Cole didn’t spare Micah another glance as he walked over to Bethany. Micah stood, fuming, but silent.
“Do you want my help?” Cole asked her.
Bethany looked shell-shocked. “I…I do,” she stuttered. “I don’t know what just happened, it sounds like a good thing, but I…I just want to leave. I can’t do this anymore.”
Cole didn’t acknowledge anyone else, just held out his hand and waited for Bethany to take it. “Then, we’ll leave,” he said.
24
My jaw throbbed, but my soul screamed as I watched Cole’s outstretched hand hovering in the air between them. Though I couldn’t see her, it was clear he held her hand as they walked away. He was leaving with her. Rationally, I knew there was no other choice, but I hated him in that moment.
“Mikail…” Aunt Ryannon’s voice seemed far away, but I felt her hand on my arm.
I jerked away, then immediately started to apologize. It was ingrained in me to do as was proper, but this time, I didn’t care. I stopped just a few words in and clamped my mouth shut. Aunt Ryannon stood next to Amelia’s uncle, her lips pursed with a look of worry she couldn’t hide. Amelia and Aidan were holding hands, ever the mated pair. And Bale looked at me with quiet concern.
“I’m fine,” I declared to all of them. “I’m fine. This was for the best. Now we can get on with things. Let’s go back inside.” I turned on my heel and tried not to stomp my anger through the soles of my feet as I made my way into the small apartment.
At first, the dogs were the only ones to follow me, but eventually, the others trickled in. As soon as they were seated, I launched into the plan. I needed to control something. She was gone and I had to do something.
“Amelia, you and Aidan are right, you need to go,” I said. “And if you’re going all the way to the castle, then you need transportation. We have a private hanger near Brighton. The jet isn’t huge, but it will make the trip. And I know we have an AniMage out there who is a pilot. They call him Hawk, for obvious reasons. The three of you should leave immediately.”
I didn’t give them time to argue, or even process the information I’d thrown at them before I continued.
“I believe Derreck and Rynna should be left in charge here. They can protect the women, children, and families who have been reunited. With fewer of us here, there is less likelihood the power will draw the Hunters this way.”
Finally, I looked at Bale.
“Baleon, our duty is to find help. There are more Immortals than not who would like to see my mother dethroned. Who better to convince them than her son?” Bale nodded, but he would have come with me wherever I went.
I stood. “Okay, then? Let’s go.” I took one step before they all spoke at once.
I clenched my jaw and fought back the urge to use my power to silence them. I had done it to my mother once, and then spent three days locked in a small room for it. Baleon sat outside the door, his fingers wedged underneath so I could hold on to him, and made sure I was fed, but no one was allowed to speak to me. She said if I wanted silence, then I would understand what silence meant. I was seven. I hadn’t used that particular skill since.
I held up both hands. Eventually, they quieted. Aidan was the first to speak again.
“You can’t make that decision for all of us, Micah,” he said. I felt Aidan’s control slipping, but appreciated that he held back the wolf wanting to put me in my place. Right now, I did not need an excuse to let my power run freely either.
“Your offer of the jet is great,” he continued, “but I lead the majority of those people out there. I need to speak to them. I need to give them a plan and someone to follow. And, I’m sorry, but Derreck isn’t exactly on my list of trusted advisors, and Rynna is a caretaker. My people need a leader. Elias will have to take my place.”
Derreck reclined on the sofa and looked at him with bordering indifference. “I’m not offended, Aidan, don’t worry,” he said. Then he turned to me. “And, you and I are not friends, Mikail, but you’ve proven your place. You’ve proven me wrong. I believe your aunt when she says you will fight for us. But if you think you are the right person to convince our people to fight, you are wrong.” His tone grated on me and my tenuous grip on my emotions started to slip as he continued.
“You have convinced the people here to trust you, but out there, they are not your people. They are not your mother’s people. They will see you as a spy and they will turn you in for treason so they don’t suffer your mother’s wrath themselves. You are the last person who should be out spreading the word. It should be Rynna and me, and possibly a few others.”
My aunt sat, her hands in her lap, waiting her turn, always the patient one. “Mikail, Derreck is right. No matter how pure your intentions, Immortals who have not met you will not trust you. It would be dangerous, especially if you take Baleon with you.”
I opened my mouth to argue. “I’m not finished,” she scolded before I got a word in.
“Aidan,” she said, looking across the room, “you cannot leave Elias in charge. He is distracted, rightfully so, and he has led for too long. He deserves this time with his family and doesn’t need to be asked to sacrifice yet again. You should put Mikail in charge. The women love him, the AniMage men have come to respect him, and there is much Baleon can teach all of them about fighting the Hunters.” Aidan was nodding thoughtfully, clearly open to the idea.
She turned to me again, this time her eyes burned red when she spoke. “Mikail, if you do this, if you choose to fully take this path, you will be dead to your mother. She will never forgive you. You will be disgraced, just as I was when she banished me. You will have made a choice you cannot come back from. Be certain, nephew. It can be a lonely path to lose your family, no matter who they are.” Her unchecked sadness was stronger than I’d expected.
My eyes scanned the room as I let her words and emotions sink in. They landed on Amelia, and I realized she had yet to speak. “You have to have thoughts on this, you have thoughts on everything.” I tried to banter, but it fell flat.
She just stared at me for the longest time.
“My best friend is gone. My brother is gone,” she said, matter of fact. “In all likelihood, it’s better that I don’t know where. My father is dead. My mother is dead. I’m about to get on a jet, fly halfway across the world, and search the ruins of a castle that looks like who-knows-what so I can figure out what this prophecy really means, and what I’m supposed to do to end your mother’s reign.” She used air quotes around that last part, her irritation with the prophecy clear. “There’s a solid chance the Hunters could find the people I care about while I’m gone. At this point, Micah, you’re either in or you’re out. I never had a choice about being in, not really, so be sure. I won’t choose for you. I won’t tell you what you should or shouldn’t do.”
I swallowed the dry lump that formed in my throat. I’d known this choice would come, and it always seemed so easy when it was merely hypothetical. Now, even after everything I knew about my mother, and everything she’d done to me and everyone else, I hesitated for a brief second. Then, her voice rang clearly in my mind.
It is quite disappointing to think you were one of the last children born, Mikail. I do hope the history books realize our world wasn’t filled with failures like you, but great men like your father. They will see. They will see that only the strong survive and the rest serve, or disappear completely.
“There is no question. I’m in,” I said. I stepped toward Aidan and held out my hand. He looked puzzled. “If you’ll have me, I would be honored to fill in for you. I will train them. Bale and I will teach them, and we will build our army from the inside out.”
Aidan smiled and grasped my hand, shaking it slowly. “We’ll tell them together. Then, Amelia, the dogs, and I will head out with Hawk.”
Relief bloomed in my chest and spread quickly through me. I would stand on my own. I would lead. I would help save my people.
25
Surprisingly, the An
iMages and Mage women took to our plan rather quickly. They were anxious for movement and action. The realization that Julia was awake, and we were no longer safe, made them ask the right questions.
The women who could fight wanted to know how to prepare. The AniMages focused on what could be done to actually damage the Hunters and stop what felt like unstoppable power. Those with families, or still pregnant, wanted to know where they could go to stay safe. The group rallied around Micah and Baleon.
I struggled through the conversation with my pack. I wanted them to trust Micah and Baleon, and was proud they embraced our plan without complaint, but a small part of me wanted them to rebel in some way. I wanted them to need me, to demand that I stayed.
I had been their King for less than a month. Only this small group even knew the AniMages had a King again. It was a ridiculous notion and I would leave with Amelia anyway, but the pull of my own duty created conflict I hadn’t expected. So much of this journey had been about getting to Amelia, and then getting her back. But, during it all, I had grown attached to the AniMages. They were my family — my real family — and I hated leaving them vulnerable.
They had an odd mixture of fear and hope when we told them Amelia and I were going back to the castle. AniMages came forward to impart whatever knowledge they could about the area and what they remembered from their time at the castle before Julia drove them from their homes.
More of them than I’d expected were around when Julia took the throne and the Immortal world crumbled. It was heartbreaking to hear their stories, but Amelia and I gave each one the opportunity to speak their piece. We heard about how the Hunters ransacked the villages, how they burned homes to the ground and forced the AniMages to scatter. Some now questioned whether their wives had died or simply became a part of Julia’s experiments. Either way, they’d lost their families and they lived on the run, always waiting for the Hunters to finish the job. Their stories helped me gain perspective. If the answer was really in that castle, we would find it.
Before we could leave, we needed to also send Rynna and Derreck on their way. They had friends all over North America, and Rynna knew of a few places they might find Tragar — the man who saved Amelia’s mother’s journal. The four of us stood awkwardly in Derreck’s driveway. I held Amelia’s hand, a current of anxiety running back and forth between us.
Rynna was the first to step forward, holding her arms out to Amelia. I missed our connection as soon as she stepped away, but the relief I saw in Rynna’s eyes as she pulled Amelia in helped put me at ease.
“You’re off on another adventure, aren’t you, dear?” Rynna asked as she cupped the back of Amelia’s head in one hand and wrapped her arm around her. Amelia chuckled. “Just promise me you’ll be careful,” Rynna said soberly. “Promise me you’ll make the decisions in your heart. You will know what to do when the time comes, I am sure of it.
“Remember there was a time when the castle was filled with life and laughter,” Rynna continued. “There was a time when Immortals didn’t want to leave the surrounding lands and they rejoiced in the lives they led. Things fell apart very quickly and there are no clear explanations for how it began or what could have been done to stop it. My sister sits at the center now, but I have always believed there is more to our story. Be wary. Be vigilant. Be careful.” Rynna squeezed Amelia’s hands and let her go.
Amelia stepped back, nodding. When the time came, I wondered whether she would be careful or go running head first into danger, like usual.
Derreck took his turn, awkwardly holding out a hand. Amelia shook her head and wrapped him in a hug. “You’re my uncle, we can hug. And I know. I have to think of our people, not myself, and I need to make the decision best for the whole because it is my duty.”
Derreck hiccupped a laugh as he stepped back, holding her by the shoulders. “If I’d thought you were actually going to listen to me, I would have said a lot more, you know.” Amelia laughed quietly as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You are just like your mother in so many ways, Amelia. You make me miss her even more, but you honor her memory. She knew this day would come and you are as prepared as you can be for it. Trust your instincts and trust each other. It is what brought you this far.”
Amelia stepped back to my side. Her energy was calm as her palm slid into mine. It had been long enough since Cole’s power merged with hers, I no longer felt the difference between the two. Our fingers intertwined as Rynna and Derreck mimicked the motion. I looked down at her and knew the determination in her eyes matched my own.
“We’re doing the right thing by leaving them, aren’t we?” I asked quietly.
Her eyes moved across the crowd of Immortals who stood, waiting for us to leave. “Too much has happened for this all to be coincidence,” she said. “We met and my power went through the roof. That power started to break your binds. Uncle Derreck stole the Sentinels from the castle.
“I allowed myself to be taken to Cresthaven,” she continued. “If I hadn’t, these women would be dead, and we would have never understood the full extent of Julia’s insanity. We have a Hunter and the Prince of Immortals on our side. We have a journal telling us where to go and, hopefully, what to do when we get there. Fate brought us this far. Now, Aidan, it is up to us. If not us, then who?”
26
We walked through the Syrian forest in silence. It wasn’t strained or awkward in any way. It was actually rejuvenating. The quiet was welcome after days and days of conversation, decisions, arguments, and emotions.
I needed space to clear my mind and wrap my head around where we were and what we were doing. I was still reconciling the fact that I fell asleep over the Atlantic Ocean and woke up in Syria, a hotbed of civil unrest. It was beyond comprehension. But, we hadn’t seen a single soul and the closer we got to the castle, the more I felt the pull of it. I didn’t need Charlie and Onyx to lead us. I could have found my way there with no guide in pitch black from the way it drew me in.
I had expected that, though. When we first boarded the plane, I pulled out the pages of my mother’s journal and organized them chronologically again. I read every word. Bethany had been right. Reading about her relationship with my father had been pretty wonderful. It reminded me of how I felt about Aidan. She talked about how she was drawn to him. How he calmed her, yet sent her heart racing.
She detailed her visions, and so many of them had already come true: Julia getting pregnant, Cane dying, the villages burning, the Hunters killing so many. She had seen so much and it brought tears to my eyes to know she carried that burden alone.
She talked more about her quest to find the chamber, but the journal ended before she could tell me where to find it. The only thing I knew was, much like I felt now, she was pulled toward it. It was one of her last entries and she described the feeling perfectly.
I know the time is coming. The dominoes are poised to fall and each event will trigger the next. They still plan to marry me off, but they don’t know what I do. Lavignia won’t listen. She won’t listen, so neither will I.
Nathaniel stopped me on my way to the castle today. He scared me, pulling me off the path into the bushes. He looked at me with such concern and tenderness, I struggled to keep the tears at bay. Then he told me he would leave the castle forever to allow me to do my duty, or we could run together. That I could choose love and let the rest of the Elders handle what was to come.
He doesn’t know what I do, but I will leave with him. There will be nothing but death here soon, and I am one of the few who can still bear life inside me.
I walked the halls earlier today, willing the visions to show me how to stop this when I felt it. A light tugging, right over my heart, as if someone tied a string to my breastbone and gently pulled me toward them.
One step at a time, I was pulled forward. With each step, my heart pounded and my pulse beat in my ears. I cannot say for sure, but I believe something, or someone, has sought me out. I would have found them, too, if it weren’t for Julia. I heard
the click of her heels against the stone and knew she was following me again. Even while the pain of separation stole my breath, I had to turn away from the one pulling at me to stop her from finding what only I was meant to find.
I felt that same tug, that same pull. Something, or someone, was drawing me in.
You’re quiet over there. Everything okay? Aidan’s voice interrupted my thoughts and I smiled, loving the fact that we could talk like this.
I stepped over a log and held a small tree branch back so we could both pass by. I can’t believe how much my mother took on. The visions, the searching, sneaking back here, absorbing the power of the Elders…I don’t know how she knew to do all of that. But I reread her journal and now, I feel just like she did toward the end. Something is drawing me there. We’re close.
Since landing, our connection had strengthened and our power intensified. When Aidan’s anxiety spiked, I felt his wolf stretching through him. It was a strange, yet comforting feeling. There was Aidan the man, who wanted to protect me. Then, there was Aidan the wolf, the AniMage King, who would take down an army for me.
When the wolf came to the forefront, everything was instantly heightened for me as well. The power transfer between us meant I felt my own senses sharpen. The frozen soil hiding beneath the fresh snow, the wet fur on the Danes, even my own shampoo…it was all so heavy in my nose. I could see deeper into the forest and the ache in my legs eased as new energy filtered in.
It doesn’t feel threatening, I assured him. With everything I can feel from you, I’m surprised you can’t feel it, too.
I watched Aidan’s eyes squint as he concentrated. Finally, he shook his head and said out loud, “I don’t feel drawn anywhere. It’s the first time your emotions haven’t also transferred to me, and I don’t like it. Stay with me, Amelia. Stay with me and don’t take off. Promise me.”
Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) Page 13
