Bound by Spells (Bound Series Book 2) (35 page)

I pushed harder at the Keeper and pulled more from Cole. We had to free more of the women. I had only gotten to the first five. She had to do
more
.

“You’ve got to calm down, Amelia. I can’t help you if you aren’t working with me!” Cole screamed in my ear as he gripped my hand. I could feel him pushing and pulling, trying to keep me in charge instead of her.

I didn’t want to hurt him, so I tried to pull my hand from his. “No! There’s too many. Let go! Let me go!”

Cole locked his other hand around my wrist, closed his fingers tight around mine, and yelled, “No! She won’t take you!”

I pushed harder, glaring at him as I gave her even more of myself. I had to. I had to help them and there were so many left. A hand tugged at mine and I saw the woman next me, as well as the next few, were free and could join the fight. I was also able to recognize Cora becoming drained. These women hadn’t used their power in years and here I was, asking them to go all out.

“Cora, stop! We’ll be fine. Help the other women get out of their restraints. I’ll get to them. Go—fight—find a way out!” I yelled to her as I tried to climb down from the bed I had been sitting on.

I heard pounding and knew it was more Hunters. Julia’s reinforcements were finally coming, which meant I had even less time. I took a step toward the next bed and stumbled, falling to my knees.

“Goddamnit, Amelia! I told you not to do this.” Cole caught me, lifting me up into his arms. Part of me felt the exhaustion but the rest was exhilarated. The Keeper raged on, wanting the next connection point.

“No, Cole. I can do it. Just take me to them.” I pushed the words out as I fought against being pulled under. We had a chance.
They
had a chance.

Cole swore and, with me on his lap, pulled himself onto the bed of the next woman, and placed her hands into mine. His power rushed into me at the same moment I felt something else entirely.

Chapter 31

I
could feel Amelia fading. There was something else taking her over and it was snuffing out her light. Amelia fought, but she didn’t fight the thing inside her. She fought to stay there, to stay present. Determination ripped through me and my wolf howled, the sound filling my ears and quieting the AniMages around me.

“We have to get to her! Something’s wrong. Show me—now!” I grabbed Micah and shoved him, needing movement, needing to know I was getting closer to her.

Swearing, Micah took off around a corner. “This way! This should get us to her.” I followed him and found an open door. Rynna had said the maze would help us and I thanked whatever Gods existed this one was doing what it was meant to do.

I ran behind Micah as I tried to split my attention between Amelia and what was in front of me. We barreled down hallways and then stairways, a line of Mages and AniMages running toward who knows what. I could feel so much coming from Amelia, power so strong I could barely stand it. Adrenaline, excitement, exhaustion. I heard the
whoosh
of her pounding heart and the small drumbeat of something of else. Unsure of what else to do, I did the only thing I could. I wrapped her thread of power with my own until they merged.

It took longer this time, but the two finally snapped together and I immediately started funneling whatever I could to her. My body slowed. I was giving her a part of myself, but right now, she needed it and I knew I was getting close. The nearness of her set off my wolf once again, but something else built inside me. My chest tightened and I had the urge to rip the door we were approaching off its hinges. Something had popped the top off every ounce of anger I’d ever stored away and I was ready to kill to get to her.

A Hunter came through the door just as we got to it and instead of attacking, as I was about to, Micah stopped and spoke to the man. They both turned to us, finding a pack of AniMages baring teeth and ready to pounce.

“Just hold on! Baleon is a friend. He is different. He isn’t controlled by my mother. He will fight for us, won’t you, Bale?”

The Hunter nodded and pulled his closed fist to his heart. “I serve Prince Mikail and no other. I fight for our freedom. All of our freedom.” The Hunter looked tired. Faded bruises made his brown skin look patched with black and he took shallow breaths, as if fighting broken ribs. I wasn’t sure how much good he was actually going to do.

Micah nodded and continued. “We don’t have time to argue, we’ve got to get in there. Don’t hurt the women unless they are clearly Hunters! They are our future,” Micah yelled back to me and everyone else, but didn’t wait for questions as he dove through the door.

I followed, but then stopped abruptly. I had no idea who was fighting or why. The Hunters, mostly female, were grouped in small semi-circles, clearly trying to corral groups of angry pregnant women into small clusters they could contain. A Hunter, who I knew was Rhi, was fighting another Hunter who stood with a cheetah and a tiger.

I heard Elias yell as he also found his way into the insanity. I couldn’t understand what he said, but he took off running toward the cheetah, now also fighting off Rhi.

It took me seconds longer than it should have to find Amelia. She was wrapped around Cole and looked close to passing out. He was sweating profusely and shaking as he cradled her. I saw her hand outstretched and clasped around the woman in the bed, who was also holding the hands of the next, and the next.
What the hell was she doing?

She was so pale and her heartbeat was a faint
thump
in my mind. I could barely find the threads of her power and I knew she was giving everything she had to help those women. I couldn’t let her. I couldn't let her kill herself for just a few people. We needed her. We all needed her.
I needed her.

The burn of a power blast singed my shoulder and I turned to find two female Hunters coming toward me. All I could think was I needed them to be gone and I didn’t have time to waste, I had to get to Amelia. The vise grip in my chest tightened until I thought my heart would explode, and then, like a launched rocket, I let out both a screaming roar and threw my hands away from my body. Every Hunter in the room flew backwards, slamming into walls and sliding to the floor. Everyone else looked at me with open mouths and confused stares, but I didn’t waste time. I rushed to Amelia.

“What’s happening? What is she doing?” I yelled to Cole as I approached. Just as I got to Amelia's bedside, Nathaniel, Rynna, and Derreck surrounded the bed.

“We have you guys covered,” Nathaniel declared. He looked down at Amelia, a pained expression transforming his face, before he joined the circle around our bed. I watched the three Mages shield us from the fight as it resumed. The Hunters weren’t overtly attacking the women, though it was obvious they wanted to. Their collars glowed red as the Queen sagged against a wall, her eyes closed.

“I-I don’t know,” Cole said. “I don’t know how to help her anymore. I’m doing everything I can.” He was struggling to speak and it was clear he couldn’t hold on much longer. I could feel his power inside her, struggling to push back the darkness Amelia was feeding instead of fighting.

She looked at me then, her eyes unfocused and glazed over. “Aidan,” she whispered, the sound barely audible over the melee around us.

I put my hands on either side of her face. “I’m here, doll. I’m right here. Let me help you.”

I closed my eyes and pushed everything I had into her, disregarding everything around us. I pushed at the darkness crowding her system, taking up too much space in her head. I stoked her tiny flame with my own and tried to give her back control of herself, but the darkness did the opposite of what I expected. It didn’t fight me as it did her, it pulled at me. It pulled at my power and sucked it from my system in draining gulps. I was terrified to leave Amelia alone, but the rate at which I could feel myself depleting sent a new and deeper fear through me. I couldn’t protect her if I couldn’t fight for her. I swayed on my feet and struggled to stand. The power inside her sighed and simmered, finally calming, but it was more than I could handle. I snapped our connection apart and the cry erupting from Amelia’s lips was like having all the air ripped from my lungs at once. I steeled myself, knowing this was the only way, and turned to Cole.

“Help me, and then help her. You can’t leave her alone, but you have to help me.” I stumbled a little and fell into Cole.

“I don’t know if I can do for you what I do for her, but I’ll try.” Cole reached out and wrapped his hands around my forearms. I instantly felt more stable and the room stopped spinning around me. I pulled away and directed him back to Amelia. I probably should have taken more, but he had only so much to give and she needed it.

Cole gave me a curious look. I ignored it and pulled Amelia into my arms. “You stay close to me and you stay connected to her. I can get us out of here, but you keep her with us.”

Nathaniel, Rynna, and Derreck moved to surround Amelia, Cole, and me. I had Amelia tucked into my chest and it was like carrying a child. She burrowed her head into me and tightened into a small ball. Cole grabbed her ankle, keeping their connection, and stayed just a step behind me. Whatever he had done had at least brought me some balance, but all I could think was I had failed her. How could I be her mate when I couldn’t save her? When it was clear I fed the evil inside her?

Chapter 32

He
was a hazy blur in my mind but I was sure it was really Aidan I saw. He was real. He was here. He told me he would come and he did.

The Keeper had taken hold so tightly, I could barely form a thought of my own. All I knew was there were more women to help, more who were still chained to their beds, bound by the Hunter’s power. Someone was holding me and it felt like a safety blanket.
Cole.
Somehow, he was keeping me away from the pain boiling right under the surface. His green energy was surging through me and she hated it. She pushed and shoved at him, agitated he took up space and stopped her from spreading herself everywhere.

And then it changed. A trail of blue fire with single-minded focus wound its way through me. Once it found my core, it churned and whirled around my single flame, pouring itself into me. For a brief moment, I sighed with the relief they brought me. One bringing calm and the other replenishing everything I had given. But she wouldn’t let it last. She found him, too, and took hold. She was just as thrilled as I was, but she pulled from him, wrapping herself around him until I couldn’t find his light anymore. She stole his gifts to me. He stumbled and I cried out when his presence was gone. They were both gone. They had left me alone to face the demon I had unleashed.

I was ready to give up when suddenly the green energy was back. She wailed in protest as I tried to pull the calm and protection he offered and wrap it around myself, making a cocoon she couldn’t find me in, hoping I could make myself smaller and smaller until she just didn’t believe I was there anymore.

There were more to help. The thought was there and gone, replaced with quiet retreat. I pulled away from them all and finally let my mind stop. I had to stop. I had to save myself.

Chapter 33