Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) (12 page)

“She refused to take no for an answer. Livvy gave to her willingly, she knew where we were heading, but she tried to warn your mother. Liana wouldn’t listen. I wasn’t allowed to be there, and I respected the fact that there were details Livvy could never share with me, but I felt it. I felt the drain on us both when she handed over pieces of her life source to save you. To save us all. When she came back to me, she had aged fifty years, no longer the young woman I’d married. Her power was a fraction of what it once was and she couldn’t protect herself anymore.” Baleon paused.

“Ultimately,” he said, “her lack of power was what got her killed. My wife, my mate, died to save you. And, if I must, I will do the same.”

The room erupted. Aidan, Cole, and even Bethany, were pelting Bale with questions. I sat down and let my mind spin. I ran through everything we’d learned, and the answer was clear.

“We have to go to the castle,” I blurted. “She told me everything I need to know and we can’t change anything unless we find that chamber and the answers she couldn’t.”

I
paced
the edge of the tree line and opened my mouth, only to swallow down the words. I was angry, there was no doubt about that, but I wouldn’t resort to hurling insults. Amelia leaned back against a tree trunk, her hands in her hoodie pocket.

I walked past her for the umpteenth time and she waited silently while I figured out what to say. After she declared we should run off to a castle no one’s been inside for almost three decades, the room filled with shouts and arguments.

Baleon was the only one to agree with her, while the rest of us took turns telling her how ridiculous her notion was. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder, and stormed out. The last thing I heard was Cole’s laughter.

She pummeled my back until I set her down a few feet from where she now stood. Gripping her shoulders, I wanted to shake her. I wanted to shake her like a doll until she relented and told me she’d just do whatever I wanted so I could keep her safe.

A growl built in my throat and my wolf sat none-too-patiently in the back of my mind, telling me to force her into submission. Amelia finally looked up at me, and said, “I know none of this makes sense to you, Aidan. It barely makes sense to me. But I know I have to do this, and I know I can’t do it without you.”

It was the last thing I’d expected from her and the only thought I had was, “Of course you can’t, because you are
mine
.” My wolf howled in my mind as I crushed her to me. My fingers dug into her shoulders and she bent backwards with the force of my kiss. My tongue dove deep into her mouth. I claimed her. I made sure she knew I would be there even if I thought it was an insane idea. Because she was mine. Mine to kiss. Mine to care for. Mine to protect.
Mine.

Just as abruptly as the kiss started, I stopped it. Her lips were the color of strawberries, the area around them pink from the prickly facial hair I hadn’t taken the time to shave. Her eyes were violet and her power shimmered in the air around her, my bright blue smoke woven throughout the same space. She was beautiful, wearing my mark, her breath shallow from the exchange.

“You…I just…this is…” I couldn’t find the rest of the words, just intermittent growls rumbling inside my chest. I clenched my fists and started to pace — again. As I spun on my heel, the truth settled in and I audibly exhaled my frustration. I looked up at Amelia and she must have sensed my resolution. She stepped away from the trees and into my path. I stepped to her, close enough that she was forced to look up at me.

“You’re going to do this, whether I agree or not, aren’t you?” I asked.

She nodded. “I have to. Everything has led me to it.”

“In a minute, you’re going to define everything, but for now, just listen to me,” I said, tilting her chin up with one finger. Her eyes narrowed.

“You keep talking about this being us,” I started, “you say we are in this together, but I don’t think you actually mean it. There are things to deal with here and decisions to be made. Ones you don’t get to make for both of us. You don’t get to snap your fingers and expect me to come along for the ride. If we’re really in this together, we make decisions like this
together
. Otherwise, I will resort to locking you in one of Derreck’s stalls until you’re willing to listen to reason.”

We were nose to nose as the violet flared in her eyes, a starburst exploding from her pupil outward. I felt her intention and did nothing to stop her two hands from planting against my chest and shoving. I just didn’t move.

Amelia shoved again and my only response was an arch of my eyebrow.

With the third shove came the anger I also expected, so before she could react, I spoke quickly. “Before you freak out, listen to what I’m saying, Amelia. You want to act. That’s what you always want. But there are people here who are counting on us. We put all of these people in danger, just being with them. Earlier, you stopped me from going off the handle on a personal vendetta, and I’m trying to do the same now.”

Her posture relaxed ever so slightly, but her power started gathering around her hands, so I continued.

“The thing is, we’re all afraid. Bethany’s afraid to stay here, but she’s also afraid to go. Cole’s afraid everyone will find out his power is gone. Micah’s afraid his mother will wake up before we know what to do and how to stop her. Baleon’s afraid his wife died in vain because you’re so focused on what you do or don’t know and finding the answer to some riddle we aren’t even sure is still relevant, you can’t see the big picture. And do you know what I’m afraid of? Do you, Amelia?” I asked.

“I’m afraid of you,” I said, closing the distance between us faster than she could react. I snatched her hand in mine and felt the burn as her fire melded with my own. It slid from my hand to shoulder, singeing me, sending electric currents through my veins and arteries, which made me both want more and to pull away.

Instead, I pushed back, sending my own power back into her. “I’m afraid you will be so set on martyring yourself for this prophecy, you’ll never give me the chance to love you, to be with you, to protect you,” I gritted out as the flames licked down my chest, and swallowed a groan that was a combination of pain and pleasure.

I opened my eyes to find hers closed as she swayed on her feet, her head back. I pulled at her hand and her eyes fluttered opened.

“Do you feel that, do you feel what we are together?” I asked.

Her eyes were unfocused as she nodded. “I do,” she said, breathless.

“Now, look around.
Look, Amelia
,” I demanded. Her eyes snapped open.

The air around us was nothing but light — blue, orange, and violet light surrounding us, a glowing mist. “Can you honestly tell me we shouldn’t take a minute to figure out what this is and how we can use it?”

I pulled my hand from hers and took slow steps backwards as the light faded and our connection lessened. I wanted to do the opposite. I wanted to pull her to me and wrap my arms around her, but she wouldn’t hear me if I did.

As Amelia’s mind cleared, her hands came to her hips and a scowl twisted her lips. “You don’t fight fair, Montgomery,” she grumbled.

“But, I do make good points,” I responded with an easy grin.

Her eyebrow arched and she rolled her eyes. As she opened her mouth to add something sure to be sarcastic, a twig snapped. I shoved her behind me, on the verge of shifting.

“Don’t sound the alarms, it’s just me.” Micah’s voice carried over the hill as he crested the top. I pulled up from a half-crouch and tried to calm my boiling blood.

“You’re lucky you aren’t in multiple pieces, man,” I said, stepping toward him as Amelia smacked me from behind, saying, “And so are you. I can take care of myself, you know.”

“Yes, I know. You’re damn near invincible, Amelia,” I muttered as I struggled to find calm between the emotions from our exchange and the residual fight or flight in my system.

“Bicker later,” Micah snapped. “My mother is awake. That means time is short. We need a plan and you need to leave if you’re going.”

I
didn’t wait around
for Aidan to say anything else. It was one thing to lose myself in his kiss, or for us to talk about our responsibilities to the Immortals, but he’d said it again.
He loved me.
I ached to believe it was true and that the emotion belonged solely to him. But, I also saw what just happened. I saw what we were capable of and that only made me question my emotional, and physical, response to him.

I made my way up the hill toward the house and as I got closer to the barn, found myself in front of a group of women, some pregnant, but all wearing huge smiles. I felt Aidan walk behind me, and thankfully, he kept going. I needed a moment of space from everything that we were.

Finally, Cora stepped out of the group and I sighed in relief at knowing at least one face. She reached out and pulled me into a hug. When she stepped back, her hands slid down my arms and she held my hands loosely in hers.

“It’s so lovely to see you, Amelia. I told the ladies you were up and about, but that you’d need a few days before you had it in you to venture our way. From what we saw coming up over that hill, it looks like you and Aidan are finding your way.” Her green eyes twinkled and I chuckled, imagining the light show we’d created. Cora wasted no time. Soon, I found myself formally meeting many of the women I’d only spoken to through the bars of my cell.

I had vague memories of a woman with black hair who introduced herself as Sully. One became clear as she took my hand. I remembered swaying over her, Cole screaming at me to pull back, to save myself.

I opened my eyes to find Sully rubbing her hand over her swollen belly, a small smile playing on her lips. “When?” I asked, the word stuck in my throat as emotion overtook me.

“Any day now,” she responded. I held a bewildered smile as I looked around. Each woman here was a life I’d fought to save.

A girl who looked to be in her twenties stepped forward, her blonde hair falling down her back. As she pulled me in for a hug, she said, “I feel your pain, your conflict. Trust your heart to guide you and listen when it calls.”

“Come now, Willow,” Cora said. “No prophetic riddles tonight.” Willow let me go and with a conspiratorial wink, rejoined the circle around me. As I went to speak, the ladies started talking over each other. They told me about their unborn babies, how Nell’s kittens were doing, how every day their power grew and they felt more like themselves.

I was overwhelmed with their emotions. The gratitude, joy, and sheer happiness enveloping me from all sides were intoxicating. I was grinning from ear to ear when I heard one of them coo, “Prince Mikail, how are you?”

Micah chuckled from behind me. “Now, ladies, what have I told you? Please call me Micah. There are Kings and soon-to-be Queens that deserve your allegiance far more than me.” I had to swallow down a snort of laughter as they oohed and awed like fangirling teenagers.
Micah had game.
That thought was hysterical to me.

“Unfortunately, my lovelies, I do have to take this one away. We have much to attend to, but I will be out this evening to make my rounds and work with anyone who’d like to.” Micah lightly grasped my elbow and steered me away from the women. I called out my goodbyes over my shoulder and turned to Micah.

“‘Now, ladies, what have I told you?’” I teased. A red flush crept up his neck and he shoved me a few feet in front of him.

“Go, you wretched girl, and deal with your mate. He’s inside and far too patient, if you ask me,” he said, eyeing me.

My smile fell to a scowl, which Micah ignored.

“I’m going to pull the others together in my apartment so we can really start planning,” he said. “But, Amelia, he’s right. You do need time to determine what you two can do together. The rest of us can feel it. We feel the strength between you, we feel the…uh,
emotion
, between you, and you need to understand what all that means. Go apologize for being your defensive, intolerable self and let the man keep a shred of his dignity. He keeps putting you first and that would wear on anyone.”

“I am not intolerable,” I muttered as he walked away. I heard his snort of disagreement and shot a small blast of power at his heels. Micah waved a hand and it disintegrated before it even hit. Sometimes, I hated how much better he was with magic than me.

It felt like eons since I’d walked through Uncle Derreck's door for the first time, yet, coming in now, his living room looked exactly the same. Except there was a six-foot-tall, smoky-eyed boy stretched out on the couch with his hands laced behind his head and tattoos visible as his sleeves bunched around flexed biceps.

I felt Aidan’s frustration, but also his resolve. He knew I was there and waited for me to make the first move. It was a miracle we were the only two people in the room, but most people were eating, so the main living space was ours. Instead of curling into his lap and whispering my apology in his ear, which was what I wanted to do, I decided to do something I knew he'd appreciate more. And, I had to prove to myself our connection was more than toe-curling kisses and roaming hands. I knew we were drawn to each other, but there was more. I knew there was.

I closed my eyes and relaxed, allowing my power to build. My mind saw the living room in a new way, an elemental way. I saw traces of power here and there, the remnants from others who had recently been in the room, but I was drawn to the clouds of blue and orange electricity congregating in front of me. Aidan’s body had been replaced by the life source that made him an Immortal. I was surprised at how much his power was laced with orange Hunter magic, but it only made him more intriguing.

I sent my violet smoke toward him, a wisp that grew into a thread and built into a rope. The closer my power got to Aidan, the more his responded, reaching for me. Unlike with Micah, there was no feeling out process. Our souls recognized each other and the power was our visual confirmation of that.

Tears pricked at my eyes as my heart rate increased and his breaths became shallow. He felt it. He felt the overwhelming need to be close, to be joined together. What had been a slow creep toward each other ended as the two stopped, just centimeters apart. In one sudden motion, our powers swirled around each other, the cords spinning so quickly, I couldn’t separate violet from blue from orange. As they merged, the cord snapped into one solid gateway between our minds. Aidan, along with all of his over-protective alpha tendencies, was in my head, and it felt right.

Hello, there,
I said the words softly, putting my pitiful game to the test.

Well, hello yourself, doll. What exactly was that we were just doing?
He didn’t get up, or even pull his hands from behind his head, which only made our exchange more fun.

We’ve been circling this for a while, but I decided it was time for us to finally seal the deal. Now, you’re stuck with me.

While I was joking on one level, on another I wasn’t. I wanted the security of having access to Aidan and I wanted him to have the same with me. To test our new connection, I sent him the emotions skimming through me. The ones that wanted to hop over that chair, wrap around him, and kiss him breathless.

I expected to hear him in my head, so his voice surprised me, especially since he was now standing directly in front of me.

“You can’t do that,” he murmured as he dipped his head to kiss me. His stubble was rough on my chin and I didn’t want to like it as much as I did.

“Do what?” I asked between kisses.

“Make me forget why I was mad in the first place by using your wily charms,” he responded.

I reached up and pulled him down to me. “Oh, but I can, and I did. And now, we have to go downstairs to plot our rebellion, so I can’t even make good on my charming ways.”

He sighed, but then grabbed me by the waist and hoisted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and giggled while he nipped at my neck, and said, “Fine. We’ll go, because I know I don’t actually have a choice in the matter.”

“At least you’re learning,” I said, grinning wickedly and feeling quite smug.

“Oh, you should have quit while you were ahead, doll,” he said, his tone immediately concerning. I felt his intention a second before I found myself slung over Aidan’s shoulder, my ass in the air — again — for the world to see as he strode out the front door and around the cabin.

I gave up pummeling his back when the catcalls started. The hooting and hollering from the AniMage crowd made me want to disappear, and all I felt was Aidan’s cocky swagger. Damn it all if I didn’t like him more for it.

I
t took
a few minutes for the flames in my face to die down, especially once Aidan set me on the floor and I turned to find Rynna and Uncle Derreck staring back at me. Rynna was trying to stifle a smile and my uncle looked anywhere but at me. A smile froze on my face, then I almost tripped over Charlie as I rushed to find a seat on the other side of the small living room.

I hate you
, I hissed at Aidan.

You do not,
he goaded.
You think I’m goooorgeous. You want to kiiiiss me. You want to huuuug me.

Oh, SHUT UP. And, by the way, I’m totally judging you right now.

His smug laugh was interrupted by Micah.

“If you two are done, we can get started. This is actually quite serious.” He stood in the kitchen, leaning back against the counters, and I immediately felt guilty. Aidan and I were just making out and acting like idiots, and Micah was right. This was not the time.

“They cannot help themselves, Prince Mikail. Their passion and focus on each other is the true sign of mates, much to the dismay of the rest of us.” Baleon was standing in the corner near the front door and he shocked me with a quick wink.

“Fine, fine, but let’s get on with it,” Micah grumbled as he waved a hand in the air. “As you all know, the connection I have with my mother is such that I know her health, and I know she is conscious, which means she has the ability to send the Hunters after us. Now is the time to make choices quickly and to act.”

I looked across the room at Derreck and Rynna, feeling a small measure of happiness as he slid his arm around her.

“My mother’s journal directed us to the castle,” I started. “But only Aidan and I are going.” I hadn’t made my plans known to anyone else before that point and no one was pleased. Cole shouted, Derreck lectured, and Micah paced and muttered, likely cursing my name.

It was actually Charlie who put them all to shame. He let out a deep, deafening howl and the room quieted. He looked across the room at Onyx, who sat by Cole, and Onyx trotted to stand just in front of Aidan. Charlie stood in front of me, staring and whimpering.

“What, boy?” I asked as I leaned down. I reached out to scratch his head when he dropped his giant paw in my palm.

You must take us. You cannot go alone. You need us.

His voice rang clear in my head. I could only stare into his depthless black eyes.

This is our purpose. You must take us. We must go home.

My head shot up and I stared over Charlie at my uncle. Charlie’s tail started to thump a rhythm on the hardwood, as if he saw the dots connecting in my mind.

“Tell me again where Charlie was born,” I demanded my uncle.

“Amelia, we need to focus—” My hand shot up, a violet flame dancing in my palm, and Micah shut up.

Derreck shrugged. “I’ve always felt a little guilty about it, even though I don’t see why it matters now, but I stole Charlie and Onyx from the castle when I left. So many people were already gone. The Elders had been forced to leave the castle to find their mates and families. While I liberated the castle of a few items I knew would make me some money, I found these two huddled together on the floor.”

“Wait…Sentinels…what are Sentinels? Why can’t I remember where I’ve heard this?” Aidan cut into the conversation abruptly, his frustration clear. All heads turned to him with looks of confusion, except Bale, who looked impressed.

“What do you know, Baleon?” I asked. I looked between him and Micah, and the confusion on Micah’s face confirmed it wasn’t something he was hiding.

Baleon stayed silent for a long stretch and finally, Micah walked over to him. “Bale,” he said, “you will dishonor no one by helping us to use the tools we’ve been given. What is a Sentinel?”

Baleon grimaced, but then nodded. “The Sentinels were the guards of council chamber and only the royal guard knew of their existence. They guarded the innermost secrets of Elders, and of our people. No one knew what race they truly were. When the Elders disappeared, so did the Sentinels. We assumed they were dead.”

Charlie and Onyx sat right next to each other, tails thumping, tongues hanging out of their open mouths as they breathed quickly, the excitement bouncing between them palpable. I was excited to understand them, but I was also hesitant. It was another unknown — another unexpected piece in the puzzle.

“But Rhi knew,” Aidan said. “He called Charlie a Sentinel when they took Cole. Wouldn’t he want Charlie if he was so important?” Aidan questioned Bale as he put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. Instantly, the fear subsided.

Baleon shrugged. “Why would he want a dog that used to be a guard of a place that no longer mattered, at least in his mind? Leaving Charlie may be his most generous act to date. Typically, Rhi would have killed anyone who didn’t matter, and clearly, Charlie and Onyx matter.”

His declaration was met with a chorus of booming woofs from the dogs. Onyx ran circles around the couch we sat on. It took a sharp whistle from Bethany to stop him from trying to lick Aidan’s face and shut them both up.

“So, you’re just going to leave, then? What about the rest of us?” she demanded. I was surprised by the accusation in her tone. Bethany sat next to Cole, who wore a similar look. It was hard to remember that they now had the common denominator of being powerless. That their bond likely led to a fear not all of us shared.

“I do need to go, but we aren’t going to leave you defenseless,” I responded. “That’s why we’re all in this room. Micah, Derreck, let’s talk about the power and the shields.