Page 33 of Trapped to Tame
‘Open a portal,’ Priest commanded.
She looked perplexed and glanced at Drax.
‘That is what we need, female.’ He poked her in the chest. ‘That is the only thing you are good for.’
She raised her chin, looking him in the eye defiantly.
‘Go on,’ Priest mocked. ‘Make a portal. Use your magick. Show us you’re not completely worthless.’
She shook her head. ‘I have no magick,’ she said and Drax recoiled as he felt her sudden desolation at Priest’s words. She believed everything he said, Drax realized, feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness that their Fourth thought so little of herself that Priest could cut her this deeply.
‘Enough,’ Drax said, rising to his feet, but Priest ignored him.
‘Then you're no good to us.’
Priest grabbed Eve by the front of her tunic and began to stride forward, dragging her backwards with him towards the edge of the circle. As soon as she realized where he was taking her, she began to struggle violently, digging her heels into the earth, but it was no use. He was too strong, and she couldn’t regain her balance.
‘I said ENOUGH!’ Drax commanded, taking Priest by the tunic and shaking him, angry that he’d let Priest go this far.
They were now precariously close to the edge. Something rustled in the undergrowth very close to Eve, and she screamed, clawing at Priest’s hands, but he wouldn’t release her.
‘Let him do what he must,’ Fie said to Drax, pulling him away from Priest.
Drax turned on him.
‘She’s our Fourth!’ Drax yelled, pushing Fie hard enough for him to fall in the dirt by the fire and turning back to Priest.
‘No!’ Fie said vehemently. ‘She’s a means to an end and if she can’t use her magick then we need to find another way to the Underhill. You’re forgetting our mission, Brother. The bond with her is clouding your mind.’
With a growl, Drax sprang forward again to stop Priest, furious that his Brothers were doing this, but before he could get to Eve, she broke through her fear, made a fist, and hit Priest square in the face. Priest staggered back slightly with the force of the blow, looking incredulous as he pulled her back from the edge.
He bent down so that his face was level with hers.
‘If you cannot do what we need you to do, female, you’re dead weight, and there's no point dragging you along with us.’
He let her go with a growl and she fell on her arse. Realizing she was still close too to the edge of the circle, she scrambled away from it with a cry, leaping back to the middle of the clearing, breathing heavily.
Giving Priest a wide berth, Eve lay on one of the bedrolls by the fire, turning away from them and curling into a ball.
Drax trailed Priest across the clearing. ‘I gave you a fucking order,’ he snarled.
‘You know what I say is true,’ Priest said, shrugging. ‘If the female cannot open a portal, she is useless to us. I must make her magick manifest,’ he added in a whisper.
‘Find another way,’ he ordered.
Priest let out a huff. ‘How do you propose I get us into the Underhill if I cannot make her create a bridge? Pray really hard?’
‘I don’t give a fuck, but you won’t touch her like that again.’
Pushing past Priest, Drax chose the bedroll nearest to Eve and lay in it. The others followed suit and Drax closed his eyes, thinking of how she’d felt when Priest was tormenting her and vowing that he wouldn’t let his Brother treat their Fourth like that again.
The next morning,he woke at the same time as his Brothers. The sun was just rising and the air was cold. Checking their Fourth still slumbered, he motioned for Priest and Fie to join him on the other side of the circle, far away from the female, so she couldn't hear them while they discussed her even if she did wake.
He was still angry at Priest and Fie for their mutinous actions last night, but he could understand. They thought him addled by the bond. Perhaps he was, but that was immaterial. This mission was important to him, but it was even more so to his Brothers. They had kin in the Underhill, and they didn’t believe he was doing everything he could to get them there.
‘Last night will have a comeuppance,’ he said first in warning, ‘but for now, we have more important matters to discuss. I think I know why her magick has never presented itself.’
His Brothers looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to go on.
