Page 22 of Branches of the Willow

“Am I boring you?” Her eyes settled on me with a fire that I really didn’t want to see there. “I was just getting to the good part. This is where the revenge comes in, so pay close attention dear.”

“Being forbidden to create also meant being forbidden from mating with wolves, since the result of the last coupling between a wolf and a witch was your kind. So, it was your fault that I couldn’t be with my love at first. I spent years after uncoupling his first bond, seeking out and slaying any witch who would object to our union. There are very few of us left these days, I’m afraid.”

Holy shit! Holy fucking shit! There was no way. My brain was on overload, but she didn’t give me a single moment to process what that meant.

“I didn’t know he planned to take another wolf mate right away. She was not a true mate, but she produced a pup. Even though he was mated to her, he would come to me for comfort. He loved me and the only threat in the world to my love was you! You were going to take his power. He was, in fact, murdered by his own son, the one I inadvertently helped him create, and that murder was done in your name! So, you see, my revenge will be sweet. I get to end my traitorous sister’s line before I finish her. You’re just a means to a delightful end where Serena is concerned.”

I finally managed to sit myself up inside my cage. My throat was still painfully dry, so I wasn’t trying to say much. Stalling became my new game plan though. I needed time to gather my strength again. The window caught my attention once more as the sunlight streaming through was high and bright. It had to be mid to late afternoon, which meant I had been out for a while. It had been almost dinner time when I was knocked out. I wondered if I had only lost a day or if it had been longer. I also worried about what may have happened to me while I was knocked out, considering Zach was here. After taking inventory of how my body felt, I didn’t think anything else had been done to me. If for some reason I was wrong about that, I hoped that I never remembered.

Sophia mentioned that it would be a couple days before she could do whatever spell she had planned. I had to keep an eye on the window at night. To be sure, a clear view of the moon was required for her spell. The witches and their mojo seemed to be moon bound just as surely as some werewolves were. I wasn’t certain that anyone else could get me out of the jam I was in this time though.

There was still something that I had missed, or that my entire pack had missed in regard to Sophia, Zach, and Malachi. She had been able to swoop into my father’s lands and steal me away without being noticed. It should have been impossible. I wanted to keep the faith that things would work out. I barely had the chance to enjoy my happily ever after with Mikael, and now here I was, locked in a fucking cage again. Anger flamed inside me, filling every molecule that made up who I am. It became my fuel, the very air that breathed life back into my starving lungs. I would survive this because I would not die in a cage. I would not give up on Mikael and being able to find my own happiness. I would not allow for a crazy ass, psychotic, delusional, boyfriend-wanna-be douchebag or for a nutso, obsessed witch to take my love or my life away from me. I would find a way out of here, and then I would never-ever end up in another damn cage so long as I lived.

10

Mothers and Daughters

Eventually,Zachcamebackinto the room and tried to give me some water in a glass. I refused to take it. “What is wrong with you, Jessica? You have to drink something. You can’t even talk anymore.” I mimed unscrewing a lid on a bottle, but he was too stupid to realize what I was doing. I didn’t want to take the chance of my drink being drugged, but at this rate, I was going to lose the fight for my life, because Zach was a fucking moron.

On the rare occasion that Sophia had given me food or water over the past few days, she just tossed in something prepackaged, so she wouldn’t be bothered with anything. Zach was bringing meals on trays, and cups with drinks. I refused anything I couldn’t inspect for tampering, which meant I was starving, and severely dehydrated at this point.

“She wants a bottle of water, that hasn’t been opened, dracu.” My head shot up at the sound of the deep voice resonating through the room from somewhere by the door. At first, I would have sworn it was Mikael, but as my eyes and mind adjusted to the site, I realized it was Malachi. The instant swelling my heart had done when I thought I was going to be rescued, was deflated, and crushed repeatedly upon seeing his cruel smile from across the room. He had seen the flicker of hope, and then the shift to devastation. He knew, and I wished for the second time in my life that I had a better poker face.

“Is that what you’ve been trying to tell me?” Zach turned to ask me. His blond hair had grown so much since the days when I’d been betrothed to him. Where it once hung a little long at his ears, it now ran down to the middle of his back. I simply nodded my head at him while wondering where it had all gone wrong for the boy who I’d once found tolerable. I was sure Marcus had a lot to do with the change in him, with the pure craziness that now shown in his eyes, but that didn’t excuse his behavior. “How in the hell was I supposed to know that?” I pretended my finger was a gun and shot myself in the head with it.

“I think she’s saying you should go shoot yourself, you’re too stupid to live!” Malachi laughed, and again it threw me off balance a little. I never realized how much he sounded like Mikael before. He had the same green eyes as Mikael but looked a little more like Evan in every other way. Though he was just a tad rougher around the edges, and he kept his hair short instead of long. Other than that slight difference and he and Evan could have been twins where looks were concerned. Malachi’s voice was a dead ringer for Mikael though, and it killed me. I found myself simultaneously wishing to hear it again and hoping he would go away. It was heartbreaking. Zach came back over to the cage with a sealed bottle of water, and I took it, cracked the seal, and drank greedily.

“You might want to pace yourself.” Malachi’s voice boomed from across the room. “You’ll make yourself sick.” I knew he was right, and I slowed my intake.

“I thought you had somewhere else to be. Plan ‘B’ isn’t going to finish itself you know?” Zach was nervously watching Malachi as he stalked closer and closer to the cage that I was held in.

“It’s handled, and well under way.” Malachi said in a monotone as he crept a little closer.

“Malachi!” It was a warning from Sophia as she entered the room. “Don’t even think of touching her. I need her intact for the spell tonight.”

Well, I guess that meant the full moon was tonight, which also meant I had been gone for five full days. Mikael must have been going crazy. I wondered if they had given up on me yet. Probably not, because he would at least be able to feel that I was still alive. The bond was still there. The minute it no longer existed, everyone around Mikael would know for sure.

“You need to be on your way, now.” Sophia’s voice was sharp and irritated. I looked up and noted that she was talking to Malachi. He had come even closer to the cage and was watching me curiously.

“I often wonder if any of us would have done for you. If you had bonded with Evan, would it have been a true bond? Or with me?” He was talking out loud and not expecting an answer. “It should have been me, since I was the oldest.” There was regret in his voice as he spoke.

“You have a bonded mate already, now stop taunting her.” Sophia was in a bit of a mood.

“My father told us Annabelle and Clarissa were the last worthy females of our kind.” His head dropped for a second. “Had I known that he lied, I would have waited for you.” He turned his attention to Sophia then. “Speaking of which, the whole point in me coming here was to removemybond.” I thought that was interesting, considering Malachi’s mate was the reason I was sitting in a cage again. I scoffed at him and wondered if Annabelle knew what he planned.

“What?” He questioned, turning back to look at me. “You don’t approve? Surprised I used her in order to get you here for Sophia and looney-tunes over there?”

“That’s it!” Sophia stomped over to him, reached up, and grabbed him by the ear. She began pulling, and he grew red faced with each step she made him take back away from me. I just smirked in his general direction and tipped my water bottle to him in a mock toast. I couldn’t speak my threats out loud, because my voice wasn’t capable at the moment. It was a silent promise that I would see him again, and make sure he met his end. “Get out! You have places to be, and I have preparations to make.” Sophia tossed Malachi out the door and shut it again behind him. One solid thwack against the door let me know that Malachi was not happy with the way she had just handled him, but the only power he had, at the moment, was one that allowed him to punch unsuspecting doors when he was angry. That gave me the tiniest bit of satisfaction.

Then I started wondering what plan ‘B’ was, and where Malachi was off to. Worry settled deep in my gut. It wasn’t worry for myself, but my family. If Malachi was out there putting together another plan that didn’t involve me, chances were someone I knew was in the crosshairs. Zach meandered back over to the cage and stood there in front of me expectantly. I shrugged and widened my eyes in question.

“I just wanted to remind you that when Sophia is done tonight, you will be mine. It’s honeymoon time, Jess!” The smile on his face was so genuine, it reminded me of when I used to like Zach. Back when we were kids, he hadn’t been so bad. There was a small part of me that again wanted to know what the hell happened to change him so much. It was after his last transition that he became different. Maybe something had gone wrong for him. Actually, it didn’t matter anymore. Something had gone wrong. He was wrong, and he certainly wasn’t here to help me out of this situation. I had to stop my mind from wandering down paths it didn’t belong. My strength had waned, and I would need every bit of what was left to fight tonight. I knew that in my heart.

While I was sure I wasn’t being drugged by food, I couldn’t help but notice I never remembered sleeping or dreaming. There were gaps in my days or nights that were just missing, and I could only recall waking up afterwards. The thought startled me. I wasn’t sure if something had been happening to me during that time, or if the witch was just trying to keep me from communicating with anyone via my dreams. Probably the latter, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Tonight, is the night!” Sophia sang out cheerily from across the room as she mixed something in a small pot. “Remember when I told you that my mother killed Serena’s mate?” She didn’t wait for me to acknowledge her. Sophia knew perfectly well that I could hear her. “I found my mom’s grimoires years ago. I never did get to finish going through them until recently. Guess what I found when I did? Mommy wrote down the steps she took to break Serena and her lover’s bond. It killed him but left my dear sister in-tact. She was heartbroken of course, but otherwise okay. I’m afraid poor Mikael is going to have an unbelievably bad night!”

“Kill me,” I managed to get out despite the harsh sound of my voice and the fire it caused in my throat. “Only way. Hurt. Serena.” It was the best I could do to convince her that it was the only thing she could do to hurt her sister. Mikael’s death would mean nothing to her.

---