The Beast Within (The Beast Withon Book 1)

by SL Perrine

  “So then why are there others here looking to harm me?”

  “They’re working for my father. His new plan is to bring you back to Pylira and then kill you. He believes you can only be reborn if you die here, as part of the original curse.”

  “Wow, so why did your uncles bring you here before the passage closed? Do they know who closed it?” I asked.

  “There were many amongst the Clan that were not happy with my father’s use of buio magia, my uncles are a part of that group.” He ran his hands through his hair.

  “We discussed the options. We had a month to prepare. We spent our last night together after you decided you would die with the rest,

  so we could fight my father and defeat him. That was your choice, and I was told only you could decide. You could have decided to stay with your family and we would have lived separate lives always, or this.” He grabbed my hand and I feel the energy between us. “Or you could die, come back and we could be together always.”

  “Where do the uncles fit in?” I asked.

  “My uncles brought me here because they were involved with closing the passageways. They found out closing the passages would allow me to be here in my human form, so I could find you. I did not know you were you until I saw you out of my own eyes. In beast form, that first day, I had no idea who you were.” He squeezed my hand, “Until you jumped in front of me to protect me from Xander. Your powers started to regenerate then, we were standing so close. I couldn’t see you, but I felt you.”

  “What do you mean you couldn’t see me?”

  “My beast form changed my senses. Everything I saw was red, and faces all looked alike. Even after I regenerated, it lasted for hours.”

  “Why wait a year to tell me all of this? Why not tell me that very first day?” Now I began to feel hurt and angry.

  “I did not want to scare you away. I couldn’t lose you again, and if we were to stay here away from Ourobus, then you would be safe.” He looked down at his hand, then added, “I’m sorry I waited, but your Renella again, and we can open the passage... we can find your mother and defeat Ourobus together.”

  -21-

  Supper had been called, but I decided I was not hungry this evening. I decided to wander the palace a bit. I had hardly realized that I was wondering to the small courtyard on the east wing of the palace. I saw the large arches that lead to the open sky. The evening air was warm as usual, but this evening I had been blessed with the evening breeze. The walls of the palace were tall still around this court yard; I very rarely felt the breeze here. The nights sky was so bright I felt like I were standing in a lite room. I wander aimlessly to the back side of the pond and look into the sky to find a star to wish on.

  “The entire palace at your disposal and you come here?” Momentarily caught off guard I gave a short scream at my quiet revere being interrupted.

  “Yes, I enjoy the quiet.” I said in short.

  “Hmm.” He grunted. I never did understand why men thought that grunting was an acceptable form of communication.

  “Why are you here?” I ask sarcastically.

  “This is my home I can wander as I please.” He insisted.

  “I’ve been told this is my home now too, I guess that means I too am allowed to wander about as I please.” I walked counterclockwise around the large pond. There were five foot sections of open space in-between each of the five marble columns that surround it. I watched as he walked the ledge that encases the water, in the opposite direction as I walk.

  “You’re going to fall.” I plucked a morning glory from its vine on the column. They grew wild through the entire court yard and up along all the walls.

  “They say you come here often. You like this place above all, don’t you?” He stated and asked.

  “Yes, it’s not cold here.” I looked down at my feet.

  “Cold? What do you mean? Are we not nice enough to you?” His foot nearly missed the next ledge as he wrapped himself around a pillar.

  “I did not say this place was not mean, I said it is not cold. This place reminds me of home. The rest of the palace reminds me of a prison.” I found my voice, and let him know I wasn’t meek. If we were to be married, I did not want him to think I was his stepping stone. As it was we barley said two words to each other per day.

  “A prison you say. HA!” He laughs. Well your highness, you should be happy to know I feel the same way.” He reached the section I was standing in, so I started walking around the other direction.

  “Your home feels like a prison to you? You seem to feel quit at home here, sir. I do not believe you.” I hold my head high and make for the entrance to the palace. As I turn he bends and grabs my skirts to hold me there.

  “Wait, can’t we just talk? We are supposed to be bonding, did they not call super? Yet here we both are, avoiding each other and yet finding each other. What do you make of that?” His speech nearly won me, but I tug my skirts from his hand and he loses his balance on the ledge of the pond.

  I turn and hear the splash behind me before the water hits me.

  “Look what you’ve done, silly prince.” I began laughing uncontrollably.

  The prince, sitting on the bottom of the pond looks up at me with mud across his brow and a scornful look on his face.

  “Are you quit finished, or do you think you could give me a hand out of here?”

  “As you wish, your highness.” I say with a quick curtsy and raise my gloved hands and clap with sarcastic exaggeration.

  “Ha Ha, very funny,” he says, “Madam please?” He actually sounds like he’s pleading with me.

  “Oh, I suppose.” I remove a glove from my hand and take his to help him up. As he rises I think he may try to pull me in, but this overwhelming heat omits from our hands. I begin to feel dizzy, and before I know it he has me in his arms, and we are splayed on the grass.

  “Princess … Are you ok? Renella?” He looks down at me and I get a good look at his eyes. They are the bluest eyes I have ever seen, as clear as the crystal waters.

  “Beautiful blue eyes.” I don’t know what’s come over me.

  “What was that?” He asked in earnest.

  Thankful he did not hear my mumbling I shake out of his arms, stand and smooth my skirts.

  “I said beautiful blue skies. The sky looks lovely this evening. I only just noticed… If you’ll excuse me.” I give a quick curtsey and turn to head for my rooms, as I wonder what has just happened.

  -22-

  The band is not tugging at my insides. I feel him close to me, but he is nowhere to be seen. I look around the room and remember the day’s events. Ty had told me all about the curse, and the spell that was cast on his clan by his own father. I had even learned my father and mother live, and have for one hundred years at least. That I have been reborn a dozen times, waiting to be reunited with my prince. It was beginning to sound like a twisted fairy tale.

  My gaze stops at the portrait. As I look at it I can almost feel the excitement of the day. I tasted the salt of the tears before I realized they were falling from my eyes. As I wiped them away Ty came into the room.

  I felt the dizziness, but was able to stay upright. I let the memories flood into me now as I maintained consciousness.

  The morning was warm and sunny as I sat on the veranda. I was wearing a long ivory gown covered in lace, my fire red hair lay in ringlets to my waist, and I’m wearing the biggest smile. I could not help myself from smiling; I have never felt so happy. As I sit and arrange flowers for our evening party, I wonder to myself how lucky I had been to have found my soulmate, and what’s more I was already chosen to be his bride before my birth.

  “Well, you look magnificent,” Sheree entered the veranda with a small box in hand.

  “Why thank you.” I say still smiling. It was good for me to have one of my mother’s dearest friends as a stand in mother of sorts.

  She sat on the bench next to me, “Why do you do these arrangements yourself. We have staff for that sort of thi
ng.”

  “I enjoy working them myself. I want to make sure they are perfect.” I say with a giggle.

  “The beauty of the flowers does not compare to the beauty of the love we will be celebrating.” She says as she holds my chin so I’m looking at her. “Can you put them on hold for a moment, I have a gift.”

  “Oh, a gift? I rather like gifts.” I say as I turn away from the current arrangement I was working on. “You know you really should not be giving more gifts.” She looks at me puzzled. “You’re giving me your son.” I say in earnest.

  She laughs, “Well, that’s one thing we can be thankful to my dear husband for.” She looks lost for a moment. Her eyes go blank, until she catches her composure once more, and grabs my hand and places in it a small white box wrapped in a navy blue bow. “This is your gift.”

  “Are you ok? What’s wrong?” Ty came to me and wrapped his arms around me.

  I snap out of the memory at the sound of his voice. “The morning of our engagement party,” I started, “I was so happy that morning. I could not wait to share our engagement with our family and friends.”

  His arms tenses up and he held me tighter. “You remember?” He relaxes and sits back to look at me.

  “A bit,” I said not sure how to answer, “That morning Sheree came to me as I got ready for our engagement party. She told me I had a choice to make, and that I should choose to live and let you go. She was so scared.”

  “I don’t understand.” He moved me so we were facing each other.

  “She gave me that locket,” I said pointing to the picture, “and told me all I had to do, “I spoke now between heavy sobs.

  “What Renee? Tell me.” He begged now for answers.

  “We wanted to defeat him, right?”

  He looked at me bewildered, as if he couldn’t believe his ears. “Yes, we did. We discussed it, and you made the decision, it was the right one.” He said to reassure me.

  “How do we know that? How do we know that was the right decision?” I asked with intensity.

  “We know it was right, because once we break it, everyone will come back.” He looked at me long and hard then added, “Then and only then, my father will have lost, and he’ll be gone. It was the only right decision to make.”

  I looked at him; he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, the same way he looked when we first discussed what my decision would be. Yes, I remember, I realized, I remember it all. Renee and Renella were no longer two separate people, but one in the same.

  “She told me if I wore the locket on the eve of our wedding, I would spare myself and all of the women. We could continue to live as we were, and the curse would be lost forever.” I told him.

  “She told you then? Why didn’t you tell me?” The hurt in his voice only matched that in his eyes. Oh, how I wanted to cure his pain. I knew this truth would only cause him more.

  “I did not tell you because the locket was spelled by dark magic, and no matter what the end result would be I couldn’t do it.” The tears came back then. “I wanted us to be together, but not bound by buio magia; so I wore it that day, since it was a gift from your mother,” I said pointing to the portrait, “and later I hid it away.”

  He was rubbing his hands up and down my arms, as if to warm me.

  “Renee, you did what was best for everyone. I don’t blame you for any of this. This was his doing, and now that we’ve found each other, now that I’ve brought you back to me, we can end it.”

  There was so much more he did not yet know things I couldn’t bring myself to tell him. He stood and wrapped his arms around me and held me tight as I cried softly into him. “I remember our life together, my family, and friends; all of it.” I said to him, even as I thought to myself, I remember things I wish I’d forgotten forever.

  -23-

  “Tyson, there’s a problem.” Hogarth poked his head into Ty’s room as we stood holding one another.

  “What sort of problem?” Ty asked his uncle.

  “Your father has learned of our scheme.” He says, and I can see sweat beads forming on his brow. A man, who enjoys heat from a volcano, is sweating before me in fear.

  “How could we know that with the passage closed?” Ty sounded worried.

  “Let’s just say our friends have a way to communicate between the worlds, even with the passage closed.”

  “Who besides fairies could do that?”

  “Exactly.” I startled them both. My tears are gone as a jolt of electricity hits my body, and the fuzziness of my memories was no longer fuzzy.

  “Tyson…” I say.

  “Renee? What’s the matter?” Ty reaches out for me, but I stop him.

  “Not now, we have to find the others.” I say as I push past both of them and out of the room.

  “Chase, Nolan!! Ty, where are they?” I spin back around to face him, knowing he was right behind me in my pursuit.

  “What is going on?” He asks, wildly confused.

  “Tyson Cole, snap out of it. We need your brothers and we need to go find the rest. They’ll be coming here to meet us. We need them to finish this.” I stand there waiting for him to answer me.

  “Oh, my Renella.” He says with a smile on his face. The pull of energy between us feels like it is super charged and he laughs.

  “Renella? She knows who she is?” Gareth follows us from behind, “When did this happen? How come I’m always the last one to know about these things?”

  “Hush Gareth, the girl has just come back to us.” Hogarth exclaims.

  “No! Just now?” Gareth is stunned.

  “Some last night, some this morning” Ty says to them both.

  “Yes, I have most of it. The most important parts right now as it seems. We need to go.” I say to myself now, more than them. A flash of memories are jumbled together in my head, at the mention of fairies. I’m trying to piece it all together, but all I can accomplish at the moment is the town boarder and her.

  “Ok, then where are we going?” Ty asks enthusiastically.

  “Hey, what’s all the yelling in here?” As if on cue, Nolan and Chase walk in the front door.

  “We have to go, and you two have to come with us.” I say as quickly as I can while heading out the front door.

  “Ok, I’ll bite.” Nolan says and hurries after myself and Ty who is not far behind me. He catches up and grabs my hands.

  “Don’t do that.”

  “What?” I ask.

  “Run away. I’m not letting you go again.” He brings my hand up to kiss my knuckles.

  “Don’t worry love, I’m not going anywhere.” I feel myself recharging, as if my body remembered how on instinct. This makes me feel alive.

  It takes us about an hour, but we arrive at the town line and find a place along the trees to stop.

  “Ok, can I ask why we’re here?” Chase pipes up first. “There are a lot of buio maga here.”

  All eyes are on me as I try to piece it all together for them. “Ok, so remember when Zechariah was at the party?” I ask them all and they nod. “Well, I heard the little guy when they were leaving; he said something about camping at the line. I did not understand why until I got some memories back.”

  “Ty, it’s the bubble.” Nolan says.

  “The bubble?” We all ask.

  “The town. That’s what Chase and I have been checking on. Last week I tried driving out of town to follow the guys up to the lake to go fishing.”

  “You, fishing?” Ty asks sarcastically.

  “Shut it.” Nolan elbows Chase as he starts to laugh.

  “I told you it is funny.” Chase says to Nolan, and then regards Ty and I. “Don’t feel bad, I laughed too at first.”

  “Ok, I’m done.” He assures Nolan, ‘What happened when you tried leaving town?”

  “I tried telling you that night, but you were out of it. My car broke down, just like that, shut off. It rolled backwards a few feet, started up again and I hit the boarder and it shut off again. W
hen I got out of the car and tried to walk over the border line, it was like I was walking but not going anywhere.” We all looked at him, wondering what exactly was going on. Ty looked as though he hadn’t really bought the story.

  “I swear, I’m telling the truth. Chase will tell you. We were just here.” He nudges Chase.

  “Yeah Ty, we were just trying. It’s like you’re walking to the border line for ever and never make it.” Chase adds before Ty had to ask.

  “I wonder why the barrier. It doesn’t really make sense.” Ty adds.

  “Actually if you really think about it, it makes perfect sense, and I’m guessing it had something to do with us finding each other.” I say to the group. “Every maga in this world has got to be on their way here right now. I bet it’s in the curse somewhere, they’ve sensed us linking together.” I answer their looks.