"Well the first thing you need to know is that not all the stories are true. Yes, my dad and granddad and their friends did create quite a reputation for us but most of it was to scare people off."
"So they didn't steal young maidens and eat them up in dragon form?" she laughs.
"No not that I know of. The dragon thing is real, but the boys rarely change now a days although it is quite a sight. Unfortunately the temper part is true and when they do lose it can get quite ugly."
"I see, well tell me about them then." I said coaxing her on.
"My Brother is the oldest although not the leader. There are none. Long ago it was decided that they will all work as one and that decisions should be made unanimously together. Michael has his temper like the rest but for the most part he isn't bad. Looked out for me after our mother died a couple of years ago. He met Layla about three years ago. She is human but he told her all about us and she stuck around. Two people more in love I haven't seen. Xander is a bit of a shit stirrer and can sometimes get himself into a bit of trouble then my brother and the others have to go bail himself out.
The people around here don't know what we are. They all just think we are rich assholes who keep to ourselves which is the way we like it but once in a while Xander would get into trouble in town and the boys would have to step in before in turns into a bloodbath."
"And the groupies. Do they know what you are?"
"No most of them are humans that think we are some kinds of mafia, which I guess isn't that far from the truth, but they don't know about the Hidden side of things. Once in a blue moon one of the boys would bring an occasional witch or fey around but it doesn't happen often." So those girls last night really had no idea in how much danger they really were.
"What about the others?" I asked. I wanted to know about Zane but didn't want to outright ask so I'd rather let her get to him on her own.
"Well Cole is nothing to worry about. He's really just a big sweety although if u have any cookies best you hide them. He can sniff them out like a bloodhound." She giggled and I laughed along with her.
Clearly Cole would be a good ally to have if we are around id have to befriend him as best I can.
"Max..." she said. Clearly thinking what to say about him and I catch the glimmer in her eye as she says his name. so that is the secret she is hiding, she is in love with Max.
"Max is very nice. He has a temper like the rest butt controls it more than them. He's a great shot. Taught me how to hold my first gun." Clearly, she didn't know what else to say without giving to much away.
"Zane is the one to look out for though." At the sound of his name my heart leapt. Here it comes.
"Why do you say that?" begging her to go on.
"His temper is the worst and when he loses its people almost always gets hurt. He's quiet and keeps to himself most of the time but he's just scary sometimes. He ones ripped a guy's head clean off for looking at him wrong. Well that's what Max told me anyway. Just stay clear of him though and you should be fine."
I swallow the lump in my trough. Wanting desperately to change the subject before I have myself a panic attack I turn to her,
"So do you think I'll be able to move about this place? Is there anything to do around here?" I ask her.
"Oh yes there is loads to do. We have a gym, pool, gaming room, cinema and there is even a shooting range out back. There is also a library although no one ever uses it. What do you like to do?" Laughing at her remark of the library I say
"Read" and she laughs to.
"Well then you will love it."
"I also like baking and cooking. Maybe I can cook for us sometime."
"That would be wonderful. Tomorrow I'll give you a full tour and you can situate yourself better. But I best get to bed now." She stands and walks to the door. But before leaving she turns to me.
"I really hope you can do what they want you to, it is really nice having another girl around to talk to. Good night." And with that she is gone.
So do I Anna. The more use I am the longer I might stay alive in this place.
I get into the bed and feel the comfort of the blanket hug me. This is by far the most comfortable bed I have ever been in, and it doesn't take long for the exhaustion to overtake me and send me to my dreams.
The next morning I wake up with a new sense of purpose. I need to figure out how to do that spell, stay away from Zane as much as I can and then get as far away from here as I can. I get up and get dressed in simple jeans and a plain white shirt before brushing my teeth and throwing on my sneakers then head out in the hopes of finding something to eat. I would not let Zane or anyone else get me down this much anymore. I am a strong powerful witch, and I will use whatever I have to make it out of here in one piece.
Before I could even close the door behind me Anna was next to me beaming down at me. She was quite a bit taller than me but that was not hard. My dad uses to say I am only knee high to a grasshopper. Even Alice shot past me when we were teens.
"Ready for breakfast?" she asked.
"Oh yes." I replied and she led me downstairs. Towards the other side of the big staircases was another double door that opened up into a dining room. Walking in I saw that everyone was already there. I hadn't realized that I slept in, but I must have been more tired than I thought. They all looked up and waved a good morning before returning to their breakfast." Good morning" I said in general before taking a seat next to Anna.
"Take whatever you like." She told me pointing to the large array of food on the table before us. I dished myself some toast and a little bit of eggs with a cup of coffee. Taking a sip and feeling the warmth of the coffee cover me. Coffee was its own kind of magic.
"After breakfast Anna can show you around but then Zane will take over and get you started." Michael said to me from across the table. I looked over at Zane, but he was focused on his breakfast. So I focused on mine.
After I was full Anna grabbed my hand and I was happy for no new images flashing. It rarely happened with one person more than once in a space of time, but I always had to prepare for any new information the elements wanted to send my way.
She led me through the house. Showing me everything there was to see. Upstairs one the third floor she showed me the gaming room, gym, cinema and a bar where she said you could normally find the boys if there was any kind of game on. On the second floor were all the bedrooms as well as the library which lifted my spirits a great deal. On the ground floor was where all the entertaining happened with a ballroom in the back she said never gets used, the kitchens and doors leading out to a massive pool looking out over the beautifully kept gardens. What a thing it must be to sit here and soak up the sun as well as the view. The whole place was so alive, and I could feel my magic vibrating in my veins being surrounded my so much beauty.
It was outside admiring the beauty of the forest that Zane caught up with us and all in a second all the beauty I was feeling was replaced with fear and that something else.
"Anna Michael wants to have a word. I'll take over from here." He said and Anna gave me a quick smile before disappearing inside leaving me alone with Zane.
"You want to give me a tour to?" I said jokingly hoping to ease some of the tension. He didn't smile or even smirk. He just continued to stare at me then turned and started waking in the direction of a greenhouse at the far side of the house. I took it as implied that I must follow him although a 'come with me' would have been nice.
The moment he opened the door to the green house wave after wave of fresh smelling herbs and plants hit me and the magic inside me was just begging to be realized. I looked around the green house and saw no one else in there but rows and rows of tables covered in pots. Plants coming from every direction making it seem like a true paradise. If this would be the only place, I would be for the rest of my life I would be happy to that.
To my left was a pot of tiger lilies. A flower used in quite a few spells gran taught me. I went over to smell its sweet smell and immediately was transported back to a time in the past. A happier less stressful time. Gooding up spells in the kitchen with gran. She loved tiger lilies. Said it was one of the few ingredients natures gave us that had a special kind of magic all its own. The power to transform a room both in looks and in smells. I loved them but my favorite was always the St. Joseph lilies. Bigger and white. Not so much smell but they were so beautiful to look at.
"Here" Zane said and for a moment I had forgotten he was there until he spoke. He handed me a book. It is a witch's grimoire. It was old. Older than the one that has been handed down generation after generation in my family. I looked it over. The moment it was fully in my hands I could feel the power of the witch who owned it. She was powerful. Did Zane kill her and took this as a souvenir.
I would not use a witch's grimoire if I knew she had been hurt by the people I am supposed to be helping.
"Who is this? I can't use this if the witch it belonged to has been hurt."
He looked at me not giving any emotion away. His cold green glowing eyes boring into mine.
"She is dead." My breath stuck in my trough. He tired walking past me to the door but I had to stop him.
"I can't use this." Handing the book back to him. He looked at the book but did not take it.
"I am willing to help you, but I am not going to use a witches grimoire who has not given it willing. Let me speak to her parents or children if she had any to get their blessing. If you can't give me that then you can go ahead and kill me because I won't cross this line."
"Fine. You are talking to her child, and I give you, my blessing." He said it so matter of fact. His mother was a witch. And my what I could feel holding this grimoire she was a really powerful one. That's the reason he could sense I was hiding a gift. Or well smell it as he put it. It made sense. There is more than just Draco blood in him.
I nodded not wanting to pray anymore.
"It is the last spell in the book. See if you have everything you need here but don't touch the sprouts. They aren't strong enough yet and don't take more than you need.
I looked around the green house at all the beauty surrounding me. Gran would have loved this place.
"Is this yours?" I asked without looking at him.
"I inherited my father's gifts not my mother's, but she did teach me a lot so don't think you can fool me with some half assed spell. I'll know." I didn't hear him move but his voice was right behind me. The breath from his words moving my hair next to my ear. I felt those electric shocks go up and down my spine and settle in my stomach to mix with the fear that was already there. This man scared me so much, but I had to get a hold of myself.
I nodded still not looking at him and still feeling him right behind me. The heat from his body radiating onto my back. I felt my hair move and then heard the door of the green house close. That is when I realized he was gone, and I took a long deep breath to clear my mind and ease my nerves. Why did Zane affect my body so? It is kike it just froze out of its own accord.
I shook off the feeling and opened the book in my hands. There was a lot of old spells in here. Starting as simple healing spells and becoming more difficult and intense towards the back. I finally got to last spell and looked it over.
It was some kind of locating spell. Most locating spells were for objects or even where elements can be found. But this was for a person. Not just any person though. It was a spell to locate a person the witch referred to as the key. It didn't say much more about the key but that she would be a woman of great power and that she was hidden from all who would hurt her. And they wanted me to use this spell to find her.
Who was she and why did they want to find her so bad?
I looked over the spell. It wasn't easy and would take a lot of magic and a lot of casting but it was something gran taught me so I knew it was a spell I could pull off. Relief settled inside me.
I looked around the greens house at all the ingredients I would need and found most of them. Some casting and prepping could be done now and over time, but the final step would have to happen on a witch's moon to boost my influence over the elements. I took out my phone from my back pocket and looked at the calendar. A month. I would have a month. Is that enough time to find a way out of here? It will have to be.
I sighed and looked around me thinking it would be best to get started. First step calls to make the base of the spell which meant covering a bowl in magically tainted metal and then leave it to harden so that the bowl would become this metal. On the day of the witches moon it will be set alight and burn for three hours. This will be the fire part of the elemental spell. It is to a hard step if you have everything you need and enough elemental magic to cast the bowl. The bowl of fire.
I looked around the greenhouse and found everything I needed then set it on the table. I found an old wooden bowl on the floor under one of the tables and decided it will have to do. I added all the ingredients it called for into the bowl and the took a deep breath looking at the water and flower petals drifting in the bowl.
"Here we go" I said to only myself and closed my eyes. Placing my hands on the bowl I let the fire element fill me from the outside in. I could feel the heat from the flame of life run across this land and trough the earth into me. not being afraid of getting burnt as gran told me this is what our bodies were made for. The lively fire flowed into my body, spreading its head to every corner of my being. I held it back a second or two, enjoying the feeling of home I felt back in my element doing magic. Then let it go. Letting it flow through my body, down my arms and out through my fingertips. I could feel the water with ingredients react to y my magic and felt it starting to vibrate and contort.
I opened my eyes to see the bowl covered. Looking like the bowl had been dipped into quicksilver. This part was done but now it just needed some time to solidify. That would take a week or so.
I let go of the bowl and felt my head swim. It has been too long since I used magic and using so much the first time back into it drained me more than I thought it would. I decided to sit down and just rest my head to stop the dizziness but soon the darkness of rest was pulling me under, and I fell asleep.
"Emily?" his voice. His beautiful voice was calling me. I had to go to him. I had to be near him.
"Emily, wake up." I opened my eyes to see Zane staring at me. I shot fully awake at the sight of him then frowned. Was I just dreaming about him, or had he interrupted a dream?
He looked angry. Did I do something wrong. Had he expected me to have the whole spell finished already. How long had I been asleep?
I pushed me hard against the table to my back and leaned in close, so I was completely enveloped in his sent making my head spin and my heart race.
"I thought you said you could do this. Here I find you passed out from trying."
"I finished what I could for now." Pointing at my bowl. He looked and looked back at me a little less irritated.
"A fire bowl" he said. He obviously knew what it was and that meant how long before I can actually use it.
"The spell has to be done on a witches moon, that's in about a month. I'll get everything ready before then. I'm just a little out of practice."
"fine" he said stepping closer to me, I had to open my legs before he pushed them parts so he could stand in-between them. He took my gin in his hand and held up my head, so I was forced to look directly into his eyes.
Normally I think his victims faint in fear at this point but that something else was keeping me from losing myself completely. I still don't know what this feeling is as it is still masked in fear, but it was spreading. First in my tummy and now moving slowly all over my body. It was as if he was setting me alight from the inside out. It might be my magic reacting to his but whatever it is it was getting worse the longer he touched me, the longer he stood so close our bodies were almost touching.
"Do not fuck this up Girlie. You hear me? if you do nothing on this planet can save you."
I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. He let me go then and immediately a sense of cold came over me. like he had burned me and now it the fire was out, and the air was so cold for my heated skin to regulate.
"it's dinner time. Come eat." He said before leaving the greenhouse. Dinner time?? I had slept the whole day. I hated to admit it, but mom was right. I needed to practice more. I was so out oof step one spell knocked me out the whole day.
I followed him into the house and back into the dining room.
"Hey Emily. How was your day of magic?"
I smiled at her and then noticed that we were a lot less than we were this morning.
Max and Xander were gone. And so were Michael and Layla.
"Fine thank you Anna. And your day?" I said taking my seat next to her and across from Zane.
She went into detail about how she went shooting then her and Cole watched a zombie movie and how she wanted to tell Michael to watch It but that his and Layla would be gone for a week.
She kept the conversation going but all I could think about was what that feeling was I felt when Zane was close to me and what my magic was trying to tell me.
Although I slept most of the day in the greenhouse, I still felt exhausted and was happy when dinner was over, and I could go back to my room. I took a nice long shower this time actually washing my hair and body and not sitting on the floor crying. The dried off and got into bed. I was just getting comfy when there was knock. My stomach fell. I really liked Anna, but I was still drained from doing magic I just wanted to sleep. But I got up and opened the door for her anyway. Only it wasn't Anna.
Zane stood in front of the door wearing only a pair of lose fitting sleeping pants and nothing else. It looked like he too had just gotten out of the shower as his hair as damp and slicked back. his chest was completely bare and no matter how hard I tried I could not pull my eyes away from the rock-hard wall of muscle I was faced with. He had the most beautiful body I had ever seen.
Obviously realizing I was staring he cleared his throat and all the heat of my body shot up to settle in my cheeks making them burn straight red.
"I forgot to give you this." He handed me a water bottle. I looked at it confused and then realized there wasn't water in it. The liquid was a dull golden color. I took of the cap and smelled it.
"Wormwood water" I said, and he nodded. It was used to replenish loss of magic or energy when I which was drained.
"We can't have repeats of today. This spell needs to be perfect, and you better make sure it is. Understand? "Now he was just annoying me.
"Is part of your rules that I have to get a couple of threats a day? Listen I get it. It's important and I know you are gona kill me if I don't get this spell right but I'm doing the best I can and would apricate if you let go of the chock hold for a minute so I can breathe."
I have no idea where this new sense of courage came from. Maybe from being drained or maybe from just being too emotional to care what else he threatened me with, but I regretted the words as soon as they were out of my mouth. He moved so fast I barely had time to blink. He had my pinned up against the wall in my room. The water bottle laying forgotten in that passage. His hand was around my trough but not squeezing only treating to. His eyes were burning but now snake eyes. I was safe for now al be it in a very vulnerable position. With his body completely pressed up against mine. My one foot was still on the ground but my other was being forced up and open by his hips.
The fire raced through me at a speed of light. This time almost going head-to-head with the fear inside me.
"What did you say to me? "He barked into my ear.
"I'm sorry. I'm just really tired and I'm tired of being treated every time I see you. I know what is at stake and trust me I know full well in which awful way you are going to kill me if I fuck this up. I don't need a play by play." I knew I was pissing him off even more but I didn't care I just wanted him to do whatever he was going to so he could go away and this burning in my body could stop. That and I was tired of being scared all the time. If he is going to kill me, he should just do it and get it over with, but this fear was killing me faster than he was.
I fully expected his to start squeezing the hand he had around my neck, but he didn't. instead he laughed without letting me go. I looked at him confused. Was my life-or-death struggle really funny to him?
"I See now. That smell on you." He leaned in and smelled my neck leaving little shots of electricity in his wake and causing both the heat and the fear to intensify.
"You are Shyth seer, aren't you?" my heart stopped. He knew. The only weapon of the future I had against these monsters and now he knew.
"So my little buttercup, what exactly did you see when I touched you?"
"You were chocking me." I don't know why I didn't think to lie but it just came out. And he laughed again. This time more menacingly. He moved even closer forcing my legs apart even further to press his hips into mine. His mouth against my ear.
"Oh buttercup. If that's all you think I will do to you if you fuck this up, then you are even more stupid than I thought. Shyth seers can't see death and that is not how you will die. There are a lot worse things I can do to you than to choke out your pretty little light." He whispered into my ear. The heat was spreading over my body so fast I could barely contain it. He was so close, and his hips were digging into mine. The heat started moving its way to my head and I had no idea what would happen once it gets there.
"Let me go please" I begged I needed the heat to stop before getting to my head, but he just giggled.
"Oh baby save the begging for later. After you fuck up this spell no one on this planet, not even my brothers will be able to stop what I will do to you." He emphasized this by running his free hand over my leg propped up by his hips. His hand traveled over my outer thigh and up my hip till he was under my oversized sleeping shirt, skimming my side and treating to touch my breasts.
The heat scored straight through me and reached my head. Once it my brain I was paralyzed by it. It wasn't burning anymore, there was no fire, I was the fire. My whole body becoming one with the heat that threatened me and completely snuffing out the fear. I couldn't see or breath. All I could do was feel. Feel his body pressed against mine. Feel his lips on my ear. Feel his hand touching the skin on my side. I knew what he was threatening but it did not feel like a threat. I wasn't scared of him doing what he was implying to scare me, I was hoping for it. Wanting it.
"There is a lot worse as a man I can do to you than as a Draco. Remember that." He said into my ear again and I heard his words, but they were as if they were coming from a dream not real life. I understood them and their meaning and I wanted it.
And just like that he moved away from me and left my room walking into his and closing the door. I sat there having fallen one the floor after he let me go. Confused and scared all over again. I was out of breath and shaking. He was threatening to rape me but with his so close I was completely numb to it. Now that his body had left mine all the heat had vanished and so the fear had returned in full force. So he was not only going to kill me, but he was going to hurt me in every way he can before he did.
My head swam with all that was crammed into it. I got up and picked up the bottle of wormwood water. Closing the door and locking it. Drinking half the bottle down and setting it next to my bed. In the morning I would drink the rest and feel better but for now I needed sleep and some piece away from that monster.
Sleep came quickly as I knew it would. But the dreams were far from peaceful. My dreams were full of Zane. His hands on my body, his body on top of mine, his lips on my neck and chest and with a start I woke up and sat upright.
"Lust." I said out loud although no one could hear me. the burning. It is lust. A witches lust. I've heard of it before, but it was so rare. No one knows why it happened and for what reason, but I've heard its powerful and could be all consuming if not controlled.
What the fuck is wrong with me? this man is going to hurt me; I saw it myself and last night he threatened to rape and torture me first and now I'm lusting after him. I needed to get my head evaluated because this was insane.
On top of doing my best to stay away from him I needed to my make sure he didn't touch me again. If he does, I might not have any will power to stop him.