Unwanted Magic (The Ancient Magic Series Book 3)

by Stephany Wallace

  “What the hell are you doing?” Art’s alarmed voice reached me a second before his hands were on me, trying to stop me. “Ronan, Cathair!”

  “No! Leave me. I need this. I need the pain!” I shouted as I tried to fight him off me. I held the rock in my hand like it was the last tool of survival I had left against them. I was losing my sanity in this damn place.

  “Hold him down.”

  Cathair said, pulling me from the floor and sitting me on the bed. He and Art held my shoulders and legs while I uselessly struggled against their restraints. Ronan rushed into the cave. His eyes widened when he saw us.

  “No, wait. Let him go. I can talk him down.”

  “What are you talking about? Are you insane? He was cutting himself.” Art said. “He’s trying to kill himself.” Cathair answered at the same time.

  “Let me go!” I roared, jerking my body in their grip, and feeling my energy dwindle with each attempt. I could barely breathe.

  "No, he is not," Ronan told them looking straight into my eyes. "Let me talk to him."

  Their hands reluctantly left me, and I fell back, my head hitting the wall. I blinked as my sight became blurred. The rock was still fiercely gripped in my hand. It gave me comfort. I shut my eyes trying to clear my vision, while Ronan walked towards me. It was a lie. Everything he had told me was a lie. It had to be. He was trying to brainwash me, playing mind games with me like Dad had warned me against. My eyes widened as realization hit me. This had been their game all along. They wanted to trick me, make me doubt my own father and turn against him. Ronan wanted me to trust him. To believe he was honest so that I would betray Dad, the only person to ever care about me. The man who raised me and loved me, the only family I ever had.

  "I know why you did this." Ronan's voice brought my gaze back to him. "I know it has been hard for you to understand and accept what happened. You lost three months of your life from night to morning, and everything is different now."

  I frowned and shook my head while my mind and heart raced. He didn't know me. I couldn't let him get into my mind.

  "It gave you comfort to see the injury you never got to see. Did it not? I know it did."

  My gaze shifted to my stomach at Ronan’s statement. The linen shirt was drenched with blood, making me weaker.

  “It is done, my friend. We will tend to the wound to help you, but we shall not heal it. Your body will heal as it naturally should, as you are accustomed to, and you will get to see it. It is done, yes? You have no need for the rock anymore, hand it to me.”

  My gaze shifted to my hand, and I opened it, the jagged edges of the large rock had sliced through my palm and fingers, while I gripped it tightly so they wouldn't take it from me. It was stained with red. I blinked once again trying to clear my sight. My hand lifted to give him the rock until I realized I was doing exactly what he wanted. I shut my eyes and gripped the rock once again feeling the sting of pain.

  “They manipulate people with their powers, son. They kill their own. They are monsters.”

  My eyes opened, and I focused on Ronan. He was standing right in front of me.

  He didn’t care about me, and I shouldn’t care about him either. He wasn’t my friend. He was my enemy.

  He reached for my hand and using the strength I had left, I threw the rock towards him. It hit his head, and by the size and weight of it, I knew it had seriously hurt him. He stumbled back as it hit his temple and sliced his skin. The blood began to trickle down his face. Regret instantly tightened my chest, but I pushed it aside as I fell against the wall panting.

  “Fuck!”

  Art and Cathair rushed towards him, holding him as he cupped his head. His gaze shifted to the blood on his hand and the next second his eyes were rolling back.

  “Hey! Stay with me.” Cathair said, slapping his face and making him open his eyes again.

  “I swear to the Goddess one of these days I will beat the crap out of you.”

  Art promised me as Eghan and Eisha, the woman Warrior, rushed through the entrance of the cave. Her gaze settled on me and I could swear I saw disappointment in her eyes. I wasn't sure why but my chest tightened again, and I looked away.

  "Eghan opened a portal to the village. We need to take Ronan to my brother immediately. Eisha, please stay here with Felix and restrain him."

  They carried Ronan out while Eisha walked towards me. Her steps were slow and measured. Precise. The way she approached me always made me feel like a Tigress was hunting me.

  "Can we talk later?" Art whispered as he walked by her. She looked at him from the corner of her eye. "I have nothing to say." She answered curtly.

  “Please, let me explain.”

  She turned and faced him. “You left me when I needed you, Art. That is very clear to me. I require no explanation.”

  “I did not want to leave you. You don’t understand, mo sgòthan. Please.”

  “Take Ronan to Cyn. You are wasting precious time with me.”

  Art straightened and left the room as she ordered. I frowned, wondering what all that had been about.

  “I do not need my axes to cause you pain,” She said, looking straight into my eyes and I didn’t doubt it for a second. “You will behave.”

  I nodded and saw her drag the chair until it was close to me. She sat down. I knew it was the wrong thing to do, especially around her, but I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was exhausted from the struggle. I hated being this weak. I needed my old body back. Something bounced on the bed next to me, and I opened my eyes to find the blood-tainted rock. My hand immediately reached for it, and I held it tightly again. I looked at her confused.

  She shrugged. “I do not care if you kill yourself.”

  Her words startled me. I didn’t expect that from her, although maybe I should have.

  “Why did you hurt Ronan?”

  I swallowed and looked away, fighting the feeling settling over me. I had nothing to feel sorry about. "I'm not your friend. We are enemies, why should I care about him or any of you? Why should he care?"

  Her gaze became intense as she evaluated me. I felt the urge to look away once again, but I didn't. I held her gaze seeing the look in her eyes change as though she was getting to a conclusion about me.

  “Perhaps you are right. He should not care for you. Nevertheless, he does. He is the only one who has been here since the beginning, watching over you while you were immersed in the deep healing spell. He fed you his energy so you could recuperate faster, checked on you every day until you awoke, cleaned you and dressed you. He has prepared food for you and brought it to you every day in the hopes that you will eat and get better. He will force feed you as many times as it takes until you are well or you realize your stupidity and begin accepting his help.”

  My gaze shifted to the table, where the plate of food he had brought me today still sat, untouched. The pang of hunger hit me hard, but I dragged my eyes away from it. "I haven't asked him to help me."

  She nodded, agreeing with me. "No, and you have certainly not asked for Ronan's forgiveness either, but he has given it to you nonetheless."

  I swallowed, as her words cut through me. I fought it. “I don’t want your forgiveness!” I shouted and brought the rock back to my body. Her hands flew to mine, and we struggled as she tried to take it from me. “I thought you didn’t care if I killed myself.”

  "I lied. Let go of the rock, Roman!"

  Cynwrig's hands suddenly gripped mine, and successfully ripped the rock from me. I heard a loud gasp, and my gaze flew to the entrance.

  Briana was standing there.

  The soft blue light from the magical torches was the first thing I noticed when I forced my eyes to open. I was alone in the room but not for long. Soon the images and the argument I just had with Briana filled the room. The agony in her words and the pain and rage in her face was all I could see.

  “I understand that it must be difficult to find out that your whole belief system is a lie…”

  I co
uld hear her voice as clear as if she was still standing in front of me.

  “… It must not be easy to realize that the things you have done were wrong and that you were manipulated into doing them… All those people they have killed… Your family has been responsible for the most horrible genocide attacks in history…”

  I shut my eyes and held my head. It throbbed. Briana's hands had pushed my chest, and I flew back crashing against the wall. She was one of them now, with powerful magic.

  “Oh, dear Goddess!”

  My head whipped towards the dismayed voice. I wasn't alone. I sat up and saw a teenager standing in front of me. She was one of them. A Druid. A long black cloak covered her body and head, but I could still see the chocolate brown curls of her long hair falling out of her hood. Her skin was pale, and she had big, bright green eyes like a cartoon character. They shone as the tears gathered in them and I noticed her gaze was roaming my body. A tear escaped her after she took in my condition, making me self-conscious. I looked at myself and realized the shirt I had on was still stained with blood. I lifted it, suddenly afraid they had healed my wound again, but it was still there just like Ronan had promised. Ronan. Fuck. My chest tightened again, making me uncomfortable. The wound had stopped bleeding, but it was still raw. Taking a deep breath, I gently lowered the fabric and lifted my gaze back to the girl.

  “What do you want? Came to see the Roman held captive with your own eyes?”

  She blinked as though taken aback by my words. Another tear fell on her cheek. “Who are you?” I added, attempting to erase my previous comment. I didn’t think I deserved the tears she was wasting on me.

  “A friend.”

  “Why are you crying?”

  She shook her head and wiped her cheeks. "I expected to see you like this, but I didn't know I would see you like this.” She walked towards me and reached for my hand. “Can you stand?”

  I shook my head, tired of pretending I was not as weak as I really felt. She held my hand between hers and looked straight into my eyes. I couldn’t take my gaze away from her face.

  "Why are you nice to me?"

  She smiled. “Because I care about you.”

  I frowned, but I could almost feel the affection from her towards me, and just behind the pain in her eyes, there was almost a look of admiration. I shook my head knowing that couldn’t be true.

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I want to help you. If you are ready, you can see the truth with your own eyes. I can show you.”

  My eyes widened at her statement. “You have powers too?”

  She nodded. “I’m an Ovate, Seer of Prophecies.”

  I looked into her eyes stunned. My first reaction was she was making fun of me, but I could seep[‘ the honesty in her eyes. I wasn't entirely sure what her powers meant but before I realized it the words were flying out of my mouth.

  “I have to know. Please show me the truth.”

  She smiled and nodded, gently placing her hands on each side of my head. Her eyes began to glow white, and I pulled back startled by the sight. The light receded, and she smiled again.

  “It’s ok. I’m still here. That is just my power allowing me to see.” I nodded. “What you are about to witness will seem very real. As if you are standing there, in the middle of it all, but you are not. You are here, safe. You will only be seeing the scenes through me. I am prepared for them because I have seen them before. I have been there, yet you will remain here. Safe.”

  She repeated as though it was important that I understood the difference. I nodded and instantly noticed her eyes begin to glow again. The next second, I wasn't in the cave anymore. Fire and heart-wrenching cries surround me. My heart began to pound against my chest at the devastating scene in front of me. I could almost feel the heat of the flames against my skin. The hay roofs of the huts in the village burned with wild red and orange flames everywhere I looked.

  “No! Please no!”

  I whirled around towards the screams and saw three soldiers dressed in silver armors with gold details, red skirts, and corded sandals. They held swords in their hands and wore silver helmets with horsehair plumes painted red on their heads. I had seen these armors before. They were part of a valuable collection of ancient items Agustina had in her private museum at the mansion. They were Roman armors. These were Roman soldiers attacking this village at the dead of night. The soldiers were attacking a family. The father tried to fight them off while the mother struggled against her captor’s hold. She kicked and bucked screaming for help and reaching for a little girl, her daughter, who was being dragged by her hair by another soldier.

  "Let her go!" I yelled at him, horrified, but he couldn't hear me.

  The smoke was thick in the air, but my gaze went right through it and found two young girls crying desperately, and holding each other while they saw what the soldiers were doing. They had on white nightgowns that were full of dirt. They had been dragged out of the hut too. The father was hit in the head with the hilt of the sword, and as he stumbled back, my eyes widened. Cynwrig suddenly appeared. He jumped and hit the soldier holding the little girl, on the head with his bow. I heard the skull crack even from where I stood. Cynwrig turned on his knee and shot an arrow taking the second soldier out, then without even blinking he plunged the sharp end of his bow into the ribs of the soldier behind him taking him out too. He had freed the family in a single second, but the father was dead on the ground. I stared at them seeing the girls cry for their Dad and I wanted to go to them, but before I could move something dragged me away. It was like I had floated away from that scene and into another. My surroundings were still filled with fire, but I was now looking at Eisha as she fought ten soldiers at the same time. She was surrounded but there was no fear in her eyes. She whirled and threw her axe at one killing him instantly, then jumped and kicked the chin of another sending him flying backwards. His neck had cracked. Before the soldier's body hit the ground, she had taken out two more, but there were too many. She swung her axe at the next one only to be cornered by two others. The man raised his arm, and my heart jumped to my throat as my eyes widened. I reached for her, but I couldn't pull her away. I wasn't really here. His sword sliced through her body like butter.

  "No!" I shouted. The horror and pain that etched her beautiful face traveled through me. My hand gripped my left side. The sword had gone through the same part of our bodies. Her eyes briefly rolled back at the pain, but she recovered. She turned so fast the soldier didn't see it coming. He probably expected the injury to take her down as it had me. Instead, her axe sliced the head clean off the man who had hurt her. She stumbled backwards, holding her side, and jumped in the air delivering a round kick to the next one, her axe flew towards him as he fell from the impact, going right through his heart but the effort finished taking her down. Her body crumbled just as the remaining three soldiers rushed her. Art's swords suddenly plunged through two of the man's backs then crossed on the neck of the third one. Saving her. I was pulled again, and a new scene was in front of me. My eyes widened as I recognized Leigh. A young man that looked a lot like him was standing before him, protecting him with his body. It was his brother. They both had on white robes and stood just outside of another burning hut. One of the three soldiers attacked, but Leigh’s brother was quick to react. He blocked the strike and hit him, taking the sword from him. He was skilled but not as much as the Warriors. He swung the sword to protect Leigh, and it went through the next soldier to attack but not quickly enough. The third one plunged his sword into the young man's chest from behind. I watched his eyes become glassy while the life drained out of him and he fell face forward on the ground.

  “No, Gildas!” Leigh cried out with tears in his eyes.

  Suddenly, a Warrior appeared out of nowhere, taking out the remaining soldier right before he could kill Leigh. My eyes stung when I saw his face. It was Phelan, the one I had killed back at the lake. Eisha had asked me why I killed him and I had answered because he didn’
t deserve to live. He took Leigh into his arms and ran to take him to safety.

  Once again, I was pulled from that scene but this time I was somewhere else. My surroundings had changed, and now I was on an island. A small town in a different era. I floated through the streets filled with bodies and blood until I arrived at a hut and suddenly I was inside. The sofa was turned sideways, the lamps and curtains were destroyed and splashed with blood. I could see there had been a struggle here as the people tried to defend themselves. A body lay under the sofa. A spear stuck right through his heart. I was pulled again as though I was zooming in, to the next scene and I entered a small room. It was a baby's room, and a woman stood in front of a crib blocking it with her body.

  “Please. I beg of you if there is any good in you, please don’t kill my baby.” Her voice broke as she pleaded, and tears filled my eyes. Her words where too similar to the ones in the nightmares I’ve had since I was a boy. There was a woman in there that always sang to her baby, then begged for them not to hurt him. I couldn’t understand why, but it hurt to see her defenseless.

  The man in front of her was not dressed as an ancient Roman soldier, but he wore our uniform with the symbol of the Brotherhood on his jacket. He was one of us. He fired his gun, not giving her another chance to beg for her baby's life. Her body crumbled over the crib, bringing it down with the weight.

  “No!”

  I yelled reaching for the baby. My eyes widened in shock as the little girl rolled off the crib and fell to the floor. The thud reverberated through the air as her little head hit the cement. She didn't even cry.

  “You killed her, you bastard!” I shouted horrified, looking at the baby, unmoving on the ground. He pointed the gun at the baby, and I reached for him trying once again to stop what I was seeing, but I wasn't here. "Somebody stop him!" I shouted, but no one would help. My heart slammed against my chest as I shook my head. He was going to shoot the baby.