Chapter 56

056 – Hell Breaks Loose LUCY.

Althea opened her bedroom and let me in. I placed the tray of food on the round table at the far end before I faced her.

“Did you rest?” My eyes scanned her room, and her bed was cluttered with big, old- looking books.

She shook her head and pointed to the books on her bed. “I want to make sure I’ll be doing the right thing.”

“But I thought you needed to rest.”

“This is rest for me – one with my books and channeling the spirits.” She giggled softly while I bit my bottom lip as I nodded my head.

“Are you sure about the additional request? And the Alpha still doesn’t know?” She asked.

“I’m sure. And yes, he doesn’t know anything.”

“He might kill me.”

“He won’t. I will protect you from him.”

“Are you sure you will defy him if he asks you not to shield me?”

“That won’t be the first time I will defy him. But I know you can protect yourself. But I want you to be honest with me, Althea. Am I putting you in danger with my request?”

“If you had no plan to unbind yourself, then no. I won’t be in danger.”

“However, you mentioned that this ritual is against nature.”

“All supernaturals were born against nature.

We are the result of centuries of wars and disagreements between the gods. This magic would not exist if it could not be used. Some people were just abusing it.”

“Do you think I’m abusing it?”

“You’re protecting your Alpha. In the same way, I’m asking you to kill Patrea in order to free her spirits. Killing her is going against nature. We are not the ones to decide when a person should die or remain alive. So we’re just in the same boat.”

“Are we going to get punished?”

“The underworld would never punish you.”

“And you?”

“I’m doing it for a good purpose. I’m not binding you together, so I can kill one and, in effect, kill the other as well. If you get my point.”

“I do. It makes me feel a bit better.”

“But you have to be ready. Because once I bind you, you will feel a connection within you and the Alpha, and he might sense it.”

I hissed and smoothed my hands over my hair.

“That’s the reason I had to do the shield first, so whatever happens, if he stops me in the middle and throws me out, the shield is already in place.”

“Thank you... I will make sure he won’t interrupt you.”

“And there must be just two souls, not including mine, in the area where I will do the ritual. Otherwise, your life could be tied to anyone around you.”

I nodded my head. “You should eat. You need energy for tonight.”

She ignored my words and instead asked something else. “Where is Blade?”

A smile curled on my lips. “You miss him...”

“I think I overdid it this morning. He’s probably super mad at me for being childish.

11 “Don’t worry, he will get over it.”

“He was ignoring me the whole morning, and I thought I’d joke around just to get a reaction from him. And oh boy, I did get one!

“Althea pouted as she crossed her arms against her chest. She looked like an eighteen -year-old having a boy problem, not the fierce witch I met.

“If him, ignoring you, bothers you, why don’t you give him a chance?”

“He’s twelve years older than me.”

“And Alpha Stone is eight years older than me. And it’s working fine. After all, look at you. Look at the power and maturity you hold, do you think an 18-year-old guy can match up to you?”

“I don’t really like young guys. In fact, I don’t like anyone.

“Aside from Blade.”

“No. I didn’t say that.”

“You’re blushing.”

“I never had any guy in close proximity so it might be the only reason I’m... you know...”

“Attracted to him?”

“I don’t know. He irritates me.”

“It’s part of the attraction. Don’t fight it. I think he likes you too.”

“I don’t think so. I think he just wants to claim me because he has been alone for a long time. And I will be just a replacement.”

She chewed her bottom lip as her eyes watered, but she blinked it back and puffed her chest before walking to where I placed her food.

“So it’s not about the age gap? It’s about being the second one...”

“I guess so. I don’t know.”

“Have you told him about how you feel?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Then he’ll think I’m a whiny teenager.”

“You are a teenager.

“Forget about it. I’ll deal with it one day. We have more important things to deal with.”

“We can always talk about it. Just tell me and I will make time.”

“Thank you, but I’m fine for now. I just want to know if he left the territory.”

“No, he didn’t. He was just downstairs. The Gamma actually asked if he wanted to join him at the training grounds, but he refused. He stated that he will not leave you alone in the packhouse.”

I saw a smile curl on her lips before she pushed food into her mouth. “Would you like to eat?”

I shook my head. “I’m eating with the Alpha. And speaking of that, I should get going or he might storm here again.”

“Shoo! Go!” Athea giggled as she motioned with her hand. “I’ll see you later at seven in the evening.”

“I’ll bring you dinner.”

“No. I don’t eat before any rituals. I’ll be fine.

TT “Oh, okay.”

“But I need food after.”

“Got it!”

“Thanks, Lucy!”

“No! Thank you!” I turned around and was about to head for the door when she called for me again.

“By the way, I can fix your necklace after the binding. Since I already summoned the spirits, it’s easier to just chant everything when I have their powers around me.”

“Aren’t you exhausting yourself by then?”

“I’m a new witch. Young and fresh. I haven’t cast many spells in my lifetime, so the odds are on my side. But we will see. If I don’t have more energy tonight then we’ll do it some other time.”

“Sounds good.” I smiled at her before twisting the door handle, only for her to call me again.

“And one last favor...”

“Sure...”

“Can you make sure Blade eats? He didn’t eat the food Gamma Kingston bought for him this morning.”

“Sure...”

“But don’t tell him that I was checking on him...”

“Of course, I won’t!” I winked at her before I opened the door and stepped out of the room.

♡♡♡

ADAN STONE.

Something was not right.

The witch already extracted blood from me and dripped it on the circle, where she magically made runes appear and chanted whatever song or poem flew out of her mouth. And I felt air rush out of my lungs. She said that was the first part.

I was not familiar with spells and enchantments, but I was sure the first part was for the territory.

But this one she was doing was different.

She ordered everyone away, even Blade, and Blade didn’t like it, but the moment she was able to push him far away, she built an invisible barrier that Blade was not able to break.

If this was just for the whole territory, why was she secluding the people that should have been protected by the shield she was making?

She then drew blood from me and Lucy and made us drink a portion of each other’s blood before she mixed them into a bottle with herbs and other things I had never seen before.

“Coniuro vos, fortes spiritus. Da mihi possibilem ad invicem ligandi. Vna vita in duobus, duo corpora in uno,” Althea was chanting in Latin repeatedly.

The fire on the candles all around us kept flickering, but they didn’t wither. Soon her chants became louder, and the air around us stood still.

My eyes darted to Lucy who was standing beside me. Her face looked pale as she kept swallowing. My hand went to grab hers, and I squeezed it tightly.

“Coniuro vos, fortes spiritus. Da mihi possibilem ad invicem ligandi. Vna vita in duobus, duo corpora in uno.”

Lucy’s eyes started to roll as her mouth parted as if she were having a hard time breathing. My heart hammered inside my chest, as sweat formed everywhere in my body. Something was happening to my little demon.

My eyes dilated as I tugged Lucy’s hand, pulling her body closer to mine as my arms. wrapped around her before I threw a furious glare at the witch, who was standing in the middle of her runes with her eyes closed and arms wide open, her hair raising as if there was wind around, but only still air surrounded us. She was continuously chanting the fucking Latin words louder than it was paining my ears already.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” I bellowed but the fucking witch just chanted louder, not even glancing to look at us.

“Coniuro vos, fortes spiritus. Da mihi possibilem ad invicem ligandi. Vna vita in duobus, duo corpora in uno.”

Soon, a small tornado of dried leaves, twigs, and dust arise from the middle of her runes and was moving toward me and Lucy.

My eyes widened. This is not fucking right anymore.

“Lucy! Lucy!” I was shaking her body, and her eyes snapped open, but they were glassy as if she were in a trance.

“Stop the fuck now! I will fucking kill you!”

Rage was surging in my body, but I just couldn’t leave her to snap the witch’s neck.

“Adan!” Lucy’s raspy voice took my attention back to her, and my hands went to cup her face. “Are you okay?”

“Take off my necklace. It was stopping the...”

“No. I’m not taking it off! Althea needs to fucking stop!”

She looked like she was about to vomit. “It’s choking... me..”

I panicked the moment the word choke came out of her mouth, so my hand grabbed her opal necklace, which I tugged off her neck before throwing it away.

My breathing hitched as my eyes watered. What the fuck is happening?!

“Stop!” I kept yelling over and over, but the witch kept chanting louder.

“Coniuro vos, fortes spiritus. Da mihi potestatem ad invicem ligandi. Vna vita in duobus – duo corpora in uno.”

I saw my Gamma and Blade, and the warriors around them trying to break the invisible barrier Althea made, but nothing was happening until the tornado blocked my view of them.

“Althea! I will fucking kill you!” I growled, shaking the ground around us.

Lucy was still gasping for air. I prepared to carry her and go to Althea. I planned to fucking kick her until she stopped with her chants, but before I could bend my knees, Lucy’s hands went up to my face, and she tilted my head up to look at her.

She was still pale, but her eyes were turning crimson. “Do you trust me, Adan?”

A split-second flashback from this morning came into mind.

***

“You’re not planning on double-crossing me, Althea?”

“I’m doing this for Lucy. So no, I will not double cross Lucy.”

***

Lucy would never ask me this question if she didn’t know what the witch was doing.

“Lucy? What have you done? What did you ask her to do?”

“Do you trust me, Adan?” she asked the same question.

“Coniuro vos, fortes spiritus. Da mihi potestatem ad invicem ligandi. Vna vita in duobus – duo corpora in uno.” The chanting continues as the tornado rounded me and Lucy.

My eyes locked with her crimson eyes, and I knew I was losing this battle. This female could tell me to kill myself, and I would gladly do it, as long as I had assurance she would come out alive.

“Will it make you safe?” I asked her, my voice breaking.

“It will make us safe...” she answered in a raspy voice.

And for some reason. I trusted her.

I nodded my head. “I trust you...

She smiled as her hands on my jaws pulled my face forward, crushing her lips against mine, and just like that – everything else faded. All I could hear were rumbles from the tornado surrounding us and the fast beating of Lucy’s heart.

Something snapped within me, like a thread being pulled and tugged in an unfathomable place, but it was soothing and calming.

But I ignored it and kept kissing her, the same way I ignored the cold air as the tornado thickened, enveloping us both in its dust.

Instead, my hands went to cup her ass as I lifted her off the ground. Her legs wrapped around my hips, and her arms tightened around my neck as we continued to kiss each other, our mouths fighting for dominance.

Everything I felt for Lucy heightened, and I couldn’t explain why, but I knew I would follow her wherever she led.

“I love you, Lucy...” I mumbled against her lips, stopping myself from kissing her as I rested my forehead against hers. I said it out of passion, but I knew it felt right to let her know.

I loved her. It was the only logical explanation for all my actions.

Lucy’s lips quivered before soft sobs escaped her throat as her arms around my neck tightened. Her eyes met mine, and despite the tears, they were beaming with happiness ... and love. “I love you too, Adan Stone.” (1)

A wide grin tugged on my mouth as I prepared myself to kiss her again when my eyes widened at the sight in front of me.

Fire emitted from Lucy’s body and enveloped both of us in a cocoon, but instead of a burn, it was a calm, cold fire that was caressing my skin beautifully. But I knew this was not supposed to happen.

Hell was about to break loose.