by Mona Hanna
The blond man stopped the machine. He turned the wheel so the screws were lifted away from Erica. Those watching continued weeping, but Erica stopped. The man released her from the metal fastening her to the machine, then lifted her, moving her to stand beside him. He reached out and took her hand. “You failed. And now you’re mine.”
“Yes, my love,” Erica said, her voice sounding far different than usual. “I’ll always be with you. Take me away from this place.”
“Of course, my dear.”
“I’ll kill you!” Ariel screamed.
Gareth thought he was just about to see Ariel attempt to tear the evil man limb from limb while Erica tried to stop her, when Brayden hissed out.
“No! Ariel don’t. Gareth has to do it.”
Ariel whirled around and looked at Brayden with wild eyes. “What? What in the world—”
“All of you listen—especially you, Gareth,” Brayden said. He lowered his voice to a whisper and outlined his plan.
Gareth’s heart was racing as he took it in. “Do you think it will work?”
“It’s our only hope,” Brayden said. “Can you do it?”
“I’ll do anything for her,” Gareth replied.
Brayden nodded to him, then looked over at his wife. “Ariel, call the knife to yourself that was by Gareth’s side when we first came to him.”
Ariel nodded. She turned around so the man and Erica couldn’t see what she was doing. She held out her hands, and the bloody knife appeared within them. She then moved behind Gareth and put the knife in the waistband at the back of his trousers.
“Alright. Let’s go,” Brayden said. He moved Gareth forward, but Gareth stopped him.
“No, I can walk. I have to.”
Brayden nodded, and he and Julia released Gareth. Ariel walked towards Erica, Gareth limping behind her.
“Your family approaches, Erica. What shall we do?”
“Whatever you wish, Sebastian,” Erica breathed, her eyes upon him and her hands on his chest.
“I’m going to kill you Sebastian,” Ariel said. “If it takes me fighting my daughter, I’m going to destroy you.”
Erica looked at her mother, her eyes narrow. “You wanted to keep me from him. You’ll never take him away from me. Never!” Erica charged towards her mother.
Ariel cried as she held out her arms to fight her daughter. Sebastian watched them with a dark look on his face.
Gareth crept towards him while he was distracted.
Ariel and Erica made streams of light pour from their hands, Ariel’s light white and Erica’s a deep green. The lights sparked as they hit, sending additional streams careening off towards the sky.
Erica screamed. “You won’t keep me from him!”
Gareth knew he had to act fast before one of the women was hurt. He inched closer to Sebastian and moved his hand behind his back to grasp the knife. Gareth moved as swiftly as he could to Sebastian’s side, bringing the knife forward. “This is for taking my love,” Gareth spat out, then just as Sebastian turned to him and widened his eyes, Gareth stabbed him full in the stomach. He twisted the blade, plunging it farther until Sebastian crumpled to the ground. His eyes remained open as he lay there, blood slipping down the side of his mouth.
“Sebastian?” Erica cried. She and Ariel stopped their light at the same time. Erica hurried towards Sebastian, kneeling beside him. “No, no, he can’t… my love, you can’t…” Erica began to wail, then abruptly lifted her head to look at Gareth. Her eyes darkened, but suddenly her expression changed. She slowly stood and looked at Gareth with the same obsessed expression she had previously been looking at Sebastian with. She moved to him and placed her hands on his chest. “My new master,” she said. “What would you like me to do for you?”
Gareth couldn’t believe it. Brayden had been right. “Erica?”
“Yes, my dear. I’m yours. Where shall we go?”
Gareth frowned down at her, not believing what he was hearing. When Brayden had whispered his plan, he’d said he knew why Sebastian wanted Gareth to turn Erica. It was to keep himself safe in case Erica passed the test and would then kill her tormentor. If Erica had passed, then she would have killed Gareth. But had she failed, she would have been bound to Gareth. Brayden said he saw the other part to Sebastian’s plan. Brayden believed Sebastian thought if he killed Gareth, then Erica’s loyalty would be transferred to him. He could have her without the danger of turning her himself.
And Brayden was right. Because Gareth had just killed Sebastian, and Erica was now infatuated with him. But not for long. There was a final part to the plan that Gareth desperately hoped would work.
“Erica? Look at me.”
“Yes, darling.”
Gareth took a deep breath. He wasn’t sure if this would work. Even Brayden didn’t know if this part of his plan was right, but it was their only hope after Erica had been turned. If it didn’t work, Gareth didn’t know what he was going to do—he couldn’t stand the way Erica was looking at him. Gone was the wonderful, intelligent, independent woman he loved. Before him stood a woman who was a shell of who she once was, who would blindly follow him wherever he went and do whatever he asked. Gareth didn’t want her like this. He wanted her to be free. He wanted her to be her.
“Erica, listen.”
“Yes.”
He paused again. “I release you. You’re free. I surrender my hold on you. You belong to no one but yourself.”
Erica looked at him quizzically for a long moment. She said nothing, just breathed deeply, gazing at him. Then her expression changed. Her features crumpled into those of one who was feeling the worst thing they’d ever felt. “No,” Erica wept, falling to her knees. “I failed. I failed. I’m a monster.”
“No!” Gareth said, kneeling before her with some difficulty. “Erica, you’re an angel. This isn’t your fault. No one could have survived that. Anyone would have done what you did.”
“No! My mother—”
“Erica, it was different with me,” Ariel said, sitting by her side.
Brayden and Julia came over and huddled on the ground around her.
“Listen to me, darling,” Ariel continued. “When I went through the test, two very big things were different. The one I was to kill was the love of my life, not a stranger. But the biggest difference was that my heart was full. I had the strength of your father’s love for me within my heart, and I held on so he could live. You thought Gareth was dead, honey—you didn’t know he’d lived. The last thing you saw was the man you love supposedly murdered, so you went into this crushed. I wouldn’t have passed in your position—no one would have.”
Erica wiped away the tears streaming down her face. “But I must be a bad witch. The test determines if you’re a good High Witch or a bad one. That’s what Father told you all those years ago. I failed. I must be bad.”
“No, Erica! You’re good,” Brayden said. “I know with every inch of me you’re good. When your mother went through the test, I expected her to kill me, and I told her it wouldn’t be her fault if she did. Never did I think there was anything bad inside of her. By some miracle she held out, but just because you didn’t, doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. I love you with all my heart, and despite thinking in the past that the test determines the inherent goodness of a High Witch, I learned through growing to love your mother that whether a woman passes or fails doesn’t reflect on who they are. You’re wonderful, my dear, and no one would have done any different in your situation.”
Erica sighed. “So you don’t hate me? You don’t all hate me?”
“No!” everyone shouted at once. They all laughed nervously.
Erica half smiled. “But still, I killed an innocent, defenseless man. I’ll never forget, and it will take me an age to forgive myself, if I ever do. May we pray for him? So he’s not a lost soul.”
“Of course, darling,” Ariel said. “I’m so glad to have you back, my dear. My precious angel.”
Ariel looked over
at Gareth. He was astonished to see a look of immense gratitude on her face. He nodded, and then Ariel said a prayer for the elderly man.
Chapter 15
Erica lay in bed with Gareth, watching him sleep. It was early the following morning. After they left the scene of the test, they returned to Gareth’s home, then traveled back to Erica’s home with his father. Erica immediately went to bed while Mother brought a healer to tend to Gareth’s wound. The group explained what had happened to Gareth’s father and everyone else. Sometime later that day, Gareth crawled under the covers with her. Erica didn’t think her parents would mind under the circumstances.
They’d slept for hours, and now at dawn Erica watched Gareth sleep calmly. She adored the serene expression on his face, as if nothing was bothering him. She hoped he was sleeping soundly and hoped he would heal properly from his injuries.
Gareth suddenly opened his eyes and half smiled at her. “Good morning,” he said, his voice croaky. “How are you?”
“I’m alright. I feel a little better. How are you?”
“I’m okay. My chest and arm hurt, but it’s better than before. Come here.”
Erica smiled, cuddling Gareth as best she could, careful not to touch his wound.
He placed his good arm around her. “How are you really?”
She sighed. “I still feel very guilty, but that will take ages to go away. I’m not in any pain—like I told you yesterday, something about the test makes your injuries go away whether you pass or fail. But I can still remember being hurt, and I’ll never forget it. I never really understood what my mother had gone through, but I can see it now. The memory will live with me forever.”
They lay in silence. Erica shut her eyes, wondering if she would drift off to sleep again.
“Erica?”
“Yes?”
Gareth hesitated for a moment. “I just wanted to say I love you. I hope you already knew, but I wanted to say it. I love you and you’re perfect, and I’ll always adore you. I hope, when all this mess has died down, that we can really be together. I want nothing more than to just be with you, to hold you and talk to you honestly and share everything with you.”
Erica felt tears prick her eyes. “I love you too. So much. Oh, Gareth—I want all those things too. How can I not love the man who saved me—who could have owned me but set me free? But I loved you before that. I adore you too and just want to be with you.”
“I have to kiss you now. You know that, right?”
Erica giggled, then leaned up on her elbow and moved her lips to Gareth’s. It was a gentle kiss, but filled her heart with such love all the same. She truly loved this man. He was her savior. She owed her parents the world—especially her father for being such a genius and figuring out the plan—but Gareth was her true love, and she would never forget it.
***
Erica nervously knocked on the door to Gareth’s home one wintry evening. This day was different, and they both knew it.
The door opened and Gareth smiled down at her. “Hello,” he said, taking her hand and leading her inside. He shut the door behind her, and they stood in the candlelit room, with a fire blazing in the hearth. Neither of them said anything for a while, just stood there looking at the other.
“I-I understand if you’ve changed your mind,” Gareth said.
“No. No, I haven’t. Can we sit down?”
“Of course.”
They moved to the settee and sat, and Gareth enveloped her in a huge hug. Erica delighted in his touch, although she was still nervous. It had been nine months since she had gone through the test, and it had been an intense time of healing for them both. Erica tried to recover from what she’d been through, but Gareth and her family and friends helped. The twins and their family and Julia and hers had gone back home a little while after the dramatic events, but Erica stayed in close touch and saw Julia as much as she could.
She’d been spending a lot of time with Gareth, in between Gareth’s work as a candlemaker and her work with the coven and helping her mother create the potions her family sold. Gareth had healed well from his injuries, although it had taken a while. Her relationship with him had grown to be amazing as the months went by, but Gareth’s father had died a few months ago, and it had been very difficult for him. He’d become very quiet for a long while, and it was only recently that he’d returned to his old self.
Which brought them to this night.
Gareth moved his lips to Erica’s and kissed her, and Erica lost herself to him. They’d never made love before—Erica didn’t feel she was ready while she was recovering—but she’d told Gareth she wanted to take the next step the last time she saw him, and tonight they were moving forward. Erica wasn’t sure what it would be like—Gareth had more experience than her— but she was looking forward to enjoying everything with him. As he started kissing her neck, Erica sighed deeply, moving her hands to his hair. His touch, his scent, everything about him intoxicated her. She truly loved him. He was her everything. He was all she could ask for. Never could she have imagined what true love would feel like, or how it would come to her. It came to her in the ugliest of ways, but she now had the greatest gift of all.
About the Author
Mona Hanna is an author of fantasy/romance books. She enjoys writing about love, magic, conflict, trials and the joy of overcoming them. Mona enjoys reading, movies, chocolate, and adores cats. She hopes to release many more fantasy books in the years to come.
monahanna.com
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
