Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) (5 page)

H
e left
me in this damn chair and sent them to me. Aidan took off and the next thing I saw was him hugging Bethany. My Bethany. The Bethany who hated me, wouldn’t look at me, and would likely use the tip of her favorite rhinestone-encrusted stiletto to punch a hole in my chest before she’d laugh with me the way she was laughing with him.

I sighed as the first woman approached me and Baleon handed me a notepad and pen. Her blonde hair was long and loose, and it looked too much like another blonde I didn’t want to think about. I could tell she was nervous by the way she twisted her hands together repeatedly.

“Hello, I’m…Micah. It’s nice to meet you.” I did not want to be Prince Mikail to these people. I wanted to be one of them, to belong somewhere. I lifted my eyes to meet hers and brought forth a smile.

“Hello. I’m Willow. I’m a Mage and a healer.” Her voice was so low, I thought I might be the only one to hear her.
A healer?
My face must have given away my question because she laughed, a soft melody that brought a smile to my face before I could stop it.

“Yes, I’m here. The only one here, actually,” she said as she looked around at the empty deck. “Not because I wanted you to write down my name, but because I could see you needed me. I was there. I saw what you did for us with my own eyes. I’m one of the few who were not pregnant at the time and I fought as well as I could. I only wish I’d seen Amelia’s father go down. I might have been able to help him. As it is, I consider it my duty to help you, if you’ll let me.” Willow spoke quickly, the words coming out in a rush as she continued to fidget.

I was silent a moment. She stood there simply because she wanted to heal me. There were few times in my life where someone had done something for me out of personal choice.

“I don’t know exactly what my mother did to me. All I know is I was hit multiple times and the pain is merciless. Each time Baleon finds a way to stop the pain in one place, it materializes in another. If you can stop it, please do.” Part of me wanted to move inside, but staying out here was a political move. It showed the others I was willing to be real in front of them. No one but Willow had approached me to follow Aidan’s order of logging their abilities. I needed help in more ways than one.

Bale tried to object, but I quickly silenced him and motioned for Willow to proceed.

She squatted down in front of me and took my hands. It was a closeness I hadn’t had since Bethany and I wasn’t prepared for the feeling of soft, warm skin touching my own. I saw Willow’s healing energy. It was the same green as Cole’s power, but a grassier shade. I watched the smoke gather around our joined hands and it reminded me of the leaves in the maze behind the library — the deepest, brightest green, promising life.

“I feel what she’s done and it’s going to take more than I expected, but I think I can rid you of the spell. Brace yourself. This won’t be pleasant.” Even while her words should have concerned me, the melodic tone of her voice had lulled me into complacency, making me wonder if this was part of the healing process. Then, pain ripped through me.

I cried out as I heard her yell, “Hold him!” and felt large hands on my shoulders. As the next jolt of pain flared through my core, my eyes popped open and I watched as tears streamed down Willow’s face. She held onto me with one hand while a steady flow of red power came from the other. The fire that flared throughout my body, singeing my blood and scalding me from the inside out, was now bursting from her palm.

Seeing her in action forced me to hold myself together and stop fighting the process. Bale’s grip released marginally and eventually, Willow let go of my hand. She dropped to her knees in front of me, her breaths shallow as she folded forward, her palms flat against the deck.

I gestured for Baleon to help her. He crouched down and spoke in low tones to verify she was okay. He helped her stand as another woman mounted the stairs, coming toward us.

“I’m sorry, Prince Mikail, this is what happens when she goes through an intense healing. She will be fine. She just needs rest.” The young woman tried to help Willow off the deck, but I held out a hand to stop her.

“No, please, stop. Allow Baleon to carry her to her quarters and assist with her rejuvenation.”

Only once I was standing did I realize I felt one hundred percent like myself. Better than myself. I stepped to Baleon as he lifted Willow into his arms. She was already asleep, likely passed out from the exertion, as Amelia had done many times before. There was only so much power a body could take before it shut down out of self-preservation — especially one whose power had been withheld for so long. The women from my mother’s labs weren’t much different than Amelia when we first met in Brighton. The Keeper power was too much to handle. Her outbursts, her sporadic emotions…it all lined up with what these women were also going through as they acclimated.

“Stay with her for as long as she needs, Bale,” I directed as I looked over his shoulder at the dispersing crowd. At least a dozen Immortals had watched Willow do her work. “Make sure she’s okay and then find me so we can begin our work breaking the binds.” He nodded and followed the women toward the barn. As I watched their progress, I realized the area where Willow had allowed Mother’s spell to release was now a charred hole in Derreck’s deck. That was what she’d placed inside her son.

Only my mother would believe there was a lesson to be learned from that.

With Baleon busy and Aidan gone, I was free to roam the area. Since Amelia and I had been at Cresthaven, I hadn’t had a free moment when I wasn’t shadowed by Bale, Amelia, or my mother’s Hunters. It was freeing to have my thoughts and actions to myself, even for just a few minutes.

I thought about heading into the house to check on Amelia, but was afraid I’d run into Bethany since I’d seen her going that way only minutes before. My pride still stung from Cora’s admission, but she wasn’t wrong. Bethany was the only person who had ever known me as simply me. I missed her strange southern language, her silly analogies, and her laugh. There was a light inside her nothing could put out and it shined so brightly, I was drawn to her in ways I knew I shouldn’t be. But, what’s done was done, and her feelings were clear.

I didn’t need magic to feel the anger and hurt she felt while near me. What she would never understand was I was only trying to keep her off my mother’s radar. Had my mother realized Bethany meant anything at all to me, she surely would have taken action against her. I couldn’t handle the possibility.

Rather than coming up against the storm of fury that was Bethany, I walked toward the barn. Aidan had given me the job of collecting the abilities of those around us, and he was right. We needed to understand who and what we were working with. What he didn’t understand was not everyone wanted to disclose their individual abilities. Those were often a best-kept secret until the battles were fought and the element of surprise was yours.

I stepped into the dimly lit barn and allowed my eyes to adjust. There were people loitering in various groups, but all their chatter stopped when I entered. Trying to stay casual, I approached the first group. A young man and two women stood together. I stretched out my hand and introduced myself, as if I hadn’t just been made a spectacle of and they didn’t obviously know my name and title.

“Hello, I’m Micah. It’s nice to meet you all.” I spoke as they shook my hand, each of them seeming intrigued, yet hesitant. I looked toward the women as I continued, “I want to apologize for all you’ve been through. I know simple words are not enough, but the actions of my mother are not mine, and I had no idea what was happening beneath the stones of my own home. The barriers in place kept me from feeling any of you or realizing what you were going through. Please know I will do everything in my power to right this wrong and you should never hesitate to come to me.” The two women looked at each other and then back at me. A tingling in the air suggested they were discussing who would respond.

The first woman to speak identified herself as Sully. She pushed her long black hair back as she squared her shoulders. “Thank you, your highness.”

I interrupted her, touching her arm to allow her to feel the genuine emotion behind my words. “I am just Micah, and I am here to help all of you however I can.”

Her blue eyes widened in surprise and then her lips curved upward. Sully was a beautiful woman, and her belly swelled in a way that made it obvious she was one of those who would give birth soon. “Okay then, just Micah, you should know that even before we were bound, we were also unable to feel anything outside the walls of our room, so I believe you. And I appreciate your thoughtfulness to come see us. It is…unexpected.”

The AniMage who helped with the rescue, Eric, interrupted. “Do you honestly think we’re safe here? You understand the Queen and the power she holds over the Hunters, can’t she find us?” He stood with his arms crossed and his feet wide, making himself appear as large as possible. His posture clearly communicated that though he knew he wasn’t a Prince, he was someone who believed he should be feared. The smaller woman crossed her arms as well, her face pinched in a way that made her wariness obvious as she stepped closer to Eric.

I stood still, but relaxed my posture and clasped my hands behind my back. It made me vulnerable, but it allowed him to understand I was not there to challenge. “I do believe we are safe here, for the time being. There are many decisions to be made, but there are also lives at risk. We cannot take the chance of women like Sully giving birth on the run. There are too few children born to our races right now. Others will join us soon and we will begin to build our strategy. The time will come when we will need to leave this place, but not yet. And, as far as the Queen is concerned,” I continued, refusing to acknowledge my blood ties, “she was weakened in the attack and the Hunters are not free to leave Cresthaven without her allowing it. Until she is of sound mind, or she dies, they are locked there.”

I hadn’t admitted that fact to anyone yet, not even Aidan, but this felt like the time to do it. The others in the barn were listening, and my voice carried across the stalls and into the rafters. I had just shared a very valuable secret, had committed treason, and could not have felt more relieved to betray my family and my crown.

I
felt
them all standing around me, and she felt them, too. An AniMage, a Mage, a Hunter, and Charlie, whatever he was — distinct, powerful entities that held my fate in their hands. I didn’t understand the specifics of the plan — there was no easy way for them to tell me beforehand — so I prayed Aidan stayed away like he’d promised.

She stalked through my system, immediately seeking me out. She knew I played a part in their presence. She knew I could stop them, but I wouldn’t. No matter what happened today, I would not stop them. And so, for the first time since Cresthaven, I pushed back. Aidan gave me courage and Baleon gave me strength, so I fought against her, pushing my violet flame higher and higher, lighting up the darkness I normally hid behind. I shined as brightly as I could to remind her I controlled us. This was
my
body and mind. I was coming to claim what was mine.

As she reared back, preparing to counter my small onslaught of power with her own, I felt him there. Cole was scared. His fear washed over me like the first swim of summer, the water like ice until you fully submerged. Once his emotion settled, he began to feed me his calming magic, and I allowed the deep green to swirl amidst my pulsing violet.

With one quick blast, the Keeper pulled away as she shrieked and howled. She remembered this. She knew what we’d done at Cresthaven and how I’d kept her sidelined, only pulling what I needed and could control from her. This time, though, she didn’t understand what I wanted from her.

I forced my way toward her, the mix of my and Cole’s powers becoming smoke, filling my veins and spreading through my system. Our only intent was to force her into a corner. Cole whispered in my ear, our sibling connection allowing only me to hear his hushed instructions. We had to contain her power in one place, to force her into a situation where the binding could contain all of her at once.

I could feel him holding back, keeping a tight grip on his power, giving me only what he felt I needed. I wanted to pull more, I knew he had it to give, but his apprehension was clear, so I kept myself controlled. When the Keeper retaliated, which she did with waves of nauseating emotion and blots of darkness that tried to envelope our light and force it away, he upped the ante, and I felt lightheaded with the rush of power. She ran from our collective brightness and moved through the dark shadows our light had yet to reclaim.

We chased her slowly, working methodically and filling my physical body one inch at a time with our combined power. It took effort to maintain the energy flowing through me while remaining strong enough to keep her from pushing back.

Cole had to help more and more. I struggled to maintain. I missed the boost the captive Keeper provided. I could have used a charge from any of those bright orbs of light right about now. But, finally, we cornered her, there was nowhere else for her to go. She hissed and wailed, throwing darts of power at us, slicing and tearing at the web we built around her. The closer we came, the harder she fought, seeming to realize what was coming next.

I didn’t know what it would feel like, and Cole barely had time to warn me before Baleon blasted in, fully entering my mind, his orange inferno raging toward her. I couldn’t avert my eyes. It was like staring down the center of a solar flare — orange, yellow, red, and black swirling together and away from each other in a force that radiated domination and promised pain. I fought to maintain my hold on the Keeper and screamed at Cole.

Stop holding back! You have to help me. We have one chance and Bale’s power is too much for me to handle alone. He could rip me apart getting to her!

Cole hesitated one long second, and then I felt him fill me up. I almost sighed at the sense of completeness our combined energy gave me. He calmed the ragged edges and frayed pieces while bolstering my power and forcing the Keeper to recoil further. He was her kryptonite and my complement. I was stable, strong, and sure. The exhaustion disappeared and as Baleon’s power burst through our barrier, surrounding the Keeper, I thought I was ready.

What I didn’t expect was the searing pain. A white hot lance shattered my illusions of strength and dropped me to my knees. I screamed out as I heard him.
You must hold her! You must contain her or I will fail!

The pain spiraled out from my core and with every bind he was able to make around her, I felt the same agony she did, like he stripped my flesh from my bones and replaced it with a spiked rope he twisted and tied. With every knot he completed, she shrank, but so did I. The idea that we were truly one being was never something I considered. This was torture.

Take it, Amelia! Take what you need. We’re so close. I’m here, just do what you have to do!

Cole’s voice broke through the haze. I felt him push more of himself toward me, giving me complete access. I grabbed at him and took. I quickly drew from the only power that could ease the pain, but it wasn’t enough.

With every second of peace he brought me, Baleon’s persecution by flame caused double the pain. The roped connection between Cole and I was strong. It was a connection I’d held my whole life and a constant I’d always counted on.

He told me to take what I needed and I stopped holding back. I drew from him without reservation, taking everything necessary for me to stand strong as Baleon continued to wrap his fiery tentacles around her to complete the binding.

I couldn’t stop the screams, but with each lashing burn, I pulled from him again, and Cole’s power soothed the pain just in time for another bind to wrap itself around me. As her shrieks and my screams died out, I heard Cole’s anguished cry. The last bind still scalded my skin and instinctively, I pulled once more, only to feel nothing.