The hunted, p.4
The Hunted, page 4
“You weren’t alive during the Great Battle, so you have no idea—”
“But we were,” the woman who stood between two men interrupted. She was effortlessly beautiful, with olive-toned skin, dark hair, and full lips. So were the men, for that matter.
One appeared perhaps Latin American, in Earth terms, and carried himself like some kind of chiseled prince, while the other had light skin and reddish-brown hair, a trimmed beard, and softer features. They were both tall and muscular, and they stood very close to the woman between them.
“And though we respect you as our leader and our family,” the more poised, princely man said, his accent clearly different than the rest. “We have the right to disagree. We have the right to do what we think is best for the future of Aradia.”
“You don’t have the right to bring outsiders, who could be a threat to the coven’s safety, into our home. We are unfindable for a reason. And that reason is so that no one else gets slaughtered in front of their families—their children and soulmates. So that we don’t lose this land we sacrificed so much to preserve,” Ruth said, her voice shaking now. With rage or with grief I wasn’t sure—her aura was like a strong storm of blues, purples, and fiery, angry red. I blocked it out, unable to focus on so many things at once.
Can you make any sense of this? Daelon asked in my mind.
Kind of? I think the younger generation might’ve done what they tend to do best—disrupt and disobey.
Hmm. I mean, I didn’t expect you to be welcomed with a parade or anything, but damn if I’ll let anyone disrespect you.
It’s okay. I think she’s just frightened and unprepared. I can understand that.
“Can you even hear yourself, right now? They’ve escaped Selene knows what to reach us. They thought they could seek refuge from the evil that destroyed their own lands—and the lands of countless others. Witches aren’t meant to have insiders and outsiders,” the olive-toned woman said.
“Well, we do now,” Ruth snapped. “And it’s what’s kept us alive—one of the last covens in existence if what we hear is true.” She glanced at me, her thin lips pressed tight. “We heard her song. And we didn’t join in for a reason. We didn’t give up. We fought our way through it, and we triumphed. She doesn’t want refuge. She wants us to fight somebody else’s war.”
All eyes shifted when Daelon abruptly stood, and Jesco threw him a warning look before moving to Ruth’s side.
“First of all,” Daelon started, and everyone went silent. “How dare you suggest that our coven just gave up. That it was somehow their own fault that they were massacred. Second, you have no idea what we want because all you’ve done so far is make rude and unprompted assumptions. And lastly, the fact that you think a future war would be fought on behalf of others and not you and your own people is downright naïve at best and blatantly selfish at worst. The illegitimate king and his army know you survived, and they will stop at nothing to destroy you now.”
“Yeah, because he wants her,” she spat, and Daelon tensed. I could see that Daelon’s words had dug a seed of doubt into her aura, and a trickle of shame bled in shades of blue and gray for what she’d said. I wasn’t sure if she was the type of woman to ever admit it though.
I stood and grabbed Daelon’s clenched fist, coaxing his fingers to intertwine with mine.
“Am I wrong?” she asked, the pitch of her voice rising as she made a sweeping gesture with her arms.
“Yes,” I said, nearly jumping when something tickled my arm. I craned to see a whitish-silver butterfly had landed on my shoulder.
Jesco hooted. “Well would ya look at that,” he said. “That sign is for you, Ruthie.”
She swallowed, looked around the wide-eyed huddle. “Means change. It doesn’t specify if that change is good or bad.” She cocked her head, nodding at me regardless in a silent granting of permission.
Everyone was staring at me now. I took a deep breath and continued. “You’re right that I hope you’ll help us take down the King, in whatever way you can. But you’re wrong to think he only wants to destroy you because I’m here. He wants to destroy you because that’s how he generates more unnatural power—a sickness that’s weakening all natural magick and tearing holes between the realms—and because that is who he is. He’s a paranoid dictator, a bringer of death and chaos, and he will never stop. Never. Not unless we stop him.”
There was silence for several beats. The younger crowd seemed to be hanging on my every word, the brightness of my power flashing in each of their auras for a moment before dissolving.
Ruth approached us, quirking a brow when Daelon stepped in front of me.
“I thought she was the crazy strong one. All this manly bravado’s just for show, ain’t it?” Ruth smiled for the first time since she’d arrived, and Jesco shook his head. “Alright, alright. I’m beyond angry that so much has happened right under my nose, and you bet your asses we all have a lot more to discuss, but I don’t want to hear one more thing about wars and kings today. I came here to decide if you two could stay in Iciera, and that’s what I’m gonna do. You have no business hearing any more of our family affairs.”
“I wouldn’t say all of this is just family affairs,” the teenage girl muttered. “Nor that you have the sole power to grant witches the right to be here,” she said quieter.
“Susie Lynn. Enough,” Ruth said, and though her granddaughter had clearly defied her to bring us here, she was quick to hold her tongue now.
I stepped beside Daelon, giving his hand a squeeze. The butterfly was still hanging out on my shoulder, its silvery wings now slightly aglow as they slowly opened and closed.
“Oh, I get it now,” Ruth said. “You’re a shield.” She nodded at Daelon, then squinted at me. “And a clairsentient… Well, I don’t need your gift to read people. I can tell all I need to know about a person just by looking into their eyes.”
She did just that, peering into both of our souls as the small crowd seemed to hold their breaths.
This is getting ridiculous, Daelon said, just as a second butterfly fluttered between Ruth and me.
I slowly outstretched a hand, catching it in my palm.
Ruth rolled her eyes.
“Well?” Prairie asked.
“Inconclusive,” she answered.
Jesco snorted.
“Grammie,” the girl groaned. “How many times have you seen that kind of sacred creature come into town in the dead of winter, let alone two of them, and land on somebody?”
I didn’t expect a parade either, I said to Daelon. But this is perhaps the farthest from a warm welcome we could’ve received after literally defeating death just to get here.
Yeah, when you put it that way, we totally should’ve gotten a parade.
Ruth’s eyes darted between us as she stared for two more full, uninterrupted minutes. Then, finally, “Okay, lovebirds. You can stay. For now. But you aren’t kin, and you sure as hell won’t be getting any special treatment. We’ve got a whole lot more to figure out, but I need to deal with my own, first.” She narrowed her eyes at Prairie and her friends, blowing out a long exhale as they all couldn’t help but grin. “We’ll be back to hear more about your journey. For now, I kindly ask you to keep to yourselves. This land has been through hell. I need you to understand that there is nothing I care about more than my people’s safety.” She paused, glancing down at her feet for a second before meeting Daelon’s eyes. “And I’m sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it like that, but that’s sure how it sounded. So, I’ll kindly ask for your forgiveness. I’m sorry for your loss.”
Daelon simply nodded his acceptance.
Still reeling from what had just unfolded, I managed a smile. I’d been wrong about her willingness to apologize, and though she still put me on edge, there was a lot about Ruth that I already respected and admired. I knew deep down that she was telling the truth—all she wanted was the same thing that I did, safety and peace.
The difference was that because of what they’d been through with the Order, she now only saw that vision for her own people, and she was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that all witches were still connected. What Lucius did to some he did to all, and not fighting for the whole of the realm wasn’t just selfish, it was also short-sighted. Because Lucius wouldn’t stop until there was nothing in the universe left but him and his darkness.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” I said, and I left it at that. Now was not the time to explain any of that, and truth be told, I was exhausted. My strange butterfly friends took their leave, and I leaned into Daelon.
Ruth nodded at us curtly before turning to the others, making a shooing motion with her hands as if to herd them away from our prying ears.
The man with warm, tan skin waved at us from the front lawn. “Sorry,” he called. “I’ve been here for two decades now, and I’m still not used to these folks.” The dark-haired woman elbowed him. “I’m Alejandro. These are my soulmates, Meredith and Skye.”
Ohhhh. They had been standing awfully close together.
“And I’m Susie Lynn!” the girl called, grinning wide.
“Nice to meet all of you,” I said.
“Go on, get,” Ruth said as she reached them, and Jesco chuckled.
Each of the younger witches waved at us before turning away. “We’ll talk soon,” Prairie promised.
As they all headed off down the street, my muscles relaxed. I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling very much as if I’d suffered physical whiplash too. Daelon just shook his head, everything about him still defensive and rigid.
“She gets two? Why can’t I have two?” I teased him with a pout.
He looked at me sidelong, and I squealed when he threw me over his shoulder and headed for the front door.
“You’re making me feel very creative.”
Chapter 4
“You need to debrief first, don’t you?” Daelon asked after pulling away from our animalistic, downright sinful kiss up against a wall. One of his hands rested on my neck, and the other grasped my hip. “Because reminding you who you belong to requires your full attention, little witch.”
I nodded, though it was hard to admit in the position I was in—his hand around my throat, his unrelenting gaze effortlessly putting me under a trance, and one of his legs between mine as he held me in place. It felt like I was denying my most innate instincts to deny him, to deny myself.
“I do.”
“Then stop looking at me like that,” he growled.
“I’m not looking at you like anything,” I lied, still breathless.
“You have no idea how much I want to order you around right now.” He shifted, his body pressing closer into mine.
I glanced at his lips, slightly puffy from our kiss. Then my gaze moved to his dark eyes, and I knew that he could so easily tell me no. A huge part of me even yearned for him to, because I would listen now—obey him when I never would’ve before. I justifiably didn’t trust him enough back then, and I didn’t understand my need to relinquish even a drop of the ocean of power that coursed through my veins, but now I did. There was nothing stopping either of us from going deeper, from growing more and more lost in each other.
“But your needs first.” He paused, his fingers applying the faintest of pressure to the sides of my neck. “This time.”
He grinned when he pulled completely away from me, and I hesitated to move for several long seconds. “You look so disappointed,” Daelon chuckled. “This was literally your idea.”
I pushed off from the wall. “Whatever. You’ve gotten too cocky,” I muttered.
“I dunno, I think Ruth did a good job of taking me down a peg,” he said.
I laughed. “I wasn’t going to mention that, but yeah, she totally had you there.” I thought it was very cute indeed that Daelon thought standing in front of me was more protective than the world-altering power I could unleash from my palms.
We moved to the round dining table, and Daelon smirked when I sat in the chair farthest away from him.
“So we can assume that this coven is split into at least two factions: those we could call separatists, who fear getting involved in conflict after they were nearly massacred like most other covens, and those we could call the progressives, who understand that conflict is inevitable and must be fought for the good of the realm,” I started. “We don’t really know just how many belong to either faction, but the High Priestess and Priest not being on our side isn’t good news. That could mean that the oldest, most powerful and knowledgeable witches of Iciera are the ones least likely to help us,” I thought aloud.
“But we don’t know that,” Daelon pointed out. “Jesco was nearly impossible to read other than his disdain of Tomas. He might be a way to influence Ruth. Did you sense anything from his aura?”
“I was too distracted by hers to dig very deep, but I think you’re right. He didn’t seem as closed-off or stubborn as her. I guess we just don’t know enough about anything to develop a game plan.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, attempting to sort through the jumbled mess of visions, thoughts, and energy that swam through my mind and power. There was only one thing I knew for sure.
“They don’t understand the urgency of all of this. None of them do. It’s not just about Lucius weakening all natural magick or inching our entire universe closer to the great void—I mean, obviously that’s our top concern, but it’s also our hardest to explain. Especially to those who refuse to see and feel it. Our most immediate problem is that Lucius is currently either planning to torture or actively torturing our friends, and all those other captured witches in the dungeons. Or worse,” I faltered, and Daelon’s face fell. “We have to find a way to convince them that this is also their problem. And not only that they need to help us fight, but also that we know we will win.”
My determination was quick to sour and descend into panic, as my head thudded and stomach churned at the idea of wasting time on anything other than planning to save our friends.
Daelon sighed. “You’re right. Of course you’re right. But I also know that people like Ruth can’t be forced or rushed into these decisions. As hard as it will be for us, knowing what’s happening in the castle first-hand, I think we have to be careful how far and fast we push the separatists when they don’t even know us.”
For the first time since I’d fought off Lucius and his soldiers, my power awakened in full force. I thought of Santana. Of Taryn and Amos. Of all the servants—slaves—the dungeon prisoners, the drugged-up elites, of Lucius and his sick and twisted obsession with making me his Queen. Then the dream I’d had about being in his bed rose to the surface, and it all spun out of control.
“No. No, no,” I heard myself say over the rushing of waves blasting my eardrums. “We can’t just sit here and rest. We can’t, Daelon. They need us. I’m already failing them—what are we even doing? We need to—”
The table was rattling now, along with the rest of the house’s furniture.
“Áine,” Daelon said. I hadn’t even noticed him moving to kneel in front of me. I turned toward the sound of his voice. “Causing a natural disaster might not be the best way to endear them to you.”
I was looking at him, and then I was looking at Santana again, looking at my mothers as the guards moved closer, as they sent me away, and then I was looking at Lucius, his hand outstretched—
After a warning rumble of thunder, a strike of lightning struck with a deafening boom and crash, flashing Prairie’s home with a short burst of light.
“Okay, so we are past the point of joking. I see that now,” Daelon said softly. “Look at me,” he said, his voice now sharp and commanding.
I focused back into our current reality, but the din of waves only grew louder. “I need to get clarity,” I whispered.
He nodded, taking one of my hands in his as he stood. I let him pull me to my feet and guide me to the couch in the living room.
I lay back as Daelon knelt at my side. His hand was still tight around mine as he whispered for me to let go, that I was safe, and that he would be here when I returned. I closed my eyes, my body already rocking back and forth in the water as my mind lost its final grip on the physical plane.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw a deep blue sky full of stars. Galaxies swirled in all the vibrant shades of the rainbow, and the air was fresh and cool against my skin. I floated on my back for a moment, settling my mind before it could create a tangible whirlpool to overtake me.
It didn’t seem all too long ago that Daelon was rescuing me from my overpowering emotions, holding me as I choked up mouthful after mouthful of salt water in the remote cabin. And yet nearly everything was different now. I was different.
You’re not that different, Momma Celeste said. If anything, you’ve grown more into yourself.
My throat tightened at the sound of her voice. Daelon wasn’t the only one who kept me in the dark.
It all had to happen as it should, Hecate said, her smooth, lyrical voice seeming to come from everywhere all at once. To live is to be without true clarity, if only for a short time.
This was the first time I’d recognized her voice since I met her in the astrals. She’d said we spoke often without me realizing it, I supposed as one of my inner voices I called my intuition.
Always trust your intuition, Momma Jane said, repeating my thought back to me. Now you know that your intuition is not only yours, because you contain the power and wisdom of so many before you. Everything good in the world…
Everything they’d ever said about me and my purpose made perfect sense now, and their voices calmed even the most panicked parts of me.
But what now? I asked. I understand why I had to be kept blind before, so that I would make it to the castle and free the truth from the Akashic. But now we’re finally ready to fulfill my ultimate purpose—restore the realm, defeat the shadows—right? But how? Iciera can’t possibly have enough witches willing to fight to take on Lucius and his army.
