Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) (25 page)

L
eaving
Baleon was out of the question. None of us held back as we raced toward the Hunter quarters. I was afraid of what just a few days had done to the only father I’d ever known.

I hadn’t even had time to process what Amelia did; blasting into the room with authority and then completely incapacitating two Hunters. I had watched through the small window in my cell door, the metal bars obstructing parts of my vision and making me question whether what I’d seen was actually real.

She and Aidan were behind me now, and with each step, I felt my power returning. The binds were gone and I would soon be able to fight at full strength. Derreck and Rynna brought up the rear of our pack, checking behind us continually.

So far, the other Hunters hadn’t come for us. I didn’t know why, but I wasn’t asking questions. I wanted to get Bale and get out. I also wanted to understand why a part of me felt tied to Amelia in a way I never had before. I felt a deep need to protect her at all costs.

We came to another intersection of hallways and I peeked around the corner. There were no Hunters anywhere and that fact had me concerned. We continued and soon entered Hunter domain, moving as one silent unit. The last thing I expected was to have a door at the other end of the hallway open and Rhi emerge. He took slow steps, his head cocked to the side. He slowly developed a grin that felt gloating and menacing all at once.

“What do we have here?” he asked, sneering, his arms spread wide. “A ragtag group of Mages and one lowly AniMage polluting the bunch? You really shouldn’t have bothered. I won’t give him back to you.” Rhi paused, his chin high as he leaned back. “I have waited a lifetime to do to him what I please. He is protected by no one now. His life isn’t worth the blood splatter, though I will still relish in it.”

I didn’t hesitate. I threw everything I had at Rhi. I had no idea what I yelled at him, but I promised retribution for any of Baleon’s pain. I shot quick blasts, waiting for the perfect time to strike, to use the secret Bale had shared only with me.

“If a Hunter comes at you and you truly fear for your life, Prince Mikail, do not hesitate. Aim for his eyes,” he’d told me after he’d caught a group of Hunters toying with me in the halls. “A Hunter who cannot see cannot control the power inside him. Every race has a weakness and ours is the need to see. We must see the Immortal and the power inside them to determine how best to attack. If you destroy the Hunter’s sight, you take his power.” Baleon had drilled this knowledge into me over the years.

As I pelted Rhi with blast after blast, he laughed, shaking them off as if he were walking through a light rain. I knew I wouldn’t actually hurt him, but I needed to distract him. The others had spread out around me, but Amelia stayed behind our half circle.

As Derreck and Rynna sent crackling balls of green and red power at Rhi, the stones around him crumbled. I took that moment to aim and send power I gathered from the deepest parts of my core at him. Unfortunately, at the last second, Rhi saw it and spun away. What was meant for his eyes hit the back of his shoulder. The leather disintegrated and blood poured from the wound. Threads of orange power built a web over the wound and Rhi hissed as it cauterized.

It wasn’t until Amelia shoved through our ranks that the tides changed. I expected Aidan to hold her back, but he didn’t. When we stopped attacking, he filled the gap in our line as she strode toward Rhi. Unflinching, she stared the Hunter down.

“Something is different about you, Keeper,” he mused as he brushed at the burnt hole in his jacket. “Did the darkness finally steal your soul? I felt her there; ready to blot you out like a worthless piece of history. Just like your useless parents and good-for-nothing brother. Did she finally win?” he jeered.

Amelia’s response shattered my reality entirely.

I
n one breath
, he insulted the three people he shouldn’t have. He took two of them from me and I had barely pulled the third from his clutches.

“Today is not your day, Rhi. Today is not the day you want to say things like that to me,” I tried to warn him. All the while, I thought about who Gaea was and what she’d given me.

“No?” he asked, barking out a laugh. “I don’t want to tell you how your mother groveled for you? How she begged for me to spare your life?” he taunted as he stepped forward.

Earth.
My palms glowed white and with one quick movement, the walls around us shook. I cocked my head at Rhi as he regained his balance.

“She did nothing of the sort,” I said, my tone intentionally goading him. “My mother saw you coming. She planned for you. She gave me power you couldn’t even fathom. You fool. You let me live.”

I took pleasure in his face flushing, in the set of his jaw and the way his shoulders rose as he leaned toward me. “What did you say?” he questioned, his threat obvious.

“You. Are. A. Fool,” I enunciated.
Air.
I didn’t even move. The air whipped into the room, a swirling mini tornado that whirled toward Rhi, blowing his long white hair in all directions. To his credit, he didn’t move an inch. He actually looked amused. A small move of his hand and the air fell to nothing.

Suddenly, I was the one lifting into the air. I’d been here before. In Esmerelda’s, I’d felt this same hold. It threatened to steal my breath. Shock hit with the realization it had never been Julia. All this time, it was Rhi doing the dirty work. The power had never been hers, just hers to control.

I never took my eyes off Rhi as his smile widened. I kept a straight face as Rhi flung me from side to side, always stopping before I actually hit the wall. Aidan was screaming in my head, but reacting would only make it worse. I let Rhi have his fun, keeping him just on the other side of actually hurting me. I had to stay focused.

After a few more tosses, I finally said, “Are you done?” Rhi’s head jolted back. “I asked if you were done,” I repeated. His brow furrowed as his hand moved to the left and I didn’t follow. This time, it was my smile that grew as I slowly floated to the floor.

Get them back, Aidan.
It was all I took the time to say and I heard them retreat. Not far, but far enough to keep themselves from being targeted by Rhi as he dealt with me.

Fire.
It was a Hunter’s toy, but today, it was mine to own. My hands moved quickly as I tossed flame after flame at Rhi, watching him dance and attempt a rebuttal. He leapt behind furniture and shot orange bursts at me. I slowly strode forward, ignoring the complaints and frustration from those behind me.

Put out his fire, Amelia. Let’s end this. We’ve got your back.

Aidan’s words were a light bulb in my mind. He’d said the same thing in the prison chamber. I needed to put Rhi’s fire out. Of course.

Rhi started to lower his body into a crouch and I knew I had to stop him before he leapt at me. As quickly as the thought was there, he froze in place. I walked up to Rhi, slowly circling the Hunter who had been the source of so many of my nightmares.

“You know, you aren’t invincible,” I said nonchalantly. I paused and took a moment to enjoy my position. White smoke gathered around me and I was facing my arch enemy, but my heart beat a steady pace.

“You think you are,” I continued as I stood in front of him, eye level as he remained crouched. “You’ve done so much to so many. You’ve taken so much, and we have all lost more than we should have to you…but not anymore.” I leaned in and looked him directly in the eyes. I let him take in the shining violet and the white star that burst from my pupils.

“I found her,” I whispered. “Gaea gave me the tools to defeat you. You were never meant to be, and you will never be again.”

Rhi’s solar storm eyes narrowed, then widened as he took in the full weight of what I’d said. Just like Tragar and Joran, the doors in his mind unlocked and the memories flooded in. I saw it in his eyes, the way they widened and unfocused. In the drop of his jaw and the momentary loss of his precious control.

“No,” he whispered, still looking dazed. “We were meant to rule. Lies! You’ve manipulated me somehow and these are nothing but lies!”

I had a moment’s hesitation. I knew what came next. It was so clear in my mind, but I could not undo my next choice once it was made. Rhi continued to rail against me, refusing to acknowledge the truth I’d shown him.

So many times, I’d wished Rhi dead. I daydreamed of killing him in the worst ways possible. But after seeing the devastation of his wrath firsthand, and hearing Gaea’s stories, now I just wanted him gone. I would not start the Immortals on a new path that looked just like the old one.

We will never be safe in a world where he lives, Amelia. Let me help you. You won’t do this alone.

Aidan was everywhere at once. He physically stood behind me, ready to back my play, no matter what. He was in my mind, constantly reassuring me. His power ran alongside mine, a slow infiltration rippling through me and then merging into my own. We made the choice together to care for the Immortals Gaea put on this Earth. Rhi might be the first to die, but he would not be the last in our quest to right their world.

Be ready to refuel and heal me, Aidan. This will take everything I have.

Water.
I grasped Rhi’s face in my hands, calling the moisture from my own body and mixing it with the magic running through me. I poured every ounce of water I could into him. I doused his spirit with the cleansing combination and put out every flickering lick of power inside him. Then, I pulled. I looked into his eyes as I extracted every wet, ashen piece of his core out of his body and into mine.

I felt the drain immediately, my organs and tissues shrinking, along with my well of power. But, Aidan was there. He fed my soul and rehydrated my system.

I could taste the burnt, foul remnants of Rhi’s magic, and I didn’t want it. I didn’t want the death and destruction that defined him. I took one hand away from Rhi’s face and allowed the residue to flow through and out of me. It was black soot, a dirty rain falling from my palm and collecting on the ground in front of him.

To his credit, Rhi didn’t make a sound. As I drained him of every ounce of power he’d ever had, he did nothing but stare into my eyes. When I felt the well run dry, I pulled my hand away, wiping it on my jeans. His eyes no longer burned bright. They were dim, brown, and empty. As his skin wrinkled and his body shrank before my eyes, he said nothing.

It was heady to know I finally stopped him. But it wasn’t over yet. I took a deep breath as Aidan stepped to my side. I jolted, shocked, but relieved to see him there. Compassion radiated from him. He took my right hand, interlacing our fingers, then we faced Rhi together.

Air.
I called again. This time, though, I called it to me. I reached my left hand toward Rhi and curled my fingers back, as if I were beckoning him to my side. I heard his forced exhale. He began to cough and I called again, this time with urgency. I would not draw this out. I would not do to him as he had done to others. In two heartbeats, Rhi collapsed to his knees and then the ground, his body devoid of oxygen.

Sprawled out, his white hair spread around him and his eyes utterly lifeless, Rhi was no longer a threat. He would not hurt anyone else ever again.