The Soul Spell

by A Y Venona

  He suddenly strode to my side and gently tapped my back. “You okay?”

  I nodded. Without asking permission, he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me in a tight hug, like he used to do. Like I used to crave from him. Like I used to love. Eh…still loved…still craved.

  “I miss this,” he said.

  “Me too,” I answered.

  * * *

  And then there was silence.

  Killian and Angus had joined us in the library, and without much preamble, the king made a surprising statement. Surprising enough that it rendered us all speechless and dumbfounded. He was abdicating the throne for Adrian to take over.

  My head swiftly turned to Adrian’s direction. And by reading his face—the clenched jaw that morphed into a smirk, subtly conveying that sarcasm was on the way—I could tell he did not like it.

  “The captain of the guardians is the most powerful position in the Realm, second only to the gods, so why would I give it up just to be a king of a scir?” said the captain of the guardians himself.

  This was true though. The captain of the guardians trumped any king of scir. Even the Council of the Elders. He received orders directly from the gods.

  King Killian, however, just rolled his eyes. “I’ll continue to be king until the day I die, but the gods declared that to produce a delta heir from our lineage is an imperative.”

  “I made no promises to any god, Father.”

  It seemed like it took a while before Killian replied.

  “Let’s all take a seat first.”

  It was only then after he said it that I realized we were all standing. So we all took our places. There were two long couches opposite each other and a couch on the side. Adrian held my hand and led me toward one of the long ones opposite his father. Angus sat on the side couch.

  Killian heaved a deep sigh. “Coming here, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this. But your reluctance requires it.” He paused as he stared at his son with a look etched with uncertainty. “The alpha gene is a spectrum of different alpha genotypes that suggests how far removed an alpha is from the genotype of his progenitor. Zeta alpha was the generation of alpha that came about directly after delta alpha. And then the later generations saw the rise of the epsilon alphas.”

  “Spare me the biology lecture, Father. It’s Alpha 101 in Alpha Academy. It was a boring course then and still is regardless of who is lecturing. So please get to the point.”

  I bet Adrian wouldn’t mind if Alexander was the one giving the lecture. But that was just my jealousy talking. I refrained from interfering no matter how much I wanted for the king to continue on this topic as I really wanted to know about the different alpha genotypes like most of the people outside of Alpha Academy who were confused about this unique alpha classification.

  Among all races, it was only the alpha race that had a different subclassification. There was no theta beta, nor theta gamma.

  “It is imperative for you to produce a delta alpha heir. The gods commanded it.”

  “I’ll speak with Deity Fenrir about this.”

  “You can. But he’ll tell you the same thing. It’ll be easier if Eli is an omega like Daniel.”

  “Alpha and omega. True mates,” Angus interjected for the first time. “An antiquated mentality, older than the Seven Realms itself. Outside of scir, societies have evolved since then. The people’s beliefs and perspectives have changed. We don’t cling to this imaginary rope thinking it is what connects us to our past.”

  “Your society changed? Evolved? Into what? Into a society of bullies that discriminated against the omegas and stripped them of their rights to be treated equally? And you think the Council of Elders is the better ruler than the kings.”

  “The Council of Elders, whose members are selected by the people and represented what the people needed the most during that transition period.”

  “That transition period that is carried over to the present.”

  “This treatment towards the omegas was born out of poverty. When the kings decided to cut their resources with the non-scir citizens and instead hoarded their wealth, the society had no other choice but to compete for survival. The weakest were left behind; the strongest built a new and industrial world. Long before the gods issued a mandatory reevaluation of the omegas, people then and people now already knew that there are no such species as the omegas. It is nothing but a label for a group of individuals who contribute less. But I have no quarrels with the omegas. I rarely saw one the whole time I lived in Lowescir. I wonder why no king of scir has ever adopted an omega into the kingdom.”

  “Because we all know that there had not been a real one…until this generation of the omegas came.”

  “So that means you, after all, have no qualms with the way our society treated these fake omegas.”

  There was not a lot of gesture in their exchanges, but there was a whole lot of staring down and a whole lot of intense competition of who could best hide their true emotions.

  Adrian and I could easily sneak out of the room without these two noticing it. That was how engrossed they were in their political and philosophical arguments on the omegas.

  If I remembered correctly, it was four or five years ago when they issued a mandatory reclassification of all identified omegas. And since then, there was this emergence of the truest omegas that nobody knew about. For hundreds of years, people thought of them as the dumbest of all races. Four years were not going to be enough to change that perception.

  “And what has this to do with Eli and me?” Adrian said, inserting himself into the conversation.

  “If Eli is an omega, then he can provide you an heir,” Angus answered for Killian who, with the way he clenched his jaw tight, clearly did not appreciate it.

  “This is not about you, Angus,” Killian said.

  The venom in Killian’s voice made me wince. My loyalty was to Angus. Killian was not my king. Adrian turned to my direction. With his brows raised, he pointed at my hands. They were curled into fists. He leaned down and kissed me on my cheek, a gesture that immediately calmed my nerves.

  “You’re right. This is not about me, but it is about the two people I love the most whom you are trying to hurt. Yes, Killian.” Angus rose from his seat, advancing toward the king, who was now on his feet as well. “It is not about me! It is about them!”

  “Stand down! Both of you!” Adrian’s voice was accompanied by a sudden tug in the air. It was as though he commanded the two men to do what he said. And they did. “Sit.” And the two went back to their seats.

  It was a breathtaking experience to witness Adrian going all delta alpha toward the king of Lowescir himself. It was exhilarating. Engrossing. Intoxicating. Arousing.

  “I will cooperate with whatever fertility program you will come up with to give me an heir. But there is one thing I will not do: I will not marry the mother of my child.”

  “We cannot have a bastard for a prince!”

  “A bastard prince, or no heir at all. Your choice, Father.”

  The king looked defeated, which further aggravated when Adrian said:

  “You’re the king. You can change the law anytime you want.”

  Although Killian may have looked acquiescent in the end, I was not naive enough to think that the issue was far from over.

  CHAPTER 18

  The Gathering Counter: Saturday, two days before the Gatherings

  I’d known Adrian all my life, and I couldn’t recall a time he’d exhibited this much enthusiasm and artistry in cooking. My confusion was further complicated by him constantly winking at me while chopping meat and vegetables. It was enchanting, seductive, and sexy as hell.

  Angus left us for some business outside and wouldn’t join us for lunch. I was okay with that considering how Adrian and I had agreed to give each of us time to get used to being mates. But this Adrian in front of me was not the same Adrian who had asked for time. This one was blatantly seducing me.

  “What are you cooking agai
n?” I asked just so I could shake off the alluring fog that had caused a stirring in the nether region of my body.

  “Lobon,” Adrian answered. And then came the wink. Again.

  I felt the heat swarm my face like thousands of heat bugs trying to get into the pores of my skin, and it intensified tenfold when Adrian walked to my side of the table and leaned toward me. It was like slow motion when his face moved closer, closer, his lips intimidating like a sword that was about to stab me in the heart; and when his soft lips found mine, my heart stopped—I swear to god it stopped. It stopped for like an eternity; his lips on mine—I tasted it. And it was divine.

  “I couldn’t help it,” he said, smiling as he went back to his cooking, unmindful of my seemingly catatonic state.

  The food turned out to be so enchantingly delicious that I ate everything Adrian placed on my plate. The look of triumph on his face after seeing my ravishing response to his sumptuous concoction warmed my heart.

  The torture began again when he turned to me and blasted me with the fullest of his attention. His gray eyes glinted and rendered me transfixed, more potent than any Stupefying Spell I had ever known. My heart was racing.

  Readying.

  Anticipating.

  Here comes another kiss.

  Instead…

  His hand touched my cheek.

  “You got something on…here,” Adrian explained, wiping whatever it was on my cheek. His voice though? It dropped a notch, and the biological part of me jumped up with excitement.

  Just when I thought the hand would leave my face as its purpose was done, I then felt it move down to my neck. A shiver ran up my spine. My stomach tightened.

  “Do I have something there too?” I asked, breathless.

  “No, I just felt the urge of…” Adrian stopped, then breathed heavily, against my cheek. “Can I kiss you again?”

  Yes.

  I gulped and then slightly nodded. Adrian took it as an acquiescence to devour me. My stomach flipped when Adrian’s tongue massaged the inside of my mouth, sucking my every breath, coaxing me to reciprocate with the same passion and enthusiasm. When Adrian’s kisses traveled down and lingered on my neck, I moaned lewdly.

  “I need you, Eli, please, I need you…” he whispered in my ear. At my whimpered “yes,” Adrian’s other arm snaked under me and lifted me up into his arms. He carried me to his room like I weighed nothing.

  As soon as my ass hit the soft bed, Adrian was on top of me to resume devouring my lips.

  “Eli…” came Adrian’s guttural voice.

  I pulled his face to me and answered his kisses with equal fervor, at the same time helping him take his damn shirt off. The pants came off next. We then switched places, him on his back, cradling my entire weight as he helped me undress. A couple of seconds later, we were fully naked.

  Adrian was toned and close to Herculean size. His biceps were twice the width of my arm. Muscles rippled from his chest down to his abdomen. I was so enamored by it that I leaned down and kissed each mound of muscle. Adrian’s hand on my hair tightened.

  I moved even lower, worshiping every inch of his body like a god. My heart hitched when I came to stop and stared at his fully aroused member, huge and hard like a rod. I glanced toward him, and a sexy smirk tugged at his lips. Emboldened, I leaned down and engulfed his erection into my mouth.

  His moan was music to my ears like the sound of drums heralding the arrival of triumphant victors. With his one hand, he cradled the back of my head, guiding the comings and goings of his length in my mouth, while his other hand massaged my shoulder blade. When my own cock screamed for attention, I reached out for it and gave it a little tug.

  “Come here,” he whispered. Without waiting for me to comply, he scooped me in his arms, flipped me onto my back, and hovered an inch closer over me. His lips were a kissable distance. His eyes had a hungry shade in it, a kind of look he only bestowed on Xander. An ambivalent feeling rose into my chest. One was of triumph for affecting Adrian at that same level of desire exclusively reserved for Xander; the other was of jealousy. The jealousy was prevailing until…

  “You’re beautiful,” Adrian whispered.

  A flush heated my face, and he grinned at the sight of it. And in an instant, he was on me again with his tongue probing deep inside my mouth.

  He then leaned onto my lower region and swallowed my erection. I moaned, overwhelmed by the myriad of sensation I felt.

  “I need to be inside you,” Adrian said, his voice hoarse.

  His breath tickled my skin.

  “Make love to me,” I answered.

  He kissed my mouth, chest, and navel, where he lingered a little, and then down on my swollen and dripping member. My stomach made a somersault jump when I felt Adrian’s sleek finger sliding inside my ass, stretching me. Another finger joined, massaging and at the same time calming my frantic nerves. I braced myself for an impending penetration, yet I still cried out in surprise when it eventually happened.

  “Did I hurt you?” Adrian asked softly.

  “No, please…more…” I pleaded.

  And Adrian delivered my request. He moved inside me, pounding me with a wildness like that of a hungry predator finally laying claim to his elusive prey. And when he came surging inside me, followed by a guttural cry, I came as well, as devastatingly hard as Adrian.

  Moments later, I found myself still wrapped in Adrian’s arms, his bicep cradling my head as we basked in the afterglow of sex and the beautiful silence that came with it. This until the fortitude that restrained all the questions from swarming in my mind broke.

  “So what changed?” I asked. Adrian creased his brow. “I mean, not long ago you asked for time, and then all of a sudden…here we are.”

  While I waited for his answer, I studied his face. He had a little frown. His eyes were still glassy. His lips curved upward like he was about to deliver a partial smirk. Or it might have been Adrian’s default look to be partially amused and confused at the same time.

  “Xander helped me put my feelings in perspective.”

  It was my turn to frown.

  “When he came here the other night, he brought something with him,” he continued. “It’s a Truth Spell.”

  “A Truth Spell?” I shifted to my side to give him my full attention.

  “I drank a vial to strip me of my inhibitions. And then he gave me a scenario about you with somebody that isn’t me…and I lost it. I realized that I can’t see you with anyone else. That I would kill that someone who would touch you the way I wanted to.” He paused to stare into my eyes. “The spell made me realize that all along, I have been waiting for you to grow up…so you can be my mate.”

  A spell made him realize that? Then something dawned on me.

  “How long does the spell last?”

  “A couple of hours.”

  I got up. “So when the spell was over, you’re back to thinking about me as nothing but your little brother though you know that I am your mate.”

  He did not answer.

  “Adrian?”

  “I’m still in the process of…seeing you the way you have always been for me…my mate.”

  “But?” I prodded. He sat up, looked at me, and gave me a half-smile. “Please tell me you did not take the Truth Spell prior to this.” His face changed to something of…

  Guilt?

  “You did. Child of Hades, you fucked me under the influence of the spell!”

  “Truth Spell,” he corrected.

  “Does it matter?”

  “It does.”

  “No, it didn’t because you won’t be able to make love with me without the spell.”

  “The one who made love with you is the real me…the one without inhibitions. The one who loves you more than a brother. The one who has been waiting for you since he laid eyes on the baby in my father’s arms! Eli, today we mated. That…should be the only thing that matters.”

  I stared back at him, trying to see the lies, which was ridiculous, for
he was under the influence of the Truth Spell where lying was not possible. He couldn’t…

  I did not resist when he pulled me to him and made me sit between his legs. I leaned against his chest and sighed. We had a few more moments of serenity until Adrian smelled something in the air. A presence.

  “Let’s get dressed,” he said.

  * * *

  The only person who had the ability to ruin our moment or give us one was standing right there in front me. Xander. Although my logical side thought that he was talking to us both and had kept a good distance from Adrian, my emotional side thought the opposite.

  “So what you’re telling me is that the gods are suspecting Eli is more than what he is?” Adrian said.

  Here we go again. I thought Melo wasn’t sharing that information with anyone.

  “So they believe it was Eli who shut the Shield?” Adrian said. “And disregarded my report that there was someone powerful who did it?”

  “They used a reverse tracking of magical signatures. And they found out that during the incident where the Shield shut off, Eli’s magical signature was the only one detected,” Xander explained.

  “What about the girl?” Adrian asked.

  “Tela? Yes, she was with me too,” I said, sitting down on the nearest couch.

  “Melo did not seem to be concerned with her. And the deities were more focused on you as your signature was the only one the Magical Probe picked up.”

  “I wonder why,” I said with a tinge of sarcasm.

  “They want to reevaluate your classification.”

  Oh. It surprised me that I did not voice any objection at all. Perhaps a part of me wanted it, wanted another classification, wanted to be an omega. An omega could bear a child, could provide Adrian an heir. So yes, an omega would be preferable.

  “It must just be a coincidence,” Adrian said. “Perhaps the Shield was just old and needs recharging. I don’t think this is as grave as the one that happened in Alpha Academy.”

  “What exactly happened in the academy?” I asked.

  They all stared at me as though I’d just asked a forbidden question.