Bound Book 2

Chapter 54 - Ghost From The Past

"The sick fuck replicated Skylar's old house. Down to the tiles. It fucking bizarre to see. It just tells me how twisted Gael is. We need to move quickly. He already tried to take Skylar's power but failed. For now. Until he realizes it's not hers to give but sits with our unborn child. Then who knows what the fuck he will do." The smile on Ivan's face seems misplaced until I realize he doesn't know Sky and I are pregnant.

"Dude, you're going to be a father!" he says excitedly, pulling me in for another hug.

"That's amazing and kind of ironic. Rene and I are pregnant too. Our kids can grow up together!" The excitement he feels spills over to me, the first smile in ages forming on my lips. It falters when I realize that he had almost died today.

"Don't go there. I know what you are thinking. But this is what we do," Ivan says, his hand patting my shoulder comfortingly. As beta of our pack, he was in a riskier position than most. I hated that that was the way it was, but at the same time felt grateful that he had my back. Today proved that. He had risked his life to save his Luna, knowing he was going to be a father.

"We will have a big celebration when this is all over. For now, we need to get Skylar back. How long was I out for Raina?" I turn toward Raina, who is flipping through a worn spell book, one I have seen her reading before. It is one of the books that were part of the items found at one of Gael's hideouts that was raided a while ago.

"About four hours. Which is remarkable actually. Most people don't survive a spell that powerful. Listen, I found something here. I was wondering how Gael is able to wield black magic without being impacted like you were. It's not just about being powerful. Witches and warlocks who wield black magic need to channel it through something else. Directly tapping into that kind of power will kill you. Apparently, it must be done through a conduit or talisman of sorts. It's usually an object which is kept close to the wielder. If we can get this object and destroy it, Gael will weaken, giving us the opening we need to destroy him. With the black magic and the power he absorbed from Chris and who knows who else, he might just be too strong for us." Raina's voice peters off, the consequences of not defeating Gael lingering in the air. If we couldn't stop him, then I doubt anyone could. And that would be bad not just for us but for everyone, humans and supernaturals alike.

"The whip," Andrea says, bringing our focus back to the room and away from the melancholy thoughts Raina's words evoked.

"I might be mistaken, but I've been mulling over it, and I remember a story I heard when I was held captive by Mira's father. There was a prisoner in the cell over who spoke of a warlock wielding Cleopatra's serpent." Andrea looks around at us expectantly as if we should know what he is talking about.

"It's moments like these that make me realize how old I am," he says before continuing.

"Legend has it that during Cleopatra's reign, she accessed black magic. Though, the story has been altered over the years, and the term black magic erased from the history books. Now it is referred to as science, alchemy, or chemistry. There was talk of an object she wielded, one that was similarly erased from the written pages. Cleopatra's serpent. Thought to be the cause of the end of her life as well. Cleopatra's serpent was fabled to incapacitate on contact, the lash of its tongue fatal when intended. The old cave drawings, however, depicted Cleopatra's serpent to look more like a whip than an actual snake, the symbology behind the two blurring the facts. This item was supposedly lost over the years. But that inmate, who was one cell over, told me an interesting story about two items being taken from the secure holdings of the High Council. One a book, and the other a whip." Andrea waits while we process what he is saying.

Elsabeths book was stolen from The High Council. Could it really be that they had Celopatras serpent all this time, and it now lay in the hands of Geal? I remember seeing it on the floor when I took control of his body. That must be how he was able to channel the black magic without it destroying him.

"Dmitri, we think we have a location, though we can't be sure," Kira says, re-entering the cabin and effectively pulling us all out of our individual thoughts. "Aerial photographs don't show a house in the area, but there is strong interference when our drones fly over a particular section. It could be that the house is hidden from sight."

"We need a plan. Running in there without one could result in casualties," Raina says, her eyes landing on everyone in the room briefly. We had become a family, and the thought of losing any one of these souls sent an unwelcome shiver up my spine.

"Now that we know what the conduit is, we need to separate Gael from it. We also need to get that witch's lei off Sky's neck. If we can't remove it, the only other person who can is Gael himself."

"You're right," Ally says, re-entering the room. "I spoke to one of the elders from the Eastern Covern. Only the person who put the lei on can remove it. It is coded to their DNA," Ally hesitates, looking around the room. "We have to be careful. If he feels threatened, he could use the lei to kill Sky. Strangle her to death."

"We have his DNA," Raina says, holding up some of the carpet fibers Ally collected from my house, the red stain of Gael's blood visible. "It's not much, but I can work with it. Build it into a potion. If we can get close enough, we can perhaps trick the witch's lei into thinking its master is really there. It's risky, but it's all we have."

"Something has come up. Someone, more like it. She wants to help. Cut a deal," Kira says, her glazed eyes telling me she is mind-linking with someone.

"Who?" I ask her apprehensively, my suspicion already forming as her focus comes back to the room.

"Savannah."

Blast from the past. Please don't forget to comment and vote!