Carmen took in a steady breath and without hesitation said, “Powers take my soul to thee.”
With those words, something broke free in Carmen. Her magic reached out like extended fingers searching for something, wading through all the nonsense that wasn’t what it wanted. It stopped when it hooked into two familiar powers, magic Carmen had tasted before but didn’t allow herself to have until that moment.
She felt them open up to her, allowing her to invade them. Tears finally fell down her cheeks with her realization.
It was then that she felt just how much those two men wanted her. Needed her. Loved her. Royce and Ryan Durant. Her men. Her warlocks.
***
Royce was about to fucking break something. He hated being stuck in a room, while Carmen was out there with gods knew who. Given he’d spent most of his time locked up in rooms to look for ways to strengthen his magic, this was new to him.
He wanted to go out there and find her. Amazing and beautiful Carmen, who put all the women he and Ryan ever dated to shame. Waiting only made him long for her more than breathing. He knew he didn’t deserve her. Neither one of them did. But damn it if he was going to let that stop him anymore. He was done with that shit. He and Ryan knew who they wanted, and as soon as they had her safely back at their house, they were going to make sure she knew it too.
Maybe it was selfish, but he didn’t care. As long as Carmen was back with him and Ryan, the rest of the world could go to hell. That’s exactly where he was going to send the people who took her too. That was, if Ryan didn’t get to them first.
Before, his anger was a silent one, slowly building in him over the years after his parents’ deaths. What hovered inside him now was different. It was a ticking bomb just waiting to explode, which took effort to reset for the right time. He wanted to burn something up. The sooner, the better.
But he wanted to stay calm for Carmen’s sisters. They were already going crazy at Carmen’s disappearance. He didn’t want his rage to scare them, but if they didn’t leave that loft soon, he was going after her. He could feel the same emotions coming off Ryan: fear, anger, restlessness. He knew his brother was on the same page.
Kye and Warren took the lead, since they were of the highest rank as Enforcers, and the others had to obey. They had it all planned out. All of them would split into three groups and expand their radius to search for Carmen.
Royce hated the plan. Thank the god and goddess magic decided for them all.
An impact with the force of a semi truck hit him and nearly knocked him over. He had to find his breath before he could stand up straight.
He looked over and found his brother in a similar position. Ryan felt it too.
“Are you two all right?” Warren asked them.
“Not too sure, Cuz,” Ryan said, unable to explain it.
Royce didn’t understand it either and was unable to say anything either as something washed over them both.
Then the force took on a softer impact. It turned into a connection with something else...someone else. Carmen.
He knew it was her instantly and felt her power call to him.
“What’s going on?” Charice asked.
“It’s Carmen,” Royce said.
“What are you talking about?” Claire asked.
“We can feel her,” Ryan said. “We sense her.”
“That can only mean one thing,” Kye said.
“She initiated the triad bond,” Warren finished for him.
“What?” Charice asked, looking between her two warlocks. “I don’t understand.”
“She’s a smart one,” Kye said. “That means we’ll find her faster. At least, her warlocks will.” He looked over at Royce and Ryan.
“You’re right,” Royce said, realizing what the higher-ranked warlocks meant. “We can sense where she is now.”
“You can find our sister?” Claire asked.
“Yeah,” Ryan said. He shared a look with Royce. “I think we can.”
Royce knew they both could feel Carmen’s power coursing through them, and he was pretty certain she could sense them too.
“I can feel where she is,” Ryan said. “We’re linked to her somehow. It’s so weird. Like our powers are—”
“A magical GPS?” Jett asked.
“Yep,” Ryan agreed. “That sounds about right.”
“A compass,” Royce said. “Leading us right to her.”
“Wait a minute,” Claire said, glancing up at her warlocks. “Are you saying you can find me that way too?”
“I heard it’s that way with all Perfect Triad bonds,” Jett said, “but we haven’t had the chance to experience it with you yet.”
“The bond allows us to always know where each one of us is at any given time if we just focus on that person’s energy and magic,” Warren said. He looked down at Charice. “Kye and I will always be able to find you too. No matter what. It’s the same way with Jett, Axel, and Claire.”
“And we’re learning about this now?” Charice asked.
Kye grinned. “Well, the three of us have been busy the last couple of days. Remember? All that time we spent in bed doing—”
Charice put her hand over Kye’s mouth. “Okay, okay. I get it. No personal details needed here about...that.”
“Can we go get Carmen now?” Claire asked.
Ryan was the first to agree. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
“Like yesterday,” Royce said.
The twin warlocks were the first to rush out of the loft, with Carmen’s sisters and their warlocks right behind them. It was time to save Carmen and kick someone’s ass for taking their witch.
Chapter Eleven
Carmen felt at peace. Despite still being tied up and incapacitated, she knew her men were coming for her.
She couldn’t tell the time, but her throat ached with thirst while her stomach growled. Still, those were just background problems to awaiting possible death.
Carmen had experienced her warlocks and felt their energy. She only prayed that they could sense her just as much to find her.
She heard footsteps getting closer. Immediately, she knew it wasn’t the Master of Fire, not with the way he’d snuck in without her knowing earlier.
“You get that spirit bitch over there,” the male voice from earlier said. “I’ll get this one.”
Mason. Carmen remembered that sneering voice of his.
“Don’t call her that,” the other one said. “She still deserves our respect.”
Good, Carmen thought. At least someone sounds like he has partial sense now.
“Respect?” Mason scoffed. “That’s a fucking joke. She and all the other El-Board idiots think they’re so much better than us. She and the rest of them deserve what they have coming. Now do your damn job and get her.”
“I don’t want to mess with her,” the saner one said. “This has gone too far. He’s gone too far. They’ll execute us for treason if we kill her.”
“Stop being such a coward!” Mason yelled. “You call yourself a warlock?”
“She’s the Mistress of Spirit, so sorry for thinking about what he has planned for her and what that could do to me.”
It may have been stupid, but Carmen held out hope that the other one who spoke was changing his mind about keeping them captive and killing them. As powerful as the Master of Fire was, his warlock henchmen couldn’t stop him, but maybe the change of heart would keep them occupied until Royce and Ryan got to her.
That Mason idiot had a bitter laugh that made her tremble to her core. It crawled over her like he was actually touching her with grimy, cold hands. He was an arrogant bastard by the sound of him. She almost felt sorry for the other guy. Almost.
“Stop your whining and do what he said,” he demanded. “Unless you want to piss him off more than you already have.”
Carmen heard nothing but silence until Mason spoke again.
“You’re a fucking idiot, Baxter.”
“Don’t call me that. I’m no idiot,
and I thought you said not to use our names.”
“They’re minutes away from not existing, so what the hell do names matter? They’ll be dead before they can even use it.”
Minutes? Carmen thought. It’s later than I thought.
She silently hurried her warlocks, hoping they sensed her enough to find her. It was now or never, and she was praying to the goddess for now.
“What he’s doing doesn’t feel right,” Baxter said. His voice sounded like it was caught between strain and anger. “This isn’t right.”
“Says the weakling who went out and got this one a chair,” Mason said.
“We don’t have to treat them like savages,” Baxter said.
“They’re prisoners, not guests of honor. Man, you’re nothing like your father. He dies, and we’re left with his weak-ass son. Pete had no problems getting his hands messy. Maybe we should’ve gotten your bastard brother instead. Blaine may not be a pureblood warlock, but at least he wouldn’t be a sap.”
Carmen heard feet shuffling before she heard fist hit bone. The two men were fighting. She didn’t have to see to know that.
“Never talk about my family,” Baxter said.
“You hit me,” Mason shouted. “I’ll fucking kill you for that, you son of a bitch.”
She heard them tumble to the ground near her. Curses and grunts filled the cavern as they went at each other.
It was now or never. She had to do something while they were distracted.
Slowly, she let her fire caress the rope around her hands. If she wasn’t careful, she could start a fire and her efforts would be for nothing. Still, that possibility was better than sitting around and waiting for these assholes to kill her. Even if that Baxter guy won the scuffle, he was no match for the Master of Fire. She’d tasted the man’s magic, and his strength scared her, especially since it was combined with such hatred.
Her wrists felt the binds give, so she yanked at them until they snapped apart.
She wasted no time taking that damn blindfold off her face.
Her senses were on overload, but she saw that they were indeed in a cave, and she could see the waves crashing against the rocks further out. It was nighttime, which meant she had to have been there at least a whole day.
The dimly lit surroundings made it hard for her eyes to adjust, but she found who she was looking for. Further off, she saw the Mistress of Spirit chained up to a large boulder. The woman looked weak and frail, and Carmen wondered how long they’d had her there. She had no blindfold over her eyes, but she didn’t need one since she looked like she was unconscious.
The two men still went at each other and hadn’t noticed Carmen’s escape.
As quietly as she could, she slid to the ground and crawled over to the Mistress of Spirit. Her body was sore from being tied up for so long, and her mouth was dry from dehydration. Carmen didn’t let any of the discomfort distract her from her getting to her fellow captive. She touched the Mistress of Spirit’s shoulder, and the woman stirred.
“Don’t strain yourself. I’m getting us out of here,” Carmen whispered to her. It didn’t matter that Carmen had no idea how the hell she was going to do that, but she didn’t want to show her fear. Not when their lives probably depended on what she did next.
The woman, the leader of their community of witches and warlocks, seemed weak as she tried to lift her head.
Anger exploded through Carmen. Who could do such a thing to another person, magical or not? She wanted nothing more than to storm out of there, find the Master of Fire, and turn him into ash. Given that he was stronger than her, she probably had no chance. At least she could go down fighting.
The idea of never seeing her family again ate at her. She felt even hollower at not seeing Ryan and Royce at least one more time. She knew they were coming. Carmen felt it deep within her soul, and her magic could sense their urgency. Under that, she could feel how much they loved her.
As much as she wanted them to find her, she wasn’t sure they would make it before something terrible happened. She wanted to cry. Again. She knew that wouldn’t help her. If anything, she needed to be strong enough to get the Mistress of Spirit and her out of there before they had no options left.
Power washed over her before she saw him. A wave of energy forced her back up against the cave wall. The wind was knocked out of her. The way her back hit the stone structure, she was sure she’d be bruised later, if there ever was a later.
Carmen couldn’t move and could only stay put as the Master of Fire entered the cavern. She realized that he had thrown the two warlocks against the wall too.
His whole being lit up with a dark-red glow that lit up every shadow. Even the darkness ran away from him. “I asked you to do one thing,” he said. “Why couldn’t you just bring the witches to me? Was that too hard for your little imbecile brains?!”
The walls shook, and Carmen could feel the vibration through her entire body.
“It’s Baxter,” Mason shouted. “He wanted to let the Mistress of Spirit live. It’s his fault.”
The Master of Fire moved closer to Baxter. “Is that true, son? You think she should live?”
The warlock struggled before answering. “She’s never done anything to me. It’s not right to kill her over nothing.”
An odd laugh came out of the Master of Fire, which made Carmen’s skin crawl.
“And that’s your final decision?” he asked the restrained warlock. “You want her to go free?”
Carmen didn’t miss the look Baxter gave the Mistress of Spirit and then her. He looked back down at the man he’d been following and said, “I think we should free them both.”
“Very well,” the Master of Fire said. He turned his back on Baxter before flicking his hand.
The sound of bones breaking was unmistakable. Baxter’s body twisted in unnatural ways as the Master of Fired twirled his fingers into a ball as if he were rolling up a discarded piece of paper. A look of pain and shock filled the young warlock’s face before he went limp.
Carmen couldn’t help the cry that came from her. She couldn’t erase the look the warlock had given her. He seemed so apologetic and sincere just from that one stare. If the ass in charge could do something so cruel to a warlock who worked for him, she didn’t want to dwell on what he had in store for her and the Mistress of Spirit.
With another wave of the Master of Fire’s hand, Baxter fell to the ground in a lifeless heap. He released Mason so the living warlock stood.
“Enjoy the afterlife, weak bastard,” Mason said before spitting at the ground near the dead warlock’s body.
That lack of respect did it. Carmen couldn’t stop the tiny ball that built up in her belly even if she wanted to, and she so didn’t want to. It was a little ping as if life flowed within her. Then it grew into a fiery animal that uncurled itself from the inside out.
With every ounce of energy Carmen had left she took a deep breath and released it out with the magic of her element. It took both men off guard and knocked them back to the other side of the cave, tossing the Master of Fire against a large boulder where the Mistress of Spirit was still chained.
Mason got up first and charged at her. With the strength she had left, she threw her element straight at him just before he reached her. He flew up to the roof and fell back to the ground covered in flames.
Carmen had no time to brace herself for the weakness and fall that came with her effort and concentration. She hit the ground hard, and a sharp pain shot down her side.
“Help me!” Mason’s screams filled her ears as he got up and ran while the fire overtook him. “Put it out. Put it out!” Unable to get his footing, he slipped and fell through a large crevice in the cave’s floor. The sounds he made stopped then.
Carmen could no longer see movement from his unconscious and burning frame. She stood to regain her balance, but she didn’t expect the Master of Fire to recover so quickly. He already had his hands around the Mistress of Spirit’s neck, and with a curl of his fin
ger, he dragged Carmen closer to him.
She fought, digging her feet into the earth and trying to bring that rush of warmth back to the surface to throw at him, but he was too strong. Before she could even light a flicker, his hands were around her neck, choking her.
“You really think you can stop me, child?” he asked. “It’s too late. The moon is high, and your powers are mine.”
Carmen felt his hand heat up against her skin. What was a small discomfort turned into a searing pain where he touched her. She scratched at his arm with her nails, using any weapon her body could create. His grip only tightened until she could barely breathe.
“Ah!” Carmen tried to block out the pain and focus on a way to fight him off, but the ache was too much. She could feel him siphoning her power like a vacuum. Her body weakened with each pull, and she had to squint against the glow of the power he was forcibly taking from her. She could hear the groans of pain from the Mistress of Spirit somewhere in the cloud of her mind and knew he was draining her too.
This was it. This was how she was going to die. Far away from everyone she loved. Far away from those who loved her. Part of her wanted to let him win so the pain would stop. Another deeper part wanted her to fight to the very last moment no matter what. She knew her sisters would want her to do that. Her warlocks would want her to do that.
Before she could listen to either side, she heard two of the sweetest sounds the gods ever made.
“Carmen!” Two voices mingled to become one, a sole part of her soul. Ryan and Royce.
The hand forcing life out of her jerked away, causing her to fall towards the rock-and dirt-covered ground again, but this time she didn’t hit it. Instead two arms held her, and the voice attached to it was a welcoming one.
“You’re safe now, Carmen!” Royce’s voice filled her ears. Thank the goddess. He was a blessed sight. “We’re here, baby.”
“Royce?” She was fading and could barely focus anymore. What had that idiot done to her? “Ryan?”
“I’m here too, Car,” Ryan said. “Stay with us.”
The Alpha Warlocks' Own: An Alpha Warlocks of Kala West Story #3 (A BWWM and BBW Paranormal Ménage Romance) Page 7
