The hunted, p.10
The Hunted, page 10
His hand clamped over my mouth just in time to stifle a scream as he drove hard and deep with his next thrust. He smiled softly, removing his hand to plant a quick kiss on my lips. The hardened muscles I’d often admired seemed more like weapons now, as he shoved my wrists above my head and held them down with one hand and used the other to leverage the bulk of his weight. He drove into me relentlessly, like he’d been holding back all this time and was finally done withholding anything at all. Ever again.
I struggled against his hold of my wrists, testing his need to hold me immobile. His eyes darkened, and he tightened his grip in response. He’d unlocked something inside me, something that had been growing stronger since the first time we met. I couldn’t give into it before, but now I finally could. Because there were no walls between us anymore. There was only trust. Only love—a faith in a future that was so certain I could see it in my mind as if it already existed.
He made me want to submit. If not in all ways, then in this way. When it was just us, and it was safe to let the whole world fade to oblivion.
I wanted to test and provoke him because I wanted him to prove he could overpower me. That he not only wanted my submission, but he needed it.
“If you’re going to be difficult, I’m going to have to restrain you,” he warned, and we both knew that wasn’t much of a threat at all.
When I smiled at him, my legs wrapping around his waist, he really went wild. He thrust deep, angling himself to hit the most sensitive part of me. I cried out, and he let go of my wrists.
His touch trailed down to my breasts, teasing a nipple between his fingers.
“Shhh. You can take it,” he soothed, and I was lost in the low tenor of his voice, letting it wash over all parts of me as the shockwaves of tingles rolled through.
I reached for him, and my fingers traced the hard line of his jaw. He caught my hand and kissed my knuckles.
He lifted up, easing out of me before effortlessly flipping us to switch positions. “Ride me.”
I did as I was told, slowly easing onto him and moving my hips as Daelon met me with his own thrusts. The pleasure was easy to build in this position, and it took no time at all for me to lose all sense of coherent thought. There was just Daelon, guiding me with his hand on my waist, his other bringing me down to lock me in a kiss. Our chests met and our eyes locked as I trembled from the mounting release.
“Come,” he instructed. “I want to feel you come for me while I’m inside you.” His perfect lips met mine, and he gathered my hair and twisted it into something he could grip. He tilted my head back, the pull on my scalp just barely crossing into pain. He kissed from the base of my neck to my chin, and I slowly lost all semblance of control.
He thrust rapidly from beneath me, and I realized that this position offered only the illusion of power. In reality, he still had it all. He was still in control of my every movement, my every claim to pleasure.
He wrapped his other arm around me, holding me to him as he whispered praise into my ear.
“You were made for me, Áine,” he whispered, and I let go. I shuddered as he held me close, letting go of his tight grip and gently stroking my hair instead as I hit the peak of the tall wave just as he did.
I shifted off of him. I snaked my leg around one of his and collapsed against his chest and listened to his racing heart begin to slow. He continued his slow brushes through my hair, occasionally massaging the tender part of my scalp. I let out a long breath, shifting as close to him as I could possibly get.
We were both silent at first, and I could barely feel my body as my own heart rate steadied. I had never felt safer than I did here in his arms, where nothing and no one could touch me—no one but him—and I was safe from all pain, from everything cold and dark and uncertain.
“I have never been happier in my entire life,” Daelon whispered into my hair. “Being here, with you, finally free… I wanted it so badly and for so long that now it doesn’t seem real. If it is a dream, I hope I never wake up.”
“Me too. To all of it.” I paused. “You’ve always been my destiny too. From the very beginning, before it made any sense, you stole my heart and I’ve never even come close to taking it back.” I lifted my head just so that I could see his smile.
This moment was perfect.
It was so perfect, in fact, that it drove panicked shards of fear into the heart he stole.
Meredith apparently couldn’t wait longer than sixteen hours before she sent us a note. I could nearly feel the excitement of her energy through the messy, slanted writing.
I wore a cozy red turtleneck and black leggings underneath a winter coat, and Daelon was dressed in dark denim and a similarly warm sweater. We blended in well with the others. Today it was just Meredith, Skye, and Alejandro.
“Prairie and Susie Lynn are really active in committees for the Ostara celebrations, so they’re going to be busy the next few weeks,” Meredith explained.
Ostara. The Spring Equinox. My mothers and I celebrated this holiday too. It was a strain to remember the specifics, just like so many of my childhood memories. Trauma and age had done a number on my ability to recall all of what my mothers taught me, which broke my heart in every way.
I remembered lots of cleaning and cooking, and both Momma Jane and Momma Celeste would get emotional at our dinner feast because they said they missed the rest of our family, our coven. We wore flower crowns Momma Celeste handcrafted, and we drank a fizzy drink with fresh lemon and orange slices. A memory floated to the surface of Momma Jane helping me plant seeds in the garden while she told me stories of faeries and mystical creatures. I recalled her shocked laughter when I willed the flowers to shoot up from the ground and bloom. That was when my power was just starting to manifest—it might’ve even been my first real magickal act. Back when my power only drew awe-struck smiles and encouragement rather than the frightened tears for what was to come.
In all of our festivities and their reminiscing about home, there was certainly no mention of any uncles named Orion.
I leaned into Daelon, looping my arm through the crook of his elbow. We were going to bring it all back—all of our own coven’s traditions and holiday rituals. Together.
Past the rows and rows of houses, each built seamlessly into the land with their own personal quirks and style, was a forest full of life and magick even in the dead of winter. Though if it was already nearing March, that meant spring was just around the corner in this temperate climate.
I glanced back at Iciera as we reached the top of a slow sloping hill. We weren’t high enough to see it all, but I smiled at all the houses—the smell of burning firewood wafting through the air, the rich autumnal auras of familial love, community support, and reverence for all things natural and beautiful expanding out in wisps of luminous multicolor. A shiver ran down my spine, goosebumps rising on my skin.
“Meredith,” I said, turning back to them. “This is a very random question, but—”
“Those are her favorite,” Alejandro cut in with a wink.
She lit up, letting Alejandro and Skye lead us into the looming evergreens interspersed with tall, slender hardwood trunks in various shades of brown. She slipped back to my side.
“What’s up?”
“Okay maybe it’s less random than it is stupid,” I said. “I feel like I don’t really know so much of the basics of this world. I was just wondering how the wildlife in Aradia compares to Earth. When I restored the forest on the outskirts of Thora, visions and knowledge channeled through with the magick. It showed me what it used to look like, and how there was a mix of Earth creatures as well as more ethereal ones, some that were the products of spells. Plus there was the whole talking and glowing trees thing… so I don’t know, just curious.” And I knew nothing made her happier than to share her deep wells of knowledge. I could already see her aura lighting up and expanding.
“First of all, it’s not stupid. How would you know? You were hidden in the human realm most of your life and then only shown a fraction of Aradia over the past months. You’ve had a lot on your plate,” she said generously.
Her waves of dark hair were in a half-up style now, leaving a few strands to frame her face. Her olive-toned skin was just faintly accented with blush, a shimmer on her eyelids, and mascara on her lashes. Her full lips were plumped and glossy.
“Second, trees talk everywhere. Every part of the land is just as conscious as you or me, in both Aradia and Earth alike. Humans just rarely listen anymore,” she said with a shrug. Leaves and twigs crunched under our feet as we traversed the well-worn path that gradually climbed the nearest mountain peak. “And now many witches don’t either. But to answer your main question, Aradia and Earth are interconnected dimensions that have evolved parallel to each other in many, but not all, ways. Magick runs through both, magick that even humans have access to, even if they can’t see it or feel it as clearly as we can. All that we call witchcraft is really just the harnessing of the universe’s natural energy ebbs and flows, tapping into that pure creation potential that births all things, from ideas to technology to even entire worlds.”
She took in a loud inhale, and Alejandro burst into laughter. “Now you’ve really got her going. Strap in. Mer apparently has to start from the beginning of the universe to explain why animals are different in the witch realm,” he called without turning to us.
She threw up an obscene gesture to his back, but her smile dampened its effect.
“I love it,” I assured her. “I want to hear it all.”
“Anyway,” she said, drawing the word out. “Our worlds are very connected. There may have even been a time when we weren’t separate, but the myths are convoluted on that idea. The astral realm is just a step higher, but still overlapping with us. That is where even purer creation potential lives, as it’s a fluid realm made of pure consciousness untethered by materiality. When magick is practiced here in the lower, mortal realms, it has an echo effect on the higher realms. If you cast a nasty hex here, it could birth a grotesque creature up there.”
Meredith pushed past bramble and hopped over fallen trees as she spoke, impressively never seeming winded as she weaved her web of knowledge through the cool winter air.
“However, on rare occasions spells can be powerful enough to unintentionally create tangible creatures here in Aradia too. Or they can be manifested deliberately, but that would take a lot of skill and power. Sometimes existing creatures can be influenced and altered for whatever purpose as well, which would probably be easier but definitely frowned upon. And of course, there have always been rumors of portals between realms, where all sorts of sneaky beasts can travel to us from who knows where. Aradia is an intermediary between the rest of the universe and Earth, so rarely does anything escape into the human realm. The energy is just way too dense down there—it’s hard to use magick for that kind of physical manifestation. Spells on Earth are far more subtle, far less likely to be seen for what they really are.”
I glanced at Daelon. Except when I gave a bunch of Parisians and tourists a free witchy light show.
He stifled a chuckle, shaking his head. Meredith didn’t even notice, instead continuing to tell me everything I asked and more.
“Witchcraft and energy manipulation are nevertheless practiced on Earth, intentionally and unintentionally, and what the humans do in turn echoes back up to Aradia, the astrals, and beyond. That’s why I wondered if it was the humans’ shadow that birthed Angelina’s particular brand of evil. Like maybe it was their never-ending cycles of cruelty and exploitation that created some kind of darkness, a destructive influence that infected us too.”
I thought about that for a moment as Meredith paused to carefully cross a small creek. I followed her on the narrow log bridge with Daelon just behind me.
“Is that something we could even know?” I asked.
Meredith sighed. “I guess not. I don’t know. Maybe Jesco was right, and it’s just a convenient theory that lets witches off the hook for whatever was our own part in all of this.”
I didn’t want to think that witches played a part in the horrors that plagued our realm and slaughtered our own people. That didn’t seem fair either.
“Circle back Mer. You’re getting a little lost,” Skye said, and the way he said it was actually very sweet—like he was used to guiding her back on track. Purely out of helpfulness, no hint of impatience.
“There are creatures and lands with magickal origins and influence. Like—oh my Goddess y’all have to see the crystal coves on the Aphrodite Islands at some point, when this is all over. They’re insane.” She gave her head a little shake, but her enthusiasm was magnetic. I drew closer to her without even realizing it, mirroring her smile. Alejandro glanced back at us, his aura flashing sultry red as he exchanged a look with Meredith I could only interpret as suggestive.
She cleared her throat. “But I’d say the majority of plants and animals here are at least recognizable to humans, if not made from virtually the same energetic fabric. That’s why you also have covens that closely resemble human counterparts as well. Different theories as to why and how that happened… but much of it goes back to the law of as above, so below. In the end, we’re all drawing from the exact same pool of inspiration and influence. Archetypes, themes, lessons, and stories that echo on and on.
“In Iciera, we’re home to regular and magickal creatures alike, with many myths to explain their origins and the signs they can deliver us when they appear. Those butterflies that landed on you—that was rare. That particular species is marked by Selene, made sacred by the light of the moon. They don’t just hint at change, they guarantee it. Last time we saw those land on someone, it was…” she paused, as if just now remembering something important. A sharp hue of blue ricocheted through each of their auras in warning. “Emerson. Prairie’s sister.”
The air grew heavy, an unspoken truth pressing up against all of us like thick smoke.
“Emerson is the reason you’re here,” Skye said. “She was sighted. She made us promise to help you, to do everything in our power to bring you here.”
Oh no. I immediately sensed something wrong. I was almost too afraid to hear the answer, but I had to ask, “What happened to Emerson?”
“No one knows for sure,” Skye said. He ran a hand through his reddish-brown hair and let out a long breath. “Well, some people think they know what happened. But no one really does.”
“She saw what was happening all over Aradia—saw it in little bursts of Akashic visions that hit her out of nowhere, sometimes from the perspective of others and sometimes from the perspective of the Great Goddess, Mother Aradia, who is watching over all of us,” Alejandro said. He reached for Skye’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “Emerson saw you, a lot. She said she’d helped you sometimes, reminding you of who you are and where you came from.”
I thought about all the voices I’d heard in my meditations, in the Ocean of the Nameless and Formless, and even in my own mind as intuition and inspiration. I always knew that it wasn’t just me. That I was never alone, just as my mothers instilled in me. I’d always felt it, ever since the beginning of my journey training with Daelon. While Lucius tormented me with his hexes and nightmares—whispering his lies that I was all alone, that I was nothing—what always snapped me out of it was the distinct understanding that witches were rooting for me, all over the world. Witches I hadn’t met yet, some I never would, were on my side, guiding me from the great beyond. Or in this case, from the faraway land of Iciera.
It made my heart swell, those full body shivers back as I listened to Alejandro speak.
“But the visions grew darker, and she… we don’t know what happened,” he continued. “She withdrew from us, and she said she started hearing voices. All the time. She said they were whispers from another realm, or at least that’s what her grandmother Winnie told us she’d said. Winnie was the only witch Emerson spoke to regularly in the last few weeks, besides Prairie, of course. Emerson refused everyone’s help, even our wisest, oldest healer. The last coherent thing she ever said was that we had to find you, that she knew how to deliver you a psychic map through Tomas, and we had to do exactly as she said, at exactly at the right time.”
“What did you mean when you said at least that’s what her grandmother told us?” Daelon asked, picking up on that one shift in tone. Now that we were free, I was starting to notice who he was in social situations for the first time. He was so perceptive, so alert, always scanning everyone and everything for hidden information. It was fascinating.
Alejandro half-smiled, and though his dimple peaked through, it was a gesture indicating a bitter kind of humor. “Well, because if you ask her what happened, she’ll tell you she was kidnapped by faeries.”
“Faeries? Like pointy ears and wings?” I asked.
“I think those are pixies,” Skye said.
“Or elves?” Daelon offered, drawing the word out. Something about the way he said it made us all burst into howling laughter. There was nothing remotely funny about most of what was just said, but it felt good to laugh with all of them.
Meredith rolled her eyes. “I don’t think any of that is the kind of faeries Winnie’s talking about.”
“Oh, do enlighten us,” Skye drawled.
“I think she’s talking about the third species of witch folk—the ones that supposedly live in a realm above humans and witches. A dimension that used to be down here, overlapping with the rest, but that detached at one point and grew farther apart. The only book about these ancient myths, which Winnie might simply call history, is too badly damaged to even read much of. And the language is old. Hella old.” She sighed. “It also makes absolutely no sense. I’m certain it was only ever meant to be read as high fantasy.”
