Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 31

"You think that I am a snot-nosed kid who is ranting about things she knows nothing about?" I waited for her to nod. "So, answer me this. Do you know what happens to a person's power when they die?"

"Their power dies."

"Right. And what does it take to bind someone?"

"Power is needed to bind another person." Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Sweetie, you should know that one."

"It's Noreena," Nancy sneered.

"So? She was bound. She knows it takes power to do it." Chelsea shrugged and looked away, indifferent.

"Now we are getting somewhere," I said with mock approval, refraining from clapping. My mother would die to know I was revealing one of her secrets, but it wasn't like anyone in Briarville would be able to make a difference. Did anyone even know someone on the Council? "Now, do you remember what I had said while I was introducing Aubrey-Lynn tonight? How my mother helped me deny my powers?"

"Yes, of course, I remember. I'm not simple, you idiot."

"Yeah, I'm the idiot." I laughed with Nancy and Julian. "You know, for someone who is trying to mock me for being slow, you're not so bright. My mother is dead, Dumbass. That's why we are all here—because she is dead—and her powers died with her. Since it was her powers that bound me, my binds ceased to exist the moment she died. Do you have any idea what it's like to know that somebody is dying as they die? No, I bet you don't." I took a deep breath and shifted my weight.

"I don't—"

"Well I do," I snapped, feeling the heat of my anger flash in my eyes. "I know because her powers were ripped from within me. Through all that pain, I was tortured with the knowledge that my mother was dead."

"So, you felt your mother die," she said but the wary look she gave me betrayed her confidence. "That's sad, but it has nothing to do with me."

"No? You are standing here unafraid because you think that I am nothing but some child who poses no threat." I waved my fingers in her face. "I'm still the High Priestess' daughter. Whoopee, right? Wrong." My hands dropped to my side. "You see, that is where you come in. You've been goading me since you arrived, and I have tried very hard to ignore you. In fact, considering the situation, I've been pretty damn calm."

"Better than I would have been," Julian agreed, and Nancy nodded. "I was hoping you would smack her since the circle started. I was also hoping I was a girl so I could do it for you."

"I've asked you to leave as nice as I can, and you still act like your shit doesn't stink. Guess what?" I took a step closer to her and lowered my voice. "You. Are. An. Idiot."

"Excuse me? You have no right calling me an idiot. Sure, fine," she said, bristling as she flicked her hand in the air. "You have more power than I thought because of your mother. Trust me, that's not going to take you very far when you are opposed by experience. Do you even know who your father is? He's no one, just like you, or your mother would never have kept him a secret."

My fists balled at my side and I struggled not to follow Julian's suggestion. Didn't know my father? As if my mother was a slut? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Was she insane? Even if my mother was my only magical parent, Chelsea wouldn't have been up to par with what I can do. If she wanted to speak about someone being a mutt, she ought to look in the damn mirror. She'd realize she's found an expert on the subject.

"She didn't keep my father's identity from me, and I promise that she isn't all I've got going on in here," I said, motioning with my hand from my head to my toes. "Now please, leave my home so that I can mourn my mother with people who know the definition of respect. That is, unless you want to find out why I chose not to use the abilities I was born with." The corners of my lips curved upwards into a smile. "You won't like it."