When I approached Lavignia after my test and I told her of my visions, she pushed me into a corner and told me to hush. She told me the time would come for the truth, but it was not now. That I still had too much to learn before I could understand what I saw.
One thing is certain, there is something in that chamber they don’t want anyone to find, and I will know what it is before I am made to be married. They will not sell me off to the highest bidder. I will not have it. Since that moment, just days ago, I have slowly fallen apart, piece by shattered piece. Food has no taste. I see no humor in Derreck and Elias’s antics like I used to. The only thing I know is I have a job to do and there is something wrong here. I just have to find it.
She was so strong. It was hard to believe I came from a woman who held so much strength. She gave up love. She did what she was told, sort of. For the hundredth time, I wished she were here so someone could point me in the right direction.
17
“You aren’t alone,” I said from the doorway I had been standing in for the last two minutes, watching Amelia read.
She gasped, her hands flying up to her mouth. “Ohmygod, Aidan, you scared the crap out of me!”
“You aren’t alone, Amelia. We’re going to do this together,” I reiterated solemnly. I wouldn’t allow her to forget I would be there for every single step.
I loved watching her pupils expand. Her eyes shined, a thin rim of violet around the darkness, like an eclipse from another planet.
“Are you a mind reader now?” she asked. “Do you just lurk around, Montgomery?”
I laughed out loud at the sassy look she threw me. It was a look I’d seen so many times before.
“You were projecting your emotions pretty strongly, doll. At first, I thought you were actually talking, but when I got to the door, I saw your lips weren’t moving. Since then, I haven’t stopped staring at your lips.” That last part, I didn’t actually mean to verbalize, but I did and the creeping red blush sweeping from her neck to her hairline was worth it.
“Charlie. Out,” I said. An ache inside me I had ignored since she woke up made my voice a little harsher than intended.
He hopped off the bed and didn’t look up as he lumbered out the door. I kicked it shut behind him without taking my eyes off Amelia. The blush was still there. I watched as her eyes shone brighter and her breaths became shallow. I probably could have picked out her heartbeat, but it didn’t matter. It matched the thundering of mine.
“I can’t get you out of my head, doll. Every second we’re doing what we should be, all I can think about is getting you alone.” It was increasingly hard to keep myself still.
“Well, there, um, have been a lot of…um, things, we needed to take care of,” she stuttered, rifling through the papers in her hand and shoving them toward the nightstand. They scattered onto the floor instead and she turned, but I couldn’t let this moment go.
“Leave them. We’ll get them later.” I couldn’t hold myself back anymore. I could smell her, could feel her power luring mine, drawing us both to her side. With each slow step I took toward the bed, I felt her wrap around me.
The air between us was thick with unspoken words, missed opportunities, and hope.
I wasn’t afraid for her anymore. She was here, whole and herself. She was the girl I watched come down the stairs to the beach that night. The girl who flicked her sunglasses onto her head and told me she didn’t need me, but she did. The girl who put on a tiny purple dress to seduce me back to her side.
She was sitting in the middle of the bed. There was no way for me to get to her without us being in bed together, and that hadn’t happened with both of us awake. I briefly considered whether it was something she wanted. When Amelia sharply inhaled, my eyes jumped to hers and that was all I needed. I took one more step and lowered to my hands and knees on the mattress, crawling until my face hovered just above hers.
“Are you ready for this?” I asked her, my eyes trained on hers. I knew mine were glowing bright blue. We couldn’t stop our power from taking hold when we were together. It had happened constantly since she woke up without the Keeper. Blue and violet swirled above us, dancing and twirling around each other.
“For what, exactly?” she whispered on an exhale. She licked her lips, just the tip of her tongue darting out and then disappearing. I wanted mine to be where it was.
“This is the moment of no return, Amelia,” I warned. “This is the moment we don’t come back from. There are no do or die situations. This is you. And me. And the truth of what we have. Are you ready for this.” I struggled to get the words out. My wolf was howling in my mind, my power spinning a cyclone around hers. The pressure inside my head felt very similar to shifting, but I wasn’t going to shift. This was something else entirely.
She nodded, a small jerk of her head.
“No. Say it, Amelia. Tell me you’re ready, that you know this is you and me and nothing else.” Every other declaration between us had been fueled by emotional desperation — life and death circumstances. She would choose me.
I didn’t realize my eyes were closed until I felt her hands on my cheeks.
“Aidan, look at me,” she whispered. I did, and it took my breath away. “I’m ready for us. For this.” She didn’t just look at me, she opened herself up. In a second, I was overwhelmed with everything she felt. It slammed into everything I was, and I couldn’t stop myself any longer.
I wrapped my palm around the back of her neck and pulled her up to meet me. I kept her gaze until our mouths met, and only then, as I swirled my tongue with hers, did I truly let go. Her hands were in my hair and her leg wrapped around my waist as she pulled herself up to meet me. I let go of her neck and ran my hand down her side.
Those ballerina curves were just as I remembered — the dip into her slim waist, the flare of her hips. I grabbed her hip, yanked her to press against me, and then rolled onto my back, pulling Amelia on top of me. I needed my hands free. I shoved one into her hair and pulled her mouth back to mine. We explored each other, our rhythm needy and frantic. I felt her around me, above me, inside my soul. I couldn’t separate the physical caress from the way her power seduced my own, drawing me in and completely encompassing me.
I let my hands wander, gripped her hips again, and then slid one up her back beneath her shirt. The feel of her skin, smooth under my fingertips, only made me want her more. At the same time, her knees gripped my sides and she held herself up with one hand while the other fisted my shirt. Amelia kissed me in waves; a fury of exploration and then slow, lingering kisses that branded me as hers.
I reached up, content to lose myself again, when banging started on the door.
“You guys need to get out here, now!” Cole’s terrified voice sliced through the sexual tension. We scrambled to right our clothes and I yanked open the door. He was already halfway down the hall, and yelled back, “Come on, I can’t get her to talk to me and she’s covered in blood.”
Like a rocket, we were both on his heels. We sprinted behind him and around the house. We careened around a corner, and there was Bethany. She sat on the ground, her back against the wall and knees pulled up, feet planted firmly. She held her hands out in front of her. The dark blood coating them matched the red of her flannel shirt. It was smeared on her jeans and had somehow ended up on her face.
Amelia motioned for us to stop as she slowly moved closer. “Bethany? Hey, B,” she said gently. Bethany’s eyes were unfocused as she continued to stare at her hands, turning them over and back. Amelia took another step and called her name a little louder. This time, her head shot up and I could see the anguish etched in her features. The shock and pain were plain as day in her stricken face.
“I…I just…I was there to keep watch, to help,” she started to speak. She couldn’t maintain eye contact and her voice held no emotion. “I wanted to help. But she passed out, and then the bleeding started. It was everywhere. Something went wrong. I yelled. I yelled for help. I screamed, but no one heard
me. I tried to stop the blood, but she woke up and tried to hurt me. I couldn’t do anything. It all happened so fast. All the blood. And her claws are so sharp. I had to leave her. I had to find Cora. I couldn’t help her.”
Amelia slowly knelt beside Bethany. “Did you get to Cora? How are Nell and the kittens?”
Bethany shook her head quickly, short snaps back and forth. “I…I don’t know. They yelled at me. Not Cora, but the others. They told me to get out, that I shouldn’t be there. That I could have killed her.” She stilled. “She could have died because I don’t have magic,” she said, her words tortured and full of disbelief.
18
I will kill them. That’s all I could think as I came around the corner, hearing Bethany’s story and taking in the disheveled, terrified girl hovering on the edge of a breakdown.
Cole and Aidan stood feet from her. They both looked unsure of what to do, but ready to unleash on someone. Amelia knelt on the ground next to Bethany, but each time she reached out, Bethany withdrew. She shook her head in jerky motions and I watched her hands tremble as she held them out in front of her.
Unable to allow her to get any worse, I quickly made my way to Bethany and gently put my hand on her shoulder. Bethany looked up at me, and I was shocked to see relief. That look was all the permission I needed to pull her into my arms, one around her and one under her knees. Without a word spoken, I walked away, and they didn’t stop me.
It took two steps before her tears began to soak my shirt. Soft whimpers both shattered my heart and fueled my anger. They had broken her. After everything Bethany had done, and been put through, by Immortals, they had broken her spirit. I struggled to check my rage as Baleon opened the door to our apartment.
He took one look at me, and her, and disappeared into the back rooms. With as much grace as I could, I lowered both of us onto the couch. She didn’t move, her bloodstained hands clutching my shirt as she continued to cry quietly. I reached up and brushed my thumb over her cheek. “It’s okay,” I murmured, over and over. Slowly, the tears stopped.
Bethany looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot and swollen, the tip of her nose red. For a brief moment, I saw trust. She trusted me to see her through this. That was enough for me.
I connected to Baleon and requested a bowl of water and a washcloth. In seconds, he was in and out of the room, moving quickly and quietly. So much so, Bethany didn’t notice him coming up behind her and setting the bowl within my reach.
I shifted her slightly and was able to use one hand to wring out the cloth. I moved slowly, allowing her to see what was in my hand before I touched her again. I started with her face, gently wiping away the dried smear high on her cheekbone. She leaned into the cloth and my hand, her eyes closed. I held her there, with just that thin piece of fabric between us. It was the closest we’d been in months, and the ache of missing her subsided in the smallest way.
“I’m going to set you on the couch so I can clean your hands, okay?” I said, my voice wavering with unexpected emotion. She still didn’t speak, but nodded warily.
I shifted her gingerly from my lap to the cushion and slid to my knees on the floor between her legs. We maintained eye contact throughout, hers widening marginally as I lightly spread her legs apart. I pulled the bowl of water closer and rewet the cloth, wringing it out before I unclasped her hands and brought one toward me. I wiped, rewet, wrung, and wiped again, until every speck of blood was gone from her hands.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
She finally spoke. “No. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it anymore.”
She mashed her lips together in a tight line and her eyes darted around as she swallowed more tears. She was going to pull herself together soon. And then she would realize what she just allowed. She’d so diligently avoided me since I’d arrived. She made her disdain for me painfully clear. Too clear, actually. What was that quote? “The lady doth protest too much.” I could only hope that was indeed the case.
She began to fidget and I knew the time had come. I stood and held a hand out to help her do the same. Surprisingly enough, she took it. She stood inches from me as she stared, gripping my hand tightly. I waited as she took me in, her eyes moving across my face, searching for what, I wasn’t sure.
Her blue irises were vibrant against her bloodshot eyes and even as I told myself to stop, I couldn’t. I lowered my head and captured her lips. At first, she responded, her tongue teasing my own. I held her face in my hands lightly, then moved one hand to the back of her neck, pulling her against me. I had no mate, I had no destiny, and I had been a joke to everyone but her.
Her hands gripped my shirt and I waited for her to pull me even closer. Instead, she shoved me back. A quick jolt of power stopped me from somersaulting over the table and into the wall. Bethany held her fingers to her mouth and her face gave away so much. I could feel the swirl of conflicting emotions and sighed as they landed right where I knew they would. She was angry.
“What was that?” she demanded.
“That was me kissing you,” I responded.
“Where do you get off kissing me? We are done. We are nothing. We weren’t ever anything. I trusted you.” She spit the words at me. Red flushed her cheeks and made me want to kiss her again, which would have required Baleon to save me from an untimely death.
She had just been through a traumatic ordeal and I didn’t want to fight, but she clearly did. Since there may not have been another chance for me to fight for her, I went for it.
I took a step forward and while she winced, she didn’t budge. “Were we nothing? Are you so sure? Because it was you kissing me back right then, wasn’t it, Bethany? It was you who came willingly into my arms and sought solace.”
I pulled at the button-down shirt I was wearing, and said, “Aren’t these your tears on my shirt? Did I not clean the blood from your hands? When will you realize that we were something, that we are something? You cannot hate with such venom unless you have loved in some capacity. At least I am not afraid to admit my feelings for you.
“They have always been there,” I continued, refusing to look away, refusing to miss one silent response. “From the moment I saw you, on every date we had, during every moment I tried to keep you safe and away from all of this. You didn’t see the fights I had with my mother and her brood of Hunters so I could be the one who brought you your meals and made sure they did not treat you like a human toy. You turned me away and cursed my name while I convinced my mother a human could not interfere with her plans, all the while knowing if the day came when you set your mind to it, you would do just as much damage as anyone with power running through their veins. I see who you are. I see the person you hide.”
Taking another step toward her, I breathed in deeply and lowered my voice. “I hide the same one — the one who has been used and spurned and done their best to make the right choices for the right reasons. I fight the battle to find myself and be myself while tuning out the constant judgment coming from all angles. My life is made of cleverly crafted lies I’ve been told since I could understand the words by someone who truly believes their intent is a justification for the decimation of a people they were sworn to protect. Take away the power and the royal title, and we are the same.”
Bethany hadn’t spoken. She hadn’t moved. She stared at me, her face blank, giving away nothing. I tried to wait, to give her time to process all I had laid bare, but I couldn’t.
“Say something, please.” The words were choked, a hoarse whisper.
She closed her eyes and slowly reopened them, resignation settling across her features. “I can’t do this right now, Micah. I can’t process all of that, and all of this. I just…can’t.”
I nodded stiffly and stepped to the side. She moved past me, but stopped at the door.
“Thank you.” Her words were barely there and as she walked away, they unraveled me further. Perhaps it had been easier to allow her to hate me, but the small fire of hope burni
ng in my soul was enough to confirm I had made the right choice.
19
Amelia and I rushed to the barn, concerned for Nell and her kittens. I worried about Elias’s reaction if anything had happened to either. With the rest of the pack here, devoted to the man who had been their leader for years, it could be mutiny in a second.
The barn doors were open and sunlight lit the path. Small groups of Immortals were huddled together, but went silent as Amelia and I approached. The AniMages bowed slightly and the pregnant Mages smiled sadly. I pulled Amelia around a corner, looked around to confirm no one was near us, then dropped the barriers Elias had taught me to put in place, allowing the emotions and thoughts of the other AniMages to flood my mind.
Amelia grasped my hand and pulled at the edges of my mind, wanting to know what I saw. I used our connection to show her as well.
We saw the situation unfold like a replay in someone’s mind. They entered the barn as Bethany ran toward them, screaming for help. Just as we’d found her, Bethany was covered in blood, bordering on hysterical. The yowling screams from Nell pierced the background. The AniMage called for Cora and Elias. Elias was out hunting, trying to find something Nell would eat, but Cora was there in seconds.
Bethany tried to tell them what happened, but no one would listen. She was shoved aside, literally, as AniMages and Mages gathered to do what they could. It was Melinda who completely turned on Bethany, which wasn’t shocking in the least. She hissed the words at Bethany, a venomous string of insults that had eventually broken our friend.
I came out of the memory filled with rage, ready to end Melinda once and for all. She had attacked Amelia and me against Elias’s orders. She had taken Bethany and taunted her for hours when she was only supposed to watch over her until Amelia came. And then she had set Braxton against me. That woman was poison and had no business being part of my pack.
I took two steps before Amelia’s hand wrapped around my wrist. I instantly felt the anger diminish slightly. “Aidan, no, not now. We need to focus on Elias and Nell. You have to show them that we don’t lash out in retaliation. We lead. We take care of our people first.”
Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) Page 9
