I looked away from his demanding gaze but he continued to lecture. “Dammit, Tia. This doesn’t make me happy, either. I understand what this is costing you, but as your Dominant, it is my duty to keep you safe.”

  “Well, isn’t that convenient, Master? Without my powers, I can’t get into trouble. You can get me pregnant now. Maybe if I give you a few male heirs, you’ll let me get back to my own life, Sir?”

  “Don’t talk that way. You don’t mean it.” When faced with my emotions, he wasn’t as strong as he thought and I could read his misery even without our tie.

  “You’ve withheld too much information about my past.” My voice remained emotionless. “If I can’t be your true mate on my terms, I will exist on yours. But when I have fulfilled my obligations, I have the right to be relieved from our ceremonial bounds.”

  “What information? Is this about Selena? I’ve already told you. She means nothing to me. It ended five years ago.”

  “It’s what you haven’t told me. Why was I born to rule and not you? Did you kill my parents, Zane? Are they dead so you could take me and my coven?”

  Zane literally growled. “Where did you hear that?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” The fact that he didn’t deny my accusation destroyed what was left of my resolve, and I turned away in defeat.

  “It does matter,” he said firmly.

  My subconscious was returned, but he only granted it to see where I’d gathered my information. I felt his probing immediately, and it only took a second to close his portal.

  “Don’t you ever block me again,” he growled, “I don’t care how grown up you are feeling. You are still my submissive, and you will never shut me out.”

  The ominous warning would have destroyed me a few years earlier, but my chin rose in full defiance. “I think I just did, Master.”

  Connected to my subconscious, I stepped into the first door I could find. Anger had consumed my reasoning, and I took no effort to survey my entry. Zane and my nursery disappeared from sight with a blinding light stronger than anything I’d ever experienced.

  The movement patterns defied the laws of gravity. The dizzying trip lasted long enough to build my panic, and I landed with an ungracious thud. I instinctively turned to my subconscious, but there was no access. The thought that I lived in death only increased my fear.

  It took a few blinking seconds to adjust to cold white. There was no view of anything. Terror consumed me, and I feared that I would suffocate from the pressure of nothing. Without a clear view, I was afraid to step either forward or backward for fear the fall would last forever. My hands reached out tentatively in an attempt to feel something, but there was only a frightening void.

  I cursed myself for my stupidity. Of course, Zane was right. I knew nothing about my powers and played with fire every time I disobeyed him. Useless screams came from my terrified soul, but he would never find me without the access to my portal. I was as alone as I would ever be.

  Knowing I had to calm myself, I tried all my tricks. I slowed my breathing and relaxed my mind. I envisioned a deep massage of my muscles and tried to duplicate the sound of my caretakers’ gentle voices. I pictured Zane’s presence and imagined his warm hands on my chilled body. Calmness finally came, but nothing appeared except the white of my prison.

  My thoughts wandered away from the stark reality. Terror-stricken memories of my birth parents fighting with each other were surrounded by huge flashes of magical explosions. Objects flew through the air and screamed against walls and windows, all actions that spoke of frightening powers beyond anything I had ever achieved.

  The demon who blew out the wall of my apartment and Simon’s own fireball were skills I hadn’t begun to master. The retrieval of a childhood toy or the ability to hold my breath under water were just what Emily said, tricks and games.

  The difference between my current situation and Emily’s words were clear. I wanted Zane. I wanted his comfort and his power. I called for him again and again even though I knew that it was hopeless.

  My panic died slowly, but the reality I might never leave that horrible spot or feel his arms around me was all I had left. Even without access to my subconscious, the love I had for Zane still controlled my emotions, and I grew weary trying to find his connection.

  I lost track of how long I sat there, but my body grew cold as I faced death. My heartbeat slowed, and my thoughts became even more confused while I fought to stay alert. Eventually, my dreams took over.

  We sit at the dinner table in our California home. A brown-haired baby girl giggled from a high chair and two identical twin boys ran around the room to chase each other with happy shouts.

  The children are amazingly beautiful and my emotional ties are clear. They belong to the love that exists between Zane and me.

  Zane calls for the boys to eat their meal. They hesitate to leave their play, but obey their father. I smile and reach for the dark-haired baby girl with chubby cheeks and fat little legs, but she fades from my sight before I can pick her up.

  When I turn, they are all gone. I stand alone and have no reason to look for them.

  My powers wrapped around me one last time in an envelope of peace before they faded to a dull light, and I closed my eyes. Sleep would be my reward.

  A tingly soft warmth brushed my frozen body, and the gentle yellow light provided a stark contrast to my white existence. My powers responded to the alert, and my eyes opened.

  Simon’s relieved voice found its way into the void. “It’s all right, Tia. I’ve found you. Come toward me. I can’t come into your energy source. You have to come to me.”

  I wanted to do it. Simon would take me back to Zane, but it was impossible. My body had given up. “I’m sorry, Simon. Tell Zane, I’m sorry.” I began to cry again.

  His tone was comforting, but the words were pure Simon. “I’m not delivering that message. He scares the crap out of me. Get your ass off the floor, you little shit, and I mean it. Remember, if you die, so do I.”

  Exhaustion forced me to close my eyes a second time, and he snapped, “Get up or you’ll kill me, too. You don’t want to live with that on your conscience, do you?”

  I had to point out the idiocy of his comment and mumbled, “That’s stupid. I won’t live with anything after I’m dead.”

  “Come in here and argue with me. Just stand up.”

  “I’m not arguing. I’m explaining why I’m right.”

  “That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said. Get up. Take half a dozen steps toward my voice, and you’ll see me. I’m very close.”

  The taunting tone was mixed with anxiety, but I struggled to focus on the combined message. With a desperate attempt to move me, he said, “Tia, you have your whole life ahead of you. You can’t quit now. Get up.”

  His words ignited a new resolve. The three small children in my vision weren’t just a hallucination. They were a future that
would never happen if I didn’t get up.

  My arms and legs felt like they weighed three hundred pounds, but I stood. He repeated, “Good girl. Now walk to me, Tia.” With a deep breath, I stumbled clumsily in his direction.

  Within a few seconds, I was safe in his arms and collapsed in exhaustion. He pulled me closer and mumbled with a heavy sigh, “You’re safe, baby girl. I’ve got you.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Physical and emotional pain attacked my body in waves of rebellion while I wandered in and out of consciousness. Unidentifiable people cared for me, but I fought every touch that wasn’t my mate’s gentle caress. I had a vague recollection of biting somebody, and eventually, Zane’s were the only hands that came to me.

  With no concept of time, my world consisted of forced liquids, bitter medicines, and cool, wet cloths. By the time I completely woke in the castle’s nursery, the toll on my body was inevitable, and I felt like a bowl of very pale, naked Jell-O.

  An instinctive attempt to connect to my powers failed, but this time, I couldn’t blame Zane for taking them. The white prison that followed my monumental screw-up made it almost a relief to experience traditional thoughts and emotions.

  Snoring softly, Zane was curled close to my side but looked as though he hadn’t shaved or showered in days. With an overwhelming desire to connect on some level, I just watched him sleep.

  My grimy body felt like it had grown an extra layer of skin, so eventually, I slipped quietly out of bed to take a shower. My feet landed on the floor, but I grew dizzy enough to collapse with a thud.

  Zane was next to me with a grumble. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Tia? You have been in bed for almost a week. You aren’t able to move around on your own.”

  The unusual cursing mirrored his anger, but he gently picked me up to settle me under the warm comforter while the room continued to spin at an alarming rate.

  As soon as I found my balance, I found my voice. “Stop hovering, Zane. I can take a simple shower.”

  “You couldn’t even get your feet on the floor. Don’t push me on this. For once, you will do what you’re told, or I’ll take a hairbrush to your backside right after I bolt you to this bed.”