Fated Box Set

by Stacey Thompson

  “It’s very painful,” he said. “If we finished it all at once, you’d probably die.” He opened the circle and carried a small glass of water to me. I turned my head away and he sighed. “You need to drink or it’s going to burn worse every time.”

  I realized I could fight this all I wanted, but I had to make it through. Even if he unbound me from my men, we could redo the binding and I would live. I just had to make it through this.

  I took the water and let it fill my body. It was cool and comforting before the next round of burning and screaming would begin.

  By the end of the night, I was weak and barely able to keep my eyes open. I didn’t know how much more I could take. The Demon rested his hand on my arm and smiled.

  “You are almost there, my love,” he said.

  “Don’t call me that,” I managed.

  “It’s the truth. You are the only thing a Demon like me loves. You are the power I need and the love I crave,” he said.

  “You don’t know love. If you did, you wouldn’t do this,” I said.

  “I can help you get through the last of this. You only need to say yes,” he said. His eyes made me forget he was Demon for a moment. They were no longer red, but a dark brown with gold flecks. They were beautiful and I wanted to look into them forever.

  “How would you be able to help me?”

  “Just a touch, nothing more, but you must agree,” he said. “You can endure it on your own, but why when you can be carried to the end of your unbinding without so much pain.”

  I sighed. There was no way I could do this another day on my own. I couldn’t make this work without dying. The goal was to live and this was the only way.

  “Yes,” I said and he smiled.

  The Demon put his hand on my cheek and I felt my skin heat under his touch. It tingled and then soothed itself just as fast. I already felt stronger.

  “Now you will be ready for the last of this and then you will be mine forever.”

  Nine

  Zarrick

  He pulled the car up to the old high school. The desert hadn’t been nice to it. Most of the once pristine siding was either blown off or tagged with graffiti. There was a chain-link fence around it that hadn’t been messed with in years.

  He put the car into park and glanced at Zander sitting next to him. “Are you sure this is a great idea?”

  “We have to help her,” he said.

  “I know, but we don’t know what we’re going into,” Zarrick said. He reached out with his fire, but it could only destroy for him, not find anything. That is until it hit a wall. He shook his head. “There’s wards.”

  “I figured there would be,” Zander said.

  “These are strong. Old magick,” he said. “Fire won’t even go through them.”

  “Then we’ll have to find them and destroy them by hand,” Zander said.

  Zarrick looked back into the back seat and met Owen’s gaze. “Are you ready for this?”

  “Why not, I haven’t taken on a Demon in a few months.” He shrugged. “Sounds like fun.”

  Zarrick couldn’t help but laugh. Zane and Owen were very different, but the coven needed Zane’s cool head. That was why he was a part of it instead of Owen, even though Owen would have made an excellent choice of his own.

  They stepped out of the car and opened the chain link fence. Zarrick stopped just short of the wall. He couldn’t do anything else with the wards up, but Zander could. He just needed to find them and then they could use the collective magick to destroy them and get to Cat. They just hoped they weren’t too late.

  Zarrick followed Zander as he made his way around the perimeter and stopped suddenly. He smiled and glanced at Zarrick.

  “This one will do,” he said, pointing at a rock just sitting in the middle of the old parking lot. “We only need to destroy the one to get through.”

  “Right,” Zarrick said. He pulled all his fire to him and aimed it at the rock. The rock lit up in flames that burned a bright blue before going out. He didn’t understand how it wasn’t enough.

  “We have to do it at the same time,” Zander said. “It’s going to take all of us.”

  Zarrick pulled his fire to him again and watched as Zander pulled air and Zane pulled water. They aimed them at the rock and let them go at the same time.

  Fire and Air met first, they charged together creating a white-hot flame and water followed behind it. The balance they had was shaky at best, but it was enough. The rock exploded into so many pieces, they wouldn’t be able to constitute it as a ward again.

  “He’ll know we broke it,” Zander said.

  “Then let’s not stick around right here,” Zarrick said. He made his way towards the old school when the ground rumbled and he sank into it just to his knees. Zander and Zane were trapped behind him and he called for fire to set them free. It burned around his legs, but the rock and dirt didn’t move.

  Caleb walked through the door and smiled at them. “Come to save her?” he asked. “I was hoping you would.”

  His whole face changed in a matter of seconds he put his hands over his ears and fell to his knees mumbling to himself.

  Owen was standing behind them and pulled at Zander and then Zane, helping them out of the dirt that had them trapped. Zane gave Zarrick a hard pull and he was free from his weird earth prison.

  “What should we do with him,” Zane asked.

  “I have a few ideas,” Zarrick said.

  Zander put his hand up and shook his head. “Cat first, then we will deal with him.”

  Zarrick knelt by the still fearful Caleb and smirked. The things he would do to him when his woman was free. It would be just what he always wanted.

  Ten

  I felt myself going in and out of conciseness. The unbinding had stopped, but my body was tired and there was nothing I could do to make it stop. My mind floated to Zander and Zarrick and how they would miss me if I wasn’t with them. I wondered if that was a dream or the truth disguised as a dream.

  Then something came into view. It wasn’t a dream, but more of a memory of things that had already happened. I walked along a path, the world was green and purple with flowers. The earth was cool and wet under my feet, but something was wrong. I heard rumbling in the distance and rushed to the nearest tree. It burst into flames and I backed away as it burned. I ran into a hard body behind me. They put their hands on my arms and rubbed them, comforting me.

  “We will always be together, my love. We are united in destruction,” the voice said.

  I didn’t feel fear or hate, I felt a tinge of love and want. I wanted this power. To feel it run through me and take me over. I wanted him.

  He kissed my neck and I moaned as the world burned around us. He entwined his fingers in mine and spun me around. He was standing there naked as the fire licked his legs. He pulled me to him and kissed me hard and forceful. I entwined my fingers in his hair as his cock rubbed against my leg. I wanted him inside me right them with all the fire and brimstone around us. I didn’t understand it, but it didn’t matter. We were connected from now until the end of time.

  My eyes shot open as the Demon stood watching me. He had a smile on his face and wonder in his newly red eyes.

  “What were you dreaming of, my love,” he said.

  I felt my heart race at my name from him. I looked away. “Nothing,” I lied.

  “You know we’re connected and I can sense your desires,” he said, running his hand down my arm. “You remembered when we burned the world with our love.”

  “There is no love for you,” I spat.

  He smiled and his hand drifted further down my body till it was sitting just above my hip. “Are you sure?”

  My breath quickened.

  He leaned down and kissed me. I struggled with my hand in his hair. He reached up to the bindings and undid one of my hands, while letting his slide over my pussy.

  I didn’t want to feel the way I did when he touched me, but I couldn’t help it. It overwhelmed me w
ith want. I pulled myself together and pulled everything I could from the elements and any other magick that I might have hiding inside me and pushed him back. He flew to the floor and I pulled my other hand out of the bindings.

  He stood and shook his head. “That was not very nice after all I’ve done for you,” he said.

  I yanked my foot loose and then the other and ran towards the door. He grabbed me in one fluid motion, pinning me to him.

  “You are not going anywhere. We have to finish the unbinding, then we will be together forever.”

  I closed my eyes and reached as far as I could inside myself for all my magick. I had felt it a moment ago and knew it was there, waiting for me to unlock it. I felt air and fire unite and the water that was running through the building. I felt the earth under me rumble with agreement and something else. Something much darker just under my skin called to me. It yearned to be set free and I was willing to let it.

  I let go of all of it at the same time and the force of it blew me forward. The Demon hit the floor, but was on his feet as fast as he was down.

  “You’re using my own magick against me?” He snarled. I pivoted and held my hands up, calling the darkness he’d given me, but instead of it coming from me, it siphoned from him.

  He gave the small amount I had a hard push before disappearing.

  I stood there for a moment as the magick I’d just used slid from my grasp and my three men came rushing through the door. Zander glanced at the chair and then to me. He grabbed me and pulled me to him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “You seem to ask that a lot,” I teased.

  “We can’t stay here. Whatever you did will wear off soon,” Zarrick said.

  I followed them through the doors to the outside where Caleb was laying on the ground, holding his head and Owen was standing over him.

  “I should have done this a long time ago,” Zarrick pulled his fire from himself, but I held up my hand to stop him. Something wasn’t right. We couldn’t kill him.

  “We can’t kill him,” I said.

  They all looked at me like I was crazy.

  “I’m serious. He’s important,” I said.

  “How do you know that?”

  I bit my lip. “I used Earth with the rest of the elements,” I said.

  “You’ve been using earth a lot lately,” Zander said. “I think it’s your element.”

  “But it’s not,” I said. “I think Caleb is our fifth.”

  “No fucking way,” Zarrick said. “There is no way I’m letting him anywhere near our coven.”

  “I don’t think you have a choice,” I said. “If you want to get rid of this Demon, we are going to need everything.”

  “He’s bound to the Demon,” Zander said taking a closer look at him.

  “Then we’ll unbind him,” I said.

  “Are you sure about this?” Zane asked.

  “I’m as sure as I am about each of you.”

  Eleven

  Home wasn’t the same. It was the same space and the same smells, but something was off about it. I wondered if it was Caleb freaking out in our basement or if something else was bugging me. I had only been home a few days and it still felt like weird.

  “Do you need any help?” Zarrick asked. He was leaning on the stairs in the entryway looking hot as ever.

  “No, I’m just reading up on the elements,” I said, pointing to the book in my hand.

  “You know, reading can teach you things but doing also helps,” he said as he walked to me and took me into his arms.

  “I’m still tired from what happened,” I said. “Reading is safer right now,” I smiled. “When are you going to do the unbinding?”

  “The sooner, the better,” Zander said from behind me. “I still don’t know if I am on board with him being a part of this coven.”

  “I don’t know why, but I think he is the last piece of the puzzle. The part that will complete this coven and give us a chance against the Demon.”

  “If you feel that strongly about it, I can’t disagree,” Zander said. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t make things worse.”

  “I need some air,” I said. “I’ll come back in a bit.” I didn’t say anything else as I made my way up the stairs and to the end of the hallway. I opened the doors to the balcony and let the warm air wash over me. The desert was growing on me. I closed my eyes and called to Air. I wanted to know if I was right. If Caleb was the final piece. When it didn’t answer, I felt my heart fall a little.

  I opened my eyes and glanced at the plant I’d help save before we’d gone up against the Demon. It withered in front of me into old dead pieces.

  I felt my breath catch and looked into the sky as clouds thundered and lightening pierced the sky.

  This was the beginning of the end.

  Chosen

  Reading list

  Fated

  Bound

  Chosen

  Hunted

  One

  I ran my hand over the dark blue book with Silver writing. It was the only book in the house on Demons, but it had a lot of great information that was bound to help me at least a little. I shuffled through the pages about how they came about and how I couldn't kill them. I sighed. That was not what I wanted to hear.

  "Did you find anything that might help you?" Zander said, taking a seat beside me at the table.

  "No, just a bunch of things I already know," I said.

  "You are the only one that's gotten close to a Demon around here."

  "Is there anyone else that might be able to help?"

  "I don't know anyone, but Owen is still here. We can ask him," Zander said.

  I Nodded my head and looked into his icy blue eyes. They looked different somehow. Like they weren't his anymore. I put my hand on his.

  "You don't have to worry about me," I said with a smile. "I've been in his hands twice and both times got away."

  "Yeah, I know, but it's our job to keep you safe and figure out what is going on with your magick."

  "It's better than it was. I have control over all of it, for the most part," I said.

  "With this addition of Caleb, things might get... interesting," Zander said. "Zarrick is not taking it well."

  "I know. He won't talk to me."

  "Give him time," Zander said. "Caleb hurt him and it's not going to fix itself overnight."

  "Except we have to figure out how to kill a Demon that seems to be unkillable."

  Zander smiled. "Maybe you should take a break. It's only been a few days since you dealt with this Demon."

  "Maybe," I admitted. It might be time to take a minute and figure out what was going on with myself. I didn't tell him about the Oleander plant dying. I slid my gaze to the healed plant in the corner. I simply fixed the damage this other magick was doing every morning. The less they worried, the better.

  "How is Caleb?" I hated the idea of him being in our coven, but it was the only way I felt we could overcome this Demon.

  When I had all the Elements running through me, I felt whole and unstopable. It was like everything I'd been fighting just melted away and I could control the thing that had faught to control me. The only part I wasn't so sure about was the darkness that was creeping up on me. It had wound its way inside my bones and was threatening to stay there. I had to find a way to get rid of it and stop this Demon forever.

  "Fighting us. We expected it, but he has to agree or we don't stand a chance," Zander said.

  "I know. Let me talk to him," I said. "Maybe he will listen to me."

  Zander gave me a hard look and I raised my eyebrows.

  "He has to trust someone and it's not going to be any of you," I said.

  "He took you and you want to save him," Zander laughed as he spoke. "This is truly a crazy world."

  I walked down the basement stairs and stopped as soon as I saw him. He was sitting on the ground with a circle around him and a cage around that. It seemed Zarrick didn't want to take any chances. I breathed the
smell of earth and concrete in deeply. This wasn't going to be easy.

  Caleb was sitting with his eyes closed and not moving even as I stepped closer.

  "What do you want?" He said, still keeping his eyes closed.

  "I came to talk," I said.

  He opened his eyes and met my gaze. "I don't want to talk."

  "Then you can listen to me talk," I snapped. "I know we've had our differences, but we have to work together."

  "You want to talk to me about working together?" He laughed. "Your coven took everything from me."

  "Why do you think that?"

  "If you hadn't come into the picture, Alda wouldn't have used my coven as a road to building her own super one." He shook his head. "Mine would still be alive and we would have stopped the Demon."

  "Instead you joined him," I snapped.

  "I didn't have a choice. I'm not willing to die for an idea," he said, standing.

  "You would rather be a puppet," I said. I felt the white hot anger inside me, it was harder to control now that I'd used a Demon's magick. It was as though they were corrupting my elements.

  Caleb smiled. "You're lost anyway," he said.

  "I'm the one thing that can stop him, but I can't do it on my own."

  "No, you need all the elements. Zander already tried. I don't care if you think I"m your earth. I'm not going to do anything for this coven."

  "What did Zarrick do that was so bad?" I knew they had a falling out and that Zarrick had left the coven, but I didn't know exactly why.

  "Why don't you ask him?"

  "I tried that," I said. "He wasn't so giving of information."

  "Sounds like him," Caleb said, crossing his arms.

  We stood there for a long moment in silence before anyone made a move to speak.

  "You do realize you're bound to him now," Caleb said without breaking his gaze.

  "I've been bound to Zarrick this whole time," I said.

  "Not him, the Demon."

  "What?" I laughed. "Not possible."

  "You said yes to him and he used the chance to connect you to him," he said.