by Ivy Asher
I lean back in my chair and look around the table at the remaining guests, half of whom I haven’t been introduced to.
“Anyone else want to have a go? Unlike some, I promise I can hang with the best of ‘em. Give me your best shot.”
“No, I think that’s quite enough dramatics and entertainment between courses.”
Elder Cleary raises his eyebrows and gives me a patronizing grin.
“So, how is training coming along?” he asks, quick to change the subject.
I roll my eyes at the fact that he’s asking about me but not at all talking to me. His question is addressed to his son as if Enoch is my master. Like the good little soldier that he is, Enoch begins to fill everyone in on what we’ve been doing and my overall progress. I tune him out.
I do all I can to keep from showing that what Becket’s mother said hit its mark. I’m not going to show any weakness around these people, but I can’t keep her words from swirling around my head. What did she mean Lachlan’s rank was stripped? Is he no longer a paladin? Why the hell would they do that? I make a mental note to call the guys as soon as I’m out of here and away from Enoch and the others. I need to know what the hell that bitch was talking about.
Since the elders removed me from his house, I’ve tried hard to keep from thinking about Lachlan and the others in his coven. I guess I felt that there was no point picking at that wound by wondering the whys of it all; that sure as hell isn’t going to help heal anything. Lachlan never struck me as the type to hide or mope. So if he’s disappeared, that sets off a few alarms for me. I would assume that the guys would have said something. But maybe not. With my intense training and their moving into our new house, news about Lachlan could have easily been pushed to the back burner. It probably doesn’t help that talking with me about Lachlan and the others is still weird. We all kind of try to avoid it at all costs.
The rest of the dinner passes uneventfully. Thank fuck, dessert looked and tasted like cheesecake, or I’d be way more pissed as I wait for Enoch and the others to say their goodbyes so I can get the fuck out of here. I’m starving. With the exception of dessert, I only had a couple of bites of the nine-thousand different courses they served tonight. I debate whether or not these assholes will stop somewhere so I can grab something to fill the gnawing hole that is my stomach, or if I should call one of the guys and see if they’ll bring me something.
Elder Cleary moves to stand next to me, and I try not to visibly stiffen at his proximity.
“You’ve made the night much livelier than it typically is,” he tells me, amusement sparkling in his eyes. “We usually have smaller, more intimate gatherings for Sunday dinner, but everyone was dying to meet you, and we couldn’t resist getting them together for your first official dinner. Next week won’t be nearly as intense.”
I snort. For people who were dying meet me, only a handful of them actually introduced themselves. This is supposed to be the upper crust of casters? They have shit manners, and I’d be thrilled if I never had to see most of them again. As If he can read my mind, Elder Cleary chuckles quietly.
“You’ll get used to them. Enoch and the others will teach you how to navigate things better for next time.”
I open my mouth to argue when his words and tone suddenly make me realize something. I turn and look into Elder Cleary’s cunning cobalt-blue eyes.
“You’re going to deny the Bond Claim, aren’t you?” A hollow chuckle escapes me.
“I should have seen that coming. But the guys were so certain you and the other elders would be fair and impartial.”
I take a step closer to him, squaring off, he only seems to grow more amused by it.
“Allow me to clarify something for you, and feel free to pass it along to the others. I am not yours to command. Nothing you ever do, or say, will make me choose your son or his coven. What you’re pushing for, what you’re trying to force me into, is never going to happen.”
Elder Cleary’s smile drops ever so slightly, and he lowers his voice ensuring that no one can hear him but me.
“Come now, Sentinel. You of all people should know how possible the impossible can be. Your mere existence proves that one should never say never.”
The blood drains from my face, and every muscle in my body goes taut from fear. How does he know what I am? I knew that the Baby Sentinel nickname Faron called me could make it back to the Elders, but I didn’t expect them to know what it meant. I shutter away the panic and the questions buzzing inside of me and slip a blank mask on.
“I would strongly advise against threatening me. It’s never gone well for anyone who’s done it in the past.”
Elder Cleary tsks me. “Now, now, Vinna. I think you misunderstood me. I only seek to reach a mutual understanding. I am your guardian, after all, I only have your best interest at heart.”
A flash of magenta crackles over my hands as Elder Cleary and I stare coldly at one another. The color of the magic deepens to violet the longer our standoff goes on, and I don’t bother to try and reign it in.
“What seems to be going on over here?” Isla asks.
The sound of his mate’s voice pulls Elder Cleary’s challenging gaze from mine. His hard eyes soften as he offers her a smile, and she tucks herself into his side. I sneak in a couple of deep breaths while they’re focused on each other. I need to calm down and keep this from escalating.
“We were just talking, Darling. Nothing to worry about,” Elder Cleary reassures his mate, and they both turn expectantly to me.
I give a noncommittal shrug.
“Talking, threatening, it’s probably all the same to him.”
I put my hand out to Enoch’s mother, and she takes it automatically. “It was nice to meet you. I have no intention of ever coming back here. Just like I have no intention of taking your son as a mate. That has nothing to do with you, however. You’ve been very kind, and I appreciate that more than I can say.” I squeeze her hand and walk away from both of their shocked faces.
The cool night air caresses my face as I make my way outside. I don’t get more than five feet away from the front door before Enoch and the others are calling my name and rushing after me. I’m fed up with them, this nightmare of a dinner, and this entire situation. When Enoch catches up to me, he reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder to stop me. I whirl on him, shoving him away from me.
“How long have you fucking known what I am?” I shout at him.
“What are you talking about? What just happened in there?”
“Don’t fucking lie to me, Enoch. There’s no way your dad knows, but you don’t. Who else knows. The other elders? You guys?” I look at the rest of the coven. “Did you really think you could threaten me into a bond?
Enoch steps towards me again, and I shoot him a scathing look that warns him not to get any closer.
“Who threatened you? What the hell are you talking about?” Nash shouts, as he motions to the others in his coven.
“I will never choose you. You will never have access to my magic. So all of you, keep the fuck away from me!”
A flash of purple magic shoots out from my core and pulses away from me. It passes through Enoch and the others and disappears into the night. The pulse mutes my anger and steals the last of my energy, my knees buckle, refusing to hold me up any longer. Enoch darts forward and catches me before I crumple to the ground. He wraps his arms around me, securing me against him and I start to shiver and shake in his hold.
What the fuck just happened?
My teeth are chattering so hard I can’t speak, and my head feels like it’s wrapped in a thousand layers of cotton, muffling everything. Enoch and the others are shouting around me, but I can only make out bits and pieces of it. Enoch scoops me up in his arms, and my head lolls limply against his chest, as he wraps one arm behind my knees and another behind my back.
He moves towards the house, and it takes everything in me to try and get away from him. I don’t care if I die out here on the manicured lawn--an
d with how I’m suddenly feeling, that’s a possibility—but I am not going back into that house. Enoch seems to catch on to what’s distressing me, and he stops walking. More shouting goes on around me, but I can’t focus on them. I fight the need to pass out, knowing that if I do, they’ll take me back inside, and I can’t let that happen.
My shivers start to morph into convulsions and judging by the terrified look on Enoch’s face, something is seriously wrong with me. My breaths are quick and shallow, and I’m trying so hard to speak, but my mouth won’t cooperate.
Have I been poisoned?
Thoughts of Talon and toxic shifter saliva float through my foggy brain, and I try to think of when someone could have slipped me something. The only thing I really ate was dessert. Fucking cheesecake, and fucking Elder Cleary for ruining cheesecake for me. It had to be him. Car doors slam around me, and I realize that I’m being cradled in the back seat. I feel the car start to move, and Nash leans in and places his hands on my head and chest.
When they warm to try and heal me, it feels like a brand against my skin. I can't bite back the pain-filled scream that tears out of my throat. He pulls his hands away, but the pain doesn’t go with him. I’m flooded by it and drowning, I can’t breathe or grit through it, and I realize at that moment, whatever this is, I think it’s going to kill me.
24
Everything hurts. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. It means I’m not dead, but it’s getting harder and harder to keep from wishing that I was. The pain is unyielding. Sometimes it feels like I’m burning alive, other times I feel like I’m being flayed. I thought getting my runes was bad, but this—whatever this is— is infinitely worse. Whoever is holding me, brushes hair away from my face and speaks close to my ear. Their breath feels like needles against my neck, and their words are lost in the pain that saturates every inch of me.
I can’t control the screaming. My throat is raw from it, my voice slowly giving out. My body can’t decide if it wants to crumble in on itself or arch to escape the pain, and I twitch from one position to the other. Cool air brushes against my skin and I feel myself being passed over to someone else. I force my eyes open, hoping to see one of my guys but Becket looks back at me instead. He shouts to the others, and suddenly we stop moving. Enoch, Nash, and Kallan peer down at me, asking me if I’m okay, but I’m about as far from it as I can be.
I will one trembling hand over to the other and run a shaky, pain filled finger over the runes that will call my guys. Beckett and the others watch me confused, but I’m not capable of giving them any answers. It’s all I can do to keep my eyes open, to focus on the task of calling my Chosen. They’ll come. I just hope I can hang on until then.
Becket starts moving again. I close my eyes against the pain the jostling of his movements spark, and grit my teeth against the scream trying to force its way out of me.
“We should have taken her to our dads, at least they might know what the hell to do! What the fuck are we going to do for her here?”
“Becket, shut the fuck up! For all we know they did this to her. She didn’t want to go back into that house for a reason!”
“Fuck you, Nash! You can shove your bullshit accusations up your ass!”
Something cool presses against the back of my body, and I realize that I’m being placed in a bed.
“Both of you stop! Becket, she’s here now, so figure out something more helpful than bitching about it. Until we know what the hell is going on, Nash, keep your issues with the elders to yourself. Kallan call Aydin, see if he has any idea what’s going on.” Enoch’s voice booms around the room, and the others fall silent at his commands.
The bed presses down next to me, and he runs his hand over my forehead and down my cheek. I try to turn away from him, but I can’t move. I can’t speak. My scream-abused voice has finally abandoned me. All I can do is whimper and hope, one way or another, this ends soon.
“What the fuck is going on? Get away from her!”
Knox’s deep baritone breaks through the silence, shattering it like glass and pulling me from the blackness I’ve been floating in and out of. My heart rate picks up, knowing he’s near, and I try to fight through the pain and my body’s sluggishness to get to him.
“What the hell are you doing here?” several voices ask simultaneously, and I hear movement around the room.
“I said, get the fuck away from her!”
The body taking up space next to me is ripped away. A scuffle seems to break out judging by the shouts and movement. The mattress dips down next to me again, and I’m pulled into big strong arms and surrounded by a scent I would know anywhere. Knox.
“Killer, what’s going on?” His voice caresses my face, and I hear a slight break in the tone as his arms tighten around me.
“What happened?” Ryker asks, his voice close. I feel him lean over me as he places his hands on my head and neck.
Before anyone can stop him, Ryker’s palms heat up, and he tries to press Healing magic into me. It burns through me like lava. My back arches in agony, and my mouth opens in a silent scream.
“Don’t fucking do that; it hurts her! You think we haven’t tried that already?” Nash shouts at Ryker, who yanks his hands away from me.
“Fuck, Squeaks. I’m so sorry! What the hell is going on?”
“She can’t talk. She was screaming in pain up until twenty minutes ago, but I think her voice is gone now. We don’t know what happened. One minute she was yelling at us, the next magic is pulsing out of her, and she’s been like this ever since.” Enoch recounts.
“She’s going through her Awakening,” Aydin announces, from somewhere else in the room.
“What are you two doing here?” Bastien growls out.
“We called him for help. You guys still haven’t explained what the hell you’re doing here,” Kallan sounds off from the corner.
“She called us!” Valen counters.
“You guys can measure magic and dicks later. When did it start happening?” Evrin asks.
Another pulse of magic rushes out of me, and the rushing sound that fills my ears blocks out everything else that’s said. Ryker runs his fingers through my hair and every time his hand skims my scalp my pain recedes a miniscule amount. Each hand stroke brings a millisecond of relief from the constant agony. I try to lift my hand, but I can only manage a couple of inches before it drops limply into my lap.
“What is it, Bruiser?”
Bastien lifts my uncooperative hand into his own. He presses his full lips into my palm and laces his fingers with mine. The contact chases away any doubt I had in my mind. When they touch me, it hurts less.
“Vinna, can you hear me? I can see you’re hurting, but it shouldn’t last much longer. You’re going to be okay. You’re experiencing your Awakening.”
Evrin’s words float around the room and me, and they mix and get lost in the pain. I try to grasp them, but all I can hold onto is the need for my Chosen.
“Isn’t she young for an Awakening? She should have a couple more years at least,” Nash inquires.
“Yeah, um, with Vinna, things tend to be different,” Aydin offers awkwardly.
If I could tell Aydin that my secret’s out, I would, but I’m just trying to focus on Valen and Sabin and somehow bringing them closer to me. It’s not working. They’re too focused on whatever discussion is going on now between Aydin, Evrin, Enoch and the others. I focus on the runes on my sternum. So far, when I’ve activated them I’ve used touch, but I know if I focus enough, I can call them just like I do the runes for my weapons.
I picture each of the symbols in my mind and match them with the unique individuals that they represent. I imagine pulling the magic into me and then feeding it back into those specific marks on my chest. Groans and shouts of pain suddenly surround me. I hate that I’m sharing this agony with them, but I can’t think of any other way to get them to understand what I need. I can’t talk, I can barely move. It’s a struggle just to keep thinking through this tormen
t.
“Fucking hell, what’s happening?”
Knox is crumpled on top of me, and Bastien holds my hand tightly as he grits out a response.
“Bruiser, is this you? Fuck, is this what you’re feeling?”
“Moons, it’s going to kill her! Are you sure this is an Awakening, it feels like something is trying to tear her apart,” Ryker groans out.
“If she goes, I think we’re going with her,” Valen announces.
Ryker steadies his hand on my forehead, and the pain recedes slightly. I hope against hope that one of them feels the change. But I just slammed them with a fuck ton of suffering; maybe they won’t pick up on the subtle difference.
“What just happened? Something affected her. Not a lot, but enough. What did one of you just do?” Sabin shouts out the question.
His voice is lower than it was before, and it makes me think he’s on the floor now instead of standing like he was before. I feel horrible for putting them through this, but I need them to figure it out.
Ryker’s hand falls away from my forehead, and I feel his body sink to the ground next to me. The pain intensifies at the loss of contact, and the guys groan and yowl at the new level of searing torture. A hand presses flush against my chest, and again the pain withdraws just a fraction.
“Ryker put your hand back on her.” Sabin grits out, and Ryker’s hand presses back against the clammy skin of my face.
The pain ebbs.
Groans of relief echo around me, and without needing to be told, I feel Valen push his hand under the hem of my shirt to rest on my clenched stomach. The anguish loosens its grip even more.
“Knox, you’re holding her, but find skin. Skin to skin seems to work the best.” Ryker instructs.
