Page 27 of Magic Hunted
“That’s the magic I felt,” Savvas said.
Dias sat on the cot next to me, picking me up and placing me on his lap. “Why does it hurt you, Haera?”
There was no use denying it. Not now. Savvas would feel the grimoire’s magic, and they would feel the mixed dread and horror swelling inside me. The reasons not to bond with them stacked up, like molten bricks, one on top of the other, waiting to liquify and pool into a furnace of a mess with the ability to burn us all to the ground.
“Don’t be afraid of telling us. We’ll protect you,” Ashir said, and the pile of reasons toppled beneath the heaviest burden.
I struggled to stand, legs buckling under me as I pushed away from Dias, scrambling back until my back hit the wall. I’d done the wrong thing taking any form of comfort from them. I’d been selfish because I knew what would happen. I’d always known.
Maybe I could use the power of the grimoire to seal the barrier so tight it could never be broken. The magic was meant to be all powerful. If I could direct it to save Savvas, I could use it to break our bond. I’d make the barrier so thick nothing would break through and then I’d turn it invisible so that it wouldn’t be found again. I’d carried thatthinginside me for twenty years. It had been a burden I couldn’t rid myself of. This would be my payment. My due for taking my parents away.
I reached that place deep inside me where the grimoire had been hidden. Sparks of magic bubbled up, tingling through my veins. I sent them toward the barrier, lining the fissure with little dots of sparking magic.
“Haera, whatever you’re doing, stop it now,” Savvas’ palm pressed on his chest.
“This is for the best. You’ll thank me for your freedom,” I said.
“If this was freedom, you’d let us choose. And we choose you, Haera. Every time,” Savvas said.
I winced as their soul-lights battered against the barrier, their desperation leeching through as I tried to seal it. “You have no idea what you’re asking for.”
The door swung open and the warrior elf stormed in, followed by three other imposing warriors, swords held ready in their hands.
I was instantly closed off behind the wall of rippling muscle and broad shoulders of my mates. Taut tan skin outlined well-defined muscles. The waists of their pants rose low on their hips. Low enough to show the round discs above well-rounded glutes that baggy pants couldn’t hide. A menacing growl emanated from Ashir.
“Stand back,” the fierce warrior snarled, his eyes glowing bright enough to illuminate the walls.
A wizened female elf shuffled after the elves. White hair was braided into thin plaits falling down her back. She wore a dark cloak, hiding the shape of her body, but there was no mistaking the intelligence as she looked straight at me with solid white eyes as though she’d been waiting for me to wake up.
“Don’t come any closer.” Ashir’s voice was low and filled with barely restrained aggression.
The ferocious lead elf pinned his flat stare on Ashir. “You speak out of turn,shifter. Give me back what was stolen and I may let you live.” He spat the word ‘shifter’ as though it was a curse. I was glad they didn’t understand what the warrior said, although there was no mistaking the tone.
“That’s enough. General Taredd, let me through so we can have the conversation we should have had days ago,” the woman said. Her voice was so aged, it sounded dry and frail but there was an unnamed strength to it.
Taredd’s gaze sparked. Without a word he turned to the elves at his side. They must have been waiting for the flick of his head because they lunged at the alphas, pinning them down with startling ease. One of the elves gripped my biceps and ripped me away from the safety of the panthers.
Taredd indicated to the woman. “They’re all yours, Shanyirra.”
The woman dipped her hand into a pouch at her hip and withdrew a handful of smooth stones that glowed similar in color to the moss, but shades lighter.
“Hold them still. This won’t take long,” she said as she stepped toward Savvas. He struggled, but he couldn’t fight off both elves holding him down.
“Take these collars off and let’s have an equal battle.” Dias wrestled against the elves holding him.
I hadn’t noticed the thin, tight bands around their necks. They looked like they’d been made from the moss. My fingers flew to my own throat, finding a band fitting into the scar Titan’s collar had made.
An unnatural lethargy oozed through my system, as though leeching away my energy. I tried to call forth my panther, and she only managed to buffer under my skin. She snarled, enraged behind magical bonds. Ashir’s eyes flashed from his slitted panther’s, back to his human form. His panther couldn’t get through either. None of ours could. The band took away our energy and ability to reach our panthers. No wonder they hadn’t broken free.
“Don’t hurt them!” I cried out. I may not want to be their mate, but I didn’t want them hurt. The elf behind me shoved me against his hard chest armor, his grip biting into my back. That leather was as hard as steel.
Shanyirra’s milky gaze landed on me. Her eyes glowed entirely white. I thought she might be blind, but she looked directly at me with uncanny accuracy. “Be at ease. I won’t hurt your mates.”
I shucked in a breath. “How do you know they’re my…who they are to me?” I didn’t want to give anything away that may endanger the panthers who they may see as leverage over me.
Shanyirra chuckled. “You don’t live as long as I and learn nothing, child. I see many things.” Her white eyes blazed as her gaze locked with mine. I tried to wrench my focus off her but a force held me in her grasp. I couldn’t turn away. Couldn’t move, my eyes wide open.
Tingles raced through the back of my mind as a foreign hand sifted into the far recesses inside my head. It wasn’t painful, but it was obtrusive. My mind was the only place not owned by anyone. The grimoire trembled and magic sparked. I locked into the power in those bubbles and pushed her out. I sagged in the elves’ arms, my breath ragged as our gazes broke.
