by C. R. Jane
"The metal around your wrists are designed to contain a Fae's powers," Aiden says, cutting off my line of thinking. "The rumors about our weakness to iron are just that, rumors," he says, gesturing to the clearly ironclad prison. "But I discovered a metal that does contain our powers during my years of searching for you," he says, motioning to my metal clad wrists. "Scandium is actually the enemy of the Fae, and it will prevent even the Tir Na Nog's Queen from being able to do anything," he says proudly.
"You say the word Fae like you aren't one," I remark idly, catching him off guard by not giving him the reaction he wanted from his big reveal about my powers.
He walks over to me, looming in front of me, his teeth so sharp that for a moment I imagine him capable of biting my whole head off.
"Do I look like a normal Fae?" he whispers, his eyes like a black void.
Aiden then turns without another word and stalks out of the room. The guards follow him and I give a sigh of relief that all of my questioning seems to have made him forget his promise about eating a piece of Mason today. I feel a tremor at the thought.
"Well that was interesting," says Mason, as if we had just finished watching a movie rather than a psychopath.
I look at him, my insides trembling with all the information I've learned. Somehow there's so much love in his eyes when he looks at me that it immediately calms my quaking soul.
"I always knew that there was more to us," he says, looking delighted at the prospect.
"So you believe all of that?" I ask.
"I believe that his words are rooted in truth, even if he's majorly skewed them. I've always felt like this thing between us was more. Hearing that we were once lovers in your past life just confirms it. I've always been yours," he says so sweetly that it brings tears to my eyes.
"We need to get out of here," I say, my voice thick with emotion.
"The others will come for us," he says. "Or my strength will return all the way and maybe I can break these chains," he says hopefully.
"Damon and Beckham are here?" I ask with surprise, fear and longing filling me at once.
"And Lexi," he says with a grimace.
"Lexi?" I ask him surprised.
"Yes, there's a lot more to your little witch friend than meets the eye," he tells me. "When were you going to tell us about her?"
"I had just found out," I respond truthfully. "I thought everything I had been seeing from the specters were just dreams, or at least just visions of someone else's lives. I stupidly thought that the fact that I had found all of of you were just coincidences, that or I was finally being blessed after years of pain. Now I'm not sure about anything," I admit to him.
I can tell he's about to ask me what dreams I'm talking about when one of the iron barred windows above our cells is violently ripped out, stones clattering down from the walls and barely missing hitting me as I roll out of the way, my chains clanging around me and pain shooting across my body from my injuries.
The prison walls start to shake as if the loss of the windows has led to the demise of the whole prison. Mason's pulling frantically at his chains, yelling for me to move away from the walls. I'm wondering if my immortality extends to surviving being crushed by boulders when Damon's lovely face pops through one of the now barless windows.
"Eva," he says, his voice so filled with love and relief that I feel wrapped in its warmth.
He pulls himself through the small window, his magnificent wings extending as he floats down to me. The prison walls are still shaking but the significance of such an event falls to the background of my mind.
He pulls me into a tight hug and I gasp as the pain of his grip causes me to lose my breath. He pulls back quickly, his eyes surveying me head to toe. The pained look at my appearance changing into fury when he sees my crushed wings complete with a missing patch of feathers thanks to Aiden's handiwork.
"I'm going to kill that bastard," he says through gritted teeth.
"Not before I do," says Mason, as he finally successfully breaks the chain that was holding him to the wall.
I hear a grunt coming from the window Damon just flew in from, and I see Beckham's golden head burst into view.
"Bloody wings," he curses confusingly while glaring at Damon, before he looks down and sees me.
He's speechless while his eyes devour me. So many emotions going through them that it's hard to tell how he's feeling about seeing me again.
He finally snaps out of his trance and pulls himself from the window, dropping down lightly on his feet. He manages to look gorgeous despite the fact that he's caked in mud.
I suddenly feel awkward looking at him, remembering the part of the tale where Beckham is actually my fated mate and I abandoned him. He seems to be having trouble meeting my eyes as well, and I wonder if somehow he remembers our past now. At least it's encouraging that I can still sense his relief in seeing me.
"Let's try to get these chains off you baby," says Damon, and my eyes start to tear up. I love these men. All three of them.
Damon pulls and nothing happens. I can see veins popping out in his forehead as he uses all of his supernatural strength to try and break the chain. His eyes are filled with surprise when nothing happens.
"I can't break it," he says, astounded.
Beckham walks over to us, still avoiding eye contact with me.
"What do you mean you can't break it? Are you still feeling weak from the knife wound?" he asks.
"Knife wound?" I ask, immediately looking over Damon's body for any sign of injury.
Damon looks annoyed.
"You try to break it. And hurry," he says, grimacing as another rock crumbles from off the wall.
"Lexi's battering the walls to serve as a distraction," says Beckham, sounding very out of breath as he pulls on my chain. She's gotten a little eager."
His face goes red and he drops the chains. "I can't get it either," he says, sounding panicked.
"Fuck," says Mason unhelpfully. "I'm not up to full strength yet. I doubt I could do it if you two can't."
He comes over and tries anyway with the same result as Damon and Beckham.
I can taste their panic, and it only increases when the prison door rattles and then I hear it being unlocked. Footsteps echo through the room.
"Well, well, well," Aiden says as he walks into the chamber, his silver teeth glinting. "My wife's entire harem is here."
"Aiden, it's time to let me go," I tell him, somehow still hoping I could get through to the Aiden I thought I knew.
"What part of "you're mine" do you not understand?" Aiden says, smiling confidently.
Damon comes and stands in front of me, his wings arching high above him as he faces Aiden.
"If you only knew…" says Aiden oddly to Damon with a glint in his eyes.
Damon prepares himself to lunge at Aiden when suddenly one of Aiden's black whips strikes out from his hand and wraps itself around Damon's throat. I can see blood start to drip from Damon's neck, and Damon begins struggling to pull his neck free.
"Let him go," says Beckham, trying to use his persuasion on Aiden. Aiden just laughs and sends another inky black whip at Beckham. The sound of both Damon and Beckham's struggles to free themselves echoes around the room.
"Let's take care of your creature while we're at it," says Aiden mockingly, sending a whip towards Mason. This one ties Mason to one of the bars by his neck, slowly getting tighter and tighter.
I get to my feet, every inch of my body hurting.
"Have you made any decisions?" asks Aiden. "It seems we've been in this situation before. Are you going to save your lovers once again?" he asks, his shiny, sharp teeth painting a demented tableau.
I was so sick of feeling helpless. I was so sick of having my choices made for me, of having other people decide my life, of having everyone know more about me than I knew about myself. I could feel the power
growing inside of me. I knew then that Aiden was wrong about my chains. Whatever power was inside of me couldn't be contained now that I knew what to look for.
Looking at Damon, Beckham, and Mason continuing to struggle viciously against Aiden's power even as they turned blue from lack of oxygen, I realized what had been missing from all of my magic lessons with Aiden in the Neverland he had created. The feeling I had channeled when my magic had first worked in the fairy ring had been based on a real memory of someone giving me flowers, a someone that I recognized as Damon now. The feeling I had experienced was love. My magic wasn't like Aiden's, dark and insidious with selfish intentions. My magic was based on love.
Real memories from this life, of times when I had felt love with my three men cycled through my mind, a highlight reel that was connected together by the fact that all three of them loved me, would do anything for me, and the fact that I would do anything for them.
I didn't know what spell would work, so I just channeled the feeling that I wanted to protect Damon, Mason, and Beckham into my magic. My magic continued to build until it burst out of my stomach with that same gold light, engulfing Aiden's black whips inside of it, and disintegrating each one until the guys were freed. It then engulfed a shocked looking Aiden in a gold box that I knew somehow would keep him there for as long as we needed to get away.
Aiden began to send black tendrils out around him. I watched as they tested the boundaries of the box. The box shuddered, but held firm.
"We need to go," I said hoarsely, feeling drained from the energy that had taken. Even Aiden's simple whips were strong, and the power needed to overcome that bit of magic took a lot out of me, I'm assuming due to my inexperience. I envisioned my cuffs disintegrating like the whips had done when faced with my magic, and sure enough they too were engulfed in a gold light briefly before falling to ashes at my feet. I faltered a bit as I took a step away from the wall where I had been held captive. Mason caught me before I fell, holding me for a moment before pulling back and putting his arm around me to help me forward.When I stumbled again, Damon swept me up in his arms and began to carry me.
I could feel my wings finally starting to knit back together as I was carried out of the cell door. Despite my best intentions, I took a look back at Aiden over Damon's shoulder. His black tendrils were still working furiously to undo my spell, but his eyes were squarely focused on me as I suspect they had been for a very long time.
"We'll meet again soon," he mouthed, and I shivered, knowing that he would make good on his promise.
We hurried as fast as we were able out of the fortress, my men easily handling any guards or other creatures we came across with the help of my magic. Lexi was waiting for us as we exited. Babbling her apologies to me about killing me in Aiden's dream world, I silenced her by sweeping her into a hug.
"Thank you," I whisper to her, my voice full of emotion. There's so many things that need to be said between us. I just hope we have time to say them.
Lexi abruptly bursts into tears, and I attempt to comfort her as Beckham and Mason push us to move farther from the fortress as fast as we can. Damon's on the satellite phone they brought with them, ordering a helicopter to come and meet us a few miles away.
We walk for hours, the men taking turns either carrying me or helping me walk while my body continues to heal. When we feel like we've gotten far enough away from Aiden's funhouse to bring other people into the picture, we meet up with the helicopter who has landed in a small clearing that the group had camped out in one night during their journey. I'm sure we present quite the sight as filthy and blood covered as we all are. We're just lucky that my wings healed enough that I was able to pull them in, something I'm able to do well now because of fake Lexington's teachings. I distractedly wonder what Lexington was actually like while watching as we takeoff and begin to fly over the tree canopy.
I can somehow feel when my magic cage dissipates and releases Aiden, and though I'm sure it's my imagination, I can almost hear his roar of rage spill over the landscape as we fly away.
Not much is said on the long flight from Beijing to New York. Most of the group is doing their own thing. Damon spends a great deal of time on the phone, arranging for me to start class in January with no problems despite the fact that I've missed several months of school, and arranging for someone to fix his and Mason's apartment (Mason tells me not to ask), among a million other things. Beckham sits in a recliner pretending to watch a movie a few feet away, grunting if he's asked something. Lexi's gone into the back bedroom to sleep in an attempt to recover from weeks of spellcasting. Mason however hasn't left my side.
I'm lying on his lap, his hand softly stroking my hair as we watch a movie. I'm trying to relax, to feel safe in the moment, but it's hard when so many things are circling around my mind. Although I've learned alot about myself throughout this ordeal, I've also learned how much I really don't know about myself and about this band of incredible beings I've found myself surrounded by.
"I can hear how hard you're thinking," says Mason to me. I turn my head and look at him.
"It's hard not to," I say simply.
"There will be time for that later," he says. "I think we deserve to live in the moment for at least a bit before moving onto all the other dragons we need to slay."
Living in the moment. That sounds so good. Knowing that Mason's request is just wishful thinking I pretend to enjoy the movie.
Drifting to sleep while he continues to stroke my hair, my dreams are filled with images of a burning land, death and destruction, and finally, Aiden's eyes, always watching, always waiting.
Chapter 20
Beckham has been distant since my return from Aiden's Neverland. He claims his movie schedule has been crushing since he delayed everything while I was gone, but I get the feeling that it's more than that. Beckham has always made me feel like I was his top priority and now it feels like he's trying to intentionally stay as busy as possible in order to avoid me. I finally decide that enough is enough and I decide I will just go to him if he won't come to me.
I fidget nervously with the hem of my sweater as I wait for the elevator to ascend to the top floor of his building. I was lucky that the doorman recognized me, and that Beckham had made me memorize the code to the elevator because I have a sneaking suspicion that he would not have answered a buzzer to let me up. The doors of the elevator open and I can hear a soft, mournful, melody pouring out of the speakers as I tentatively take a step into Beckham's apartment. There's a few empty wine bottles on the counter, and takeout boxes are everywhere. It looks like he hasn't picked up any trash in weeks. I don't see him in the front rooms, but a hint of breeze passes over my face and I see that the balcony doors are open. As I get closer to them I see that Beckham is sprawled on a lounge chair on the balcony, a wine bottle dangling from his hand.
"Beckham?" I call out nervously as I finally let him know I've arrived uninvited. The wine bottle drops out of his hand, crashing to the ground and sending shards everywhere.
He sits up, although his movements are sluggish. As evidenced by the numerous empty wine bottles on the kitchen cabinet, I assume that he's been drinking for quite awhile. He doesn't acknowledge me for what seems like eternity. He just sits there with his head in his hands. I take a step forward and the glass crunching under my shoes makes his head shoot up.
"Stay there," he tells me. "I'll get something to clean this up, I don't want you to hurt yourself."
He stands up far less gracefully than usual much to my dismay, and then proceeds to walk barefoot over the glass that he just had told me to stay away from. He doesn't seem to notice the crunching of the glass under his bare feet. I take another step toward him in horror but he holds up a hand to stop me again and walks right past me without another word. He returns with a broom and dustpan and begins to sweep up the shards brusquely. He takes his time, obviously
intent on delaying our conversation for as long as possible.
I finally can't take the wait any longer and I grab the broom from his hand. "Beckham, please talk to me," I beg him.
"What do you want Eva?" he asks me, his voice cold and distant like I'm some stranger he's never met than supposedly the love of his life. I move to put my hand on his face so that he will look at me and he brushes it aside and walks away towards the balcony.
My heart hurts from the fact that he's pushing me away. I didn't realize how much I had come to depend on his steady support and love. I follow him to the balcony and attempt to talk to him again.
"Please tell me what I did and I'll try to fix it?" I ask mournfully.
"Everything's fine Eva, I just need space right now. Work is really busy currently."
Considering the fact that he has never wanted me even out of his sight in the past, his reasoning falls on deaf ears. My sadness is fading and morphing into anger. I can't think of anything I've done and I'm not going to be his emotional punching bag for nothing.
"Fine. If you're not going to tell me the truth then I'm leaving. Let me know when you decide to grow up," I throw at him as I head towards the elevator.
There's a crash on the ground and I spin around to see Beckham stalking towards me. He is only inches away when he finally says something.
"The truth? The truth is that I wish that your witch had never given me back my memories, because now I can remember everything. Now I know thatI was once your everything, your fated mate, the other half to your soul. I know what it means to be that for you, and now I know what I've lost," he says sorrowfully.
I stare at him shocked. I can't remember everything yet, only the bits and pieces that I've collected from my dreams and what the specters have chosen to reveal to me. I know though that I can't imagine loving him more than I do now, fated mates or not. He is as dear to me as my own heart. I start to speak, and he cuts me off.
