by CC Solomon
I didn’t know how he survived that fall, but I wasn’t going to let him recover anymore so that he could hurt anyone else.
I whispered a teleportation spell and appeared in front of him.
“Bitch,” the weretiger spat.
“Sleep…motherfucker,” I replied, pouring power in my words.
Seth fell back against the pavement, eyes closed in slumber.
“How long can we keep him here?” Raya asked, standing in front of the cell that was currently Seth’s home. I stood between her and Carter, glaring at the weretiger.
“He’s dangerous,” I stated. “He threatened to kill a child. He killed two defenseless women who he claimed to love. We tested him. He’s not sick, so he has nothing to blame it on. Keep his ass in here until we figure out how to kill him for good. I’m thinking fire should do the trick.”
“What if he is sick, and the test just isn’t a hundred percent full proof?”
I shrugged. “That’s fine. He’s still dangerous. Where the hell is Erik?”
“Here,” he called behind me, walking into the lock up. “You okay?”
“I just put him to sleep.”
“You threw him out a penthouse window?”
I’d already explained to him telepathically, so I figured he was really asking rhetorically, just as shocked as I was. “Are weres really that strong to survive a fall from that height?”
“Even if they were, he fixed his broken body in one sitting. It would take at least a day for him to heal breaks of that magnitude, but more importantly, his brain should have been mush, right?” Carter asked the room.
“You aren’t talking to anyone who would have more answers than you,” Raya stated, rubbing the back of her neck. She still looked shaken from the events. I was a little shocked by seeing the break in her usually hard demeanor. I really wanted to still hate her, but she’d proven herself in my eyes by being willing to shoot Seth. I still didn’t fully trust or like her, though.
The sound of laughter came from inside Seth’s cell. “You think you know, but you have no idea,” he laid back on the cot, arms behind his head.
I frowned. He’d been asleep for less than thirty minutes. My spell should have put him out for hours.
“How’d you survive that fall?” Erik demanded, walking closer to the cell.
“I’m strong. Hence, why I’m alpha.” He smiled, unbothered.
“Even so, that fall should have killed you. At the very least it should have put you out of commission for a while,” Carter stated, scratching his head.
“You guys keep underestimating my power. I was more than a flunky for Phillip. I never wanted to show all my strength. I’m not the showboating kind.” He moved his legs to the cement floor before sitting up.
“Well, now I know you’re lying,” I muttered. “What did you do with Ella, you piece of garbage?”
Seth chuckled and turned his head to me. His eyes were now the bright yellow of his inner tiger. “It’s a shame. She had to die. The regression sickness doesn’t care who it affects. Even mothers. When I get out of here, I’m going to rip out your heart and eat it.”
Erik banged the cell with his open hand. “You won’t even get the chance.”
Seth cut his eyes at him and sat up. “Erik, my third in command. Plotting and scheming to take me down. That was always your plan. Think I didn’t know?” He stood up and stretched. “Think I’m scared? I was excited for when you would finally challenge me so that I could rip your head off in front of everyone. Since you’re unstable, it shouldn’t be too hard.”
None of us responded. How did he know about Erik?
Seth laughed. “Surprised? You can’t hide anything from me, you dumbasses.” He snapped his fingers. “Plus, there is the whole thing of me making you sick in the first place. And poor Mae. Can’t have her continuing to help you.”
Erik stepped closer to the cell. “You drugged us?”
Seth gave an all too proud grin. “Yep, well under my orders, you were drugged. Leaving town caused a problem with us continuing to dose you, but once the drugs were in your system, it doesn’t really leave. Ever. It’s just fucked up you guys didn’t go all crazy like I hoped.”
I wasn’t sure what I was more surprised about. That he had done such horrible things or that he was even smart enough to come up with such a plan.
“Well, not everyone is susceptible, but you can’t blame a guy for trying. Showing you as drugged out lunatics would have helped lessen the growing credibility you all have here. But your stupid bitch witch and damn Phillip had a role in curbing any side effects, I bet.”
“You’re insane,” Erik replied.
“Sticks and stones,” Seth sang, his elongated incisors showing.
So, if they were drugged, did that mean Erik and Mae weren’t really sick? The drugs in their system gave them a positive when they were tested.
Seth smiled and pointed at me. “You have no poker face. I can see you think Erik and Mae are out of the woods? You don’t know much about this drug, do you?”
“What are you saying?”
He mimed locking his lips and tossing an imaginary key behind his shoulder.
“You’re drugging and killing people. What is wrong with you?” Raya cried.
“Sometimes you have to make the tough calls. Plus, I can get more wives. What about that Faith friend of yours, Amina? I heard she likes women and men. I could make Grace my woman, too. Make them female weretigers.”
“You’re never getting out of here to even try,” I gritted my teeth.
“Oh, I doubt that’s true.”
He was way too cocky. We did have something to worry about. I didn’t think he was strong enough to break past my ward even if he could bend the bars, but I really wasn’t certain. Something was very off.
And at that exact moment, the lights went out.
Chapter 23
“Must be a power outage,” Carter surmised. “Maybe from the snowstorm.”
It was nearly pitch black in the room. There were only a couple of small windows near the ceiling that let through a sliver of light from the cloudy night sky. Although plausible, I didn’t think the several feet of snow was the culprit.
“How would power go out due to weather when electricity is run by magic now?” Raya asked before I could.
“Uh-oh,” Seth’s voice sang out in the dark. “Trouble must be coming.”
A hand grabbed mine. Erik’s.
I snapped the fingers of my free hand, and tiny sparks of reddish orange flames appeared on my fingertips. I didn’t feel the heat, but light from the flames helped me to see what the other night-vision enabled weres were seeing.
Seth stood in front of me, still behind bars, but he was smiling.
“What’s going on?” I was done underestimating him. There was definitely more to this guy that we weren’t prepared for.
He shrugged. “You’ll see.”
The door to the holding room swung open, and six figures stood in the doorway. I turned my flamed fingers in that direction and spotted Joo-won, Blake, Senna, Yuri, and two elves I did not recall from my prior visit.
“There go my buddies. Come to break me out of this joint,” Seth exclaimed.
“Sorry for the dramatics,” the Elven king said before snapping his fingers. Immediately the lights came back on.
I hesitantly blew on my fingers, frowning at Blake.
“Blake,” Carter exclaimed. “Who are these people?”
She turned to Carter then gave him a smile that missed her cold eyes. “They are people who don’t lock up their friends. They freed me,” she explained, hands on her slender hips.
“Joo-won, how’d you get in to free Blake? How’d you get in now?” I questioned.
His alien marble colored eyes looked upon me with a condescending stare. “I have inside support,” he stated.
“Seth?” Erik asked.
“And some of your witches. The ones who supported Lisa when she first returned. They op
ened a door wide enough for me to visit her, and I was able to make it a bit wider.”
“So, you used that entrance to help the female soulmate escape since we found out who she was,” I guessed.
Joo-won didn’t reply, only fixed me with a superficial smile.
“And you partnered with Seth?” I went on.
This time he did reply. “Seth and I have been working together for some time now. Long before you first arrived. He gave us all access to this place.”
“You were the reason that ghost came and attacked me before? Were you behind letting a soulmate in to curse Phillip?” I turned to Blake. “Or was this all you, since you were already inside the town as well?”
“Whatever makes you sleep at night,” she stated with a wiggle of her neck.
“Screw that,” Raya exclaimed. “We need answers. You both let in outsiders, unvetted. That’s against protocol.”
Blake let out an exaggerated sigh. “Oh, Raya, you’re so clueless. Why don’t you continue baying at the moon over Erik?”
Raya took a step towards the vampire. “I will bite your throat out, bitch,” she sneered. Carter reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
Blake gave a little laugh.
“So, you’re siding with people who want to take out your friend Phillip? And me, the sister of the man you were dating?” I asked. “You really are the soulmate.”
Her laughter died away. “I don’t recall anyone having my back when I was being accused.”
“We were just trying to get to the truth,” Carter reasoned.
“These guys aren’t the alternative. They will destroy this world,” Erik added.
“Or make it better,” Blake responded. “We think they can even cure this regressive disease.”
“Probably, because they brought it to this world,” I stated.
“You don’t know everything, Amina. You aren’t that smart, and you’re not as strong as you think.”
“Don’t underestimate us.”
“I can understand why you would join them, Blake,” Erik began. “You feel betrayed. But I can’t understand why Seth would let these guys come in and destroy this place.”
Seth laughed. “How is this place destroyed? It’s better. And now that I don’t have to be a slave to Phillip’s mind control, I can do what I want. That banishment was the best thing Lisa could have ever done. She was supposed to be on your side, but she helped me more than you know. And then, we had to make sure the two didn’t come back. That was fun while it lasted.”
I looked to Joo-won.
Joo-won gave a nonchalant shrug. “I had nothing to do with your extended leave. Seth works with more than just me. But he, like I, follow the first soulmates. In exchange, he will be protected during the take over and rewarded.”
Seth tapped his fists together and rocked back on his heels. He looked like a kid who just learned he was going to Disney World. “They gave me strength beyond what I could have imagined. I wasn’t sure I was going to survive that fall but…” he threw out his hands to the side, “…here I am. Good as new. And on top of that, I get to run this town.”
“Within reason,” Joo-won added. “We are all under the soulmates, ultimately.”
“So, you’re risking the betterment of the pack for some unknowns who want to take out our own people and do who-knows-what to the rest of us?” Raya asked. “You’re nothing but a coward. You talked all this big game about making sure the government didn’t try to control us, but you belly up as soon as some unseen people whisper power in your ear.” She spit at the ground in front of him.
I gave Raya a slight appreciative nod before turning to Joo-won and company, who were all still standing near the doorway like statues. “Why are you here? To get Seth?”
“We aren’t letting him go. He killed people and made several threats. He’s too dangerous,” Erik let go of my hand and seemed to ground his feet into the floor, preparing for a fight.
Joo-won gave him an amused look. “He has work to do, and it seems his inability to control himself has rendered him useless here,” Joo-won replied, quickly glaring at Seth. “I did warn you about taking those drugs. Foolish as always.”
I didn’t need Scooby-Doo and the gang to tell me Seth was supposed to ready the town for some type of takeover, and his whole going crazy on his own magic drug supply and killing innocent people thing was not part of the plan. I didn’t bother asking how exactly Seth was going to prepare for the soulmates to come. He was going to let them walk right into town when they were both finally strong enough to attack. Then we’d be fighting them, Misandre and her people, Joo-won and his elves, and whoever this Alister guy was all on our own soil, risking countless innocent townspeople’s lives in the process. We’d have no defense.
“We must go,” Joo-won looked over to Seth.
The were-tiger flexed his hands and proceeded to bend the iron and magic enforced bars as if they were nothing more than straw. They were meant to be strong enough to contain weres, and he wasn’t affected by the magic at all.
I took a step back and threw out my hands, strengthening the ward with my magic to hold him in. Out of the corner of my eyes, I sensed movement, and before I could react, I was hit hard in the face, knocked off my feet, and onto the cold cement ground.
Blake stood above me and began to bend forward for another hit before she was grabbed by the waist by Erik, lifted high in the air, and then tossed behind me, past the other two cells on either side of the room. Behind him, I could see Carter and Raya holding their ground as Yuri, Senna, and the two other elves approached them.
“You okay?” Erik offered me a hand.
I lifted my hand to take his, but stopped. “Erik, look out,” I shouted just as Seth, now free, swiped a tiger paw, still attached to his human body, down Erik’s back.
Erik arched away from him but not fast enough to avoid having his skin shredded by Seth’s claws. I pushed healing magic towards him with one hand while throwing a ball of fire I’d conjured with the other hand at Seth.
Seth jumped sideways, avoiding the fire which hit the wall behind him.
Erik took that moment to charge at Seth, pushing him against the bars of the cell. Just how strong had Seth become? How had he broken my ward? Seth clasped his hands together and brought them down on Erik’s back like a hammer. Erik stumbled, falling to his knees.
Seth kneed Erik under the chin, and he fell backward onto the floor.
I started towards them but heard Blake move behind me.
“If you come any closer, I will set you on fire,” I angled slightly to her.
“I won’t move. I’m on your side, Amina,” Blake whispered behind me.
“Say that to the black eye you just gave me.”
“I can explain.”
“Do it later, if you survive this.” I got up.
Seth was now on top of Erik, a clawed hand in the air, ready for a strike. “Seth, stop,” I demanded, driving my power through the words.
Seth looked up at me with a sneer before bringing his hand down towards Erik, who blocked his attack with his arm. Claws sunk into Erik’s arm but better that than his chest. But … how had Seth ignored my command?
“How’d he do that?” I knew he got a witch to block Phillip’s command. Could he ignore mine too?
I focused my magic on controlling his movements. He could ignore my words but not my body control magic. Nothing worked. I poured as much magic through me as I could muster, but he continued to battle with Erik completely unfazed by me.
“He’s immune, courtesy of the soulmate magic,” Joo-won stated, as if reading my mind.
He walked forward, past Raya and Carter, who were expertly fighting the other four elves and then disappeared before my eyes.
I spun around, but he did not reappear. I looked back over to Raya and Carter.
Raya had already transformed into a warrior werewolf, not bothering to build up to her strength. She was a light brown monster with a wide mouth holdi
ng thick pointed teeth and large hands displaying sharp nails. Her enormous wolfen face was set in a scowl, and her icy blue eyes displayed no humanity. She was just as terrifying as any werewolf I’d seen in the scariest of horror movies. At that moment, I was glad she had never attacked me in that form. I’d have wet myself.
Carter had grown taller and bulked up with muscle to outdo any bodybuilder. His fingernails were now long, black, thick talons that matched his exposed toenails. All of his teeth were pointed razors, and his eyes, a burnt orange color with a large black pupil rimmed in a golden yellow, were similar to a lizard.
His skin was no longer a smooth brown but hardened and plated as if he wore an organic suit of armor that covered every part of him. A long-pointed tongue snaked out of his mouth, whiplashing towards Yuri, who jumped out of the way. What had he shifted to? Some form of werelizard or weresnake? Whatever it was, if I survived this, I’d not sleep tonight.
I looked back to Erik just in time to see him send a barrage of punches into Seth’s face. Seth caught one of the punches and squeezed Erik’s hand. I heard a sickening cracking noise as he proceeded to break the bones in Erik’s hand. Erik let out a room shaking cry and Seth, catching Erik in a moment of weakness, plunged his claws in Erik’s stomach, twisting.
I pushed out my hands towards Seth, sending a blasting wind to knock him back.
Joo-won reappeared in front of Seth and Erik, holding a glowing blue sword. “Well, that’s no good,” Joo-won stated. The Elven King looked at me with dead eyes before plunging the sword through Erik’s back.
Seth flung Erik off him, and Erik stumbled back, looking at the sword protruding from his stomach in shock. Another elf, a male with spiky black hair, appeared and jabbed his sword into Erik’s right side, removing it quickly before he could recover and then piercing his side again. Joo-won removed his own sword and prepared to swing another time, but I quickly recited a spell, and the magic sword was now in my grasp. The other elf appeared in front of me.