He takes both objects and places them in front of him. Bringing the dagger up to the palm of his hand and making a clean slice in the middle, blood drips from his closed fist into the empty chalice. He passes the dagger and the chalice to his right, where Oliver sits. He takes the dagger without complaint and repeats the process. When the chalice comes around, and Chloe hands me the suddenly clean dagger, I take it with caution. Bringing the tip of the dagger into my hand and dragging it down to make a clean slit, I watch my blood puddle into the filled cup. At once, my hand begins healing itself before my eyes. What the?!
“It’s enchanted, love. No harm can come to us with any of the weapons used in the training rooms,” Evan explains. I watch Evan take the chalice full of our blood and slowly spin it with his finger to create a small whirlpool in it, mixing all of our blood together. He takes the same middle finger and dips it deeper into the chalice. He then brings his blood-covered finger to the tops of his hands, and he draws an X on each. Dipping his finger into it again, he places one X in the center of his forehead. He passes the chalice over, and I watch the rest of my coven repeat after Evan. Coming last, I do the same and he then places the chalice back in the center of our circle as we unite our hands and close our eyes.
“We come together to support,” Evan says loudly. “We come together to encourage,” Oliver says loudly. “We come together to guide,” Victoria says loudly. “We come together to unite,” Owen says loudly. “We come together to comfort,” Chloe says loudly. “We come together to love,” I say loudly, going with the flow without stopping for questions, even if I'm lost and unsure what to do. “We come together as one.” They begin to chant. I follow along and feel an energizing wave hit me all at once. It feels empowering and strong, and my head falls back as I embrace the connection.
There is an addicting pulse in the places where we marked ourselves with the blood in the chalice. I savor it, not wanting it to stop. Then, all too soon, it does and suddenly a blast occurs, throwing us all back. We disengage our hands and look at each other curiously. “What the hell was that?” Owen says, on edge. “Must be Scarlet’s power,” Evan says simply, picking himself back up. “Was that not supposed to happen?” I ask, finally comfortable enough to show my perplexity. “No, love. The coven bind was complete the moment the pulsing ceased.” Evan says.
“My Mark!” Oliver shouts, sliding over to show us his wrist. The rest of us look down to check our own wrists, and just like Oliver’s, we each received our coven Mark. In a straight line running across our left wrist is what looks like phases of the moon. Directly in the center is the full moon, and it is the only one that is colored in a pearly white shade. The rest of the phases are only outlined in a shiny black color. I curiously look over at Evan’s Mark and notice that the full moon in the middle of his Mark is outlined black, and the two moons on each side of the full moon is filled in white. I turn to look at everyone else's, and their Mark only has one white-filled moon. But each of them is in a different place. It’s like a puzzle. I wonder why Evan has two filled-in moons, unlike everyone else’s one filled moon.
“Well, that tells us the ritual was a success. Who's ready to get this started?” He says, clapping his hands and standing up. The chalice and dagger disappear, and we stand to follow Evan to the corner, where our satchels rest. “Before we begin, the Elders sent this for us.” Evan snaps his fingers, and a light weighted all-black uniform lands in each of our hands. “These must remain in your caster’s chest, so you can summon it onto your body when necessary. They are enchanted to help protect your bodies. Scarlet, your uniform is slightly more special than ours. It has the addition of slits in the back to accommodate your wings,” he informs us. “We’ll go one at a time to get into the fighting pace. Then we can fight at the same time and focus on defeating ambushes. Who wants to go first?” He asks.
I take the moment to step forward. I'm supposed to be this coven’s leader, I should be the one to go first. Plus, I'm eager to take my anger out on a demon. “I do,” I say. Evan gives me a proud and desirable smile. “Anything in particular, love?” He asks sweetly. “I’ll start with the easiest demon,” I reply. He nods his head and snaps his fingers. Instantly, a grotesque-looking figure of a man appears across the room. It stares at me, knowing it’s my target. He growls once and takes off towards me, as I grind my feet in the floor then wait for the perfect moment to run at it and make my strike. I decide to kill this demon with my bare hands because I know it’ll give me more of a rush. So I'm going to take a page out of Evan’s book and snap this demon’s neck. I know it’ll make him proud.
The demon makes it to the center of the room, and I run forward. Forgetting that I have the enhanced speed now, I make it to my target faster than I anticipated. But it doesn't deter me from my plan. When we get close enough to collide, I bring my knees down and slide directly under the filthy-looking demon. I reach my hand out and grab at his ankle, causing him to fall. And I don't let go. Instead, I snap it. The demon screeches loudly, and I see Chloe and Oliver raise their hands to cover their ears. I can still feel the anger inside of my heart and decide I'm not done.
I pounce on the other ankle and repeat the breakage of the bone. Again, it screeches loudly. I walk to stand a foot away from the demon and almost get distracted enough to lose my focus. The demon attempted to stand, even with both of his feet hanging off to the side. I hear one of the casters behind me gag as they see the demon trying to get to me. Bending at the knees, I jump so high that I end up directly on the demon’s slimy back and quickly bring one hand under his neck and the other over his head. With a quick twist, we hear the crack of death. The demon’s limp body falls to the floor as I effortlessly run back to the other casters. Again, I get there in less than a second, unintended. “What?! How?” Chloe stutters. “Last night, after the ceremonies, Scarlet acquired a few of her angelic abilities,” Evan explains. “Well, damn! That was awesome!” Owen shouts with enthusiasm. “He’s right, Scarlet. That was incredible. And sexy.” Evan says, connecting with my mind. I begin to turn red again, but try to hide it by pushing Evan forward. “Your turn,” I tell him.
Evan smirks and takes off his shirt, and as he passes me. Getting too close, he causes me to blush some more. He grabs a curved dagger from his satchel and turns to stand in the center of the room. He snaps his fingers, and a bigger and more scary demon appears in the same spot that mine did. Evan kneels on one knee and awaits the demon’s attack. This demon turns and runs up the wall. It gets closer to Evan and ricochets off, right to where he is waiting. He raises his arm at the last second and pierces the demon directly in its neck. The demon falls to the floor next to Evan, grabbing his bleeding throat. Without breaking a sweat, Evan raises his arm and he slams it down, straight through the demon’s chest. He pulls out its heart and walks to us with it still beating in his hand. “Our coven is the bomb!” Owen shouts again. His innocence and playful manner is going to be good for this coven. He was chosen to be in it for a reason. And after his turn, I can see why.
We trained for hours, and an hour after midnight I was officially done. I didn't have any more energy to fight another demon, and I didn't have any more energy to cast. In the time we spent training, we realized the meaning of our Marks. After the fourth ambush of demons, we changed our positions to which moon is filled in on our mark. Evan took my side, only he is skilled enough to watch all sides of me. Chloe and Victoria took the outer positions, keeping the demons at bay. Owen and Oliver were in between, taking care of the demons attempting to attack from above. Evan and I only had to fight the demons that were quick enough to slip past. I was surprised that the other casters weren't as exhausted as I was and so I tried to be vigorous.
When I began to think more of my pillow than killing demons, I had to call it a night. The more time I spend with them, the more I can see how close our connection actually is. Oliver with his intelligence, Chloe with her strategic mind, Victoria with her quick thinking, and Owen with his merriment, made me
accept that he was right. Our coven is the bomb. Training tired me out so much that my eyes closed the minute my head touched the pillow. After a too-fast shower with Evan, we were both ready to get some downtime. I have only been asleep for four hours, when I had the sudden urge for a glass of water. I was so exhausted that I momentarily forgot that I could just cast myself a glass. Instead, I sit up in the bed, groggy. I felt slightly dizzy, but I blamed it on my half-asleep state. I look over at Evan’s perfect face, and I sleepily smile to myself, knowing he’s mine forever.
I slowly stand up, again feeling dizzy and out of sorts. But again, I blamed it on my exhaustion. Somehow, I make it downstairs to the kitchen and after I have my water in my hands I close the fridge. Only, a second ago I was standing in Evan’s kitchen at the Village. But now I was standing in a completely random kitchen that I’ve never seen before. What is happening right now? Where am I?
A little more awake and alert, I squeeze my eyes shut and count to ten, hoping I return to Evan’s kitchen. Peeking one eye open, I start to panic. Taking a deep breath, I try to calm myself down. Okay, Scarlet. You are half caster and half angel, you are powerful, and you can defend yourself. Get it together and find out where you are.
I talk some courage into myself as I slowly walk to the door in the kitchen. I push it open as quietly as I can and step through, having to take a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dark hallway. Straight ahead I see the outline of a door so I tiptoe towards it, but I stop dead in my tracks when the sound of an acoustic guitar to my right begins strumming. Then the voice of someone I recognize instantly sings through the silent house. My eyes roll to the back of my head, savoring his silky voice as he sings “I Won’t Tell a Soul.” The entire time Julian sings, I feel myself literally floating towards him. He’s sitting on a leather couch with the guitar on his lap and two dark drinks sitting in front of him and somehow, I end up sitting on the floor, with my legs folded under, staring up at him like he’s a king. My brain feels foggy, and all I can think about is Julian. His breathtaking voice, his strong sculpted body, his lips…Wait. What am I doing? Evan is my Anima Partem.
Just as I was about to protest and ask what the hell is going on, he looks me right in the eye and sings the last verse of the song, putting me back under his spell. When he finally finishes, he reaches for one of the glasses and hands it to me, encouraging me to drink it. Usually I would have said a firm hell no. But since my brain is under some kind of trance, I bring the cup to my lips and I take a small sip. It burned my throat when I swallowed it, but the aftertaste was more of a cinnamon explosion. I liked it, but not enough to drink again. I was setting the cup down on the table when Julian's hand came out and gently pushed the glass towards my lips again.
Giggling like a groupie, I shake my head no. But when he begins to hum a soothing melody, I bring the cup up to my lips again. It feels like someone in the back of my mind is telling me something, and I try to listen to it. But Julian is looking at me with those intense eyes, and I just want to do whatever he wants. The liquid came up to touch my lips, and something sparked in my brain. It hurt for a second. But whatever it was, it got me out of my stupor. I was out of his cast and stood rapidly and the glass falls to the floor, smashing into hundreds of pieces. I jump back and unintentionally step on shards of glass. I try hard not to show that I'm hurt, but I'm sure he can see pain clear on my face. Julian doesn't even flinch. He looks me in the eyes, knowing I fought against whatever it was that he was doing to me.
I can’t cast and my feet are bleeding. I can’t even take a single step forward without embedding the glass deeper into my feet. “Where am I? How did I get here?” I attempt to get some answers and say it more confidently than I feel. He smirks and places his guitar on its stand. He flicks his wrist, and the glass beneath my bare feet is gone. I stand there, still unable to move. And somehow Julian knows it. He slowly stands up and takes one step towards me, until he’s standing only an inch away from my face. I look up into his eyes, shocked at his closeness. He smells like Cinnamon and tobacco, and I can feel my breathing getting heavier and heavier. A painfully long minute passes, and he finally moves. He scoops me up into his arms, and I try to jump out of his grasp. But he’s got a good hold on me. I can barely move.
“Put me down! Where are you taking me?” I shout. He walks up to the door I was going to before I heard him singing, and he waves his head. The door swings open, and the first thing I see is a huge king-size bed. He’s walking me right towards it. “Oh, no, no, no. Do NOT take me to your bed!” I start to struggle against his hold, and Julian does the weirdest thing. He starts humming. A song I’ve never heard. But it’s a beautiful melody. My body relaxes, and I stop fighting against him. Instead, I lean my head on his chest and hear him laugh. We reach the bed, and he lays me down and surprisingly turns to walks away. The foggy, relaxed part of me is somewhat disappointed that he didn't get in the bed with me. A minuscule part of me is screaming, “Get off the bed!” I can barely hear that voice trying to get my attention as Julian is still humming, while he goes into the next room and as his voice gets lower the yelling voice in my head gets louder. For a second Julian stops humming, and that was enough for the voice in my head to really get my attention
Get off the damn bed and go back to Evan! Gasping and forgetting about my injuries, I stand up and instantly fall to the floor. That hurt way more than I thought it would, and my head still feels a little fuzzy, but I have room to think now. An escape plan maybe? What about my feet? Where did he even go? Is he going to kill me? How the hell do I even get home? And why in the world does Julian's singing turn me into a puppet?
Just then, Julian walks back into the room, still humming that enchanting song. Oh no, Scarlet. Don't fall for it again. When he sees I'm not on the bed anymore, he stops short, and his humming ends. I peek my head over the side of his bed to see if he left again. But he’s just standing there, on the other side, with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. “Getting comfy?” He asks, with that attractive accent of his. He throws a first aid kit on the bed and walks over to me, scoops me back up into his arms and places me on the bed again. He sits at the end by my feet, and he lifts them up. I retract them out of his hands, and he begins to hum again. Instantly causing my head to start to feel cloudy.
“Stop that!” I yell. And thankfully, he does, slowly reaching for my feet again. I might as well let him patch me up, so I can run away. I let him take my feet, and he places them on his lap. He raises his hand to my injuries and closes his eyes. I’ve never felt his power before, and right now it’s smacking me in the face. He’s really strong, almost as strong as Evan. But his power feels different. It feels tainted and dark. Squirming on the bed, Julian opens his eyes and looks directly at me. “If you don’t want me to sing, stop fighting me,” he says, growing annoyed. The faster I stop, the faster this will be done.
I stay put in my seat, and he closes his eyes again. I feel tingles on the bottom of my feet, almost tickling me. But then it starts to hurt. Though, it only lasts for a moment. He raises his hand and shows me all of the pieces of glass that he casted out of my feet. He reaches over and opens the first aid kit and gets to work nursing my cuts. It’s too quiet. Too much is going on in my head, and I have no answers. It’s time to start asking questions.
“What happens to me when you sing?” I ask quietly. “I’ll tell you everything if you stay with me,” he says, completely serious. “What?” I say, genuinely confused. “You heard me. I told you, I’ll answer all of your questions if you stay here with me and leave your old life behind,” he repeats. “First of all, holding me hostage is not the way to my heart. Second, I would never do that. Ever! And third, I found my Anima Partem. There is no separating us.” I say confidently, getting aggravated from getting no answers.
I grunt and pull the foot that he’s bandaged towards me and away from him. He can see the anger building in my eyes, so he gets lenient and begins to answer why he’s brought me here. “You're special, and
I want you as mine,” he says simply, shrugging his shoulders. Finally, he’s done with my feet, and he places the other foot on the bed as he stands up. With a wave of his hand, everything on the bed is cleaned off.
“Before you leave, just think of this. If you left your old life behind and stayed here with me, you wouldn't have to be all those things you are back in Eden. I could train you here and teach you everything you need to know. I have sources that can help.” He begins to sound like he’s begging. “I'm not doing that. So why don't you tell me how to get back home to Evan,” I order. “The plans have changed, now that we know you have the Mark of the Divine. We were supposed to kill you on sight. Now we have orders from a new player in the game to keep you alive and turn you in to him.” He begins to ramble with nervousness clearly in his voice. “I could protect you, Amor,” he says, looking at me the way Evan does, and it creeps me out. And despite the pain, I attempt to stand.
“What? What does that even mean? Who wants me?” I ask. “You know what? Forget it. I belong with Evan. He can protect me just fine,” I say, crossing my arms in front of me. “You're going to wish you accepted my offer,” he threatens.
Before I could answer, he waves his hand, and the last thing I remember was seeing a sinister look on his face. What have I done?
Chapter 42
Winter's Awakening (Light Coven Chronicles Book 1) Page 42
