The Brothers and I

Chapter 53

Her stepfather beating her senseless, calling her names and locking the little girl in a cupboard when she wouldn't stop crying...That very same man leaning on top of her and violating her small body while she screamed and begged for him to stop...Mia running to her stepmother for help and comfort but only for the wretched woman to call her a liar and a whore...

I felt physically ill by the things I was seeing but before I could wrench my hands away to stop the disgusting images from replaying in my mind, they shifted once again. But instead of skimming the surface, the spell now pulled us both deeper... into her very soul.

At first, there was an indescribable feeling of being weightless, almost euphoric, as we felt the bright glow of the mate bond entwined within Mia's soul itself. Covens across the world had tried to replicate the effects of the bond since time unknown but failed repeatedly. At best, we witches could manipulate it but never destroy or create it. This....this was the ultimate work of the divine. Something that was beyond the grasp of mere mortals, both man and witches alike.

As we dove deeper, the glow began to recede. The light grew dimmer as a darkness took hold. And just as I sensed it, my body went instantly rigid and unbelievably cold.

A foreboding darkness lay in her depths, devoid of light, warmth and life. It felt suffocating, like my life force was slowly being drained out of my body in one long breath. Our conjoined hands shook, the blue light that held us together slowly turned bright red. The very air around us changed, the smell of rot and burning flesh grew thick in my nostrils as we finally felt the creature stir.

It was unlike any wolf that we had seen. Broken, twisted and corrupted by dark magic, this creature was death itself. It opened its eyes; a deep scarlet red and stared back at us. In that moment, it felt like the world was set ablaze, all the life sapped from it in a heartbeat, leaving behind nothing but an eternal dark oblivion.

A scream erupted from my throat as we were both blasted off our feet and propelled backwards, away from each other. My whole body felt like it was on fire, the smell of burnt flesh permeating the room as whisps of black smoke rose from the spot that we had been standing only a moment ago.

I gasped in pain, my body screaming in agony as I writhed helplessly on the floor. But above the sound of my own voice, I heard our coven leader whisper an incantation, her own groans of pain clearly audible in her voice.

The pain suddenly stopped, my senses returning all at once as I lay panting on the floor.

"Aurora...are you alright?"

Unable to coax my lungs to give a response, I continued lying there, staring at the ceiling blankly as the feeling of dread descended. My gut screamed that something wasn't right. That what we thought we were dealing with was much more...so much more.

I felt arms reach around me gently and begin to lift me off the floor. My body sagged due to an acute lack of energy that I was suddenly feeling.

"Look at me..."

I struggled to focus my eyes for an instant but when I did, a broad smile greeted my vision. Our coven leader's eyes shone brightly, almost with a manic gleam while her lips stretched far into her cheeks as she vibrated with excitement.

"You've done it, Aurora! You've found the vessel... I cannot believe this!" A maniacal laugh left her lips as she shook my shoulders, trying to encourage the same reaction out of me. But all I could was stare.

Did she not witness the same thing I did?

She let go of me suddenly and turned towards her desk. She began to collect the paperwork and arrange them neatly all the while mumbling a to-do list under her breath in a feverish tone. "...we would need to contact the others...make sure they are ready...will need to look at the chart for the next celestial event...need to check the spell again...get the girl as well..."

I watched her talk to herself and laugh in between her sentences like she had lost her mind. My uncertainty only grew the more excited she got. "Coven leader....", I began tentatively to get her attention.

When she failed to acknowledge me, I tried again, but this time with a different tactic. "Mother..."

She stopped mid-way from searching her drawers and looked up. The crazed look was still present but when she made eye contact, she seemed to calm down. "I know you're worried my child but don't be. This is the greatest day of our lives! A day of celebration for our coven. And it's all because of you... I'm so proud of you...daughter..."

For the first time in my adult life, my mother looked at me with pride and approval in her eyes. Needless to say, I was stunned momentarily as she continued to talk.

"...this is what our coven has been searching for, for almost six centuries! And our names will go down in history...my daughter...Our coven will no longer be the outcasts... we will be all powerful and nothing will stop us then..."

She laughed hysterically, looking immensely pleased as she went back to riffling through pages in her book.

"Mother...I have a bad feeling about this. Do we even know what that creature is capable off? Or why it has remained silent for so long?..."

Now that I had finally found my voice, I felt a floodgate of questions burst through my mind. "...how come we could not track it? Or even sense it? Why was this particular human chosen to have a mate bond ...? There are just too many unknows here-"

"Shhh...shhh...shh... Calm down Aurora."

Leaving her frenzied search behind, she came towards me and took hold of my arms. "I know you're worried but you really don't have to be."

I did not feel convinced and I assumed that translated through my look as she gave a long sigh. "When our great ancestor, Agna, cast the spell to save the wolf of the shifter woman mated to the three Lycan brothers almost six hundred years ago, she knew she was directly going against the Moon Goddess. And the fact that this human that you've found possesses a mate bond and is also the vessel, proves that the Goddess still intends to win. Let's just say this is her one last ditch effort to claim that soul. Clever...but useless. That soul is completely claimed by the darkness...you sensed it...didn't you daughter?"

I gulped down the sick feeling that threatened to bubble up from my throat. "I don't know what I sensed. All I know is that whatever this is, it's far more than what we can handle."

She smiled kindly at my response. "You don't give yourself enough credit. That is your problem. How about this? We'll sit down in the coming days and discuss all these concerns you have because right now, you need to make the necessary arrangements. We shall not wait any longer."

But I felt like I wasn't finished with my questions. "Does that mean that Mia is a shifter? And...and what about her mates? She'll be marked by the time we get to her. The next celestial event is not for another ten months or so and if we-"

"This human woman is just that – human. She is merely the vessel; carrying a very precious cargo. One that will liberate us from our oath and bestow upon us the ultimate power of immortality. And as for her mates..."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Nothing we can't handle. Now, you must go at once and gather the coven. Organise our travel to Oslo and let the monastery know of our arrival-"

A strong feeling of frustration overcame me in that instant. "So we just leave her to her fate then?"

My mother took a moment to consider me before smiling with resigned understanding. "Her fate was sealed a long time ago. She is but a mere pawn in this game and such is the life of humans...." She paused for a second before turning back to her things once again. "...now you have a job to do daughter...let the coven know that we have found the girl...."

Looking back up, she stared at me, a look of set determination crossing her face. "...and that it is time to wake the three Lycan brothers from their spell and reunite them with their long-lost mate...."

End of Book 1....