Page 48 of Magic and Mayhem

“You summoned me to my mate. The one you abused and tried to use in a selfish attempt to gain a sprinkle of power in your world. I was told humans were not the brightest, but I didn’t know one could be so ignorant of the consequences of crossing a demon’s mate.”

Eryx raises a hand, but I stop him with my own, lowering it back to his side. Memories from my past begin to break down. Walls that were there before shattering as I let this power fill me to the brim.

“You must run, Evolet. Search for the carnival and you will be safe. Follow the lights.”

My mother holds me close, tears falling down her face as the sound of gunfire erupts in the distance. She is warm, comforting, and the love we have for each other is fierce.

“But mother,” I plead. She places a hand on my head, muttering a spell before smiling sadly down at me. My father presses a kiss to my forehead, a single tear falling from rosycheeks that always filled me with happiness.

“When your power comes to you, you will remember. But until then, they are after us and our kind. You need to stay hidden, safe.”

Confusion overtakes me, but I now have the urge to run. The voice in my head I started hearing a few years back beckons me closer, and I can’t remember why I was fighting it in the first place. I just know that I need to move.

My feet take off in the opposite direction as my mother and father call out their love for me. I keep moving, sprinting, the sound of music growing lighter until there is a pop and a whole new world comes into view.

A white and purple tent pulls me forward, and I begin running again. But when I get close, I collide with a body.

Eyes I know the evil of too well peer down at me as Master is shaken from the spell he was under, and he surveys me before scanning the crowd.

“I think that you will do just perfectly,” he mutters and snatches me, pulling me away from what I know is safety. I kick and fight, nearly escaping before there’s another pop and everything fades into darkness again.

When I wake, I’m in the back of a car. The man who took me is driving, and a woman is sitting beside him, her posture rigid. Her hair is tied back in a slick bun at the base of her head, and she wears an unflattering vintage dress.

“The coven was killed, every last one of the members accounted for,” she says.

The man nods approvingly, his gaze slipping back to me. I quickly close my eyes, knowing that listening will be important if I can ever get away. I need to know who they are and their plans for me.

“She broke me from the spell of that demonic place, and I believe it to be fate. She must be the one he wants me to use.He must want her soul.”

The lady clears her throat. “She is too young. It will take years before we can offer her to him.”

“Then it will take years. There is no price I am not willing to pay for power.”

She bows her head. “Yes sir, I understand.”

The memory fades quickly, but more flood in quickly after. Images of my mother practicing magic, the way she harnessed a red fire and talked about how our souls are connected within the flames.

Everything starts to make so much more sense. Like the way I can speak to Eryx when I’m not near him, knowing he was fighting to keep me safe, even when I was young.

He helped protect my mind so that Master could never truly alter it the way he wished. The flame that burns through me now has always been present, and I relish in the embrace of this power within me, permitting it to become one with my desires.

For so long, I wished for a moment that I felt free, truly free, like I had read about so many times. I thought I found it briefly when I was with Eryx, but now I know that was just a small slice of freedom. And I plan to take every bit of it I can get now that it’s mine to claim.

I’ll rid the world of the evil that tried to corrupt me, then help my mate take down the one that shackles him.

“Evolet,” Master barks at me, as if he had any hold over what I do. “You should really put on some clothes.”

Eryx growls at my back, but I only grin.

“Did no one ever tell you that clothing is an attempt to cover sin, that the idea of privacy is just an illusion? Although, I shouldn’t be surprised because you believe in the illusion that you are more powerful than me.”

I step closer to him, hearing Eryx chuckle behind me. I knew he’d like that one. I had been taught to hate my body, to cover it up for fear of this vile man looking and thinking that just because he could see my flesh, it meant that he owned it.

But no more. My body is mine, my choices are mine, and my freedom ismine.

Master’s face turns red, his anger getting the best of him like it normally does.

“This power is mine to take. It’s not yours,” he demands. “Give it to me and you won’t be punished.”

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