by Mela Zen
But I should have a small say in the matter.
I get up from my bed, sleep not coming any time soon, and I begin pacing around. The possibilities of things going wrong flood my mind, I increase my pace as my heart quickens its beat.
“You need to relax,” a soothing voice appears along with a white aura.
“How can I relax when my mate is going to trade her life?” I replied back, sinking down on the chair.
“She is trading your life for your friends. Shouldn’t you be happy?”
“Hardly.”
“Because she is your mate. You have marked.”
“Yes.”
“Then do you feel her?”
“What?”
“Elijah, has she not explain anything to you?”
“What do you mean, Grace?”
“When you mark, you feel a part of her. You feel what she is feeling, how she is handling it, she feels what you are feeling now. Your anxiousness and worries are eating up on her while she is trying to stay calm.”
“Oh right, it’s like we are one but not really.”
“Correct. You need to worry less. Don’t you think she is already thinking about the possible consequences? Don’t you think she is worried about you? Don’t you think she knows that she may not make it out alive? She does. And she’s counting on you trusting her.”
“It doesn’t make anything easier.”
“We know, we all know,” Grace sits next to me.
“She said I had no say in the matter. I guess that’s really what’s bothering me. I should have a say.”
“Partially true. You don’t. She wanted to give up her life, so be it.”
“I should have a say.”
“Then marry her.”
“What?”
“Don’t these mortals think that marriage is one of the ways to compromise. Or is it a general requirement for all relationships. I don’t know which it is, it’s been years since my husband passed.”
“How would marriage fix anything?”
“Most likely nothing, but now she has a deeper obligation to you and to your sister. I mean she already has, but this time the bondage of marriage is holding her down. When she was with Henry before marriage, she did a lot of things but once she did tie the knot, well she drops her world for his.
Marriage. Essentially.”
“Huh.”
“But that’s beside the point. Just trust her. Please.”
“Trust.”
“Yes trust her that she is doing something right.”
“But-”
“I have to go, I just wanted to catch up and tell you to relax. I can feel the worry all the way from Ancestral Land.”
Marriage.
Annabelle
“After all these years you considered bored, you never thought up with a cure?” Jax scowls me again for the gazillionth time.
“Can we stop talking about this? You are seriously being really annoying right now Jax,” I growl back, stepping on the gas pedal.
“Oh, I am sorry that your lazy ass didn’t want to come up with a cure to help my dying mate!”
“Oh and I am sorry that your dumb ass isn’t strong enough to protect her from four measly vampires with little to no fighting skills. Didn’t you use to train for war? Well, that was a waste!”
After I caught my breath, I realized how harsh that was. I look at the rearview mirror, seeing Jax’s anger fall to sadness and disappointment. Focusing on the road ahead, I sigh, letting our tension cool off a bit.
“Sorry,” I mutter.
“Me too,” he replies, “I guess this is what finding your mate does to you, huh.”
“I guess so. Did you know when I was telling your sister about Elijah I got all riled up thinking he had dated before me? I was so angry I nearly broke four trees.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, apparently my possessiveness is extreme.”
“Annabelle,” he sighs, “Honestly what would you do in my shoes.”
I thought about it for a moment, thinking about who I am. “I’ll probably go on rull ripper mode, attacking everybody who dares step in my way. I’ll probably less calm and less creative than you, I most likely would kill myself before healing Elijah.
But not before killing the fuckers who did it to him.”
“I know that Annabelle and it sucks.”
“Yup. How is she?”
“Barely there, her heart has come and gone. My blood is barely helping her.”
“We are here,” I pull up to the entrance of Redwood. I can feel Maggie’s presence lingering about. I know she cast something extra over the already made barrier, in case I did something.
“Are you sure?” Jax looks around.
“Of course. Now hurry, we have to save Anna.”
I step out of the vehicle, helping Anna to Jax’s arms. I use my nose to sniff out Maggie’s scent since she ought to be here. My nose points me to the south and I begin to walk into Redwood.
Redwood is a forest that no one dares to enter, especially at night. It is the type of forest you see in much of the fantasy movies going on these days, always filled with a heavy presence that is not so kind as well as dark energy, uncomforting most powerful beings.
And you can forget Holy Water. That shit don't work around her.
With the tall, lanky, skinny trees growing ever more as we continue to walk, my nose picked up a stronger scent heading west now. I can tell it is either Daryl or Lorenzo since they are much more prominent. I look back at Jax who stops, looking at Anna.
Her heart rate is slowly rising then dropping rapidly.
“How long,” he asks.
“Not too long, the scent is stronger,” I replied then turn around to continue walking.
About ten minutes later, the scent stops and I step on a twig breaking its fragile state. My eyes dart up to the group waiting for us. Should have known those bastard twins would be here. Lorenzo and Lucas also don’t look so keen on me being here.
“What’s the matter love, I thought you loved my face,” Aldridge smiles.
“I love to rip it from its skull but here I am,” I snark back.
That earned a frown from him and a small chuckle from Daryl, “Always so blunt.”
“Yeah, speaking of blunt, where’s your wife. I promised my life for my friends, I keep my promises, do you?”
“Of course we do, Margret.”
Maggie appears with a small bottle wrapped around her bony fingers, holding it tightly. I look at it then at her, smiling which catches her off guard.
“I always knew you were smarter than me, I applaud you, Maggs,” I actually do clap for a bit then return to my normal pose, “But right now my friend needs your magic. Do so and I gladly walk with you all.”
“That easy?” Maggie looks at me with suspicion
“Oh, it has to work or else I am going to tear each of you into pieces like I did with Amelia and Aldean. Once I see that Anna here is cured, my life is now yours.”
“Place the girl on the bedrock, I will give her the vile,” Maggie orders Jackson to do so.
“They won’t harm her?” He looks at me.
“Nope. They wouldn’t dare. Unless they are that desperate to see their lovely friends.”
That earned a couple of glares and growls from the company opposite of us. Jax walks to the middle, placing the injured Anna on the bedrock. Maggie comes from afar, grabbing the small liquid vile and placing it on Anna’s lips.
“Now stand back and watch MY glory, dearest Annabelle,” Maggie gets up and raises her hands.
Chapter 28
Annabelle
“Daryl tell your wife to hurried it up,” I complain to the man behind her.
“Margret. Lets not test the woman, do what you came here to do,” Daryl commands.
“Who is your wife, sweetheart, me or the creature?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Margaret, you are also a creature,” I snap back at Maggie which causes her to rol
l her eyes.
“Stretches passato e presente,” she begins to chant and a slight wind accompanies her.
{Translation: Witches past and present}
“il corpo della povera anima è inflitto con il dolore di un malato,” the wind picks up as she continues to chant. This time, leaves begin to fly up instead of the trajectory of the wind. Thunderstorms also suddenly appear, leaving the crew behind her frightened to death.
{Translations: the body of the poor soul is inflicted with the pain of a sufferer}
I bend down looking at the magic happening before my eyes, I knelt down and crumble a few leaves of my own, whispering to them.
“Per guarire l’anima con la magia di un cuore di razza e la vita di un cucciolo,” she finishes and the raging storm continues to go on, faster and harsh until it suddenly dies off.
{Translation:heal the soul with the magic of a purebreds heart and the life of a youngling.}
“Did it work, Annabelle,” Jax comes next to me, plopping down on one knee.
“Spells take a minute or two to work properly. So far, Anna’s heart is in the same state as it once was,” I replied.
Maggie then scoots to Anna, kneeling down and pulling out a blade. I hear Jax’s heart quickly beaten as he gets up to try to hurt Maggie, but thankfully my reflexes are strong enough to hold him back.
“She’s going to kill her,” he growls at me.
“She wouldn’t. Not even if Anna did the most impeccable thing, she wouldn’t kill her if it means getting me. I hate to say this but trust her,” I mumble lowly hoping she didn’t hear.
But of course, I am wrong.
“You primmortal need to have more faith in your siblings. Afterall, I am only doing this because I need Annabelle. This blade is forged from the harshest metal, dipped in the cleanliness of waters, and shined with the brightness of the sun. All harsh to the curses formula. I will cut, gently, Anna’s forearms and ankles, a slight scratch on her face to release the curse from its host. From there on, you can heal her with your blood, Jax.”
That seemed to calm Jax down for a small bit until Maggie started to slice Anna’s forearms which caused me to use all my strength to hold him back. He stopped the moment he saw the black smog lifted from Anna’s body, the coal like color disappearing from her skin and replaced with her blood.
Maggie steps away, far enough to give Jax some room as he races towards her. I hear Anna’s heart begin to wake at a slow rhythm until it quickens, her eyes fluttering open and coughing non stop.
“She’s healed. What are you waiting for?” Daryl looks at me.
“Waiting to see if she is completely healed. I said a life for a life, meaning her life must be intact as mine is,” I smile back.
“Margret.”
“She’s healed. I know she is,” Maggie scoffs.
I go to Anna to examine her body, already healing thanks to Jax’s blood. She catches a quick glimpse at me, smiling. I smile back and look to Jax, who knows what this means.
“I can’t let you go,” he whispers.
“Ahh, I’ll be fine. Take care of her. Take care of them,” I warn him.
“You did something?”
“Maybe. It’s a long shot and a risky one at that, just go. Leave before they change their mind.”
“We will be back.”
“I know.”
And with that, Jax lifts Anna in his arms, cradling her like a fragile object and wasps away. I stare at the direction for a bit, confirming that no one is following them or anything trying to stop them. Once satisfied, I turn around to face my dreaded enemies.
“Well, come on then. Follow us,” Daryl cheekily grins, licking his lips.
“Please don’t ever do that,” I say disgusted walking towards them.
“Oh Annabelle, just stop your complaining and come with us. We have a lot of things to get done before you die,” Maggie rolls her eyes.
“Oh really, I am looking forward to it.”
“I bet, that way you can finally have the peace you always wanted.”
“Hmm it looks like other members of the crew do not seem pleased that I am walking in this line, unscathed,” I point at Lorenzo and the bastard twins.
“They know you are off limits until the ritual is complete. If they harm you in any way before that, then I will personally hurt them.”
“Oh? I even have your boss under wraps. How quaint. Maybe you guys should get bigger and better, you know to get more power and protect your loves. Seeing as you couldn’t before,” I chuckle before turning away from them.
That snarky remark really pissed someone off as I felt the tension in the small group rise. I continue to walk behind Daryl and Maggie, though I feel like Lorenzo is already wanting a heavy battle with me.
We continue to walk the opposite direction where Jax took Anna away, a couple of miles hurting the nonvampires, resting at a few points. I continue my safe distance from them, looking towards the sky trying to understand how Maggie manages to keep this under her fingertips. It is quite a spell, masking the forest to be haunted in order to form your own spells.
“Let's go,” Daryl announces as he gets up and continues to walk.
With my head down, I walk behind all of them. Occasionally, Aldridge and Alvarian will steal glances at each other then at me, obviously planning something to do me but can't do it because their boss happens to be one of the strongest vampires out there.
But Lorenzo on the other hand, would not stop looking my way. I held my tongue when we both catch our glances, simply because I don’t want to cause a scene. I sigh heavily as we continue to walk our path, feeling a natural wind breeze by.
“Where the fuck are we going,” Alvarian asks. Finally, important questions.
“To our ritual site, of course,” Maggie smiles.
“Couldn’t we take a car?” Aldridge complains.
“Nope. You can’t use vehicles in my space, it’ll destroy the atmosphere I created. It’ll take years to build up.”
Again, he looks at me.
“Hey Lorenzo, you got a staring problem? Is there something on my face? Because you keep looking over here and it’s seriously pissing me off.”
That causes him to stop abruptly, his shoulders tensing and his breathing unsteady. Maybe this might bode well for, seeing as I am the prize possession that nobody can touch. If I am truly untouchable until after the ritual, then maybe, just maybe, I can kill them off one by one.
“Daryl, I know I said I will come with you but if your brother keeps looking at me, I am seriously considering murdering him,” I look at the boss man.
“Lorenzo, just let it go for now,” Daryl tries to calm his brother.
“I can’t. I must kill her mate as she did mine,” he mutters. That pissed me off, but I held it.
“For now. Later you can get them both when we are done,” he tries again.
“I can’t, brother. I have to...at least her,” Lorenzo runs towards me, already fangs retracted and power to the highest level.
Rolling my eyes and casting a brief smile, I brace myself for the attack. When it came, I made sure I fell hard on the floor, scraping a few spots on my elbow.
We roll around for a bit, punching each other, and scratching each other. I kicked him and he kicked me, blooding squirting from our mouths due to the extreme impact our kicks have.
He suddenly pins me to the tree, “I am going to kill him nice and slow like you did with Amelia.”
My eyes darken, not with lust, but pure rage. I grab the back of his head, quickly switching our positions, however I put his face right on the tree’s body, scraping it up and down.
“Well, then I have to kill you now, don’t I,” I whisper in his ears, punching through his fragile back, breaking through the thoracic spines and grabbing his heart. My first felt the sternum and I stopped my momentum, pulling away dropping his body.
“Now you can join your wife,” I say with a sly smirk.
“You stupid wench,” Daryl grabs my
hair and slams me to the floor. He picks me up, choking me mid air, my body aching for oxygen.
“Not my brother,” he cracks.
“You...said...to...go with you….Never….told...me…..to...behave,” I gasp each word as best as I could.
“Vai a dormire,” I hear Maggie’s voice and touch behind me and my eyes immediately close.
Chapter 29
Elijah
“Eli, are you okay,” my sister’s sweet voice interrupts my thoughts.
Horrible thoughts about Annabelle and her death. I guess it was good that Kenzie is calling, otherwise, I would have flipped out even more.
“Your brother misses his girlfriend,” Danni teases as she pours orange juice in Kenzie’s glass.
“He and Annabelle are together? Like forever?”
“I guess you can say that,” Danni laughs again, sipping from her drink.
“Is it true, Eli? Is Annabelle my new sister?”
I look out the window, wondering where is my love. Wondering if she is okay if she had a plan to escape. What was her plan? I am so in the dark and I hate that I am. I felt a little nudge on the side of my shoulder, curious I look. There I am met with my sister’s light green eyes, she is equally as curious.
“Eli?” She asks again.
“Yeah,” I manage to respond.
“Is Annabelle my new sister?”
“If she comes back, then heck yes.”
“Are you guys going to get married?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Well, she can’t be my sister if you guys are not married.”
“Maybe.”
“Where is Annabelle?”
“That, my dear sister, I do not know.”
“Don’t worry, Annabelle is super duper strong. She will kick the bad guy's butt!”
“Come on Kenzie, why don’t we go outside and play for a bit. We have a playground here,” Danni helps Kenzie off the stool and directs her towards her room.
“She’ll be okay, Elijah. Its Annabelle,” Danni hugs me from behind, “If anything, Kenzie is right. She is most likely kicking their butts.”
