Flames of Chaos

by Amelia Hutchins

  “Were you doing things?” Callista asked carefully.

  “He was throwing me around a bit if that is what you mean.” I pulled the blankets over my body and shivered violently. “The house didn’t even sense him, or that I was in danger.”

  “That’s a fucking problem,” Luna snapped angrily. “That needs to be remedied.”

  “He’s immune to my magic,” I continued. “He isn’t like us; he isn’t like any of us.”

  “Witches?” Callista clarified.

  “No, I mean all of us. All the original families are susceptible to each other’s powers. Knox didn’t blink when I cast magic on him. He didn’t fucking budge. I don’t think he’s one of us, and worse, I think he knows more than we do about what happened to Amara, and I intend to find out everything he knows. There’s also the fact that I am susceptible to it around him. His witch was able to cast on me, and I’ve always been immune to all magic except for those who share our bloodline.”

  “You’re saying that around him, you’re not immune to magic?”

  “That’s exactly what I am saying. It’s like he’s my kryptonite.”

  Chapter 9

  I stood in the crumpled, wilted, and very inadequate herb garden that sat behind the mansion. It was another glaring sign that Amara had been gone more than a few weeks. Her room had been pristine, and that wasn’t like her at all. I was the OCD clean freak; she was the messy one.

  I’d skimmed over her wardrobe, picking out a few things to borrow since we were the same size, and also because Aurora hadn’t sent the truck with our clothes or household items, and we had no running water. Pushing my fingers into the soil, I fed life to plants until the garden bloomed with fresh herbs and the air scented of their mixed aromas.

  Grabbing the water bucket, I moved down the wide creek that gurgled deep into the large, opulent backyard. Most families had miles and miles of luxury that covered their property, but we had nature. Witches preferred nature, needing it to draw magic from. The alpha wolves, well, they too had nature, but they used it to turn beneath the full moon. As a child, Luna and Aine could join the young male wolves to run freely, protected beneath the moon.

  Bending down at the deepest part of the creek, I filled the bucket with water and then frowned when the heated water touched my hand. I stared at the creek before slowly looking around the thickly covered terrain, blocking anyone else’s view with the greenery and dense vegetation.

  Slowly walking back to the garden, I poured the bucket into the trench I’d dug and set it aside, retrieving dried herbs I’d picked to use tonight. Dusting off my hands, I started toward the house silently. Inside, I collected a few items and made the trek back to the creek.

  I stripped down to my panties and headed toward the water with the shampoo and conditioner I’d made, gently setting them down on the flat rock that sat in the creek, pushing water in two different directions toward the adjoining properties. Pulling my panties off inside the water was tricky, but I managed it before tossing the wet undies toward the pile of clothes on the muddy bank.

  The sky above me was crystal blue without a cloud in the sky. Birds chirped all around me as I soaked in the water. I leaned against the rock, resting my arms on it as I watched the house, knowing eventually, someone else would discover my little oasis, and then everyone would be in the creek, bathing with me.

  Having fifteen sisters meant having nothing that was actually yours alone. Not that it bothered me; quite the opposite. I didn’t have to deal with friends flaking off on me, because my friends were my sisters. I just enjoyed the solitude of being alone every once in a while. I dipped beneath the water, coming up with a bubble of laughter in my throat as a memory of Amara and me playing in the creek surfaced.

  We’d spent a lot of time away from the others, craving the solitude that was elusive with the fourteen other girls around us. We’d spent countless hours down here, making mud pies, or mud shakes that we’d pretended were crafted from the finest bakeries in the Nine Realms.

  She’d always wanted to be a chef or to own a bakery. In contrast, I’d wanted a bookstore that sold tonics and potions on the side, with the most extensive crystal collection in this realm. We’d made plans to save up for both, only we’d never invested our money into anything, because the moment we’d deposited into our account, Freya had taken it for the joint account we all could draw from. We hadn’t been allowed to dream, not if anything we wanted wasn’t with the others.

  Reaching for the shampoo, I lathered my hair, inhaling the rose-scented herbs to calm my nerves from the last few days. I rinsed it out, following it with the homemade conditioner. After that, I used the soap, slowly rubbing it over my body as my eyes slipped closed. Then oceanic eyes filled my mind, forcing my eyes to open wide in horror. That wasn’t happening, I told my subconscious. Not in a million years.

  Something moved in the bushes, and I turned, staring at where the leaves rustled from being disturbed. I searched them for a few minutes, watching the other bushes deeper within it for any more disturbances.

  “Is someone there?” I asked, waiting for whoever it was to move again. I didn’t expect an answer, but I figured they would have to keep moving to escape the yard. I slipped deeper into the water until it fully concealed my body, with only my chin sticking out as my heartbeat hitched and raced faster.

  My hands covered my breasts while I stared into the brush, waiting for whoever was in them to hightail it out of there. I sent magic searching, parting shrubbery while I mentally searched without leaving the water. My magic sensed no presence, finding nothing larger than a bird that sat on a branch within the thicket. I spun around to place the soap onto the rock when feet came into view. My gaze landed on the black Doc Martin boots and slowly lifted until they locked with ocean-blue eyes.

  “Brave, bathing naked out here, alone,” he muttered, crouching down to pick up the bottle of soap, opening the cap to sniff it. “Are you pretending to be a water nymph? Or a sprite?” he asked before closing the lid to look at me. “Which one are you today, Aria?”

  “Get the hell off my land, Knox.”

  “Why would I do that? I own this entire town. So technically, I own your property too. Not to mention, you’re causing quite the commotion with your scent. I just saved you from being eaten by a wolf, little lamb.”

  “There was no one there,” I hissed.

  “That you could see,” he smirked wolfishly.

  His eyes watched me sharply. I stood there, uncertain how to get to the bank without him seeing more of me than he already had. Knox seemed to come to the same idea because his smile turned wicked, and his eyes smoldered with heat.

  “Turn around,” I growled irritably, fighting to remain calm.

  Knox’s eyes left mine to stare into the brush, causing me to follow his gaze. I turned around as the air was displaced, and something moved just beyond the bushes. Something was there, something powerful, and yet my eyes couldn’t see it. As if it wasn’t in this realm and just beyond the portal that was thinnest here.

  Splashing sounded behind me, and arms moved me until my line of sight was blocked by his body. The hair on my neck stood up, and a violent shiver rushed down my spine.

  Knox growled, and something inside of me mirrored his rattle that sounded from within his chest. He peered over his shoulder, studying my face before something slammed against him, sending my naked back smashing into the rock. I cried out as pain burned my spine. I watched in horror as crimson covered the water in which I stood.

  He materialized blades from thin air to cut into a monstrous-sized beast that came into sight a moment before his blades cut through it, severing it in half. My hands drop from shielding my breasts as more waves began in the water, moving directly toward us just below the surface.

  Sinking into the water, I opened my eyes and stared in horror as canine legs rushed toward us, yet when I lifted from it, I saw nothing. Invisible above the water’s surface. Sinking down again, I sent my magic slamming into
the creatures, watching as it hit them hard enough to sever limbs. Rising from the water’s heated depths, I gazed in the direction the creatures had been, staring at the lifeless bodies that now floated on the surface.

  Hands grabbed my shoulders, and I screamed, spinning around to stare into striking blue eyes that narrowed on me. Knox pulled me to him as I stood motionless and in shock. His hands pushed me beneath the red water, and he followed, pinning me down to the rocks of the creek bed. I gasped, choking on the water that filled my lungs.

  He shook his head, pulling me out of the water effortlessly. “Breathe, and fucking hold it!” he demanded, and I did without questioning him.

  Once more, we sunk into the water, and he held me there, staring in the direction from where the creatures had appeared. His hand slipped around my waist, holding my naked body as his gaze slowly moved down to where my breasts bobbed with the waves of the water. My hand rose to slap him, which happened in slow motion and didn’t do much other than to cause a wicked grin to lift over his smug lips. I started to push up for air, but he held me to him, pulling my mouth to his, breathing air into my starving, burning lungs.

  The moment his lips touched mine, shocks shot through me until my eyes grew heavy with the need to explore his lips further. I pulled back, staring at him with confusion and anger at myself for falling for his shit. I started toward the surface again, only for him to shove me away from his body as claws shredded his arm where I had just been hiding.

  Magic erupted from me, assaulting the creature that attacked him until blood and parts of it floated to the surface. Knox stood, grabbing me without asking. I hissed as he connected with my breast, sending a shiver of fear and excitement rushing through me. He didn’t stop until I was sitting on the rock, with his back to my front side.

  “Get on my back, now.” He stated through gritted teeth.

  “What the hell were those things?” I quickly wrapped my arms and legs around him.

  “Get on before more show up, woman!”

  “I am on,” I argued, yelping as he started out of the water.

  All around us, bloody parts of dead wolf-like creatures floated in the creek, which seemed to have grown in size since I’d entered it. He reached back, holding on to my thighs as he made his way to the bank, and then bent down without warning, grabbing my wet, discarded panties.

  “Next time, shower in the fucking house,” he warned.

  “We don’t have running water, jerk. Besides, I’ve played in this creek countless times before today and have never been attacked.”

  “When you were a child,” he argued. “You weren’t of breeding age, and the portals hadn’t been weakening between the realms. Either fucking listen to what I say, or get the fuck out of here before you end up eaten.”

  “I was fighting right beside you, you pompous asshole. I saved your life!” I hissed vehemently, and he snorted.

  “The fuck you did,” he laughed. “The only reason I was here was because even I could smell your female pheromones alerting the entire Nine Realms that there was a bitch in heat.”

  “I’m not in heat, asshole.”

  “You are, you so fucking are,” he scoffed. “You reek of it, your sisters do too. That means every monster that is itching to get into this realm will be making a move to breed you witches. As if you weren’t a nuisance enough as is,” muttering, he started in the opposite direction of the back door to the mansion.

  “Wait,” I growled in exasperation. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To my house.”

  “Oh, hell, no, you’re not!” I fought to get down from his back even though he held my legs. “Put me down!” I demanded, abruptly getting my wish. Knox dropped me to the ground as he turned, staring at me with a look that said he wanted to snap my neck and be done with it. “You aren’t taking me anywhere.”

  “You think that was all of them? You’re sadly mistaken, Aria. Those were weak parasites making a move to land easy pussy. You were out in the open, exposed, and easy to reach.”

  “You could have warned us that the portals were weakening. You didn’t see fit to warn us, though, did you?” I argued, growing acutely aware that I was stark-ass naked, and he either didn’t care or was pretending not to notice. His nostrils flared a moment before he ripped his bloodied shirt off his back, exposing claw marks that were jagged in the skin they’d ripped open. “You’re hurt,” I whispered.

  “Put the fucking shirt on, now.”

  I slipped it on, noting it smelled of him and was soaking wet as it clung to my flesh like a second skin. His stare dropped to my breasts, noting the peaked tips of my nipples and then the curve of my thighs.

  “Your house isn’t fucking safe yet. Your sisters are being collected, and you will be at my house until you can gather the items needed to do the blessing on this one. Sabine agreed since she was actually at the fucking council meeting and has been filled in on everything that’s been happening. You weren’t there, big fucking surprise.”

  “I was trying not to see you.”

  The temperature dropped as he smiled coldly. His arm still dripped blood, and I noted the abundance of it splattering the ground. Knox stepped closer, and I stepped back, watching the tick in his jaw while it hammered with his anger.

  “You have no fucking electricity, no water, and no protection. You’re ripe for plundering, and as we speak, monsters are lining up to fucking wreck that virgin pussy. Aria, you have five minutes to collect anything you need for the next twenty-four hours before I drag your naked ass to my house, kicking and screaming without your fucking consent.”

  “Fine,” I stated, glaring daggers at him. “I’ll be right back,” I muttered, not trusting him. I paused as he moved to follow me. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

  “Oh, but you do!” he snapped.

  “Does your arm hurt?”

  “I’ll live.”

  “Pity that,” I muttered beneath my breath as we started back toward the house.

  Chapter 10

  Inside the house, my sisters sat on the couches with men surrounding them. I paused as every set of eyes turned to look at Knox and me as we entered. Sabine rose, moving swiftly to where I stood, searching me for injury.

  “Are you okay? I should have come outside before preparing the crystals to tell you what was happening.” She rushed the words out, searching every inch of me before exhaling. “Why are you naked?”

  “I was bathing in the creek,” I admitted. “The garden was dead, so I fixed it to procure the herbs needed for the blessing.”

  Sighing, Sabine watched me closely. “A lot is happening here that we were left in the dark about.”

  “Like monsters entering through illegal portals? Got that memo firsthand,” I snorted.

  “The portals between Nine Realms are closed because something was attacking and weakening the portals to the Human Realm. It is allowing creatures and beings from the Nine Realms to escape. They seek to take advantage of the law stating that if they breed with an original bloodline while in this realm, they can stay because their offspring will connect them to this realm. It’s open season on immortals that have been given safe passage into this realm, Aria.”

  “Then, we strengthen the portals. That is the job of witches from the original line. That is why we were included.”

  “Yes, but to bring the portals down in their current state, they’d need a witch with Hecate blood running through their veins.”

  “Two minutes,” Knox said curtly, cutting Sabine off, causing my eyes to turn and hold his.

  If what they said was true, it wasn’t just bad; it was a catastrophe in the making. I chewed my lip, studying Sabine before I dropped my eyes to the bags rested at their feet. Without saying another word, I started through the house, noting the shadow that followed me. I’d roll my eyes, but my head hurt enough, and the scrape on my back was raw and ached.

  Once we reached my bedroom, I grabbed the duffle bag I’d yet to unpack and turned to eye him. “If
this is some kind of game to get us to leave town, it won’t work. I don’t care what is here or who is coming for us. My sister is here somewhere, and either you or someone else knows where Amara is.”

  “She may be dead already, or with the other missing members of the original families that have vanished without a fucking trace. She alone couldn’t bless this house or reinforce it against an attack. I warned your sister to leave town; she refused. I couldn’t fucking demand people leave, and I sure as fuck didn’t plan to babysit the mess unfolding here.

  “My job is simple, fix the fucking portals and get this place stable enough to open the fucking portals in the Nine Realms again. You and your sisters? You are nothing but more trouble for me to deal with. You just brought thirteen wombs to Haven Falls that are fertile and just begging to be bred. Two more are en route, according to your sister. That’s fifteen unclaimed bitches that can be forced to carry babes for those seeking to enter this realm before we fix the portals.”

  “You can’t fix it without me, and Amara isn’t dead. I’d feel it, and yeah, she may be missing, but she sure in the fuck isn’t dead, so don’t say it again. Let’s go.”

  “Put your pants on and stop making it so easy for them to sniff your cunt.”

  “Wow, crude much?” I growled low in my chest before I dropped the duffle and bent over with his shirt concealing my naked backside to dig through the bag. I pulled out lacy panties and a pair of black PINK joggers, standing back up to stare at him.

  “Turn around, please,” I said hoarsely with emotions pushing through my mind with a tightening in my chest that unnerved me. Knox didn’t argue and gave me his back while I pushed my legs through both items and yanked them up before he changed his mind. “I’m done.” I hated the tremor in my tone from imaging my sister somewhere being tortured, or worse, raped.

  Knox didn’t wait for me to follow him as he led the way out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Snorting, he turned at each doorway, heading down a new hallway without me needing to show him where to go. It told me he knew the layout of the house, and that bothered me. It also worried me he seemed to be able to pop into existence with little thought and often did when I was vulnerable or exposed. My magic had worked with him this time, as if he’d allowed me to keep it.