by Eve, Jaymin
“Popular guy.” James laughed, but cut the sound off with a cough.
Louis stood right on the edge of the stage and held his hand out for me. Everyone started to look around, trying to figure out who he wanted. A bunch of women pushed forward, like groupies rushing the stage.
I shook my head, and part of me wanted to stay where I was, but I needed to be closer to him as well. Normally, I didn’t throw my power around, but this time I allowed it to leak out a little, pushing supes aside so I could get to my mate.
Anger, confusion, and shock was written across faces as I strolled through, all of them wondering who the hell I was.
“Elizabeth.” A sorcerer nearby gave me a genial nod, and I returned that with a smile.
“Frank, it’s been so long….”
Frank was from my hometown. Mine and Louis’s.
The moment he said my name, I could hear the conversations start up. Not many people knew my face, but a lot of them knew there was a powerful sorcerer named Elizabeth cruising around the place.
I was good at ignoring this sort of gossip, so I just continued forward, my body heating at the way Louis’s focus never wavered, not even for a second. There was an ache in my center that only his touch would ease.
When I reached the stage, I stared up at him, and before I had a chance to figure out how to get up on the stage, his magic wrapped around me. I rose into the air to be deposited right into his arms.
“Publicly claiming me, huh?” I asked, pressing closer.
There was an actual hush from the crowd before the noise erupted. Witches screamed, shifters howled, and vampires hooted—horny bastards.
Louis didn’t care about any of that though, he just held me tightly and kissed the hell out of me. Holy gods above. The mage could kiss.
He was literally good at everything. Smug bastard.
21
Louis
I’d never stopped to think about why I hadn’t been possessive with Regina, especially since I always knew it was a strong part of my personality. I’d just figured that I was busy—I’d had a lot more duties in the supernatural community then—and that it worked best for us if I didn’t follow her every move. But Tee….
She showed me the truth. Regina had had my love, but Tee had my love, my heart, and my soul. Even when I was supposed to be talking some sense into the dense idiots gathered on the stage, I found myself drifting to where I could see her better, lingering on her as she laughed with her friends. Thankfully, those three were taking my warning seriously, keeping a decent distance from my mate, which helped me maintain control over my darkness.
When Connor joined us on stage, Tee and the other two moved closer. Our bond tugged in my chest, and I knew I couldn’t take the distance between us any longer. I needed her. I needed the world to know she was off-limits. Completely off-limits. For once my power was a real asset. Very few could take me on and win, and for my girl, I would destroy them without thought.
Not that she seemed to notice, but the supes around her watched her. Her beauty—which was special and unique—teamed with all of her power, drew them like moths to a flame. She shone with an inner light and strength that was rarely replicated, even amongst the most powerful.
Moving right to the edge of the stage, I knew I was drawing attention, but I didn’t care. It was time for our world to know. I held my hand out to her and she didn’t hesitate, coming right for me. A small group gathered under the stage, but I didn’t even spare them a glance as I used magic to haul her up to me.
“Publicly claiming me, huh?” she said, her full rosy lips tilting up, changing her entire face. Her smile turned her from beautiful to breathtaking.
I couldn’t help myself. Even though I knew she would probably hate this sort of public display, I had to kiss her. It was not just about claiming her, but needing to taste her. The urge was growing stronger with each step we took forward in our bond. We’d dealt with the past, admitted our feelings, and acknowledged the love between us.
The bond was a magic beyond all magics, and it was responding strongly.
I was already thanking the gods for my second chance.
Tee was content in my arms, and I watched for danger over her head while enjoying this moment together. “Louis!” Jestal, a mage from Switzerland, called to me. I turned toward him. His sandy blond hair was in disarray; he was not handling the stress well.
“We’re about to start,” he said.
I nodded once, and then turned my attention out to the sanctuary. There were thousands out there. Tens of thousands, squeezed into the space, wanting to be in on this historic vote. Never before had we been in a situation like this, one which might change the very fundamentals of our world. It was huge. No one wanted to miss it. The only ones who hadn’t been able to make it were those maintaining the securities around our towns. Right now, that was almost as important as this vote.
Tee went to move away from me, but my arm tightened around her, keeping her firmly at my side. I could feel her glare, and even though I really wanted to stare at her pretty pink cheeks, I had to focus.
“Welcome,” I boomed, magic amplifying my voice so it echoed out across the world. The noise started to die down immediately, and I gave them a few more minutes to get themselves together.
“We’re gathered here today to make a very important decision,” I continued. “We need to decide if it’s time for supernaturals to step out of the shadows, to reveal the truth of our world to the humans. The spell I cast … should not have been done, but it has begun the process of integrating our worlds. Already, though, there have been more than a few issues. Violence started strong and it’s only increasing, and as more humans become aware of us, it will get worse. If you vote correctly today, I will have a chance at reversing this spell. Of giving us another chance at living undetected amongst the humans.”
As far as I could see, wide eyes stared at me, and the energy simmering across the supes was filled with nervousness and unease.
“Humans fear what they don’t know,” one of the elders said on the stage, his voice as loud as mine. “Maybe we just need to give them time to get used to us. We might as well continue on now, since the process is already started. There will probably never be a mage powerful enough again to release such a spell.”
Thomas from Britain hadn’t exactly interrupted me, but it still irritated me that he was already trying to undermine my message. “There could very well be a war before there is peace,” Braxton grumbled from nearby, and as always, despite his youth, everyone paid attention when he spoke. “A war that could costs many supernatural lives.”
“We’ve had wars before,” someone else argued, Yuko, a female fey who controlled a large part of Japan. “A small war and then peace and power. I mean, this is what we’ve been waiting for. We don’t want to hide in our supernatural communities any longer. We’re prisoners. And we’re too strong to be thought of as prisoners.”
Tee made a small sound, and I realized that I was holding her tighter than ever. With a low, “Sorry,” I released my grip on her.
She patted my chest. “It’s okay, I can sense your need of me through the bond.”
I couldn’t let my darkness get out of hand here.
More of the leaders on stage started to speak. “Quiet!” I shouted, power spilling from me with force.
An almost eerie level of silence descended over the entire place. “I think you actually froze their ability to speak,” Tee said, looking around.
It hadn’t been my intention, but it worked for now.
“We can argue all day,” I continued, releasing my mate so I could pace across the stage. “Some are for this, and some are against it, that has been clear from the start. And despite the fact that it was my spell, I was not in my right mind when I cast it, and I will now cast my vote—which is the only thing that matters in this situation. I vote no to integration with the humans. It’s not time. We’re not ready for another major war. Most of us still remember the
wars between shifters and vampires. And the war with the demons. No more.”
In the sky, way above our heads, lights flickered and the scoreboard lit up. YES and NO were highlighted, and underneath was a number count. A large 1 appeared under NO, registering my official vote.
“It’s time now for all the leaders of our world to cast their vote,” I added, sucking back the power I’d used to silence the crowds. “Remember that you have your people’s lives in your hands. Think about the long-term ramifications. Think about everything that is at stake, and vote like we all might be dead tomorrow if you make the wrong choice.”
No pressure, you selfish assholes.
One by one, the leaders spoke a yes or no, and the magic of the official vote I’d started registered it. Every leader had a chance, and even though I heard supernaturals in the crowd murmur their own votes, none of them would count in the official total.
Tee and I stared up in the sky as the numbers rose, and it was close for a long time. Then the YES side started to pull ahead. By only a few votes at first, but soon it was twenty more than the NO.
“Idiots,” I muttered, but there wasn’t much I could really say. I’d given them the truth, and it was mostly my fault it was all happening, so I would just have to accept this was out of my hands and deal with the fallout.
Then, to my surprise, Tee pulled away from me, and before I could ask what she was doing, she started to speak, her voice magically amplified. “Before you cast your final votes,” she said, no inflection in her tone, “I want you all to see something. Because if a sorcerer with the power of Louis is afraid for our future, should we really continue down this path?” She took a deep breath. “I know a lot of you talk about war casually and don’t seem to be scared for what that might mean. I also know a lot of you haven’t lived through a war, or if you have, you’ve forgotten it.” Her jaw worked for a moment, and then her voice was shaky. “If you have children with you, cover their eyes now.”
She lifted both of her hands to the sky, mist pouring from her fingertips. I realized what she was doing, and already I was both angry and sad for her. That she had to do this just to get them to pay attention was really fucking annoying.
She had to relive her pain all over again.
The mist swirled and formed an image very quickly, and then in the sky was a scene, depicted as clearly as it would be on a cinema screen. I recognized the field, even though that was not a battle I’d fought in. It was chaos, bloody and brutal as supernaturals fought against the demon touched. This was clearly taken straight from her memories, and she was running, screaming, trying to find her parents, all the while using her magic in an attempt to save those around her.
I’d been in enough battles to almost taste the bitterness of that day on my tongue, to smell the copper of blood, which would have coated the ground and turned the dirt into red mud—felt the fear as those I cared about were slaughtered around me.
“This is the future you’re all signing up for,” she whispered. Everyone still heard her though. “Losing people you love. Both of my parents died that day. My mother was raped, and then she was torn into twenty pieces. I know this because I gathered them all up, one by one, and put her back together.” She continued on, and I fought my urge to blast this world into as many little pieces as she’d found her mother in. “My father, he was gutted by his best friend. His friend who decided that the power of a demon was more important than eighty years of friendship.”
Her voice caught, and I had to step forward. I had to touch her. She welcomed me into her arms, and I closed my eyes while my darker energy pulsed between us. “I’m so sorry, Tee,” I murmured through my clenched teeth. “I should have been there.”
She pulled me even tighter to her. “I’m glad you weren’t. I might have lost you that day as well.”
We were in our own world then, and it took me a moment to register the screams and cries from the crowd. The supes on stage were not much better, all of their eyes locked on the scene above, faces turning pale and confused.
Tee noticed as well. “I figured that for a lot of them, they might not have truly lived through a war. Or it has been so long…. The old ones, they forget. They need to understand before the final votes are cast.”
She waved a hand above her then, and the scene disappeared in a flash, melting away to leave the sanctuary sky clear again. But I was sure those images would linger in the minds of all. The tally above started to move again, as supes cast their final votes. It was clear straight away that Tee had gotten through to some of them because the NO was now speeding ahead. I wondered, though, if it might be too late. Most of the votes had been cast by the time she spoke up. I still couldn’t quite comprehend her bravery, sharing something so personal, and painful, with tens of thousands of supes.
“It’s tied again,” she whispered.
“Who is left to vote?” someone shouted, and I waited for confirmation of those still required to cast their vote.
“Me,” a female said nearby. Her energy felt like vampire. “And I vote … no.”
Uproar and pandemonium ensued, and I hauled Tee closer so she wasn’t trampled as everyone moved from the stage. “So what now?” she asked me. “You said it was going to be difficult to bring the spell back. How difficult are we talking?”
I hadn’t deliberately hidden it from her, but I knew she wasn’t going to be happy when I explained the exact process. It was the only way, though, and this was still my mistake to fix. A mistake that would have been a hell of a lot easier to reverse had they let me deal with it days ago when it first occurred.
“I’m going to have to shift the timeline,” I said against the top of her head.
She reacted immediately, lurching back from me, her eyes flashing. “No!” she gasped, pressing a hand to her chest. “No, I won’t let you do that. You’ll be killed!”
There was a moderate chance that I could be killed, but I also had enough faith in myself and my power to take the risk. Her eyes went wide and shiny, her throat working as she tried to get herself under control. “This is why you changed your mind, isn’t it?”
I was taken aback for a beat, wondering where she was going with this.
“Changed your mind about having a mate again. Because you knew you would have to take this huge risk soon, and then we’d be torn apart anyway.”
Tears were streaking down her cheeks now, and my energy trembled at my fingertips, desperate to be released. She was killing me, absolutely ripping my heart from my chest.
“No, Tee! This is absolutely not the reason. You’re the reason. I need you more than I ever expected to need anything. I will not die.”
“How could you strengthen our bond like this,” she cried, pushing me hard. “Knowing you’re going to kill yourself.”
My lips tilted up, and even though I knew it wasn’t my smartest move, a small laugh escaped.
She hit me again, her power behind the punch this time, and I actually let out a small oomph as the air was knocked from me. “It’s not funny, Louis.”
I captured her hand when she went to hit me again. “Always a little spitfire, Tee.”
Before she could yell or bite me, both of which she appeared to be considering, I dragged her into my arms. “Why do you have such little faith in me? I’m the strongest mage in the world, and I’m mated to the second strongest. Our bond has given me more energy than even the darkness did. I will not die. There is nothing on Earth, or any other world, that could tear me from you now.”
Another choked sob against my chest, but she had stopped fighting me.
“You have some explaining to do, Louis!” another voice snapped from behind me.
I turned to see Jessa, Braxton, and the rest of our pack all there. Glaring. Jessa especially as she stormed forward. “Is Lizzie right? Is there a chance you could actually die from reversing this spell?”
I shrugged. “There’s always a chance. I mean, any of us could die at any time, right?”
“No
!” Jessa snarled. “Not right. Very, very, not right. We’re supernaturals, we’re not fragile like humans. We don’t die easily. So, I’ll ask you again, Louis, what the fuck is going on?”
“Answer her, man,” Jacob said from nearby, and he almost looked ruffled as he stared at his best friend. “She hasn’t eaten in hours, her kids are not here and we all miss them—and they ran out of cake at the bakery. Something about a group of bears eating it all….”
Tee shuffled her feet, her eyes darting over to where her friends were still standing, watching us closely.
Using my magic, I manifested Jessa the sort of chocolate cake she loved, lots of layers with cream filling between each one, rich, thick buttercream icing on top. “Peace offering?” I said, holding it out to her.
Her teeth snapped together and her nostrils flared a little as she tried not to stare at the cake. “You can’t fucking bribe me to forget.” Her words had less bite to them this time, and already her focus was wavering.
“We have to have faith in him.” Tee took me by surprise when she said this. Not one minute ago, she’d been just as upset as Jessa.
She stepped up to my side, and I wasn’t sure my body could contain the new size of my heart as it swelled in my chest. “Since the first day I met him, Louis has been defying the odds. If he says he can do this, I trust him. He wouldn’t leave any of us without a fight.”
Jessa held her glare for a few more moments, before her rigid shoulders relaxed. She snatched the cake out of my hands, hugging it close to her chest. “If you die,” she said, her blue eyes locked on me. “I will track your soul down, and I will torture that fucker for eternity.”
“I believe that, and I love you too.”
She sniffed at me, and then she lifted the fork I’d added to the plate and took her first bite of cake. Her eyes closed and she let out a breathy sigh. “Holy gods, so freaking good.”
There were probably tears in her closed eyes; she was well known for her emotional outbursts over food. Especially cake. Braxton watched her with that look he got, the one that said he would fucking die and kill for her without question. I understood it now. More than I ever thought was possible, I felt the same way about Elizabeth. The supes of this world needed to start thanking their stars that she was alive, because right now she was the only reason all of them were. They should probably thank Jessa as well, because Braxton as a dragon shifter was almost as scary as me.
