Enthrall Me (The conclusion to Enchant Me) (7 page)

“Christian, let go,” she demanded, and tried to pry my fingers away.

I held her even tighter still. “Do you even know how much it kills me to see you hurting, but acting like you’re not?”

“I’ll cry all you want once we get through this, but until then don’t ask me to do that. Now, let me go,” she warned.

Reluctantly I released her. “Will you at least tell me you love me?” I must’ve sounded pathetic enough, cause she glanced at me over her shoulder with a trace of the smile I was used to. “You know I do,” she answered then headed downstairs.

We met up with everyone outside, and made our way to the circle. Most of the Groves from out of town, had left earlier in the week, but those that lived close, had returned for tonight’s ceremony. As we started up the path to the circle, groups started to form, divisions within the Groves themselves. Not just one Grove divided against the others, but within each individual Grove, sides were being taken. It had been going on ever since Brianna’s murder, and the council meeting.

I felt uneasy with our people divided. Even now as we wound our way up, Grady, Liam, and Ciara walked ahead, while Alexis, Neila, and I walked behind. I could tell by the way Alexis looked at Ciara now, that she felt disillusioned. A part of me just wanted to grab Alexis and go home; our time here had been nothing but nightmare after nightmare. But I knew Alexis would never leave with things like this, and I too, wanted to avenge Brianna. Tomorrow another council meeting would be held to decide the Grove’s next action, since they had been unable to come to a decision the last time.

We reached the circle, and everyone took their place around it. Ciara placed the urn with Brianna’s ashes on a center stone and stepped back, giving a nod to Neila who nodded stiffly back. Stepping within the circle of stones, Neila created a ball of fire in each of her hands and walked clockwise, in a symbolic gesture of the sun’s path around the circle, consecrating the space.

I glanced down at the feel of Alexis’s shaking hand clasping mine. The control that Alexis had fought so hard to maintain, was close to breaking. She bit on her lip to keep from crying, and I forced myself to look away. If I comforted her now, she would lose it.

Looking across the circle, I could see Liam staring at Neila with frustration and sorrow. I could guess his thoughts. He’d finally been getting close to prickly Neila, only to have recent events, break them apart again.

Suddenly a scream filled the air, and Mika who had been standing at the other end of the circle came running towards us. Where she had been standing, a black fog crept towards us. Alarm raced through me as I sensed powers in that dark fog. Before I could say anything, a huge volley of objects hurtled toward us. Spheres made of fire, ice and energy rained down on us, and everyone scattered to the shelter of the trees around us. Everyone but Ciara. She stood her ground, protectively standing in front of Brianna’s urn. Without hesitation Grady raced across our circle and threw his arms around Ciara, he started to haul her to safety, just as a fireball streaked towards his back.

Alexis cried out in warning, stepping out from the shelter of the forest, and with her powers, halted the weapon, and shot it back into the fog. The dark launched more weapons towards us, but this time accompanied by people. All those of us with powers leapt forward to fight. I darted over to Alexis, when abruptly someone stepped in my way.

Shock gripped me as he came to stand before me. Nicolas… Whatever regret I’d thought I had, vanished.

With a sneer, he wrapped that suffocating shield around me, but unfortunately for him, I was much stronger than before. Staring hard into his eyes I began to weave past his shield into his mind. I became oblivious to the shouts around me, and the magical weapons being shot back and forth, nothing would stop me from ending the threat he posed.

The air inside the shield got thinner, but I had breeched his mind. “You can’t block me,” I snarled. His eyes flared wide in alarm when he realized where I was. And remembered… Ruthlessly and painfully, I blocked off his powers, and the shield fell from me. The cool night air, rich with the scent of the forest, washed over me. Nicolas turned and ran to the dark fog, only to find it gone. And so were all his people.

Neila ran up and got into his face, her hands full of fire. “Where did they take Alexis?” she demanded.

“What?” Both Nicolas and I roared at the same time.

She pointed a slender finger at Nicolas. “His Grove grabbed her, and took her into the fog, and disappeared.”

It took only a second to realize I couldn’t sense her, or Nicolas’s Grove anywhere. I grabbed his shoulder, and whipped him around. “Where is she!”

“I don’t know,” he grunted, throwing off my hand.

“You’re going to want to tell me,” I warned him.

With no mercy I started ripping through his mind, causing pain and discomfort any way I could. Even when he started screaming, I didn’t stop…

NICOLAS

(1 Week Earlier)

CHAPTER 8

La Roque-Gageac, France

What a waste. Emotional. Unstable. She kept saying she wanted to die, and I really wanted to help her with that. I stared down at Tempest, disgusted. She laid prostrate on the floor with grief. Keening with heartbreak over some guy who had cheated and left her. Instead of getting revenge, she was bruising my eardrums, and wasting my time. If her powers over weather elements weren’t so powerful, she would’ve been destroyed long ago. But here we all stood, babysitting her.

Garron, the head of our Grove, moved to my side. “Nicolas, I need you--” he started in his gravelly voice.

“I know,” I interrupted him, and stormed out of her room.

Tempest, true to her name in her self-absorbed grief, had created a dangerous storm surrounding the castle, lightening, thunder, and gale force winds threatened to tear down a castle that had stood more than 300 years. I flung open the shutters to my window, and for a moment let the rain pelt my face, enjoying the stinging sensation, before I built a shield around the entire building. For Tempest’s sake this had better be the last time I had to do this. Personally I thought she caused more trouble than she was worth.

I turned at the sound of a firm knock on the door, and without even waiting for a reply, Lisette walked in. She looked like a witch from a story book, with her dark burning eyes, pale skin, and black hair streaming all around her. Her gaunt frame encased in a long black dress, completed the image.

She looked me over with a cold smirk. “I should think you would be more understanding of Tempest. I can sense your feelings of betrayal. Your wounds are just as deep as hers, no matter how you try to hide it.”

I glared at her, and refused to give her the satisfaction of making me angry. We stared each other down for several tense minutes, and eventually she got bored with trying to goad me, and left. That was the problem with Empaths, they could sense every emotion you had, and felt the need to shove it in your face, just in case you were ignoring it. I sat on my bed, and scowled at the night. My head began to ache from the effort to keep such a large, and strong shield up. At least I told myself that was the reason.

Almost a month had passed since my parents, desperate to heal me, contacted our Grove in France for help. It had taken two healers to bring me out of my coma, and another two to heal my powers. Although I am told I may never be as strong as I once was, or could’ve been. I got up and paced the length of my room. An image came to mind, one with long, red hair, and a mischievous smile. Alexis. No matter how much I tried to block any thoughts of her, she haunted me, every day and night. Disgusted with my weakness, I stomped out of the room, and almost ran over Sebastian, one of our many shape shifters, who was poised to knock on my door.

An orphan, only a couple years younger than me, and way to innocent and naïve for his own sake, stared up at me with a worshipful expression, one, he should know I couldn’t live up to. I grasped his shoulder, moved him out of my way, and walked past him. The kid was so light on his feet, that I didn’t even know he followed me until he spoke. “You can release the shield, they knocked her out with some sleeping drink.”

I glanced down at the skinny, dark haired kid, grimaced, and nodded almost gratefully. Immediately I let go of the shield, and relief flooded me. I leaned against the wall for a second, the kid smiled up at me, happy that I felt better. I studied his expression, trying unsuccessfully, to remember a time when I was innocent and happy like that. I resisted the urge to pat him on the back. I wouldn’t encourage him to be soft.

In the dining hall extra tables were set out for our new converts, they were more numerous than I remembered, and overly excited with the coming mission. I ignored them as I took my seat, and nodded acknowledgement to Garron, and Lisette as I sat down. Sebastian, my shadow, took his usual seat next to me. I smiled at the empty chair across from me, glad I would be spared Tempest’s drama queen act during dinner. Then Leander, Lowell, and Lia, the noisy, shape shifter triplets, sat down, and made up for her absence with their constant in-fighting. Having just graduated high school, they were excited to be free of their parents, and full of themselves. Sometimes I found their fighting the best entertainment around, and other times it made me want to drown them in the river. I noticed Lisette stared at them from down the table, she looked ready to give one of her stern, unnecessary lectures, only to be beaten to it by Ryker.

A thirty year old American with telekinetic powers, Ryker slammed his glass down on the table, and glowered at them. “Shut up,” he snarled, and with his powers jerked their chairs closer to the table. I smiled at their grunts of discomfort, when the air was knocked out of them. They apologized after they caught their breath, then nervously kept an eye on Ryker as they ate silently.

Towards the end of dinner, Garron in a somber suit, his gray hair neatly styled away from his face, stood and called us to attention. “In less than a week someone will join us, someone that not only can increase our powers, but help us to build our own army.” Murmurs of excitement filled the air. “As many of you have heard, I have found the incantation that will destroy the veil between our world and the Otherworld, forever,” this time the excited roar around me was deafening. Garron held his hands up for silence, his pale blue eyes, frighteningly intense. “Soon you won’t have to hide what you are, soon you won’t have to fear your children being discovered, soon…” he paused dramatically, “the others will be the minority. Our time of fear and ridicule is over.” With the air of a king he sat, benevolently gazing upon us. I hid a smirk, and lightly shielded myself. I didn’t need Lisette to catch my true feelings. I had no interest in Garron’s cause, I only cared about my revenge. One that Garron’s plan would help me to get.

I finished my dinner, not even aware of what I ate, and excused myself. I left the castle, and immersed myself in the night. Our village of La Roque-Gageac looked like something only magic could create, buildings of creamy colored stone with tile roofs, sat at the base of a limestone cliff, and tropical plants on steroids grew from the gardens. Most would consider it paradise. For me, I saw the birthplace of a Druidic Armageddon.

I walked along the Dordogne river, and tried to let the peace of the place soothe me. It never worked, but I always hoped. I leapt down to the river bank below, not surprised when I heard another set of footfalls after me. I didn’t need to look, to know Sebastian had followed me. Comfortably ignoring him, I headed south on the narrow river bank. If all went right with Garron’s plan, we could destroy Christian, and build our own army at the same time. Then I could have a normal life, forget about the last couple months, forget about Alexis.

A fuzzy head bumped my hand, and I glanced down to see a black panther walking beside me. Quickly I looked around too see if anyone else was about, we appeared to be the only two restless idiots awake and walking around. I cuffed the panther on the back of the head. The kid always shifted when he wasn’t sure of my mood, strangely, I felt more at ease talking to him this way.

“Do you believe in Garron’s cause?” I quizzed him.

The panther seemed to shrug his shoulders, but since they undulated when he walked anyways it was hard to tell. “I don’t,” I breathed, surprised that I had said the thought out loud. The panther’s head bobbed beneath my hand.

There were a couple of trees along the river bank, and I sat down beneath one, Sebastian settling next to me. Under the cover of the branches we were well hidden, except for the eerie glow of Sebastian’s yellow eyes. Wearily I leaned my head back against the tree trunk. “You should leave here Sebastian, before you’re destroyed from the inside out.” It was too late for me, but maybe I could keep this kid from getting blood on his hands. The big cat stared back at me, then shook it’s head, and chuffed out an animal sigh. Resting his head on his paws, Sebastian stared out at the water.

Being an orphan I didn’t think Sebastian would leave the only family he’d ever known. Then again, Garron probably wouldn’t allow him to leave, Sebastian’s powers had great promise, which made him valuable. “I wonder if Garron’s ideal world will really be a better one,” I mused. “What will happen to the people that don’t have powers? Like that girl you have a crush on, Marika, right?” Marika was a quiet blond girl that he liked at his school. The big head swung back to me, the yellow eyes, large and intent.

With a dark shimmer, I could barely see, the cat became Sebastian again. He moved to kneel next to me. “We have to protect Marika, Nicolas,” he pleaded.

I didn’t meet his worried gaze, because I couldn’t make that promise. The poor kid had never thought through what Garron’s plan really meant. Trembling he stood, and walked away. The official destruction of Sebastian had begun.

When I returned to the castle, everyone had found their beds, and all the rooms were dark. Except one. Damning myself for having even an ounce of curiosity, I walked past the stairwell, and glanced in the dining room. Garron sat alone, a glass of wine before him. Before I had the chance to escape, he waved me over like he had expected me all along. Reluctantly I sat next to him, noticing his glassy eyes, and flushed cheeks. The last thing I wanted to do right now was listen to a drunk man talk about the glory that was to come. “Do you know why I have dedicated so much to this cause?”