Page 33 of Magic Claimed
“What is it, Anise?” Alerick asked.
I wanted to know the answer to this question as well. Eike looked stricken while Jarom leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees as he waited for the answer as well.
“Serafine has a very powerful magic inside her. It’s old. Ancient. So ancient I believe it to be from the original source.”
The original source was magic that came straight from the Fae realm. It was unheard of today. Original magic had warped and changed through hundreds of years of being on the Earth, ever since the Fae king had closed the portal.
Original source magic was the Fae magic that infused The Six. It was the strongest magic on the planet and totally unbreakable.
“What is it exactly, Anise?” Jarom asked.
I would like to know the answer as well, but the only reason Jarom asked was to see if he could use it against me, no doubt.
“I’m not sure. We’ll have to try again when Serafine is not so weak. She might have to develop her own magic to find out for herself, though,” Anise said.
“I’ve never used magic. I can’t use what I know nothing about. I didn’t know it was there inside me. Esoti will make my life more of a hell if he knows any of this.” My blood froze.
What about the salt canister? It couldn’t have been magic, but how else could it have happened?
What if Esoti knew and that was why he’d tortured me all this time? Looking for something that was hidden so deeply inside me I never knew it was there. Esoti and Drisella’s conversation came back to me. Esoti had spelled me to forget, and yet I hadn’t. How many times had he made me forget what he was looking for? What if he knew something was there but hadn’t found it? All this time, torturing me for something I never knew I had.
A sad smile touched Anise’s lips. “The magic inside you is so tightly bound it is very hard to detect because it has been bound by death. I could only find it because youletme look. It’s a failsafe. What was put there through death can never be forced out.”
“But… how? I think I would remember something like that happening to me,” I said.
“Not if it was bound by a memory spell at the same time it was placed there. Whoever did this to you was very careful to make it almost impossible to find. And to remove. Someone powerful did it and gave their life to seal it,” Anise said.
I don’t know who would have put it there, or why it’d been me. If I could get the magic out, then I could be free of Esoti. Free of being a slave. Free from torture. Free from…everything.
I clutched Anise’s hand hard and she flinched with the strength of desperation. I eased my grip. “Get it out of me. I don’t want it anymore. I never wanted it to begin with.”
Her expression grew sadder. “It took great magic to put it there. It will take magic as great to remove it.”
“And what could be greater than death magic? Tell me and I’ll do it. I’ll do it now.” And then I’d head off to the ends of the Earth where nobody could find me. If Esoti tightened the collar and I died, maybe then I’d stay dead. Anything would be better than my life now.
Anise squeezed my white-knuckled grip on my hands. “It took great love to put it in you. It will take great love to remove it. This is the only way. The only thing as powerful as death magic is bond magic, Serafine. To get whatever magic is inside you out, you need to bond with your mates.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Oh no. No. No. No no nonono.” I shook my head, but it didn’t change Anise’s expression.
The magic had lent me some strength, and I pushed myself up into a semi- seated position. I panted as though I’d run ten flights of stairs, a fresh wave of perspiration breaking over my skin.
“I will never mate with them.” I ignored Eike’s crest-fallen expression and Alerick’s stony face. I latched onto their weakest link. The link I knew would side with me. “Tell them, Jarom. You hate me. Alerick and Eike can do better. Tell them this is a ridiculous idea.”
Jarom covered his surprise quickly. Surprise and hurt came and went in a flash so fast I might have imagined it. “I can do better?”
“Youallcan do better than a slave. I can’t give you what you want in a mate. I reject you. I reject all three of you. I don’t want you. I’m never going to want you. Take a knife and gut me to get the bond magic out because I will never bond with you. Ever.”
Panic was a living force, driving through my system. I swung my legs over the side, causing Anise to fly up from her seated position on the bed. “I’m going back to the castle so the next time Esoti chokes me, I won’t be gasping for breath to get to him. This collar is around my neck. Not yours. Do not take me without my permission again.”
I stood up, which was the wrong thing to do as my legs buckled beneath me straight away. Alerick swept me in his arms. He settled on the bed, with his back against the bedhead and me between his legs. His massive arms wrapped about me, locking me against his broad, immovable chest.
“Calm, Serafine,” Alerick’s chest rumbled against my back, creating tingling swirls in the pit of my stomach.
“Let me go!” I struggled, but it was like moving a boulder. Tears of frustration pricked my eyes and I blinked them back.
“Anise, can you please see if the food is ready for Serafine? She’s exhausted and needs to eat before she rests,” Alerick said.
