Page 36 of Ivory's Familiars

She cursed internally. She was a witch. She had magic. Why was she just sitting here acting helpless while her lovers were being hurt? Lee must have seen the intent in her eyes, for he slapped her again – harder this time. It was enough to cause her to lose her concentration and before she could recover, he had Seth by the hair with a knife to his throat.

“Let’s not try anything silly, sweetheart. I’d love to feel lover boy’s hot blood pumping out over my boots.”

She swallowed hard, looking into Seth’s eyes and seeing no fear there. He would support her whatever she chose to do. But in the end, she did the only thing she could. She held up her hands in surrender, “I won’t try anything. I promise.”

Lee tilted his head, considering her for a moment, “I’m going to take you at your word, Ivory. Don’t disappoint me, okay?” he slashed the knife in a downward motion quickly, causing Seth to flinch. The cut was shallow but the warning was clear. Lee looked over to Vaughn and Ronan, “Shift now.”

They seemed to struggle to heed his command and Ivory realised they were still being held down by the spell Lee had performed. The moment they were human again, they were flung backward onto their own trees, and once again imprisoned by invisible bonds.

“Good familiars. Stay,” he laughed crazily at his own joke, finally releasing Seth’s hair from his punishing grip. He walked over to her; “You know, I can’t believe you managed to stumble across your familiars. Fate certainly has a wicked sense of humour. I believe you’ve already met my familiar …?” he gestured to Libby.

Libby was Lee’s familiar? Ivory had been hoping Libby was somehow a victim just as much as she was. That Lee was holding something over her to make her do these terrible things. But she was wrong. Libby was Lee’s familiar and must have been in on it the entire time. No wonder they could never piece together a proper timeline. Libby and Lee had always been able to provide alibis for each other. What’s more, Libby had access to her apartment. Ivory had given her best friend a key. She felt the blade of betrayal slice right down to her core.

“As for further introductions, my name isn’t really Lee – it’s Matthew. I’m a marshal, sent here to determine if you are a rogue witch,” he explained, “Years ago, the conclave got word of a witch flying solo – no coven, no familiar. Can’t have a witch running around on her own, performing magic and putting the witching community at risk, now can we? That didn’t turn out so well in Salem,” he laughed at that, as if the slaughter of their fellow witches was amusing to him, “You weren’t as careful in Arland as you thought,” he tsked, naming the city Ivory had lived in before here, “I was tasked with finding the mysterious lone witch, determining if she was misusing her powers or harming people. It didn’t take long to find you five years ago. You were using a pathetically weak glamour to mask your powers. By rights, I should have placed you into custody and taken you back to the conclave immediately after finding you.”

“Then why didn’t you?” she spat. If he wanted to reveal his whole evil plan, then she was happy to enable him. Anything to buy her some more time to come up with a way to escape and save her familiars. Besides, she was genuinely curious about the conclave sending a marshal after her. It sounded like they had no idea who or what she was. That they sent Lee – no,Matthew– after her only because she was a witch on her own. Could the boys be right when they said she didn’t need to be afraid of the conclave?

Matthew had strolled over to her, offering her a hand up. She wanted to tell him to shove his hand up his arse, but she forced herself to take it. He pulled her up, answering her previous question; “Because I could see straight through that glamour of yours. That hair, those eyes … you’re a beautiful woman, Ivory. I wanted you,” he stated simply, as if it made all the sense in the world, “Before I could even approach you, you fled. And this time, the glamour you used was a powerful one – I’ll give you that. It was a bit trickier finding you, but eventually the conclave got a whiff of another lone witch. I volunteered, hoping it was you.”

He picked up her hair, rubbing it over his cheek, “Five years is a long time to wait, Ivory,” he pointed out, “You sure looked different than you had in Arland but I’m a marshal. We’re impervious to those type of spells – so those pesky criminals can’t pull one over on us,” he winked and Ivory fought the urge to slap his handsome face. He was acting as if this was all some kind of game. As if he hadn’t spent months befriending her, only to betray her with lies and fear.

“I’m not a criminal,” she stated.

“No, my cohort here determined that before I even set foot in Arland all those years ago,” he indicated to Libby who had been standing so quietly behind him that Ivory had almost forgotten she was there, “I sent Libby ahead of me to check things out. It only took her two days to figure out you weren’t some magical menace.”

It must have been Libby’s presence she had felt five years ago, Ivory realised. No wonder she hadn’t felt threatened. At the time, Libby wouldn’t have had any malicious intent. But clearly times had changed. Ivory felt her anger rising and she clenched her fists, fighting the urge to use her powers.

“Uh, uh, uh, Ivory. Don’t even think about it,” Matthew wagged a finger at her, “I know you’re an object mover – don’t be getting any ideas now. I can crush their lungs with the snap of my fingers,” he assured her, crooking a finger in Ronan’s direction and causing him to cry out in pain as his body spasmed against the tree. Vaughn and Seth snarled at seeing their lover writhing in agony, helpless against their own bonds, and gaining the attention of Matthew once again;

“You kitties want some more too?” he asked, grinning evilly, raising a hand in Vaughn’s direction.

“Stop!” Ivory cried out, “Please, Le – Matthew. Stop,” she wasn’t above begging if it kept her family safe. Because her hands were her source of power, she held them out to the sides of her body, “I won’t try anything, I promise.”

“Damn right you won’t,” Matthew grunted, letting his hand fall to his side. She watched as Ronan’s head fell forward, his breathing rapid and blood streaming from his nose.

“Now, where were we?” he asked, stroking her face now, as if he couldn’t resist touching her, “I saw you Ivory, through that pathetically plain mask you put on for the world. And I just knew you had to be mine. I tried to be nice about it; I asked you out on a date, remember? But you said no, as if you were too good for the likes of me. ME!” he yelled abruptly, startling her back a step and eliciting growls from her men.

“Me – a powerful witch, a trusted marshal, respected by the conclave. Do you know what my record for retrieving rogue witches is? One hundred percent,” he answered his own question, “I am a warrior, Ivory. More than fit for a clueless witch like yourself. But you turned me down. Still, I gave you the benefit of the doubt,” he continued, pacing in front of her now as if he were a teacher giving a lecture, rather than a psycho holding them all captive with magic and pain, “I sent you flowers and chocolate and gifts – what woman doesn’t like chocolate?” he asked, conversationally.

“You sent me dead animals!” she snapped, feeling sick at the waste of life because of a mad man.

“Well, I had to move on to Plan B when Plan A didn’t work, didn’t I? I tried to woo you – no deal. So I figured I’d scare you into my arms;‘Oh Lee, I’m so scared! There’s a crazy person sending me drowned bunnies! I need your help, Lee. I need you!’” he recited in a high pitch voice, “But you didn’t do that, did you Ivory? No – you went and hired these three Neanderthals instead. Useless, redundant creatures,” he griped, literally spitting on Seth as he passed him, “Their bloodline is practically extinct. They failed in their duty. Pathetic.”

This time he kicked Seth solidly in the ribs as he passed and Ivory felt her anger returning full force; “Don’t!” she snapped.

Matthew spun fast, grabbing her face in one hand, “Don’t?” he questioned, “Don’t? Of course you wouldn’t want me to hurt lover boy. I admit, when they first showed up, it pissed me off. And then when I realised you were spreading your legs for them … I’ve never felt so much rage before. You wouldn’t even go out on a date with me and yet, you’re quite happy to fuck animals. That’s when I realised I had been going about this whole thing wrong,” he tightened his fingers on her face painfully, “You’re a filthy slut, you see. A walking cunt who enjoys being gangbanged. You like it rough, bitch? Is that it? I was just too nice,” he slammed his lips down on hers, teeth biting cruelly, and his tongue forcing her mouth open.

She fought his hold, her hands gathering magic instinctively, and her leg raising to knee him in the junk. Hard hands grabbed her wrists as her captor chuckled, his hot breath fanning across her cheek and making her want to vomit; “Now, what did I say about using your magic?”

Fine, no magic,she thought, continuing to bring her knee up. He must have seen the intent in her eyes though, because he twisted the lower half of his body and her knee landed harmlessly against his thigh.

“Naughty Ivory. You do like it rough, huh?” he let go of one of her hands, rubbing at his crotch grotesquely.

She turned her head away, worried she was going to vomit all over him. He was nuts – completely and utterly freaking insane, Ivory realised. And very likely a sexual sadist as well, wondering how he had hidden this side of himself so completely from her. She looked to her right, Vaughn and Ronan were straining, still pinned to the thick tree trunks. They were snapping and snarling even in their human forms – their rage over hearing and seeing their mate reduced to a sexual object, palpable. She knew if they were given even the barest chance, they would rip Matthew to literal shreds in seconds.

A small sound, had her focusing on Seth. Although his green eyes were glacial, he wasn’t raging like her other lovers. Instead, he looked calculating, moving his eyes northward in the direction of the knife impaling his hand. Her eyes followed his and narrowed, understanding his meaning.Clever kitty.Time to get them out of this mess,she thought, renewed determination filling her. Her eyes sought Seth’s, asking for permission and forgiveness at the same time. He gave a small nod of his head and she acted quickly, not willing to waste another second.

She stretched her free hand out, commanding the blade to rip out of wood and flesh, and sent it hurtling towards Matthew’s exposed back.

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