“I think so.”
I could tell she was just as confused as everyone else. She glanced over her shoulder at the pool, then turned back to me.
“If you feel up to it, I would like to try one more thing.”
I hoped whatever it was didn’t pack a punch like the last one. My skin still felt tingly from the aftershocks. “Sure.”
Rayna motioned to the water. “I would like you to step into the sacred pool.”
It was as if all sound had been vacuumed out of the room. I glanced around at the shocked and horrified faces of the witches surrounding me. If the situation wasn’t so serious I would have laughed. “Um. Isn’t that used to find a successor?”
“Yes.”
“But it can’t be me. This is a mistake.” My voice shook at the thought of what she implied. This was only supposed to be temporary. I didn’t sign on for this.
Rayna folded her hands in front of her. “Only the pool can tell us that.”
I glanced up at Quinn, unsure what to do. What if it did choose me? Would that mean I’d be here forever? With them?
Quinn nodded. “This will help us figure out what to do next.”
My footsteps echoed across the stone floor. I hated that all eyes were focused my way. If anyone hated to be the center of attention, it was me. When I reached the edge of the pool, I pulled off my boots and socks. Not that it mattered when I was getting the rest of my clothes wet.
I stepped into the crystal-clear water, expecting it to be freezing. I was surprised to find that it was warm and inviting. As I plunged deeper, the tension in my muscles began to relax. My anxiety washed away. This pool really was sacred.
I inhaled a deep breath before submerging myself the rest of the way. Voices filled my head, saying it’s time over and over.
Heat seared my wrist. I broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. My guardians knelt at the edge of the pool, their arms extended towards me. I reached out and grasped their hands. Roark turned my arm until my wrist was face up and he sucked in a breath. Quinn snapped his head toward him, his gaze dropping to my wrist. Then they both looked down at me.
What had them so freaked out? I didn’t really feel any different except for the pain on my skin. When they pulled me out of the pool, the high priestess glanced at my wrist. What the hell was so fascinating? Did the tattoo disappear? I leaned over so that I could get a better look.
The tattoo was still there. Instead of a faded gray, it was now black. I grabbed Roark’s arm and twisted until his tattoo was visible. It was black like mine. I dropped his arm and yanked Quinn’s toward me. His was the same.
I glanced up at the high priestess. I didn’t need her to say the words to know what this meant. The sacred pool appeared to have chosen me, and if that was the case, Quinn and Roark were officially my guardians.
Chapter 8
~Quinn~
It was hard to leave Katarina with Roark and follow the high priestess to the council chambers when I knew she was afraid. Though I had no doubts my brother would protect her, he was a little gruffer than me. Katarina needed a calm, soothing voice.
At least Roark had lowered his defenses around her enough that she trusted him. Still, he maintained his guard majority of the time. We were fighting the same battle, but Roark’s willpower was weaker than mine, always had been. Resisting the pull I felt for Katarina wasn’t easy for me either, but I had the strength to keep myself from acting on my emotions. Roark… not so much.
“I’m sorry I upset your brother earlier.” The high priestess paused in front of the door to the council room. She didn’t look my way as she placed one hand on the knob. “I don’t understand why we can’t transfer the power. There must be a way, but I’ll have to resort to looking for an answer in the Grimoire. If I’m unable to find anything in it, I’ll check my Book of Shadows.”
Just as she pulled on the door, I held it closed. “Rayna, I need to know something.”
“What is it, Quinn?”
I didn’t want to say the words when I feared what her answer would be. “What happens to Katarina if you can’t find a way to remove the power?”
Rayna pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Let’s focus on finding the answer we seek. If we don’t find one, we will revisit this conversation.”
I accepted her response only because I knew I had no other choice. She would do what she could to help Katarina. Anything else was unacceptable.
Once I released the door, Rayna opened it and walked into the council chambers. I followed her, closing the door before I made my way up the aisle. The other members hadn’t arrived yet, but they were on their way.
Rayna made swift strides toward a large oak armoire and searched through it. She removed two large books within a matter of seconds. I wasn’t sure if she would be able to carry both, but when I approached with my arms outstretched, she shook her head.
“I’m stronger than I look.”
I gave her a respectful bow and joined her at the table. She separated the books and opened the thinner of the two. I recognized the Grimoire from the times Samara had used it to research rituals she had to learn. Hopefully, it would provide the answer we needed.
After Rayna skipped a chunk of the book, she came to the section about rituals. Her finger swept across each page as she read the first few sentences before moving to the next. I stood next to her, reading the same words she was.
The power Samara passed to Katarina was potent because it originally came from my people, many generations of them. It was as old as the earth itself, but had diluted over time. All that was left of our powers was our connection to the elements.
Now it was inhabiting a human. The thought alone blew my mind. It should have killed her, but it didn’t. I still didn’t understand why. Maybe there was more to this than an accidental transference.
As Rayna continued to search for a ritual that would help them transfer the power, I considered asking her if she knew why Katarina had survived. My gut said she knew more than she was sharing, but I didn’t want her to flip the tables and interrogate me on the bond Katarina had formed with my brothers and me. The council didn’t need more reasons to dislike her.
Besides, I had other questions I wanted to ask. “Have you learned anything new about who killed Samara?”
“No, I’m afraid we haven’t.” She licked her fingertip and flipped another page. “I have people in every realm searching for clues. Something will surface.”
I rubbed my face. “What about Slade? No word about him either?”
This time, Rayna glanced at me. “No word. I’m surprised you haven’t sensed anything through your brotherhood bond.”
“I am too, which is why I keep asking you for updates.”
Rayna didn’t say anything else. The door opened as the other council members filed inside. I took a few steps back to allow them room to walk to their seats. With one wave of the high priestess’s hand, the table creaked and moaned until it turned into a circle. Then she greeted them.
“Thank you for coming. I’m halfway through the rituals section of the Grimoire. So far, I haven’t found any useful information on how to remove the power from the human girl.”
“There isn’t one,” one of the members taunted as she glanced toward me. “At least, not one the guardian monsters would consider.”
Monsters? What the fuck?
“Watch your tone, witch,” I growled.
Melynn. I recognized her the second she spoke. Roark had informed me she was the council member who claimed she wasn’t surprised Samara was killed. Come to think of it, there were several occasions when my former ward had sworn Melynn hated her. After witnessing the elder witch’s behavior, I was sorry I’d disregarded what Samara told me.
Rayna shook her head and began searching the Grimoire again. “Melynn, if you don’t have anything useful to offer, be seen, not heard.”
Melynn’s mouth gaped as she glared at Rayna. No one could deny how much she wanted to unload, but she had to r
espect the high priestess. Any insubordination would cost Melynn her spot on the council, unless she could prove she had reason to ignore the commands of her superior.
“Hang on a second.” Rayna held her hand in the air. “I think I might have found something.”
I grew anxious to hear what she’d discovered. Yet guilt consumed me too. Part of me didn’t want them to find a way to transfer the power. If Katarina couldn’t relinquish it, she would have to remain under the protection of my brothers and me. I didn’t want her mind wiped. I wanted her to stay.
Roark did too. Deep down I knew it, but it didn’t bother me. Samara had more than one lover. If Katarina wanted the same…
I pushed the thoughts from my mind and focused on Rayna. Her finger moved left to right as she read a passage on the current page. By the time she reached the bottom, her head rose slowly.
A hundred questions ran through my mind as she stared at me, face ashen, lips moving but no words coming out. What had she discovered? Furthermore, why did she look shaken?
“What did you find?” I asked.
“Not what I hoped to learn.”
We shared an intense gaze until I heard someone snort. When I glanced up, everyone was staring at Melynn.
“I told you he wouldn’t like it. None of them will.” A cocky tone rang in Melynn’s words.
I fisted my hand, fighting the urge to shift into my stone form. It would only make me look like the monster she claimed I was.
As I glared at her, I remained standing next to Rayna, and addressed her with my question, “What did you find, High Priestess?”
“There is a ritual–The Deathly Dilemma–that can remove the power from the human girl.”
Melynn smirked at the answer, and my only choice was to shift my focus to Rayna. If not, I would jump over this table and wrap my hand around the witch’s throat.
“I don’t like the sound of this Deathly Dilemma,” I said. “Why does it bear such a dreadful name?”
Rayna’s throat wobbled. She wet her lips and opened them slowly. “Because the spell causes a dilemma. The magic used in this ritual is old magic, something we don’t practice anymore.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Melynn said in a taunting voice.
When I flinched, Rayna touched my arm. “Quinn, I can’t lie to you. Doing this ritual will remove the power, but it will also kill the girl.”
I clenched my teeth and drew in a deep breath. “That’s not an option.”
“It’s the only one we have.”
My nose came within a few inches of Rayna’s. “I. Said. No. You are not killing the girl to remove the power. I have a duty to protect her. What you ask goes against everything in my brothers and me.”
“What else am I to do?”
“Keep looking.” I pointed to the Grimoire. “Have someone else search this and you search your Book of Shadows.”
A smidgen of reluctance showed on Rayna’s face, but she nodded and handed the Grimoire to the witch beside her. “Search for another option, Leona.”
The younger witch nodded and took the book from the high priestess. Rayna slid her Book of Shadows closer and opened it. The aged pages released dust as she flipped through them, reading over the words she’d written.
As they searched, I paced a few feet away. Killing Katarina went against my duties. It would be dishonorable and would darken my soul. My people protected the power, but nowhere in our history had we killed someone to release it. I wasn’t about to start now.
Leona teamed up with the witch beside her to tackle the Grimoire, each reading a page in the book. Rayna made it a third of the way through her Book of Shadows. I knew they were making progress, but the longer this took, the more impatient I grew.
I wanted to get back to Katarina and see if she was doing okay. Whenever I wasn’t near her, I felt empty. I wasn’t sure how I would handle losing her, even if we found a safe way to remove the powers. She would forget about me, but I would never forget her.
Folding my hands behind me, I stopped near the edge of the platform, staring at the spot where Roark and I had stood by Katarina’s side a few days ago. The fear I saw in her eyes that day ripped through me. I had wanted to comfort her then as much as I did now. My brother and I promised her that she would be okay. I had no intention of going back on my word. Roark and I would do everything in our power to make sure she stayed safe.
I observed the council again to check their progress. Leona and the other witch were almost to the end of the Grimoire. Rayna was two thirds of the way into her Book of Shadows.
My chest tightened at the thought of what it meant. They hadn’t found an alternative to killing Katarina. It was time for me to think of other options. They would take her life over my dead body. My role as a guardian made it my duty to protect her, yet I knew it was more. It was the connection, the emotions I felt within it, and the effect they had on me. I would fight to the death for her not only out of duty, but also because I wanted her.
Although my brothers and I hadn’t been connected to Samara the same way we were connected to Katarina, our willingness to lay down our lives for her meant something had happened to Slade. He would have fought for Samara’s life. Her death made my brother’s chance of survival slim.
A book slammed shut, drawing my attention back to the table. I wasted no time approaching, and as I grew closer, the dismal expression on Rayna’s face made my gut wrench. She wouldn’t meet my gaze when I stopped a foot away from her chair.
“Did you find anything?”
“I’m afraid not.” She gripped her Book of Shadows and held it close. “As much as I hate the thought, I’m afraid…” Her voice trailed off when she glanced at me.
“Told you so,” Melynn boasted.
“That’s enough.” Rayna glared in her direction. “You’ve brought nothing but negativity to this conversation since you took your seat. You are dismissed from this meeting.”
“Fine.” Melynn stood. “I didn’t want to be part of the rescue mission to save the human anyway.”
She narrowed her eyes in my direction as she walked to the steps. It didn’t take her long to storm down the aisle or slam the door behind her when she left. A sense of satisfaction filled me at knowing she was ejected from the meeting. I didn’t like the vibes I got from her. Goddess help her if she had anything to do with Samara’s death.
Once the whispers around the table settled, Rayna focused on me. “I don’t want to kill the human any more than you want me to. We can’t find any other option.”
“There has to be something. I’m not giving up hope and I won’t dishonor myself, my brotherhood, or my people. We need to do more research.”
“What type of research?” Leona asked. She hadn’t said much in any of the meetings, but something about her spoke of peace and kindness. Like Rayna, she didn’t want Katarina to die.
“I think this council should reach out to the other covens. See if anyone knows about another ritual. Someone has to know something.”
“What if they don’t?” Rayna asked.
“We won’t know until we exhaust all measures. No decision should be made before then. The power is safe inside of Katarina. My brothers and I will protect her.”
“What if she loses control of the power inside her and harms someone? She could wreak havoc on this coven.” Another witch I knew as Zelda asked the question. I wasn’t sure if she was addressing Rayna or me, but I decided to be the one to answer.
“My brothers and I can assure that won’t happen. She listens to us.” When Zelda and two other witches frowned, I knew I hadn’t convinced them to spare her life. “What if we took Katarina away?”
“Where, and for how long?” It was the tone of Rayna’s voice that gave me hope. She seemed willing to listen to my idea and possibly grant the request.
“We will take her to the Stone Isles, to our people. The Elders know things they have not taught us yet. There is a millennium of knowledge within them. If anyone has answer
s, it will be them.”
When no one else raised a question, Rayna stood. “Let’s take a vote on this matter.”
“What about Melynn?” a different witch asked. “She’s not here to cast her vote.”
“I think it’s safe to assume her vote,” Rayna replied. “She made it clear she didn’t want to help. Does anyone else feel the same?”
The same witch who mentioned Melynn raised her hand, as did four other witches. It angered me to see their response, but I remained calm. The council was made up of thirteen. There were seven votes left.
Rayna noted the opposing votes, then cleared her throat. “Those in favor of postponing the Deadly Dilemma ritual, the use of old magic, and the guardians moving the human to their realm until we exhaust all measures?”
Six of the seven witches raised their hands. The last was Rayna. As high priestess, she had to be the last to cast her vote. At least it was over now, and the vote was in Katarina’s favor.
“Since majority rules, we will postpone the ritual and reach out to the other covens. Quinn, you and your brothers will take the human girl to your realm and research all you can.”
“Thank you, High Priestess.” I gave her a half bow.
“I will need updates, but I will also provide you with any information I receive on Samara’s death and your other brother’s disappearance. We will figure this out together.”
“We will keep you apprised of the situation.”
As she faced the council members again, the bond I shared with Katarina pulsed in an intense rhythm. I’d never sensed this amount of fear in anyone...except Samara. Something was wrong.
I tried reaching out to Roark through our bond, but his fear almost duplicated Katarina’s. One thing was different. He had shifted into battle form, and the fear I felt inside of him stemmed from anger as much as it did concern.
It didn’t take long to excuse myself from the meeting or rush out the door. Once I made it outside, I extended my wings and greeted the air as I shot into the sky, back to Samara’s dorm room.
Abducted by Magic Page 7
