We both turned to the door at the same time. It had been open while we were arguing.
I squeezed her fingers lightly and then stepped next to Joran. I put my mouth to his ear and explained the situation. He swore and rubbed his brow.
“But they cannot see her?” he asked. I shook my head.
Suddenly, the voices coming from the prison chamber were louder. “How did that door get open? Did you leave that open? You damn fool, he could have gotten out!” the first voice yelled.
“I didn’t leave it open! And how’s he going anywhere? Just because Rhi doesn’t use magic on humans doesn’t mean he can’t inflict pain. Just shut the door and let’s go. I’m hungry.” The second voice confirmed our fears. Rhi had spent time with Cole. It was only my quick reflexes that kept Amelia from barreling out that door.
I assumed the next sound would be the door to Cole’s cell being shut, but it was clanging, a loud thud, and more yelling.
“What the hell was that? Did you hit me? You threw that at me, didn’t you?” the second voice accused.
“I did no such — ow! I saw that. You used that chain to smack me!” The two were fighting again and I finally put what was happening together.
“It’s Bethany. She’s distracting them. We need to go, we need to go now,” I said, just loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Just for a minute, please stay?” I asked Amelia. She pursed her lips, but nodded. I pressed a quick kiss to her grimace and took my position.
Joran, Derreck, and I leapt out the door and quickly shut it behind us. It closed faster than we’d expected and the sound drew the eyes of the still-arguing Hunters.
“He knew you would come,” the first said, lunging toward us. He took two steps before Bethany shoved a steel cell door open and smacked him in the face. The Hunter stumbled backward, the red mark on his face fading instantly as he scowled and scanned the room.
“Get out of the way,” I yelled. I hoped Bethany understood I was talking to her. We still couldn’t see her, but I had no clue if the Hunters understood what they should be looking for. I didn’t want them to.
“You have invaded the wrong place, AniMage. We aren’t going anywhere. And, Joran, didn’t you learn your lesson the first time? We’ll take you ourselves and prove our allegiance to Rhi!”
Fists pounded on one of the doors and I was certain that’s where Micah was. “We need to find Cole,” I said loudly.
“Your human won’t be going anywhere,” the second Hunter said. “He’s lucky he’s breathing.” The Hunter rapped on a door, then opened it and shoved his head in, repeating the phrase. The idiot eliminated our guessing game of which one of ten doors Cole was behind. And he left the door partially open when he resumed his position.
I started to goad the Hunters our way. Derreck and Joran did the same. We needed them to come closer so Bethany could get to Cole. The hallway in the prison chamber was probably fifty feet total, with a large open room at our end. Cole and Micah were on the opposite end from us, their cells facing each other.
With each step they took, the two Hunters’ eyes glowed brighter — orange swirled with yellow and red. They were white-haired demons stalking their prey.
I saw Cole’s door open a tiny bit more and then slowly close again. Bethany had to be in there.
“Will those doors keep out magic?” I asked Joran in a low tone.
He nodded. “They are designed to keep power in or out, but the door is a barrier either way.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.
Amelia, get ready to show these Hunters what Gaea is made of. Bethany is with Cole, and both they and Micah are protected behind their cell doors. I want you to come out here and take these two out.
Happy to. Her smug tone actually increased my confidence in her. It was about time she saw it in herself.
I turned to Joran and Derreck, and said, “On three, we bum rush these assholes and give Amelia space.”
42
I had been waiting for Aidan to give me that exact instruction. I exchanged a few words with Rynna and we agreed she’d follow me out and quickly find cover. I didn’t think there would be collateral damage, but this was my first test of Gaea’s power.
I stood in front of the door and hovered in Aidan’s mind. As soon as he, Joran, and Uncle Derreck collided with the Hunters, I threw the door open and strode into the room.
My power was amped to the max and I knew my eyes looked like violet fireballs. The white added to the already potent impact of the purple that defined the Elders. The guys quickly rolled this way and that, getting themselves to safety.
I watched each one bolt behind a cell door and knew the floor was mine. The Hunters leapt to their feet and I had the satisfaction of watching them both swirl their hands in various motions and then look utterly confused when nothing happened. I felt their power come at me like a mosquito I could swat away, so I did.
Then they resorted to actually taking shots at me, shouting various threats as I batted away bolt after bolt of orange lightning. When the taller of the two reached for a cell door, I finally acted offensively. “You will not hurt them, any of them,” I warned.
With a flick of my hand, he was thrown across the room. He landed in a crouch, but at least had the intelligence to look impressed. “You are not the same little girl who came here weeks ago,” he said, his long white hair falling in his face.
“I am not the same girl period,” I said, stretching my arms out in front of me and closing my fists. Each Hunter looked down to find their jacket bunched in my invisible hands. My arms rose and so did they, floating a foot off the ground.
I walked forward, and asked, “Where is Baleon?”
Neither spoke, their orange eyes flaring in revolt of my manipulation. Hunters were used to having the upper hand, always. Gaea had made them for that express purpose. But, they weren’t supposed to use that against the very people they were meant to protect.
I shook my fists and threw them wide. The Hunters jolted in the air and then slammed against the hallway walls. The metal bars on the cell doors clinged and clanged, metal rattling.
“You don’t seem to understand what’s happening here, so let me make it clear,” I said, tipping my head to the side as I stood a foot in front of them. “I am the end of this. I am the end of Julia’s reign and your tyranny. You cannot stop me. Rhi cannot stop me. I can take whatever I want from either of you.”
I stopped talking and focused on their power. I no longer saw them as blood, muscle, and bones and instead, saw the orange power glowing at their core. I reached out for the threads of that ball and slowly pulled them toward me. I didn’t take their power, I didn’t want it, but I wanted them to know I could.
I refocused to find stammering Hunters who reeked of fear.
“You aren’t used to being the ones controlled, are you? Julia has you so convinced her thoughts are yours, you forget that you wear her collar and do her bidding. I am building a world where you make your own choices. You live where you want and do what you want. Your first choice is now. Either tell me where to find Baleon and do as I say, or find yourselves on the wrong end of this war. Because make no mistake, this is a war, and I will win.”
I hadn’t even asked them their names. It didn’t matter right now.
I’m coming out. I heard Aidan and seconds later, he opened the cell door and joined me.
“Now is when you choose,” I said. The two looked at each other and then back at me.
“Fine, we’ll tell you, but it won’t help. Rhi has him in his chambers. If Rhi has him, then Baleon is doomed. He is likely already broken and gone.” The Hunter spoke as I allowed them to drift to the floor. Aidan and I walked forward as one unit.
Their collars. Break them, I said to him. Aidan smiled, a conspiratorial smirk confirming my idea was the right one.
I like it. If she can’t find them, they can’t rat us out, he responded.
Aidan approached the two Hunte
rs and I fed him my power. It was the reverse of how things may have been intended, but I didn’t care who did what. What mattered was we needed to win over these Hunters eventually, and they needed to have as much respect for Aidan as they did for me.
He reached out and grabbed the first Hunter’s collar. At the same time, I thought to myself, snap it in half, and he did just that. Aidan’s hands glowed bright blue and the metal bent and then ruptured under the pressure. The Hunter cried out, meaning more than just the collar had been broken in the process. I wondered how deep Julia’s hold really went.
Aidan repeated the movement with the second Hunter, and the result was identical. The cell doors around us started to open and Rynna, Derreck, and Joran emerged. “Into the cell,” I demanded, pointing to the room Joran had vacated.
The two Hunters went in without protest and I closed the door behind them, locking it. As soon as the lock clicked into place, I bolted toward Cole’s door. I wrenched it open to find Bethany sitting on the floor, tears pouring down her face as my brother’s head lay in her lap.
“He’s barely breathing,” she whispered.
“It’s okay, B,” I responded, struggling to speak myself. I knelt next to Cole and prayed healing a human was just like healing an Immortal. I felt Aidan’s hands on my shoulders and knew we would not let my brother die. Not here. Not after all this.
So, I placed my hands on his chest and sent my magic into his system. I sought out every bruise, broken bone, area of constricted blood flow, and potential injury. Aidan was there with me, on the edges of my mind, reassuring me both verbally and physically as he fed me the excess power I needed to stay focused. When I could watch Cole’s lungs fully inflate and his heart no longer struggled to pump, I finally pulled back. He wasn’t entirely conscious, but I was afraid to do too much. I swayed on my knees and Aidan wrapped his arms around me from the back, pulling me into him.
Bethany looked at me, awestruck, then she reached down and smoothed Cole’s hair out of his face as his eyes started to flutter open.
“You have to get him out of here, Bethany,” I said. My voice shook as I watched Cole struggle back to full consciousness. “I need you to get him as far away from this as you can. Take him to Tragar, get him through the maze, and away from here. I need both of you away from here.” I watched the uncertainty cross her features, but she locked it down in a hurry.
“I can. I can do that. I need someone to get me to Tragar, but I won’t let anyone else hurt him, Amelia,” she said. My strength had returned and I reached out, my pinky extended. She nodded and hooked it with her own. “Pinky swear,” we both said together.
“I will take them to Tragar,” Joran said from behind us. “I can get them there and meet you in Rhi’s chambers. We will get Baleon together.”
Micah appeared in the doorway of the cell, rubbing his wrists and stretching his shoulders. “I know where we need to go. Let Joran take them and I will lead us. I owe Rhi a visit after how well he treated us.”
Cole still hadn’t fully come to, so Joran scooped him up as if he weighed nothing at all. Bethany stood as well and yanked me into a strong hug. “Swear to me you’re coming back, Ame. Swear to me I’ll see you again. Both of you,” she demanded. I felt her fingertips dig into my back muscles as she tucked her chin over my shoulder. I assumed she was looking at Aidan as she held onto me.
“Of course you’ll see us again, Blondie,” he said.
I squeezed her back and pulled away. “You will, Bethany, I promise. Nobody can touch this,” I joked, forcing a smile and giving her a sassy look.
“Give ‘em hell, girl. And then give ‘em some more from your little human friend,” she said with a wink.
The room fell silent as she sidestepped Micah without making eye contact and disappeared down the hall to follow Joran.
“Well, boys, I suppose it’s time to slay the dragon, don’t you think?” I asked, pulling my hands to my hips and rocking back on my heels.
“His fire is about to be put out,” Aidan said with a smirk.
Micah followed with, “And then let’s chop off his head so he never returns.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.
43
Leaving Baleon was out of the question. None of us held back as we raced toward the Hunter quarters. I was afraid of what just a few days had done to the only father I’d ever known.
I hadn’t even had time to process what Amelia did; blasting into the room with authority and then completely incapacitating two Hunters. I had watched through the small window in my cell door, the metal bars obstructing parts of my vision and making me question whether what I’d seen was actually real.
She and Aidan were behind me now, and with each step, I felt my power returning. The binds were gone and I would soon be able to fight at full strength. Derreck and Rynna brought up the rear of our pack, checking behind us continually.
So far, the other Hunters hadn’t come for us. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t asking questions. I wanted to get Bale and get out. I also wanted to understand why a part of me felt tied to Amelia in a way I never had before. I felt a deep need to protect her at all costs.
We came to another intersection of hallways and I peeked around the corner. There were no Hunters anywhere and that fact had me concerned. We continued and soon entered Hunter domain, moving as one silent unit. The last thing I expected was to have a door at the other end of the hallway open and Rhi emerge. He took slow steps, his head cocked to the side. He slowly developed a grin that felt gloating and menacing all at once.
“What do we have here?” he asked, sneering, his arms spread wide. “A ragtag group of Mages and one lowly AniMage polluting the bunch? You really shouldn’t have bothered. I won’t give him back to you.” Rhi paused, his chin high as he leaned back. “I have waited a lifetime to do to him what I please. He is protected by no one now. His life isn’t worth the blood splatter, though I will still relish in it.”
I didn’t hesitate. I threw everything I had at Rhi. I had no idea what I yelled at him, but I promised retribution for any of Baleon’s pain. I shot quick blasts, waiting for the perfect time to strike, to use the secret Bale had shared only with me.
“If a Hunter comes at you and you truly fear for your life, Prince Mikail, do not hesitate. Aim for his eyes,” he’d told me after he’d caught a group of Hunters toying with me in the halls. “A Hunter who cannot see cannot control the power inside him. Every race has a weakness and ours is the need to see. We must see the Immortal and the power inside them to determine how best to attack. If you destroy the Hunter’s sight, you take his power.” Baleon had drilled this knowledge into me over the years.
As I pelted Rhi with blast after blast, he laughed, shaking them off as if he were walking through a light rain. I knew I wouldn’t actually hurt him, but I needed to distract him. The others had spread out around me, but Amelia stayed behind our half circle.
As Derreck and Rynna sent crackling balls of green and red power at Rhi, the stones around him crumbled. I took that moment to aim and send power I gathered from the deepest parts of my core at him. Unfortunately, at the last second, Rhi saw it and spun away. What was meant for his eyes hit the back of his shoulder. The leather disintegrated and blood poured from the wound. Threads of orange power built a web over the wound and Rhi hissed as it cauterized.
It wasn’t until Amelia shoved through our ranks that the tides changed. I expected Aidan to hold her back, but he didn’t. When we stopped attacking, he filled the gap in our line as she strode toward Rhi. Unflinching, she stared the Hunter down.
“Something is different about you, Keeper,” he mused as he brushed at the burnt hole in his jacket. “Did the darkness finally steal your soul? I felt her there; ready to blot you out like a worthless piece of history. Just like your useless parents and good-for-nothing brother. Did she finally win?” he jeered.
Amelia’s response shattered my reality entirely.
44
In one breath, h
e insulted the three people he shouldn’t have. He took two of them from me and I had barely pulled the third from his clutches.
“Today is not your day, Rhi. Today is not the day you want to say things like that to me,” I tried to warn him. All the while, I thought about who Gaea was and what she’d given me.
“No?” he asked, barking out a laugh. “I don’t want to tell you how your mother groveled for you? How she begged for me to spare your life?” he taunted as he stepped forward.
Earth. My palms glowed white and with one quick movement, the walls around us shook. I cocked my head at Rhi as he regained his balance.
“She did nothing of the sort,” I said, my tone intentionally goading him. “My mother saw you coming. She planned for you. She gave me power you couldn’t even fathom. You fool. You let me live.”
I took pleasure in his face flushing, in the set of his jaw and the way his shoulders rose as he leaned toward me. “What did you say?” he questioned, his threat obvious.
“You. Are. A. Fool,” I enunciated. Air. I didn’t even move. The air whipped into the room, a swirling mini tornado that whirled toward Rhi, blowing his long white hair in all directions. To his credit, he didn’t move an inch. He actually looked amused. A small move of his hand and the air fell to nothing.
Suddenly, I was the one lifting into the air. I’d been here before. In Esmerelda’s, I’d felt this same hold. It threatened to steal my breath. Shock hit with the realization it had never been Julia. All this time, it was Rhi doing the dirty work. The power had never been hers, just hers to control.
I never took my eyes off Rhi as his smile widened. I kept a straight face as Rhi flung me from side to side, always stopping before I actually hit the wall. Aidan was screaming in my head, but reacting would only make it worse. I let Rhi have his fun, keeping him just on the other side of actually hurting me. I had to stay focused.
After a few more tosses, I finally said, “Are you done?” Rhi’s head jolted back. “I asked if you were done,” I repeated. His brow furrowed as his hand moved to the left and I didn’t follow. This time, it was my smile that grew as I slowly floated to the floor.
Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) Page 23
