Bound by Spells (Bound Series Book 2) (16 page)

“Stop it. Rhi, back away.” I pushed myself to my feet, my palms filled with violet fire. I stood in a fighting stance and though there was no way I would go hand-to-hand, I was ready to use what I had. Baleon had fought for me and I wouldn’t let Rhi hurt him.

Rhi started to laugh and took a half step back from Baleon. That was all the space Bale needed to kick up and back, connecting squarely between Rhi’s legs. I had to stifle a laugh. I had never seen a guy use that trick, but it was effective. As Rhi doubled over, Bale grabbed him by the throat and held him a good six inches off the ground. He knocked him back against the wall a few times, Rhi’s head making a hollow
thunk
. The hand around Rhi’s throat glowed orange and I barely heard Bale whisper, “I can break this. I can remove it and you will be free of her. But I can see that you relish her madness. Have her then. But you will leave us be or I will end you.” He had to be talking about the collar.

Baleon let Rhi slide to the ground and without turning back, he gestured down the hall. “The library is this way.” I glanced back at Rhi in time to hear him yell behind us that Baleon would pay for this.

We rounded a corner and I turned to Bale. “What does he mean? Will you be okay? Why didn’t you fight with magic?”

He looked down at me and sighed. “I will likely be punished, but it will be fine. I have brothers who heal and they will sustain me. It will not be the first time he and I have come to blows. We fight without magic because it is the way of our people. You were not allowed to guard the royal family until you can best another Hunter, hand to hand. We fight with honor, at least…among each other.”

“And—”

Baleon stopped, putting his hand on my arm as he cut me off. “No more questions. We are almost there and I would rather Prince Mikail not know of this. He needn’t be concerned.”

I nodded and put my hand over his. “Thank you, Baleon. Thank you for keeping him away from me. I don’t know what I’m doing. I didn’t ask for this and I don’t want to be here. I’m afraid, I have so many questions, and I’m just trying to survive. So, thank you.”

“Surviving is what we are all trying to do.” He dropped his hand from my arm and continued walking down the hall, though he kept his steps slow, allowing me to walk next to him instead of behind him.

When
Baleon and I finally arrived at the library, I knew the Queen was back. I could see it in the tenseness of Micah’s posture and the way his eyebrows pulled together as he attempted a pathetic smile. I was still reeling a bit from the incident with Rhi, but Bale had asked me not to say anything and I finally felt like I had a team. Micah, Bale, Tragar, and me…we were in this together.

“She’s—” I started.

“She is,” he interrupted.

“So, we—” I tried again.

“We work. It’s all we can do,” he cut in again. I wanted to be annoyed at him, but the steadiness of his tone was forced and I was sure he was going to grind his teeth into dust with the way he was tensing his jaw.

Micah immediately focused on working with my power. I could feel his concern over the Queen being home and what that meant for me. We didn’t talk about it anymore, we didn't have to. But, I stayed focused on the same drills we’d been doing, going at them, over and over, until my mind was tired and my nerves were tattered. Micah finally allowed me a break and I was back in my chair by the fire, just finishing a new passage, which had only created more questions. I got up and found Micah with his head in a book of his own.

“Can I talk to you? Is there somewhere we can go where I can ask you some
questions
?” I put emphasis on the on word so he’d get my drift. His amused smile confirmed he had.

“Certainly. There’s a place I’ve been wanting to show you anyway. I couldn't until Tragar was back, though. Hunters would still come in if it was just Bale, but they are terrified of Tragar.” Micah smirked as he stood and turned to where Tragar had last been seen. “We’re headed out, let me know if there’s trouble,” he yelled in that direction.

“Oh, you know I will,” Tragar said, his voice carrying over stacks of books taller than he was. “Those damn demons had best stay out of my way, though. They know better than to come in here.” Tragar continued his rant against the Hunters as Micah shook his head and led me to a dark corner of the library. He grabbed a book, pulling it toward him by the top of the spine. Directly to his right, the wall of books popped open and sunlight burst into the room.

We were going outside.
Outside
. Where I could smell the trees and feel the wind and have the sun on my face. It had only been a few weeks since I was first stuck in that room at Esmerelda’s, yet I felt like it had been months since I’d been outside. Micah motioned at me with a quick quirk of his head and I stepped out ahead of him. I had to shield my eyes but once they adjusted, I was staring at an eight-foot-tall hedge. I spun around to find Micah pulling at another hedge, which must have hidden the door. His hand buried in the foliage as he yanked it closed.

“What is this place?” I asked, as I turned to look around.

I turned back to what had been the door and it was gone, replaced by more greenery.

“It’s a maze. A labyrinth of sorts. The Elders had it built and enchanted it far before my grandfather was even the King. It will only lead you where you are meant to go. It knows the heart of those inside and if your intentions are good, it will give you what you need in the time you need it. It won’t let you in, or out, if it believes you are trying to use it to do harm. You can see the sky, but look.” He stopped and shot a blast of power up. It dissipated and the air above me rippled, a sheen that hadn’t been there becoming visible as it absorbed the power. My head snapped back toward Micah as he continued. “You can’t get in from the top or bottom, only through the hedge. My mother and her Hunters stay far away from here. Those collars mean they want what she wants, and pretty much everyone knows what she wants is insane. But I’m rambling, and you said you had questions, so please, go ahead.”

I bit the inside of my lip, hoping my questions wouldn’t be too ridiculous.

“How does Rynna play into all of this? No one talks about her. There aren’t pictures of her. Why is she on the…um, other side of this?” I looked around, unsure of exactly what I should or shouldn’t say out here. Protection or not, I was learning from my mistakes.

“Ah. I wondered when we would get there.” Micah started to walk and I fell in step beside him.

“Aunt Ryannon never quite fit in. She loved being out among our people but really wanted nothing to do with the royal dealings. From what Tragar has explained, she was forever sneaking out to go meet her friends—which included your parents. She had been allowed to befriend your mother because everyone knew Liana was the next Elder in line for the council, but Aunt Ryn took their friendship outside the library, which is where my grandfather wanted it to stay.

“The way I understand it, when my father—who was a Hunter—was killed and my mother lost her mind, Aunt Ryn tried to help. She tried to stop my mother, to get her to listen and realize what had just happened, but my mother refused to believe my father was using her to get to the throne. It seems so obvious, as it was explained to me, he saw the opportunity to put Hunters in a position of power and was merely using my mother to do so, but she couldn’t fathom it. She was suddenly convinced that Aunt Ryn had partnered with the AniMage responsible for my father’s death, so she exiled her. Aunt Ryannon is never allowed to enter the main castle again.” Micah snorted, his amused chuckle seeming out of place given the sad story.

He turned to me with a sly smile. “What Mother didn’t realize was Aunt Ryn wanted exactly that. So she traveled with your parents when they left for America and then took care of you and Cole as your mother had requested. All the while, she was waiting for me to grow up. When I turned eighteen, Aunt Ryn showed up inside this maze. Tragar had sent me out here and I found her waiting on a bench. She explained to me what was truly happening—what my mother was doing, what she had done to you, and what was to come. She asked me whether I wanted to fight for our people or against them. Since then, she’s been working to convince the others I can be trusted. In the meantime, I used my mother’s obsession with you as a way to get to Brighton to help you. As soon as you told your father you were leaving, I moved there. I knew no one else would be able to get you to a place where you could withstand what was to come. I told you I was there to help, and I was.”

I gnawed on my lower lip as I thought through his explanation. It was simple. It seemed legit. And then something he had said clicked in my mind. “How old are you, Micah?”

He smiled. “I wondered whether you were going to put that together. I’m actually twenty-eight, closer to your brother’s age than yours.” I knew Immortals tended to age slower than humans, but I was impressed by how young he looked. I would have never guessed.

“And your father, you’ve mentioned him a few times, but that, ah, doesn’t seem to be a pleasant topic.” I looked up at him with quick glances, realizing I might be treading into deep water.

Micah sighed. Just one puff of air filled with pain, frustration, and sadness. “I’ve been called many things, but the bastard son of Cane seems to be the one people like most. They are too ignorant to realize my father didn’t leave, he was killed, so the words don’t actually make sense.” He shook his head, his lips in a tight grimace. “But the bottom line is that my father wanted my mother for no other reason than her lineage and birthright. To this moment, she still believes he loved her and they had a love for the ages, but it is simply one of her delusions. Once the prophecy was made and Rhi actually found you, she decided I needed protection. That was her code for putting me in a place where I could never learn the truth and would always do her bidding.” Micah paused, and smiled a genuine smile.

“Too bad for her, I had Bale and Tragar on my side. Her compulsion doesn’t work on Bale—his unique ability is to resist all forms of compulsion—and Tragar hasn’t trusted my mother since she was a child.”

I thought of Baleon and what had happened today with Rhi. I felt guilty for not telling Micah and worried about when the punishment would come down on Bale. Micah mistook my guilt for confusion and paused.

“Every Immortal has at least one ability that falls outside of the normal realm of their race,” he said. “We don’t know if they are genetic abnormalities, or what brings them about, but we each have one. Mine protects my mind, making it impossible for the Hunters or my mother to hear my thoughts. It kind of goes along with how some Mages have green or red power. Typically, families have the same source power, but not always. Not all of our history is documented and Tragar continues to find conflicting information. I assume it is genetics, but enough about that. What else do you need to know?”

I wanted to ask more about these abilities and what other types were out there, but instead, I reverted back to the questions my mother’s journals had sparked. “Have you met Elias? My Uncle Derreck? Do you know what their plan is?”

Micah shook his head. “I don’t know them or the plan. When we were attacked, I didn’t initially put the pieces together that those doing the attacking were the same ones working with Aunt Ryannon. Had we been working together, it all could have gone so much more smoothly and no one would have had to get hurt.” He sighed and I knew we were both thinking of Bethany.

“But because mother cloistered me away here at Cresthaven and no one knew who I was or what I looked like, there was no way for them to even realize we were all on the same team. Aunt Ryn was busy with your father and I was busy with you. I expect to hear from her soon, though. We communicate every few weeks as Tragar travels and she promised to keep me apprised of the plan.”

I felt marginally better knowing there was a plan. And that Rynna was pulling all the sides of this together. It also helped to build my trust in Micah. He hadn’t held back. He told me the truth as soon as I had asked him. I still had so many questions, but we were getting somewhere.

“Okay, I have another question. Why are there both Elders and a royal family? My mother wrote a lot about your mother, saying she spent a lot of time talking about wanting to change things. Your mom wanted the Elders to allow the royal family to decide how to rule. She thought they should help the family, not the other way around.”

“The Elders never wanted to rule our people. They simply wanted to do what they were meant to, which was to guide us, help us, and sustain us. They foretold events to come and were part of births, deaths, and marriages. My mother refused—still refuses—to believe they held our best interests at heart. The Elders encouraged intermarriage between the races. We talked about Immortals having various unique qualities and the Elders realized if we were going to continue to evolve, we had to mix power and genes. Elders on the council were required to intermarry, and those were often set up in arranged marriages.

“My mother believed the Elders should work for the royal family, not have the ability to direct it. She wanted them to act as her personal counsel. One she could disregard at will. But with the people believing in them and not her, it wasn’t possible.”

Micah stopped again, pulling his lower lip in and sinking his teeth into it. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again. Looking at me, and then away before he spoke. “I believe the Elders held a higher function, though. Something no one really understood that made them invaluable. Because once they were gone, it became harder and harder for any of the races to conceive and continue their lines. Tragar spends a lot of time visiting Mage communities established around the globe, trying to find old relics and books. As the children our age have grown up, he has seen very few new ones born. We can’t confirm that the same problems are happening for AniMages, because they stay hidden, but I know the Hunters also have this issue. I am surrounded by Hunters, both male and female, and I haven’t seen a child since we came here.” He stared down at the ground, his sadness radiating from him, permeating the air around us and laying a veil of grief on me before he even explained himself. “Our races are dying.”