Page 93 of Alpha Exile

It burns and aches, scorching through my flesh.

But it also opens up my mind to something else. To someoneelse here with me. A spirit made of light and energy, who glows red and whispers promises of power.

This time, when I'm brought back to my cage, I go quietly. The witches think they've broken my spirit. What they don't realize is that I've discovered a way to leave my earthly body—a way to move through the spirit world, even while I'm awake.

Within that world are five spirits who are trapped in this cavern just like me, dwelling in prisons made of gemstones. They whisper of power and desire, of fortune and freedom. Showing me ancient secrets, they help me break out of my bodily bonds, stretch out my influence and call to others.

I find the vampire covens, who thirst for flesh and dream of a life that isn't lived only in the shadows. Touching my influence over them, I gather their power and wait.

I wait for the covens to weaken. For their numbers to dwindle down to nothing. And for my revenge, over both the witches and the werewolves who turned against me.

Until one day, deep within the caverns, I sense a birth that sets my hair on end. One of the witches, who was recently fat and pregnant, walks past my cage with a babe strapped to her chest. She coos sweet nothing, and I smell my own damnation.

With another hybrid in the land, my curse can be broken, my connection to the land severed for good. Once that happens, I'll lose the protection of my immortality.

So I gather all the strength I can from the vampires, and the next time the witch walks past my cage, I lash out against her.

The magic that I seek to wrap around the babe is thwarted when she throws up her clever weaver's fingers and twists it around herself instead. Taking the fatal blow, she rushes from the caverns with the screaming baby in her arms—and I scream as well, knowing I'll have no rest as long as my enemy is alive.

I wait for the witch to return, but she never does.

After she's gone, though, the shield holding me in place weakens. I bide my time, counting the days and hours. The dwindled coven keeping me trapped no longer has the power to subdue me, so they don't even try to kill me anymore. They simply weave spells around me, their faces severe and worried, their eyes full of fear.

I grow my power and influence, reaching out to see through the eyes of others, like the spirits show me. Until one day I see the girl through a vampire's eyes, and know that she's grown enough now to break my curse.

I use all the magic I have left to make them kidnap her, then I begin to plan my escape. Knowing there isn't much time, I tear through the shields around me as fast as I dare, keeping an eye on the clever weaver witch who binds and repairs them. She looks familiar, but I can't place her, and it doesn't matter who she is.

What matters is my plan. All I have to do is slip out, go to the girl, and kill her near the sacrificial altar, and her power will be mine.

I've even ensured that the altar is kept hidden from the pack, who've forgotten their own history, burdened by the curse. The land it's on belongs to my vampires now—and they'll do whatever I say, whenever I say, forbidden even from speaking my name without dying.

But before I can escape from my prison, the girl slips away from my vampires.

When I do escape, I'm weakened by it, and the land is strong enough to resist my entry. I can only send my vampires in to attack her—and before they're able to do much at all, she completes her Mating Ceremony, binding her mates to her forever.

So I return to the caverns I once loathed, seeking out the place where I was drowned and nearly died. Finding four of the spirits I once spoke to nearby, hidden in an abandoned forge, I stoke the surfaces of their gems and hear their whispers of power and wealth, violence and sex.

Which is what gives me another idea.

I won't need the girl's power if I have more of my own.

If I have five mates, instead of four, as I was always meant to have.

With five mates—mates who Ichoose,who aren't chosen for me—I may even be able to break the curse over me. The one that keeps me from moving safely to the afterlife, that turns my dreams into nightmares.

If I have five mates, I'll be able to break free of Roman forever, and he'll have no more hold over me.

All I need is five bodies for their spirits, and everything I've ever wanted will be mine.

I can sacrifice the girl, too—once I have her where I want her. No reason to turn away from power when it's offered. And it would be nice to finally live a life free of fear, no longer worrying that death is eternal torture.

It's almost enough to make me giddy.

"Delilah." Hearing my name, I jerk my eyes up—and stare into the pool at my knees. The reflection staring back at me is familiar, but not my own. "Delilah, snap out of it! What should we do?"

"Maybe if we just kill Delphine—"

"We don't know what that'll do to her."

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