Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) (23 page)

A
fter Micah disappeared
and I relayed the information to the group, it was no longer a discussion of whether we’d go to Cresthaven, it was when. And when was as soon as humanly possible. Bethany forced us to eat, citing an inability to fight without sustenance. I scarfed down the homemade biscuits and gravy, barely taking time to swallow.

Images of Cole in the same room as Rhi fueled a deep panic inside me. I took his power — okay, he gave it to me — and now, he was defenseless, which was my fault. There had to have been a way for me to take what my mother meant for me while leaving him with something. I hadn’t even tried to give him his power back, and I couldn’t believe I left him with nothing. I should have tried.

Amelia, you have to calm down.

Aidan’s voice ruptured my internal tirade.

I can hear your heartbeat racing and feel your guilt. Cole wouldn’t want this. He wouldn’t want you to feel like this. He made a choice, the same as you. Focus forward. We’re going to get him out of there.

I knew Aidan was right. His concern also hovered on the edges of my mind. If I focused on him and not on myself, it was easier. I let his love wash over me, stopping my erratic thoughts. I had to focus. I had to be ready.

I looked around and noticed everyone, having finished eating, was staring at me. I stood from the table. “Let’s go,” I said calmly.

Getting to Cresthaven and navigating the maze had been a cinch. With each potentially life-threatening situation I helped us make it through, my confidence grew. I had cloaked the group — me, Aidan, Bethany, Rynna, and Derreck — so we could approach the outer gates unnoticed. The door to the maze popped open as soon as I stood in front of it.

Rynna and I agreed we wanted to be farther into the maze before we attempted a door. As we ran down leafy corridors, surrounded by the eight-foot-tall hedges, I’d realized I could no longer separate Gaea’s power from my own. She was a part of me and I prayed I could control what she gave me to save my brother and friends. And that we could fulfill her wishes to help all of our people.

Sensing my anxiety, Aidan provided a wave of reassurance. Feeling him there, always in the back of my mind, was a relief. To some, perhaps it would have been an intrusion, but fundamentally, I had changed so much since he and I met. My power growing, the Keeper taking hold, my experience at Cresthaven, and then with Gaea…my power had been held hostage, amped up, combined with Cole’s, stripped of the Keeper, and merged with a Goddess. Aidan was my anchor. He reminded me of everything I was beneath the magic and prophecy. Amid a host of impulsive, half-baked decisions, his presence confirmed there was something I had done right. I had chosen him.

I love you
.

He grinned over at me.
I know. But you can keep telling me.

Shaking my head, I laughed. I slowed our jog to a walk and then stopped. “Here goes nothing,” I muttered as I plunged my hand into the hedge like Micah had. The leaves brushed my fingers before I felt the cool metal of the handle. I lightly traced the circular knob before grasping it and focusing on the door leading us to the library. I heard the
snick
of the latch and the hedge popped inward, revealing giant shelves and stacks of books.

I kept our cloak in place as we filed in. I led the way and was pleased to find Tragar in the center of the room, his back to us. “I knew I would see you again, little one,” he said. I lifted the cloak as he turned around. It was hard to know whether his immediate joy was seeing me, or Rynna and Derreck. They ran to him first and I heard Aidan and Bethany laughing quietly behind me.

I used another one of our newest tricks and lurked in Aidan’s mind, listening to their conversation.

“It just so happens that your friend here is only
mostly dead
,” Aidan said, his voice high, attempting to match Billy Crystal’s.

Bethany giggled. “Humperdinck! Humperdinck! Humperdinck!” She perfectly mimicked Miracle Max’s wife from Princess Bride and I found myself laughing along with them. They both looked at me and we erupted as a trio.

“Will you two stop!” I attempted to scold them through my laughter. “Tragar is sweet, even if he does look like Miracle Max.” I hadn’t ever made that connection myself, but the longer I looked at Tragar in his billowing robes with his crazy white hair and big nose, it was all too clear.

Rynna, Derreck, and Tragar all looked at us curiously. “Nothing, it’s nothing,” I assured them as I gestured Aidan and Bethany forward.

“Tragar, this is my best friend, Bethany, and my mate, Aidan.” They each stepped forward and shook Tragar’s hand.

“Her mate, you say?” Tragar questioned as he held onto Aidan’s hand a bit longer. Aidan nodded. “Yes, sir, made official by Gaea herself.” As Aidan held Tragar’s hand, I transferred a little of myself into him, directing my power to extend through Aidan’s palm into Tragar’s.

Tragar’s eyes went wide and I swore I could see doors unlocking in his mind. He dropped Aidan’s hand and stared at nothing, his eyes unfocused. A few seconds later, he was speaking rapid fire.

“I’ll be damned! It’s there. It’s all there. This whole time, I’ve searched every book and I’ve had it all locked away. Gaea. Our Mother. Oh, dear. We’ve failed. We’ve failed at everything she created us to be.” Tragar looked around wildly, until his eyes landed on me. “Amelia, you must fix this. You must stop this. I can’t believe we’ve allowed it to happen. You have to save us.”

I stepped forward and grasped his shaking hands. “Don’t worry, Tragar. That’s why we’re here. Aidan and I are going to fix this. I need you to help me, though. Micah told me to send you to find Joran and bring him here. We need Joran to find Cole and Micah and get them away from Rhi. Can you help us?”

Tragar nodded slowly, his pupils returning to normal as he calmed. Then, he grunted. “That boy knows I don’t like bringing them into my library. Damn demons, anyway. But you need Joran, you say? That poor Hunter has been tortured by Rhi ever since you left. I don’t know why you’d want him. Shadow of himself, you see. But, if that’s what Mikail told me to do, then that’s what old Tragar will do.”

Tragar continued to mutter to himself as he walked away. “Will you be okay, Tragar?” I called over to him.

“Yes, yes, don’t worry, little one. I’m just sorting through pieces of my life I’d long forgotten. I’ll go find Joran. Stay back in the stacks, just in case.” He quietly left the library and it was back to the five of us.

We stood in a circle. “Okay, we’re here. Joran should be here soon, and he can lead us to Cole and Micah. The question now is what all are we here to do?” I asked the question and let it linger in the air between us.

Uncle Derreck spoke first. “We should stay together, at least until we get to Cole. Then, you should let us get him out of here. If we have any hope of converting some of the Hunters to our side, you’re going to have to show them what you can do. You’re going to have to take out Rhi.”

You’re going to have to take out Rhi.
His words repeated in my mind. Could I do that? Did I have the power for that?

Of course you do. You have a Goddess inside you and me beside you. You won’t do this alone. We’ll do it together.

Aidan slid his hand into mine and I slowly exhaled, nodding.

“I am going to take out Rhi,” I said. I wasn’t sure whether I was trying to convince them or myself.

T
he door
to the library opened. We all dropped to a crouch and hid behind the shelves until we heard Tragar call out to us.

I stood to find Joran only feet from me. I knew it was him because I saw the familiar tattoos that wrapped around his bald head and I recognized his gentle eyes, but the rest of him looked like someone else. His body had to be half the size. His long, leather jacket hung off his frame, making it even more noticeable that he’d lost weight. I couldn’t imagine what he’d been put through.

“Thank you, Joran,” I said. His brow drew together in confusion.

“Thank you for fighting with us. Thank you for helping to save me. Thank you for coming with Tragar.”

His pinched features relaxed. “Prince Mikail told me to listen to Tragar before I made my decision. I assume now the decision is whether I will help you?”

“Yes, it is. We need to know if you will help us,” I said, gesturing around me. “Joran, this is my Uncle Derreck and Rynna.” His mouth quirked into a ghost of a smile.

“Yes, we all know each other from many years ago,” he said.

“And this is my mate, Aidan. And my best friend, Bethany,” I said.

“I remember your mate from the laboratory. But why would you bring a human here?” he asked gruffly.

“She didn’t ‘bring a human here’,” Bethany shot at him, with full air quotes. “The
human
told her it wasn’t optional that I help stop that crazy bitch and get my friends back.” She glared at Joran with daggers I hadn’t seen before in her eyes. Bethany’s hatred for Hunters ran deep, no matter whose side they were on.

An eyebrow rose on Joran’s face. “I see. And does the human understand she is nothing but—”

“Enough,” I interrupted. “We’re not doing this. We don’t have time. Every minute we waste is one Rhi could be torturing Cole or Micah.”

Aidan finally spoke. “Joran, we are here to stop all of this. We want to get Cole and Micah, find Baleon, and kill Rhi. We want this night to end with Julia and Rhi no longer a threat to anyone, and we have the power to do it.” He looked at me and I closed my eyes. When I reopened them, I knew what Joran was seeing.

I extended my arm and flipped my palm up. “Joran, I have power in me no one on this earth has had before. Our Mother, Gaea, put it inside me herself.” White smoke built in my palm and started to swirl into a mini-tornado.

Joran looked interested, but not impressed, so I upped the level. I allowed the smoke to drift apart and focused on him. Without a word or movement from me, he rose into the air. Then, so did a stack of books. The books shot around him, creating a wide berth, but circling him like the rings of Saturn.

I watched him squint, clearly trying to fight back. “I won’t hurt you, obviously. This is me just having fun. I can feel your power, but it is a candle flame compared to the forest fire inside me. You know I’m telling the truth, I remember your gift. Am I lying when I tell you I met Gaea, that Aidan and I freed her from her prison? And after that, she mated us and gave me the ability to use her power to end Julia’s reign once and for all?”

I let the books drift back to their appropriate stacks as I set Joran back on the floor.

“You do not lie, Amelia,” Joran responded. “I see her in your eyes and in your heart. But how is it I see her at all? How can I see these memories I never knew I had?”

“When we freed Gaea and she gave me this power to fight Julia, she also explained that she locked away your memories,” I explained. “In order to stop the civil war the last King started, she had to wipe away all knowledge of how the Immortals came to that place. With the mention of her name, and the visible use of her power, everyone will remember.”

He nodded along as I spoke, finally saying, “I can see why. I may have preferred those memories stayed buried. Now, what is it you want to ask of me?”

“Joran, we need you to take us to where they are holding Micah and Cole,” I said. “We need to get into that chamber and a way to get them out. Will you help us? We know we can’t get in without a Hunter unless I make it very obvious we are here. If we do that, we lose the element of surprise, and that’s the only way we’re going to get to Rhi.” I didn’t want to beg Joran, even though I would if it came to that. I stood between Aidan and Bethany, and we waited.

After a long minute, Joran said, “If you will give me back what he took, I will do anything to bring Rhi to justice. Anything.”

I stepped forward and reached up to Joran’s cheek. My warm palm met his clammy skin and in that instant, I knew what he meant. Rhi had stripped him down to almost nothing. The power inside Joran was a fraction of what it should have been. The magic that should have flowed freely in his veins and centered in his soul was fragmented. The chunks were jagged puzzle pieces that couldn’t find a way back together.

Tears sprang to my eyes as his internal pain hit me. The fact that Joran wasn’t insane, that he hadn’t allowed Rhi’s torture to break his spirit entirely, was shocking. Of its own accord, my power flowed out of me into Joran. I watched the white smoke glide through him and capture the wayward pieces of power in an invisible net. It worked its way through him, until the net was full, and then sat in his core.

Aidan, I need you.

I was getting tired. I wasn’t sure what to do next and the only feeling I had was that I needed more.

I’m here, doll.
I heard his voice, then felt the influx of energy. As soon as his power met mine, the smoke swirled around Joran’s magic. It churned and twirled until the edges of the pieces wore down. Sharp barbs were replaced by rounded corners. As each worn down piece ran into the next, they merged and the ball continued to grow. Once Joran’s power was completely coalesced, I heard him sigh.

I started to withdraw and with each inch my healing smoke pulled back, his power reached out. When I finally removed myself from him and my hand from his cheek, Joran looked down at me with utter relief.

“I can breathe. I can feel. You have given me back what I thought I would never have,” he said, then dropped to one knee and bowed his head.

“I make this oath to you, Amelia Bradbury. I will do as you bid, I will protect you, and those you love. I am yours to command from this day until you determine my debt is paid.” I looked around nervously.

Tragar finally said, “You must accept his oath, Amelia.”

I looked at Aidan. He shrugged.
What can it hurt?
he asked.

“Thank you, Joran. I accept,” I said.

He stood and pulled his closed fist to his heart, bowing once more. “And now, I will take you to your brother and the Prince. We must move quickly and quietly. We must be ghosts in these halls.”