by Jaymin Eve
Frustration rumbled out of me: “I need to ascend to sorcery. I’m not strong enough. Maybe I need to be at my full power to be able to connect to Grace.”
Tendrils of sorcery energy had been filtering through my blood for weeks now. It was like a shark waiting for the right moment to destroy its prey, planning to shred through the wizard version of me and reform me as something else. Something truly formidable. I just wished it would hurry the hell up. Despite my many years communing with nature and the gods, I still needed to work on my patience.
Heavy boot steps signaled the vampire in our midst. He stomped through the forest, launching himself up and over the railing to land on the back porch. He wasted no time scooping Mischa up into his arms.
With a shake of my head, I shifted Lily around so we were both staring out into the forest. “Don’t you worry, baby girl, Uncle Ty thinks your parents should get a room too. Preferably one we aren’t in.”
“Shut it, jackhole,” Maximus growled as he stepped to my side, his mate tucked in under his arm. “And give me my daughter. Now.”
Demanding, possessive asshole. Vampires and shifters were possessive in the worst kind of way, and did I blame him? Fuck no, I didn’t. Lily was perfection.
I would kill or die for our three young in a second, no thought, no hesitation.
After leaning down to press my lips against her baby soft cheek, I handed her across to my brother. The second she was in Maximus’ arms, his eyes darkened and the iciness of his aura softened, becoming almost warm. He wrapped her up tightly; she looked extra tiny pressed against him.
As he kissed his way across her cheeks and down her nose, he said, “Hey, precious baby, Daddy missed you today.” Lily chuckled and raised her arms toward him.
I had no experience with children. Before this new onslaught of young in our pack, there had been very few babies around us. But I was pretty sure Lily was smashing through the milestones for her age. Barely a month old and she laughed, reached for things, rolled over, even lifted her head up and looked around. Jackson and Evie were the same. Hell, those kids were practically crawling. But since they were the first natural born dragon shifters, everyone pretty much expected they would take over the world by the time they were toddlers.
We’d been told the twins would be the most powerful of all supes, able to control the four races … and they could be good or evil. Of course, if they went evil, they would have to go through their mother first, and no one – absolutely no one – got one over Jessa Lebron. She would keep them in line if it was the last thing she ever did.
When Maximus finished greeting his mate and daughter, he turned to me. “You heading out of Stratford soon? Going after the healer?”
Mischa had filled him in already, and it was nice not to have to repeat myself. His voice lacked judgment, or opinion, but through our quad connection I sensed he didn’t want me to go. He was worried. It would probably be a long time before any of us were okay with letting each other out of our sight. Too much death, too many enemies.
“Yep, I’ve already waited too long.”
I felt the fire of Braxton’s energy moments before he stepped out into the porch, Jessa’s lighter footsteps following him. Their twins were not with them, but I could hear cooing from inside, and it wasn’t hard to guess what was happening. The two sets of grandparents, and Nash, our new little brother, would be in there; all five of them were obsessed with the babies. Jonathon and Lienda Lebron, and Mom and Dad, rarely let their grandbabies out of their sight. Nash, despite being held captive his entire life in Stratford prison, was one of the most gentle souls I’d ever come across. The babies adored him, and he adored them back just as fiercely.
Jessa crossed the wooden porch and wrapped her arms around me, pressing close as I returned her embrace. She was a badass in almost all ways, but her heart was pure gold. She loved deeply, without limits. Just don’t take her cake and she’d always have your back.
“You’re leaving, Ty? Do you think it’s safe? We can come with you.”
I kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, I’m leaving, and no, you don’t have to come with me. You have rugrats and responsibilities here. Some of the council should try and stick around the town for a while.”
Jessa’s eyes turned from sapphire to a dark, murky color, and I remembered where she’d just been. “Any change in Louis?”
Her face fell, nose crinkling as she let out a breath. “Nope! Not a single freaking change. I’ve tried everything I could think of. I yelled at him today – for five minutes straight. Still no response.”
Louis was one of the most powerful sorcerers alive. He had been unconscious since defeating Kristoff, the demon-touched sorcerer. He risked his life to save ours and was now living in a state of semi-consciousness. He was still there, but at the same time he wasn’t. I had been concerned since the first night, but now I was seriously worried.
We all took turns sitting with him, hoping one of us would figure out a way to bring him back. My frustration at that was almost as strong as my frustration about Grace. I was failing all over the place recently. “We need to do something,” I said, my words clipped with worry. “We might have to look outside our pack for help.” Louis was a private man, but we’d done everything we could think of. This was beyond us.
Braxton wrapped his arms around Jessa, pulling her back into him. Her distress was enough to have his dragon peeking out. “You’re right, this is beyond our knowledge. Who is second to Louis in power?”
We all took a moment to think it over; the power scale changed quite rapidly in our world. Well, except for the top spot – Louis had been sitting smug there for many years. Someday I’d best him, I had no doubt of that, but not this way. I would do anything to bring him back to full strength. I didn’t want to win like this.
“Marco and Elizabeth are two of the more powerful,” I decided.
Marco, from Wales in the United Kingdom, had taught a sorcery class here in Stratford. Massive monster of a man, he would have been more suited as a bear shifter, but somehow managed to be both graceful and nimble as a spell caster. Elizabeth, a tiny blond pixie of a sorceress, lived in America somewhere. She was in her late one hundreds, and had grown weary of the supernatural world, so she chose to live with humans.
“I’ll put a call out to them,” Braxton said, focusing his full attention on Jessa. He released her waist long enough to reach up and cup her face in his hands. “It’s going to be okay. Louis is a tough bastard, he won’t let that demon keep him down. He might just need a little help.”
Jessa swallowed roughly and I could see how rigid her body was. Louis was like a brother to her, and she blamed herself for his condition. All of us considered him an extended member of our pack. Even me, despite my need to beat his ass at everything to do with magic.
As a single tear escaped to run down Jessa’s cheek, yellow flickered strongly in Braxton’s eyes. Rumbles rocked his chest – his dragon was unhappy. Jessa tilted her head back to meet the gaze of her much taller mate, and then startled us all when she let out a yelp. “Josephina … shit! She said she would ask around and find out about Louis. We need to go to Faerie and find her.”
Josephina used to be bonded to Jessa, but through a sacrifice, was now residing in the dragon queen’s body. She had inherited all knowledge from the queen, and control of the dragons, making her our best chance of helping Louis.
Mischa straightened from where she was leaning against Maximus. “Do we have to go into Faerie though? Is there a way to contact her from here?”
Jessa shook her head, black hair dancing across her shoulders. “No, there’s no easy way to communicate between our worlds, and her visits are always random. There’s literally no way for me to contact her except by heading to her.”
Braxton’s chest was still rumbling when he said, “It’s dangerous there. Even if you’re only in Faerie for a day, you’ll be gone from the twins for weeks. I think it’s best if I go … alone.”
Jessa
stepped back and I knew she was about to rip Braxton a new one. There was nothing she hated more than being overprotected. Unfortunately for her, that’s just how Compasses were wired. We protect what is ours. Her impending tirade was cut short by the appearance of her mother in the doorway, Evie in her arms.
“She wants her momma,” Lienda said to Jessa.
Jessa’s eyes locked on her daughter, and if love had a look, it was written all over the wolf shifter’s face. Warmth, adoration, awe, she was a total goner. Lunging across the porch, Jessa gathered her baby up, snuggling her into her chest, breathing in Evie’s scent. Her eyes closed and contentment replaced her previously tense features.
When she opened her eyes again, she faced Braxton. “You’re right. I won’t leave them alone or unprotected while they’re so vulnerable.” She again rested her head against Evie’s soft blond hair, letting out a heavy sigh. “Most importantly, I don’t want to leave them. It would break my heart.” Her gaze went very still. Predatory. “I don’t want you to go without me, but we also can’t let Louis waste away.”
I interrupted then. “Jake and I will go to Faerie. Neither of us have mates or children to leave behind. We’re the perfect choice. Just give me a few days to find Grace first.” And hopefully convince her to forgive me. “Then I’ll be free to go after Josephina.”
Jacob would be cool with the plan. He was always up for an adventure. “I’m going to hit the Grace search now. Hopefully have it all wrapped up by the end of this week.”
Lily was now asleep against Maximus’s shoulder; he was patting her back. “With a bit of luck, by the time you find Grace, Louis will be awake,” the vampire said. “We’ll still speak to those powerful magic users. They might give us something to work with.”
I nodded. “Yes, that would be the best option, but if that doesn’t happen, I will go into Faerie. Louis saved our lives, we owe him every effort.”
Braxton didn’t say much more, but he also didn’t look particularly thrilled by this new plan. He liked to deal with the dangerous tasks; he was over-protective of us all.
I wasn’t worried. I just needed to make sure Grace was okay; I’d lose my mind if that didn’t happen soon. Then I would focus on Louis. The powerful sorcerer and I might not have always seen eye to eye, but I knew without any doubt that if I was in trouble, he would figure out how to help me. It was time for me to do the same for him.
Grace Carter
Darkness was not something I had ever feared. Fear of the dark is really just fear of the unknown, and even as a young child my senses were strong enough to always know what was lurking out there. My mom used to tell me that most monsters were no match for my magic, and I had believed her. Her advice had never let me down, until now.
For the past sixty-eight days, fourteen hours, twenty-five minutes, and some seconds in change, I had been cut off from all energy. Trapped in a world of darkness and pain, I sat and waited for my inevitable death. Because there was only so much a body could take, and mine was nearing its limit.
A door slammed at the top of the stairs and I straightened. It’s too soon! It had only been four days – I think – since my last bout of torture. The visits had been very regular. I roughly marked days across the wall, and each visit was about six days apart.
What had changed? For the first time in weeks, a zing of fear cut through the numbness in my chest. What were they bringing for me today?
The first pricks of light burned my eyes. I was so used to darkness now that it was painful to adjust to the beams of illumination. I shifted around on the hard slab of wood that was my bed. I had one thin sheet to cover myself, and it was cold down here. I also only got one pathetic meal a day, and weekly tortures, which apparently was all done to keep me weak.
They were also using a blocker to subdue my energy and powers.
They had succeeded brilliantly – I was the weakest I had ever been. But … I had not broken yet. Which, granted, was a little surprising. I generally didn’t frolic in the world of strong emotions. A side-effect, no doubt, of my many years being homeschooled. I was the indoors, read a book, do a puzzle type of witch. I did not fight back. I did not fight at all, really.
But my time here had changed me. My body might be weak, but the rest of me was going to hold on to the bitter end. Standing, as I always did when they approached, I held my head high. I might not be the fiercest supe, but I could pretend for as long as I could still stand.
As I straightened, the ache in my back exploded, the new wave of pain, sharp and fresh. The healing was taking longer and longer after each interrogation. But since there was nothing I could do about it, I forced the pain down, then widened my stance and clenched my fists at my sides. On instinct, I reached for my magic, whilst also searching for the ley lines. I found nothing but an echoing empty space in both places.
Two distinct and different sets of footsteps were clomping toward me. I recognized both. The heavy thumping pair was Son of a Bitch. I refused to call him by anything other than that now, the nickname coming about during one of his sessions. SOB had a real creative flair with a carving knife. I had screamed over and over during my first round of torture.
Since then I’d locked my pain down, no speaking or screaming. I would give them no more satisfaction. I focused on the one place they had yet to break: my mind. In there I was with my family, my true family, not these monsters. In the two months I had been held captive, I had learned very little about why I was here. They kept saying they needed to release something from within me. Considering I was just an ordinary healer witch, I was pretty sure they were wrong.
“Good morning, sunshine. How’s my favorite cousin today?” The second set of footsteps – lighter and nimbler – belonged to Trevor, my blond-haired, blue-eyed, evil demon of a second cousin. That asshole was definitely on my kill list. A spiral of darkness spilled across my mind, and with it came some very bad thoughts. This darkness had been growing stronger with each cut and bruise. Maybe the darkness was what they wanted to release? Or maybe it was a product of what they had done to me? Either way, I was really past caring.
The flickering lantern that SOB held cast shadows across the small cell I was in. In the early days I’d looked around as much as I could when they brought the light, but now I knew everything. I was in a basement, tiny, caged off. It held the plank of wood, and a toilet. Which was the only thing about this place I was grateful for.
“Hoping for your cooperation is clearly not working, so we’re moving on to phase two.” Trevor continued to bore into me with his unnatural navy-blue eyes. The shade was so flat … or maybe it was that his eyes were dead. Like his soul.
His declaration was the most worrying though.
They had been going easy on me? I had scars and burns and holes littering my body. I’d been broken and beaten and smashed in so many pieces that my body no longer felt like my own. Sure, those things had all healed. Physically at least. But the emotional and mental damage was far from gone. If I wasn’t from a strong witch line, I might have died from some of the torture. But hey, there was still time for that, right? Especially since they were upping it.
Trevor stepped back then, lantern in hand. SOB opened the door and gave me a single wave, as if to say, “After you.” I did not move. SOB let out a loud exhalation, and for the first time today spoke: “You don’t have to do this the hard way every single time. The end result is the same, so why must you add even more pain to your day?”
I was gritting my teeth so firmly they felt like they were cracking under the pressure; my nails had drawn blood in my palms from being clenched so tightly. The muscled wizard took a step closer, lunging for me. I was sluggish and weak, but I already knew his tells. I knew how he moved. I got in a decent punch to his throat and a slash of my nails across his face before he wrapped his arms around me.
He squeezed tightly, his breath wheezing near my ear. I had marked him this time, which gave me a small sense of triumph. I would continue to fight them until there
was no other option – when I was dead.
Usually at this point I was chained to the bars on the door, but this time, SOB strode out of the room, and with just the small light leading the way, we moved along a hall of sorts, and then toward a set of stairs.
I remained strapped across the taller mage’s front, held by two powerful arms, my bruised and ripped-up back screaming at me in pain. My ribs had been broken during the last torture and still weren’t fully healed. My feet were dangling, so I struggled, kicking out with as much strength as I could muster. I had to try, now more than ever. This was the best opportunity I’d had in two months to escape – I was actually out of the cage, not chained up.
The grip around my chest tightened. I panted and thrashed, dark spots dancing in front of my eyes with a sudden onslaught of light.
In different circumstances, I might have cried as I glimpsed my first rays of sunlight in weeks. My first glimpse of anything to do with nature – I was a witch; we stood regularly with our Mother Earth and communed. But my tear ducts had dried up long ago and now I was empty. My focus remained locked on the trickles of light, though, following the small dancing beams.
In that moment it hit me hard – while I had been locked down in this basement, the rest of the world had continued to turn. People I loved were out there right now with no idea what had happened to me. My cousin’s favorite taunt was about no one coming to save me, but those jibes didn’t hurt me. I had made sure no one would search. I had asked – no, demanded –space. A decision I’d regretted at least a million times since I walked away from Tyson.
Tyson Compass. For the first time in a long time a real flare of emotion rocked me, leaving my chest and lungs aching as I tried to wheeze in another breath. It had always been like that with him. Too much emotion. Too strong. A great potential for happiness, but an even greater one for heartbreak.
My eyes still burned, but as I turned from the light I realized we were in a familiar, well-lit room. NO! I had never seen anything but the basement, but I knew this room.
