Was this mirror here so that the witches could watch the breaking of a werewolf like it was part of the curriculum?
When Emperor and I had first sneaked from the Claiming Suite through the silent House of Seasons, whilst my heart had thundered in my chest and I’d jumped at every shadow because I had to free my Charms before my aunt discovered us, I’d hidden, expecting that Lux would be able to spy us through the other side of the glass.
Emperor’s mouth had tightened, however, as he’d waved me forward. “We have the same schooling rooms in my kingdom for difficult Omegas to be displayed to the Alpha Academy. Amusing, wouldn’t you say, that your aunt and my mother refuse to see their similarities?”
“Not the word that I’d use,” I’d muttered.
Amadeus had gasped, pressing his glove against the glass like he could touch Moon.
Before Emperor and I had even reached the mirror, Emperor had led me down a narrow corridor to free Amadeus. “I had the prince stashed.” He’d shot me a sheepish smile. “For safekeeping.”
When Emperor had stopped at a closet, I’d gaped at him. “What is it with wolves and getting stuffed in things?”
Emperor had spluttered with laughter, and I’d nudged him to keep him quiet.
“Enough with the dirty mind,” I’d hissed.
“Impossible.” Emperor tapped his fingers on the closet. “The overly sexed one kept rubbing himself against me in the most distracting way, whilst we were waiting for you to be done with your aunt’s lecture. He has zero restraint. So…”
When Emperor had yanked open the door, Amadeus had tumbled out at his feet. How did he even make that look graceful?
Amadeus had glared up at Emperor. “Your exact words were: Get rid of the incubus, before he messes up my hair.”
Then it’d been my turn to smother my laugh, whilst Emperor self-consciously smoothed his hair. I’d patted his arm. “Hey, don’t worry, you looked gorgeous for your big night.”
Emperor had instantly pulled his hand away from his locks. Although his gaze had narrowed at Amadeus who was smirking, he’d curled his tongue between his teeth in a way that had made me shiver. “And again, you notice the gorgeous…?”
Now, I stood with my two Charms, whilst being forced to watch the third tied by a leash on his knees and at the mercy of my childhood bullies. Yet the shimmering wall between us was solid: there wasn’t even a door through into the room. I’d tested it with my shadows, and the red had curled away at the sick taste of dark magic.
How could I rescue Moon, if I couldn’t get through to him?
Could I break through the glass? Only, if I tried and it didn’t shatter, the Blood twins would set off the alarm, then we’d all be caught.
Think, Crimson, think… What was the witches’ weakness?
I paced up and down the corridor, glancing through the mirror into the room, which dripped with murals. My stomach lurched when I peered at the murals more closely: witches in triumph over the werewolves, standing on their piled corpses…nope, not any witches, Wolf Charmers, even my own mom.
I staggered, and Emperor caught me, clutching me to his hard chest. What right did I have to take his comfort, when the room was decorated with crimson shadows tearing apart his ancestors? My mom and probably my infamous great-grandmother grinning as they decimated shifters in battle?
Yet the wolves were painted like savages. They were terrifying. Hey, I’d fight them if they truly looked like the wolves that I remembered from the night my parents died or had drawn so many times, just so that I could hurt the beasts who’d stolen my life from me. But Moon wasn’t like that, and nor was Amadeus or Emperor.
What was the truth?
Right now, however, all that mattered was saving Moon from Lux because she was the one acting like the beast.
Lux stood on a raised platform against the wall, leaning against a control panel that matched the one on our side of the wall like sometimes those watching witches liked to get in on the fun. I eyed it suspiciously. I honestly didn’t think that the dials and switches were for showering the captured wolf in chocolate sauce. That was just my happy dream.
Aquilo gripped a ring in the wall that lifted his feet off the metal floor that Moon knelt on naked. Aquilo was pale and there were hollows under his eyes like he hadn’t slept at all this week. It reminded me of what Ivy had said about whipping him because of me, and I regretted that I’d rejected him, rather than saving him from his family.
Maybe Aquilo wasn’t the same boy that I remembered or maybe back then, I hadn’t understood everything that’d been going on between him and his twin…?
“Strange how obedient a wolf can become with the correct training,” Lux pondered, whilst her thumb rubbed suggestively over a dial on the control panel.
Moon quivered, unable to look away from the dial, but his voice was steady. “Who says that you’re worth rebelling against? Plus, you’re talking to a graduate of the Omega Training Center here, wee witch. Maybe I’m not perfect but I know how to fake obedience.”
I smirked, but then anxiety spiked through me at the way that Aquilo’s shoulders strained, as he pulled himself higher, before Lux turned the dial.
Immediately, an electric shock thrummed through the floor, mixed with the spark of extra magic. It juddered through Moon, who fell onto his side, unable to escape the punishment. I almost hollered, but Emperor slipped his hand over my mouth, even whilst his other arm hooked around my waist in comfort.
My shadows burst out, coating the walls of the corridor like a bloody sea in rage at my Charm’s pain. It battered against the witches’ magic to be allowed into the room.
At last, Lux switched the dial back down and Moon whined, curling around himself. I craved to pull him onto my lap and stroke his curls. It seemed that Aquilo had the same urge because he leapt down from the wall and crouched over Moon, petting his hair under the excuse of checking his pulse.
“Here, I don’t allow fake obedience. Soon, it’ll be second nature.” Lux fixed her brother with a commanding stare. “Stand.” Reluctantly, Aquilo stopped stroking Moon and stood with his hands behind his back, although his gaze could’ve frozen continents. “See?”
“Goddess Moon, can’t you see that it’s still not real?” Moon rasped. “But I’m not arsed as long as you give me back to my Charmer at the end.”
My shadows shrank back into me in warm contentment, as I smiled at Moon’s words that seemed too personal to eavesdrop on without his knowledge. When I glanced up, Emperor was studying me speculatively.
“You’re never going back to that loser.” Lux fiddled with a switch, whilst I stiffened. Hexes and hocus pocus, remember to breathe… “A perfect Omega shall be returned in your place. You, defiant as you are now, won’t exist anymore.”
“Very much like I don’t exist anymore, is that not right, sister dearest?” Aquilo sneered, whilst his hands clenched behind his back.
Lux ignored Aquilo as if she couldn’t even hear him, instead ordering Moon, “From now on, smile as you obey. On your knees and smile.”
Moon stared at Lux for a moment in disbelief but then he forced himself to bare his teeth at her, although his eyes spoke of how much he wanted to rip out her throat. She didn’t appear to notice. When he tried to struggle to his knees, however, he couldn’t get his shaking limbs to move correctly. After several attempts, Lux rapped her nails impatiently on top of the dial.
“Will you not allow some pity? He’s trying.” Aquilo ducked down to Moon, wrapping his arms around his trembling shoulders and hefting him up onto his knees.
Lux dived off the platform, wrapping her hand in Aquilo’s mop of white-blond hair and shoving him to his knees next to Moon. He didn’t resist her any more than he had in the Clocktower. “Still you shame our name.” I hadn’t expected the anguish threading through the rage. “My own twin soft enough to beg on behalf of wolves. Yet why should anything about you surprise me?” Aquilo flinched but his icy stare met his sister’s. “I should teach you
alongside your new best friend.”
A pink blush spread down Aquilo’s neck. “You don’t have permission. Mother would never allow you.”
Lux stroked his cheek. “Perhaps…or soon no one will wish to marry you, then I can play as much as I wish.” I felt as sick as Aquilo looked. “Smile.”
Aquilo’s expression had become as blank as I’d remembered it from when I was a kid. Maybe he hadn’t been just an elitist bully. His mask might’ve been protecting him from the true bully in his own home.
When Moon elbowed him, Aquilo finally relented and smiled, although it was as cold as winter. I hoped that he never smiled at me like that.
Lux appeared satisfied, however, dragging Aquilo stumbling after her towards the wall. “Go to your room. Why would I expect the wind to be anything but worthless?”
Then before I could react, she chucked him through the wall.
My Charms and I drew back into the shadows, whilst Aquilo collapsed onto his ass in what he believed to be the privacy of the corridor. It shocked me in a way that made my heart ache, when he sobbed into the crook of his elbow like even when he thought that he was alone, he had to force back his tears by force of will alone. His body shook with his pain.
Huh, this wasn’t awkward at all.
“So, is your sister always such a bitch to you now?” I sauntered closer, leaning against the wall. “Because I remember her protecting you from snowflakes, stray leaves, and that one time…”
Aquilo scrambled up like he was about to bolt, and I snatched his arm. I was surprised by Emperor’s growl, as instead he gently pulled Aquilo closer. When I let go of Aquilo, Emperor rested their foreheads together, until Aquilo’s tears calmed; golden hair mixed with white.
“Don’t you want to stand up for yourself?” Emperor said, quietly.
Aquilo winced. “I assure you that I’ve tried.”
“Then stand up for someone else.” Amadeus touched his glove to Aquilo’s cheek. “Pleasing others can be pleasurable.” His glance from underneath his eyelashes was sinful. “You only need to help us save Moon, see.”
“Only?” Aquilo’s whisper was harsh. “There’s a difference between wishing to reduce a creature’s suffering and going against my coven.” He glanced through the glass at Lux who was still in the middle of the room circling Moon. “If I do this, you’ll be seen as the enemy and most likely I will be too, and I’m more than aware of what my family do to their enemies.”
I bit my lip, nodding.
I’d save Moon, but I wouldn’t force Aquilo to choose between his family and us. I had no right to ask it of him, when I hadn’t even made a commitment to him.
Aquilo turned his head to study me with his cool blue eyes. “I just…needed to be certain that you understood.”
His lips quirked for the briefest moment, then he dived to the control panel that was on our side of the mirror.
When Aquilo twisted the dial and flicked two switches, suddenly the entire room pulsed with crackling electricity and magic, much brighter than before. Lux screamed and fell next to Moon who was convulsing on the floor.
I threw myself on Aquilo, trying to scrabble his hands away from the controls, but he wouldn’t let go. His cold gaze was fixed on Lux’s tortured body. Moon was no longer even moving or whimpering. Desperate, I kicked at Aquilo, but he didn’t seem to feel me.
It was only when Amadeus linked his arms around Aquilo’s neck and kissed behind his ear that Aquilo shuddered and dropped his hands away from the controls, after cutting the switch and turning off the dial.
“You killed them, you son of a bitch,” I breathed, unable to look away from Moon, who lay motionless next to Lux.
Why wasn’t my crimson and my two Charms kicking Aquilo’s ass?
Instead, Emperor only leaned against the wall, studying me like I was amusing in a cute way.
“So much confidence in me,” Aquilo drawled. “That level will knock out a wolf with little harm. Our sleeping beast in there shall awake with nothing worse than a headache in a minute or so. Then as long as he’s with me, he can pass in and out of the room.”
I wished that I could make my brain not care but still, I honestly wasn’t keen on becoming an accessory to anyone’s murder just yet. “And a witch…?”
Aquilo’s smile was shakier but it was still a smile. “Lux will awake within twenty-four hours feeling like she’s been fried from the inside out.”
“How’d you know?”
Aquilo ducked his head, and his hair fell into his eyes. “She made me her assistant because she knew how much I hated it. And did you truly believe that she didn’t experiment on me, whether my mother permitted it or not?”
I swallowed, longing to reach out and lift Aquilo’s chin but not daring. I glanced through at Moon, whilst Amadeus and Emperor rested their hands against the wall impatiently. As much as my own red reached out to rescue Moon, I had one final thing to ask.
If Lux was unconscious for twenty-four hours then that bought us some time, but what would happen to Aquilo after that?
“I don’t need another husband because seriously, I have them coming out of my ass.” Even I grimaced at that image. “And I was only joking about the whole wearing panties thing, although you could totally pull it off.” Aquilo had lifted his head but now was staring at me with a studied blankness, although the corners of his mouth were twitching. “But what I’m trying to say is…I don’t want to leave you behind. I know that I’m only offering most likely a painful death but isn’t that better than the danger you’ll be in if you don’t come with us?”
Emperor cupped Aquilo’s cheek. “Be our pack.”
“I promise more kisses.” Amadeus smiled.
I’d honestly expected a sneer or a derisive laugh, so it surprised me how long it took Aquilo to answer.
“You need me here to take the blame,” he finally replied. “Who else can make out that this escape was all my idea, rather than yours, and simply petty revenge on Lux because she was rude to me? At least that shall give you a chance to improve your wards and plan your next move.”
Aquilo’s cool analysis was genius, but it’d also lead to his punishment. There was a good guy, underneath his icy mask.
When I gently kissed Aquilo’s cheek, he blushed. I was caught off guard by his scent of crisp clean linen and sunshine, which made me want to lean in and kiss him again. “Then you are pack.”
Aquilo dropped his gaze but he couldn’t hide his quick smile. His sister would’ve killed me for that comment, but it was obvious how different he was to his twin.
Aquilo rushed to the wall, and it melted as he pushed through to save Moon.
I’d rescued my Charm as I’d intended, yet even with Aquilo’s help, I’d only have a day before the House of Seasons and Blood would both know that I’d chosen the werewolves over witch law, my legacy, and the promise to prove my worthiness.
If I could catch the killer, solve the murder, and stop the war before the twenty-four hours was up, would I still be executed?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I rested my head against the corridor’s mahogany paneled wall outside the library, sinking into the sensation of being home. The sweet scent of honeysuckle wound through the open window out over the formal gardens that were kissed with the early morning’s light. How hadn’t I noticed just how beautiful it was? The House of Silver had been my grand inheritance, duty, and responsibility, but for a decade, it hadn’t felt like somewhere I knew or was safe. Yet after returning from my aunt’s and strengthening the wards against her, at last this mansion felt like it belonged to me, rather than to her.
When Stella had first begged me to come and stay with her instead, I’d told her that: The House of Silver was mine, and I wasn’t a kid anymore.
Finally, that no longer felt like a lie.
I rubbed at the garnet ring, which sat heavy on my finger. I was only as free as a felon on day release. This ring and Stella’s blood magic could yank my Charms and me back to her house w
henever she liked or blast her into my mind.
I’d only realized how much I’d lost myself in the magical world, when I’d struggled to run through the woods from Stella’s back to the House of Silver. I’d kind of forgotten that legs were for walking. I’d become too used to being dragged through walls, ceilings, or time. It’d reminded me uncomfortably of the elitest dickheads at my college, who’d driven everywhere in Ferraris or Porsches like they’d shifted into half car hybrids.
Emperor had chivalrously offered Moon his robes, and they’d hung down far enough on him to cover his ass. Moon had been shaking and stumbling but had growled when Emperor had tried to support him. Emperor had sighed, but snatched Moon up anyway in a fireman’s lift over his shoulder. Moon had been too weak to do more than bat at Emperor’s back in token protest.
What if Lux woke up and this bitch ring summoned us all straight back again?
I gripped the ring to wrestle it off my finger, but it roared, wriggling itself in protest. Then it began to heat. I gasped, scrabbling at it, until my finger bled.
Witching heavens, this was The Evil Dead ring. I wasn’t cutting off my own hand…
“That’s it, your loser ass is going down, my garnet friend,” I hissed.
When I lay my palm on the windowsill, the ring seared me, blistering my skin.
Ouch, ouch, ouch…
“Enough,” I howled.
Enough of Stella controlling my life by forcing me back to England to choose an Omega, claim two Charms, and take up my legacy. Enough of learning my powers, only to use them how the covens wanted. Enough of battling to change myself and keep up with the witches’ agenda.
It was time that I took back my control.
My shadows burst out of me, wrapping around the ring, which squeaked in fear. As the shadows squeezed, the ring struggled but it was trapped on my finger. It cooled against its will, and I shivered at its cold touch. Cracks tremored along the ring, until at last it howled, then shattered.
Huh, that was a hell of a way to go.
Only Perfect Omegas: A Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance Series (Rebel Werewolves Book 1) Page 21
