by Tay T
The dark sorceress grinned widely, barely able to contain her excitement.
If this progressed any faster, she would have all the Cardinal Alpha’s powers within a couple of days.
For once, the sun was starting to peek through those dark, ugly rain clouds.
Maya’s tapered fingers smoothed across the unmarred skin. When she made the mistake of pressing a little harder against her cheek, the sting of burning pain pulled her back to the harsh and cruel reality. From the pores of her skin, blood creepily seeped out and dripped down in several small streams of red. Her face became unrecognizable again. It was almost like the scene of a horror movie painted in crimson.
Maya scowled in contempt.
Unlike the Alpha, her wounds had only healed halfway. The surface was smooth but the flesh underneath was still injured, much to her dismay.
To curb her morbid thoughts, Maya had to remind herself Rome was not built in a day. She was sure this would all be remedied with a couple more sips of his blood. It was already miraculous that she was able to gain his healing and strength after only four days of drinking his blood.
Gingerly washing her face again, Maya stripped down and jumped into the shower to clean off all the grime on her body. When she was done, she dressed in an all-black outfit and left her apartment.
By the time she reached her cavern, the sun was already going down and the chill of night was starting to set in, cold against her alabaster cheeks and harsh on her exposed skin.
Maya breathed in the crisp air.
As she walked past, the many animals opted to remain still. Their beady eyes flitted back and forth as her presence suffocated them.
Did the dark sorceress always have such a powerful aura like that?
They were not too sure.
Maya ignored all the glowing eyes on her form, casually glancing at them before continuing on her way.
As soon as she entered her keep, the darkness dissipated and the candles became lit with her magic, flickering as she walked by.
Maya surveyed the surroundings through the veil of her thick lashes. Her light eyes glanced at the inner chamber.
Everything was the way she had left it. Nothing was amiss. Not a chair out of place. Not a—her eyes narrowed, flickering to the strange oddity.
One of the books on the shelf was oddly placed. The spine was further tilted outward, catching the light in a peculiar way.
“Back so soon, little sorceress?” Xavier’s voice was husky and deep, laced with disinterest.
As she approached, his citrine orbs slid across her pretty face, stopping upon her chilled cheeks and neck before darting back up to her eyes.
Maya ignored him. She walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out the old book, glancing at the weathered pages she had taped and glued together over the long years of use.
It was her father’s old journal containing dark spells of necromancy. She had studied from the journal for the last decade or so.
Could it have been Everette?
Her brows wrinkled in evident wonder.
Everette didn’t like any type of literature. She preferred the children’s books and was especially fond of the ones with pictures and no words in them. So it couldn’t have been the little dove-shifter.
The only other culprit was Xavier Thaeos.
Maya turned her pointed gaze to the Cardinal Alpha still strapped against her wall, feigning innocent like always.
But that was also not possible. If he had left her barrier, she would have known.
The barrier would have shattered and alerted her of his escape, before he could even reach the mouth of her cavern. By then, the spells would keep him busy until she could get there. And if he had managed to escape, she would quickly hunt him down, drag him back by his hair, and seal him to the wall again.
No big deal, she told herself deceptively.
But from her observation, the barrier was still in place, all the seals plastered on his body had not been tampered with, and everything was in perfect condition—save for the oddly placed book.
If that was the case, then who could it have been? Who dared to enter her cavern and managed not to activate any of her deathtraps or fatal spells?
Was it Aldrich? Avalyn? One of her many enemies? Or, perhaps, someone who came to rescue the Cardinal Alpha?
Her eyes narrowed.
But what was the point of entering her cavern, reading a book, and then leaving? Shouldn’t they have tried to extricate their Alpha and escape? What was the reason behind breaking in and doing nothing significant?
Although there was a small possibility of this happening, Maya doubted anyone could have entered or leave.
It was not possible.
Preposterous.
Maya’s lips pinched into a thin line and an irritated expression darkened her pretty face.
“Who has been here?” she questioned, testing the Cardinal Alpha to see how he would answer.
The reclined male glanced in her direction, and the corner of his lips curled into a devilish smirk at her demanding question.
Clever little sorceress.
“You are the only mortal I have seen thus far, other than the little rodents traversing your shelves,” he stated calmly, seeming to speak the truth.
Rodents?
Maya’s frowned widened.
“Perhaps you should find other help. Your dove does not do too good a job of extermination.”
He leered at the bookshelf to prove his point.
As if startled by his sharp gaze, a mouse scurried across the surface to justify his words.
Maya’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the dust-ridden creature quickly making its escape. With a wave of her hand, the little thing disappeared.
Dismissing his words with a turn of her back, Maya carefully placed the journal into its correct spot and said, “Sorry if my humble abode isn’t to your standards, Alpha.”
Her words were filled with sarcasm.
“You don’t sound very sorry,” he commented, glancing at her from the corner of his golden eyes, with an unamused quirk on his lips. “But I’ll accept your apology if you answer one of my curious questions.”
“And what could that possibly be?” Maya droned.
“What is the purpose? Why risk your life and do something so very foolish as to cross me?”
With a slight lift of her upper lip, the sorceress pulled the silver dagger out of her bag and approached the daunting Alpha. “Someone like you wouldn’t understand.”
“If you don’t tell me, how do you know I won’t?” he asked swiftly, watching the dark sorceress step into the barrier between safety and chaos.
A feral smile emerged on Xavier’s lips. His primal urges awakened as the wondrous scent of spring blossoms curled around his senses and teased him with its delicious elements.
Maya watched him with sharp eyes, suspicion collecting in the light depths. “First of all, why do you even care?”
There was a little pause after her words, as if he were contemplating her question with the utmost consideration. All the while, his citrine-colored eyes stared directly into her own, molten and heated, in such an unbearable way that she had to remove her gaze.
Maya hated the way he stared at her. It gave her this insecure feeling of being the lesser of the two, as if he were superior to her and would one day make her pay for her insolence.
She loathed the feeling of being the prey when he was the mighty predator. It irked her to no end.
“Because you interest me,” he said. “You make me want to know more about you.”
His powerful statement caused goosebumps to litter Maya’s skin in sickening amounts. She had to stop herself from heaving in disgust.
Her back straightened and her shoulders squared when she stopped but a foot from him, smiling sweetly, angelically up at him with those full pouty lips he wanted to map with his own. Then, she replied to him with a harsh stab of the silver dagger straight through his muscled forearm.
“Your interest is rather strange and unnecessary,” she replied offhandedly. “And I would prefer you keep it to yourself, or I will do it for you.”
Maya heatedly watched as crimson blossomed on his skin and collected in the copper chalice she had conjured.
The first few drops pitter-pattered in her cup, dancing a light rhythm, until she twisted the dagger sharply and caused blood to gush down and fill the cup.
“Don’t forget, Alpha, you are my prisoner. Cooperate and I will let you go. Retaliate and I will let you rot within the very depths of hell,” she threatened, crudely removing the dagger before digging it back into his arm to state how serious she was. “Mark. My. Words.”
In response to her violent caution, mirth filled his eyes instead of fear, anger, or pain.
Let him go?
He smirked at the quixotic thought.
She would not be able to.
“Have you ever thought of what would happen when you set me free? When I decide to take revenge? When I imprison you and want a taste of your—”
“No. Because that would never happen,” she retorted snidely, haughtily tossing her head to the side. Long strands of beautiful red fluttered in succession to her slight movement, curling around her chin and sliding down her shoulders in silken abundance.
Xavier’s eyes lowered but remained on her feminine form.
The scent of her lie was sour like lime with a hint of sea salt. It laced around the sweetness of spring blossoms and added a tangy aftertaste he found quite unpleasant.
Maya quickly finished collecting his blood and removed the dagger from his arm.
In short strides, she stepped out of the barrier to set her blade down on the table, clenching her trembling hands tightly around the chalice.
The sudden and unusual urge to get on her knees and taste his blood from the source tempted her nauseatingly, like a spreading poison in the pond. Maya had been trying to restrain herself the moment she had stabbed him with the dagger.
What was wrong with her?
Taking several sharp intakes of breath, she kept her head bowed to stop her vision from spinning and turned her eyes to the chalice in her hands. With her back to him, Maya brought the copper cup to her lips. Her hands continued to shake, sloshing the red liquid around, while her mouth watered at the metallic scent of his blood.
In fear of spilling it, she quickly took a sip.
Upon the first taste, the erratic desires immediately calmed and the ecstatic feeling of euphoria bubbled up to quickly replace it.
His blood was warm this time, heated like pop rocks in her mouth. It tingled and sparked in a pleasantly wonderful way down her throat and past her esophagus. Although there was a blissful feeling of content, the slick burning in her loins filled her with slight desperation and desire.
After her previous times consuming his blood, the unquenchable thirst for sexual gratification became worse. And there was no explanation for this need; the type of need only a man could fulfill.
Only he could fulfill.
She quickly ignored the empty pang like she had done several times before, choosing to focus elsewhere to keep her mind busy.
Maya tightened her fingers around the chalice and brought it to her red lips, chugging down the contents to calm her hormonal distress; although, she knew it was useless. Nothing could make the strange need go away.
With her back to him, Maya failed to see Xavier’s persistent gaze trained on her form, watching her every blissful reaction to drinking his blood.
Heat curled deep within his belly.
Had he been outside of the barrier, he would have been granted the delicious scent of her arousal, thick and sweet upon his tongue. Unfortunately, he was currently stuck inside of her barricade, playing the feeble prisoner until his little sorceress completed the first steps of the ancient ritual. But regardless of his inability to scent her, he could see the telltale signs of her need just from her body language. The way her thighs squeezed tightly together and voluptuous body quivered was enough to make his beast whine loudly in his head.
With a lascivious curl of his lips, Xavier snuffed out the impatient urges of instinct and continued to watch the little sorceress down his blood.
‘Four more days,’ his beast crooned wickedly in his mind.
‘Yes.’
Just a couple more days before he could drop the pretenses and completely dominate his little sorceress.
‘She will not let us. She will fight us,’ his beast stated, growling roughly, viciously with anticipation.
‘…and she will submit.’
Xavier’s reply had his beast howling in complete rapture at the encroaching feast.
Conquest is coming.
The wicked Alpha licked his lips languidly, savoring her fleeting scent upon his tongue.
He could barely wait.
CHAPTER 7
With delicate fingers settled against the old gnarled bark of a tall tree standing almost fifteen times her height, Maya glared up the branches at the current distraction named Everette.
The dove-shifter dangled her bare feet from above, wiggling pale little toes, with her head tipped down to watch Maya’s silly attempt at “testing” her newfound strength.
Everette hoped the sorceress was joking because the idea was laughable.
Maya was mortal. It was impossible for a mortal—dark sorceress or not—to have strength rivaling a shape-shifter like herself. It was unheard of and silly for Maya to even think possible.
With just one glance at the gigantic tree towering over the little dark sorceress, Everette didn’t have to guess to know who the winner would be.
The trunk was over four times her size!
There is no way!
Everette shook her head in pity for the delusional sorceress.
Perhaps funeral preparations were needed, after all, she mused.
“Has it replied yet?” Everette chirped, tinkling giggles spiraling down from her perch on the very branches of the tree Maya was trying to wrestle.
The dark sorceress’s brows furrowed. “Has what replied?”
“The tree silly!” Everette exclaimed, more bell-like laughter erupting from the petite girl. “I thought you were having a heart to heart with it—literally!”
“Hush, Everette.” Maya threw the dove-shifter a withering glare for her mockery and teasing before continuing the task at hand. “There will be a day when I prove to everyone even mortals can have the strength to rival the gods. And that day…happens to be today.”
With a big inhale of breath that filled her lungs to the brim, Maya tensed her entire body and put all her effort into lifting the tree from the ground. Her fingers bit into the bark of the tree and knuckles turned white as the veins became prominent on her temple and neck.
If it didn’t work, at least I tried, Maya thought to herself.
Several seconds later, the tree rumbled and shook. The ground underneath Maya’s feet felt like it was being scoured for seeding. Then, the entire tree came out of the compacted dirt, along with long, spiraling roots resembling a thick coil of snakes.
Everette chirped in complete surprise, flying off the tree in a shimmering of sparkles. Her humanoid form shattered until white wings flapped wildly in the air.
After a few seconds to gain momentum, the dove shifted back into her human form and landed next to Maya.
“Wow. You actually did it,” Everette breathed, red eyes wide in tremendous surprise at the unbelievable feat not known to mortal men.
The dark sorceress had done the impossible.
“Indeed,” Maya said, grinning wickedly. She eyed the little creatures frozen in awe at her astounding display of power.
They had all lived to see the day where a mere mortal had the strength rivaling the strongest immortals alive.
It was miraculous, to say the least.
“I didn’t think the bottom of a tree would look this ugly,” Everette commented, analyzing the tangled roots full of dirt. “It remin
ds me of Marion’s gross beard.”
Ignoring Everette’s words, Maya slowly placed the tree back into its original spot and used her dark magic to make the dirt compact around the tree’s roots again, ensuring it wouldn’t topple over.
The little dove crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side to look at the sorceress. “That reminds me, the crazy old bat said the poison he made for you is ready.”
With a hint of warning, the dark sorceress stated, “You really shouldn’t call him that, he’d turn you into a worm and let another bird eat you if he ever hears.”
Maya looked down at the scratches on her palms. Within seconds of letting go of the tree, the bloody scrapes had healed.
From her continuous analyzing these last two days, even her old battle scars were fading at an extremely mind-boggling rate. Though she didn’t mind the marks marring her flesh, they were still proof of her continuous failures.
Maya wanted to keep those as a reminder of her past endeavors, but didn’t mind their disappearance. In fact, she liked the thought of erasing all her failures to start anew. Because she wasn’t going to lose this time around; she was going to win.
Everette shrugged her shoulders indifferently and said, “He hasn’t called me out on it, yet.”
“He’s probably waiting for that moment when you don’t expect it. Did you forget what happened to your grandfather that one time?” Maya replied, raising a brow.
From watching others’ experiences, Maya knew Marion was a wise old man who held grudges longer than decades. He had the power to turn anyone into a pile of dirt if they did as much as talk about the hairs on his arm.
Anyone with a brain knew not to cross the powerful old man in fear of the scary consequences of such actions.
Maya’s father once made the mistake of calling the mage “old fart” and was turned into a cockroach for over two weeks. From then, Maya’s father learned to respect the powerful old man.
As for Everette’s grandfather, Druid, it was a far worse punishment before he learned his lesson.
After crossing Marion one too many times, Druid was taken by surprise when he realized he’d slept with a man under the disguise of a woman for months, and it was all Marion’s doing. That was the last time Druid ever crossed the wise old man again.
