by Jade Thorn
She raised her hands and chanted something, bolts of electricity leaping from her fingers towards them both, but they bounced off the dome. Her aunt screamed in fury, saliva frothing at the corners of her mouth while she continued to shout insults at them both.
The four teachers who were witnesses were busy fighting battles with members of Bestia, while the shifters were locked in combat with the shifters her aunt had bought with her. Melody cried out when Craig, the puma shifter, fell lifeless to the ground at the feet of Dean’s lion, who had just broken the smaller cat’s neck.
“Don’t kill them,” she screamed. “They’re under compulsion, they’ve been ordered to fight, try to knock them out!”
Whether they heard her or not, she couldn’t tell. There was so much going on, shouts from the humans, screams from the animals, and her aunt’s voice yelling frantically above it all.
“Kill them all, fucking kill them all. If we can’t have these shifters, then nobody will!”
“Melody, I have to leave you here, you’re in no condition to fight, but I cannot stay safe here while people are dying for my college.”
Upslope, lights were turning on in the shifter’s dorms and voices called out the windows asking what was going on.
The provost pointed a finger at her neck, and then shouted, her voice amplified above the cacophony. “The academy is under attack. Send someone to rouse the staff, ring the bell in the central courtyard. Those shifters with combat training are called to come to the arena and defend the academy.” Then she lowered her hand, before lowering Melody to the ground.
“I am proud of you, sister. Stay here and rest, and we will sort this mess out for you, and then we will see where the dust settles.” She kissed the top of Melody’s head and then walked toward the southern point of the circle, opposite to where they had entered. Her aunt, seeing her foe about to leave the safety of the dome, ran around the edge of it to meet her.
Melody tried to protest, to call out a warning, but the pain still pummeled her to the ground, and her voice was lost in the noise around her. She needn’t have worried, however, as the provost raised a personal shield before stepping outside of the dome, turning to face the rabid witch who was racing toward her.
Just as the provost raised her arm to cast the first spell, Melody saw it, a wolf shifter approaching her at speed from behind. While he wasn’t able to penetrate her shield, it was connected to her, and his slamming against it propelled her forward, causing her spell to hit the ground at her aunt’s feet. Her aunt had no such problem with balance, she had no shield around her to jostle, and her spell launched forward at full blast when the provost’s shield flickered as she fell.
The curse hit the provost in the center of her chest, and Melody screamed as her torso simply exploded outward. The provost landed on her side, facing Melody, her eyes opened wide in surprise as they glazed over.
There was a scream, a sound of pain so primal that it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It was two-toned, a deep bass note accompanied by a high soprano one. It took Melody a moment to realise that the high voice was hers, and when she turned, she saw that the bass note was Jonas.
Instantly he shifted to his lynx form and turned to rip at the body nearest to him. It wasn’t a wolf that Melody recognised, which meant it was more likely to be a student. The fact that the wolf didn’t turn to bite him back only confirmed it. Instead, the beast swung it’s rump around, lynx and all, and slammed it into the panther attacking him. The lynx simply turned and attacked the large cat, and between it and the wolf they took it down. Before the lynx could turn back to the wolf, another one barrelled into it from the side, and it fell, rolling with the canid and clinging to the wolf’s belly with his front paws, while digging away at the soft flesh with his back ones.
There was a stampede of beasts down the slope, and suddenly the attacking shifters were outnumbered three to one. Several of the students turned on the witches around them, until at last they broke and her aunt and the Bestia Coven members turned and fled through a portal, leaving their beasts behind. Within moments, the invading shifters were ripped to shreds, and Melody sobbed for them, for their slavery, for their bravery and for their loss.
She ached all over, and still the pain washed through her nerve endings as the last of the geasen were broken. No more compulsion to wash behind her ears, or to clean her belly button. No more urgency to dry between her toes, or finish a shower in less than three minutes. No more demands to cook and clean for her aunt before all others. No more, no more, no more. Every single, stupid, order; each command, each betrayal of her integrity, broke down to nothingness. It felt like every one took a piece of her soul with it.
Melody lay there on the damp ground, crushed, defeated and alone. She didn’t have the strength to crawl to the edge, and the others couldn’t get in to help her until she left the dome. They stood there, calling to her, signalling her to do something, but the ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing anything. All she could hear was the echo in her head of a two-toned scream of loss.
Something nudged Melody in the chest, and she looked down, expecting to see some creature come to feed on her. But there was nothing there. It struck again, and this time she felt it within her. It was magic. Looking up at her shifters, she saw Dean on his knees, a hand stretched toward her. Behind him stood the two dragons, each with a hand on his shoulder, right at the juncture of his neck, so their skin touched his. They were doing magic of some sort, she thought. Then it happened again.
A pulse came from Dean, straight toward her, pushing at her heart. Melody finally realised what was happening. They were forcing strength from Dean into her using magic, because she wasn’t drawing on him or Asher. She had forgotten that she could do that now.
Looking inward to where the magic was landing, and she could see two golden strands attached to her heart. Dean and Asher. Mentally, Melody took the magic lengths in her hands and pulled, drawing down on their energy. Outside the dome, Dean sagged and smiled in relief, while Asher came to sit beside him, a goofy smile on his face.
Melody drew from them again and again, using them to replenish her strength enough so she could finally crawl to the side. She extended a hand across the salt markings, and as soon as it breached the outer ring, it was grabbed by the dragons and she was hauled into their combined waiting arms.
The seven of them surrounded her, all of them touching her, holding her, stroking her as Melody sobbed her heart out. She had lost the closest thing to a mother that she’d had since she was a little girl, and all those dead shifters were like her family, aunts, uncles and cousins. They were all dead because of her.
“Sssh, Melody, no. It isn’t your fault, it’s your aunt, not you. She’s the twisted bitch who did this,” soothed Nick.
“I should have died,” she sobbed. “When I refused Dean, I should have gone through with it and died. I should have denounced her. The three big geasen together would have killed me.”
“No!” growled Dean. “You’re mine. You will not die. This is not your fault, nothing you did caused this. Stop, Melody. Let it go. Let all the pain out, and let us in.”
She could feel them, Dean and Asher by her side, still feeding energy to her, her body claiming it even if her mind no longer wanted to. Their hearts beat in time with hers, and their hands caressed her, soothing her in a way that nothing else would. Not even the other shifters.
“I don’t deserve any of you,” she sobbed.
“Gentlemen, let me through please,” said a stern voice, and a moment later, Mrs Hardinger came into view, a blanket in her hand. “Here, help me wrap her up, you lot can only give her so much warmth.”
She passed the blanket to the men, who carefully wrapped her in it, Dean pulling her onto his lap, and Asher cradling her legs.
“There, my lovely girl, I think you’ve dealt with quite enough tonight, close your eyes now and get some rest.” There was a snort from behind the witch, but Melody couldn’t see who
it was, she couldn’t see anything because her body had listened and her eyes had closed. Even as she fought it, as she struggled with her overwhelming grief, she felt her mind drift away. It was magic, it had to be. They were sending her to sleep.
Guilty but grateful, she sank into darkness.
19. Melody
Sounds came first, shouting and arguing. Then the light on her eyelids, turning everything red.
“Well, she needs to get out of bed, the lazy bitch! There are questions to be answered and we will not wait!” shouted a strident voice. It was the same voice that had woken her.
Melody lay on her side, and a warmth behind her drew closer, arms wrapping around her, while another in front of her drew her into his chest, his warm spicy cologne comforting her.
Dean. So Asher must be behind her.
The door to her room flew open and an enraged man stood there, Mrs Hardinger following him in and scowling.
“You will get up, stop faking injury, and come out here now to answer questions!” he shouted at her.
“Who the hell are you?” she scowled.
On either side of her, her familiars growled, the two different animal noises sounding more alike than at any other time she’d heard them.
“I’m Councillor Argrum, from the American Council of Witches, and I will not be put off any longer. You have ten seconds to get out of that bed before I arrest you for high treason!” he yelled.
“But I’m …”
“I said now, you fucking bitch, sit up, get up, right now.”
Furious, Melody threw the blankets down revealing her naked body. Dean and Asher thankfully had pants on, but Melody wasn’t wearing a single stitch.
“What is the fucking meaning of this?” yelled the man.
“I was trying to tell you, ‘but I’m naked’. At least have the decency to let me get dressed before you start hurling abuse at me again.”
“Decency? DECENCY?” he screamed, spittle gathering at the corners of his mouth.
“Councillor Argrum, that is quite enough. Regardless of your feelings, there are protocols to observe, and you are breaching several of them.”
Melody had never heard Mrs Hardinger sound so cold.
“Let the child get clothed, and then you may calmly present your questions.”
“I’ve waited for two days to speak to this murderer. She has exactly three minutes before I transport her to the citadel and give her over to our questioners.” He spun on his heel and left the room, slamming the door behind him.
Melody looked at Mrs Hardinger in shock. “Two days?”
“Breaking the geasen took a toll on you, Melody. Add it to everything else that you’ve been through and the fact that you had no sleep; yes, two days is a remarkably short time. Given what I saw in that ring, I would have expected you to be out another two more. As soon as he’s done, you’re to come straight back to bed.” Her attention shifted to the two men
“Now, you two, out. You’ve been with her more than long enough to satisfy your beasts, she's fine and recovering. Let me help the poor child get dressed and then we’ll join you. I suggest you both find a shirt.”
Her tart command did much to restore Melody’s sense of normalcy, and she almost giggled as the two larger men were chased out of the room.
“Now dear, tell me where things are and I’ll bring them, I suggest you don’t try to stand until you have to. You’ve recovered remarkably, but you are by no means well.”
Melody quickly told the woman where to find underwear and clothing, and allowed her to help her get dressed. Mrs Hardinger was right, her legs were wobbly and her balance was off. When it came to leaving the room, Mrs Hardinger called one of the dragons in. Dean and Asher were there immediately, but she would hear nothing of it.
“Enough fussing,” she snapped. “You’re not the only ones pining for her, let the others have a moment to reconnect.”
Justin walked into the room, his eyes roving over her from head to toe until he was satisfied. Then a relieved smile broke across his face. Ryan’s look was strained but amused.
“Heard you flashed the councillor. Wish I’d been there to see his face, although in all honesty, that wouldn’t be where I was looking.” He winked at her as he bent to pick her up, and Melody felt herself flushing with embarrassment.
It hadn’t been her finest moment, but she was still so out of it, and so annoyed with the stranger, that it had seemed the best choice at the time.
As soon as Justin had put her down on the lounge, the councillor was in front of her.
“What is your role in Bestia?” he snapped.
So, Melody outlined what her life had been like, her memories of her mother’s death, and her understanding of what her aunt’s mad plans were.
“A beast army? And what would be the point of that? There are enough shifters on the continent to stand against her.”
“And how many dragons? I was told to get the dragons and any alpha shifters I came across. I did my best to avoid them all, but once they realised that I was strong enough to defeat them, they kind of made it their mission to find me.”
She glanced up at the shifters around her, and found them all looking ruefully back at her. Dean and Asher, however, were unrepentant. She could feel their satisfaction through the bond. She’d tried to avoid all of them, but they’d managed to catch her even as the others had failed. She would need to have a word to the pair of them about that.
“My aunt was looking at the long term. She wanted to breed a superior kind of shifter, and then she was going to come after the other beast covens. Once she had control of all the beast tamers, she was going to expand. She was going to use me to breed with the dragons, and have a whole army of dragon shifters at her beck and call.” Melody shuddered.
She’d had decades of listening to her aunt’s ravings and the mutterings that the shifters passed onto her. It had taken a long time for her to piece it all together, and if her aunt knew that Melody understood what her plans were, she would have never have let her leave the compound.
“This isn’t something she’s going to let go of, either,” Melody continued. “I may be out of the picture now, but she’ll find a way to bind these Apex shifters and then she’ll breed them until they are spent. The young will be taken away and trained to obey her, they’ll be forced to swear fealty to her alone, and they'll be used against anyone who stands in her way.”
It wasn’t just the dragons who growled at that, but all the shifters. Young were prized amongst clans and communities, especially in the packs. Any threat to a youngster was treated as an insult to their entire group.
The councillor scowled at her. “You’re a strong witch. With the power I can feel in you now, even though you’re not at your full strength, I think it would be safe to say that you’re the strongest I’ve ever met. So why didn’t you just break the geasen?”
His demeanor had calmed a bit during the questioning, but his hatred of her had not.
“Sir, these started when I was four. I’ve lost count of all the stupid commands that she’s given me over the years. Everything from washing my hands after going to the toilet, to making sure I only bound Alpha and Dragon shifters. There were hundreds of them on me, each one binding me a little tighter than the last.”
“That’s a ridiculous use of magic,” growled the councillor.
“Not if you want to keep someone weak and under your thumb,” replied Mrs Hardinger.
There was a pause for a few moments while he mulled over all the information that she had given him. Melody sat and watched as he flipped through the notes he had taken. Finally he took one of the front sheets and read it again before looking up at her.
“You said that you’ve had hundreds of familiars. If you were as controlled as you said you were, how could you bind them? How could your aunt control you if you had hundreds of shifters at your disposal,” he asked, smiling in triumph.
“I didn’t say that I had them all at once,” Melody told him.
“My aunt would command me to accept a challenge from a shifter, they were usually new to our coven and didn’t know how things operated. She couldn’t make me do it, unless it was for the good of the coven, because I had given my oath of fealty to the coven and not to her.”
The councillor opened his mouth to protest, but Melody spoke over the top of him. She needed to get this out there before her courage failed her. She was a monster, as angry as she was at the way the councillor was treating her, she also knew that she deserved it. The sooner she confessed and he took her away, the better. They could break the bonds to Dean and Asher, who would eventually recover, and they would be free—safe from her.
“Unfortunately, it was for the good of the coven, because she had twisted everything to make it true. So, I would accept the challenge and defeat the shifter. Then she would break the bond and make us do it again and again. Until the shifter was weak enough that one of the other witches could claim them. Then they were penned for the night, and the next day they would be taken away. They were usually dead within a month, six at the most for the stronger ones.”
She had been determined not to cry, but it happened anyway. All those faces flashed before her, including the familiars who had been ripped apart in front of her in the arena. Silent tears poured down her cheeks as she remembered them, and her heart broke again. Dean and Asher both growled on either side of her, their arms wrapping around her as they tried to soothe the heartache they felt through the bond.
As much as they comforted her, she hated it, hated that she needed it. She hated that she didn’t deserve them, and that soon they would be taken for her. Most of all, she hated herself for her weakness. For her desire to hold onto them just for one minute more.
“Really, Councillor Argrum,” Mrs Hardinger protested. “She’s been answering questions for four hours now, surely she could have a break and something to eat. You didn’t see the geasen breaking, Melody was tortured in that dome for forty minutes. Despite what you think, the poor child has been through a hell of a lot, and she’s cooperating with everything that you’ve asked of her.”
