Bound to Change: A Limited Edition Spring Shifter Romance Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Yes. What I feared, the fated lovers has come to fruition. If I could just get my hands on the boy, we could use him as leverage.”

  “His name is Orion,” Protus stated.

  “Yes, of course some boy named Orion. But Orion who?”

  “I’m telling you, her lover is Orion the young hunter who delivers small game to the market. The market master was laughing about this boy named Orion who planned to spend tomorrow his birthday with his fated love.”

  “Tomorrow, her birthday,” Carlyle said. “And according to the star charts, tomorrow is the day of the catastrophe. That means tonight’s our last chance to bring all this together. You say this Orion can be found?”

  “I bet the market master knows where he is.”

  Carlyle pulled Protus along. “Come, we have spells to make.”

  ORION SANG ROBUSTLY in the wagon as he drove home. He and the girls had a very successful day, and that combined with this morning’s take of chibis left him in good spirits.

  “Not to mention tomorrow’s my birthday.” He set about skinning a brace of hares for dinner, pausing from time to time as his mind drifted into this evening’s activities. If he died tonight between Aija’s legs, he’d die a happy man.

  He collected kindling and went to the fire pit. As he reached for the fire stick, a rustle of wind stirred the leaves behind him. His ears filled with pressure, like a storm suddenly rolled in, and the air whirled into a spinning vortex. He leaped backward as a man stepped through the vortex.

  Orion reached for his skinning knife, but the man flicked his hand and the knife flew away. “Are you Orion, the small game hunter?”

  “Who wants to know?” Orion challenged. The man raised his hand and squeezed thin air, but Orion felt the tightening fingers on his neck. He grabbed his throat, but there was nothing there.

  The hand tightened. “Just answer the question.”

  Orion vigorously nodded yes, wanting the hand to release his throat. When he caught his breath, he opened his mouth to object. But the man grabbed his hand and leaped through the vortex, pulling him through.

  AIJA EXITED CARLYLE’S quarters, seething with anger, an emotion she’d never known in her life, perhaps a good thing considering her power. But right now, she was ready to destroy something. Her heart pounded, making her mouth dusty. A low roar invaded her head and filled her ears with pressure.

  She found her mother in the solar. As soon as she glanced up and saw Aija’s face, she dropped what she held and came running. “What, Aija? What?”

  Aija stopped and held up her hand. “Stay back.” She closed her eyes and panted, struggling to contain her power under the influence of so much anger. She held her face rigid, lips tight and glanced away, fearing she might burst into tears with an explosion of power.

  Her mother’s voice came, soft and soothing. “Just calm down. Breathe, Aija, because you’re killing my garden.”

  Aija popped her eyes open. Everything in a three-foot radius had wilted. Still fighting tears, she looked down and spread her hands, drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. She directed her energy outward and exhaled, breathing life back into the foliage. Composure regained, she said with a ragged voice, “I’ve given them instructions. We’ll see what they do.”

  With that said, she relaxed and shook like a wet dog. Alyria still wore a furrowed brow, but Aija smiled. “Tomorrow’s our birthday. We intend to spend the entire day exercising our carnal desires, of which there are many.”

  A quick glance showed Alyria’s brow still worried. “What? What bothers you?”

  “You may be more powerful than they are, but they’re far more evil than you. You can’t trust them.”

  “I’m more afraid of my anger, Mother.” She gestured to the revitalized garden. “I’ve never destroyed anything in my life with my power, but I want to destroy them. I have to give them a chance before I ...”

  “What did the record keepers say about Atlantis?”

  “She will go down. The question is ... at my hand or theirs.” She didn’t mention the myth about a goddess rising from Atlantis with Orion at her side because she couldn’t wrap her mind around being a goddess. Only three things frightened her: losing Orion, losing her anger, and being a goddess.

  “I need to rest and bathe before going to Orion’s. If you need me, I’ll be in my quarters.” She hugged Alyria and gave her a smile. “Don't worry. Everything will be fine.” As she walked off, her smile faded, for she had lied.

  She returned to her quarters. Exhaustion consumed her and she lay down. Peace she begged, but her mind produced a stinging flurry of emotion, with anger in the lead.

  No, give me love.

  Orion’s face filled her mind, and joy rushed in. She sighed, content, and drifted, floating. But the sky darkened and a quick storm filled the horizon, tossing the waves in her dream. Heart pounding, she woke suddenly. A glance out the window told her it was late afternoon.

  Orion will be preparing dinner.

  She rose and rushed to her bath, filling the tub with warm water. She poured in a scented oil and eased in up to her chin. Thinking of Orion brought a spasm of longing to her core. Her nipples hardened and she imagined the sensual delights waiting for them tonight and tomorrow. The warm water relaxed her. She closed her eyes and floated, returning to her dream, and looked up when the sky turned ominous again. A dark cloud covered the horizon.

  As with her earlier dream, she bolted awake and sat up in the tub. Above her feet, a small black cloud hoovered over the splashing water from her sudden movement. This amazing and spontaneous creation came without needing a spell, or ingredients, or an incantation. As she thought of it, so it happened. She impatiently waved at the miniature storm and it evaporated.

  Orion, I need you.

  She finished her bath and dressed, pulling her wet hair back, not wanting to wait for it to dry. She grabbed a clean tunic and short pants and was ready to go. With her recent manifestations in mind, she desired to be at Orion’s—

  Instantly, she was there.

  A great thrill and a smile filled her heart and her face. “Orion,” she called. Having not teleported before, it took her brain a moment to process what her eyes were seeing. A brace of skinned hares lay on the cleaning board; the girls were in their cages with no water; the skinning knife lay on the ground; no fire blazed in the pit.

  And no Orion.

  Her smile faded and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. She sniffed and caught the scent of brimstone. “A first level dimensional portal.” Her chin dropped, amazed she’d let them out maneuver her. Then she clamped her lips tight with equal amazement that they were so stupid as to think they could control her by threatening him.

  What a colossal mistake.

  She snapped her fingers and appeared at the foot of the stairs at the Tower of Light. When she took the first step, a shot of lightning stabbed her foot. She backed up, lips tightening. “Really?” She teleported to the top level.

  First, she saw Orion locked in a metal cage. He saw her. She put her finger to her lips.

  For this I will kill them all.

  Then she saw their spell.

  A large interdimensional screen displayed the complex spell in several layers. Next to that a row of multi-dimensional screens was lit with displays of the cosmos, energy level measurements, and time flow charts. The tower walls were lined with containers of ingredients, their labels matching the list in the intricate spell.

  They’re ready to do this tonight.

  She had to steel herself from screaming and strode into the center of the room. As she gazed about and absorbed everything they had in motion, she gave them credit for genius ... right up to the point where they didn’t have enough power to pull it off.

  With a nod of her chin she ignited small fires in a dozen ingredient containers. Slow plumes of smoke began to roll out from under the lids. A flick of her finger and the tower on a three-dimensional model with moving pieces teetered and fell, scattering p
arts to the floor.

  In the row of interdimensional screens, she waved her hand and shattered the crystal power sources, shutting them down. One after another went black.

  A distraught Menin came running in from a side room. Aija held up her hand, erecting an invisible wall of power that he ran full into. As he rebounded and hit the ground, she drew a circle in the air and encased him in a cage of energy. He opened his mouth to scream, but she entered his mind.

  Sit down and shut up. And don’t make me come in here again.

  He clapped his hands over his mouth and sat, tears running down his face.

  She returned to destroying the spell. Already smoke gathered at the ceiling as dozens of ingredients burned. She shook her head at their primitive ways. All this preparation and concoction just for her to destroy it with a mere flicker of power.

  Maybe I am the goddess.

  A cacophony of shouts announced the approach of Carlyle and Protus. She pointed her finger at Protus and he dropped like a stone. Instantly, an energy cage surrounded him, leaving Carlyle alone to meet her wrath.

  He circled her warily.

  “I told you not to make me come back up here,” she declared.

  Madness filled his eyes and he spun, gazing with comprehension at her destruction of his spell. “Look at this.” He turned his wild eyes on her. “You fool! You could have had unlimited power.”

  “I already have unlimited power. That makes you the fool.”

  Stunned, he continued to gaze about. “Do you know what you’ve done?”

  “What’s done is on your shoulders—and your karma. You did this, not me. I’m just stopping it.” At that moment, the tower shook. Carlyle bent his knees and rode the swaying floor. “You’ve killed us all,” he cried.

  In the far distance, Mt. Arimo shook and rumbled as its top exploded, followed by a sky-high ejecta of magma, ash and pyroclastic flow. A great roar and a rumble filled the air and the energy wave hit them, rattling the tower. Aija glanced at Orion and thought Come. He appeared at her side instantly.

  Carlyle sank to his knees and wailed. “This is all your fault! You could have had it all, Atlantis at your feet.”

  Aija grabbed Orion’s hand. “I’m the goddess who rises from Atlantis with Orion at my side. You created me and gambled with everyone’s life. But I choose Orion and love over power.”

  She snapped her fingers.

  FROM A FAR EASTERN shore, Aija, Orion, Alyria, and Zephyr watched Atlantis explode and sink. With the last of their home underwater, they turned to her with a single question evident in their eyes, even Zephyr’s.

  “What now, you ask?” She gazed down, wondering that herself.

  Alyria approached with an expression of shock on her face. “Daughter, what has happened to you?” She touched Aija’s chin and drew her about to examine her face. “Aija, your eyes.”

  Orion came to see, and he, too, exclaimed.

  “What?” she asked. She patted her face and eyes, feeling nothing out of place. “What do you see?”

  Orion peered close, his mouth opening with amazement. “Your eyes are no longer ice blue, but the dark blue of the deep ocean, and—” He squinted as if searching for words.

  “Galaxies,” Alyria said. “You have galaxies in your eyes. Points of light like the stars of the cosmos.”

  Aija stared at the constellation Orion. Just as Atlantis had exploded and sunk, so had Orion’s belt exploded. With her new ability, she saw beyond the mass explosion that obscured the hunter in the sky. Instead, she saw that Orion was not destroyed at all, but protected behind the great explosion of the comet. And gratefully, the wheel of karma was righted, waiting for Carlyle, Protus, and Menin.

  The ancients spoke of her eons before her birth; she was the goddess and Orion walked at her side. She gazed at her birthmark with wonder. Orion joined her. They clasped hands and put their birthmarks together.

  A blue white surge of energy shot through them, bringing a vision as real as if it surrounded them. Aija gasped, reeling again from information as when she held the record keepers of Carlyle. “Did you see it?” she asked him.

  “I saw a new world. The best of Atlantis, without the evil.” He wobbled slightly, and she grabbed him, pulling him in. Putting her back to the last rumblings of Atlantis, she gazed in the opposite direction.

  She smiled and squeezed Orion’s hand. With the guiding vision and him beside her, she knew they would find their way and create a new Atlantis, one the world could be proud of.

  THE END

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