"This is a power I've wielded several times before, take a second and look at him, let the tether to your magic loosen, and then will it to surround him with protection" my father says as I stare at Seth, trying to put a shield around him to let him into the Underworld.
I do as he says, and when my power reaches Seth, I see him stiffen for a second, but relax as it surrounds him entirely. I can actually see it around him, like a light haze. I smile, completely unrestrained as I realize it worked! My eyes dart to Roman's for a beat, noticing the pride and softness in his gaze.
'I love that smile on you' he says through the link and I look away, I'm probably blushing like a freaking preteen
"Good. Now do that to everyone else here, with the exception of your mate" my father says
"Maybe try and look a little less like you're constipated this time though." Seth teases me, I shoot him a glare and he yelps. I jump, not expecting that. "Goddess, Amara. Are you going to do that every time I make fun of you? Because that's an unfair advantage" he says, glaring back at me, although I have no idea what the hell I did.
"Well, I didn't actually mean to do anything, but if I knew what I did I'd make sure to remember it for the next time your big mouth-"
"Now children, children, simmer down" my father says, amused by our banter while everyone else rolls their eyes, clearly used to it. I shoot another glare Seth's way, disappointed when he doesn't give me a reaction this time.
"Amara, try it on Sophie" my father interrupts our stare down.
I do as he says again, and it comes much easier this time, and by the time I finish with Gemma, it's as easy as breathing. Well, I guess I am a natural.
'Don't get cocky' Tamisra teases me
'Hey wolf, do you want me to own it or run away from it? You're giving me whiplash' I snap back at her. She only responds with a 'harumph' before shutting up.
"Now, you have the ability to portal anywhere amongst the three worlds. All you have to do is wrap your magic around us, and imagine where you want us to be. Here's a picture of my castle, envision that, and then will us all there. Not your mate though, he can do it on his own" my father cuts in again, distracting me from my banter with my wolf and handing me the picture.
Again, I follow his instructions, and I'm damn near thrown on my ass when we quite literally whoosh the fuck away, wrapped in a golden kissed darkness. I land on my feet while everyone else lands on their ass, in what looks like... cells? Concrete, and the smell of mildew and stale dirt surrounds us. My father and Roman appear a few seconds after us, and I'm sure my stare is nothing short of utter confusion as I glance at them. My dad just laughs, while Roman tries to hide his smile.
"Well, this works. You at least got us into the castle. Come here" Dad says, shaking his head, he looks around to our group before that dark wind sweeps us away again, and this time I land on my ass.
Grunting, I quickly push myself from my ass to a standing position as I'm met with the raised eyebrows of the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Gods, she's absolutely devastating. Her hair, as black as shadowstone cascades over her shoulders down to her waist in loose curls, it clashes, yet somehow fits in with her snow white skin that doesn't hold one single flaw. Her eyes, emerald green, twins to my own, find me right away while her painted red lips, ones people would pay a fortune to have, are etched into a scowl, but somehow they seem comfortable there. She stands up, and a beautiful black velvet gown hugs her curvy but no doubt muscular body all the way down to her hips, where the rest flows out. Honestly, most wouldn't even notice the gown. Between her beauty and the power rolling off of her, it's frankly the last thing anyone would notice.
Insecure, I glance at Roman to see where he's looking, and find him walking towards me. I allow myself a moment of shame before I lean into his open arms and glance back up at who is no doubt my sister, the future queen of the underworld. She's staring back at me with an emotion I can't quite figure out, but I hold her gaze, the power rolling off her doesn't bother me but I can feel that she pulls it back.
"Sister." she says, her voice is lower than mine, less delicate, but somehow still beautiful and again, full of power, only confirming what I already know. She's a true queen, and honestly, all I want is to be her friend. How I want to be her friend after she says one small word to me, I don't understand. I've talked to people for years, and couldn't care less about my place in their lives, but Aylin, I immediately want to know her. Sisterly bond maybe?
"Queen Aylin" I say, a smile twitching on my lips
"Call me no such thing, I'm Aylin to you. What is this...party you've brought with you?" she says, glazing around curiously, no one meets her eyes.
When my father said her power had officially surpassed his own, I didn't think much on what that meant. These were werewolves, not even a species she ruled over, yet as I looked around at my friends and family, they were all on one knee, their heads bowed. Even Roman sank down to a knee, which I would have expected given she's technically his queen. But my pure blooded werewolf family? The power she emanates must be devastating for their cocky asses to bow to her.
"Aylin" I say, not holding back my smile, and I watch her lips twist up for a second before her gaze finds my father who walks up to her and pulls her into a headlock before kissing her temple and letting go. How...casual?
However, she bristles, before ebony smoke curls around her fingers and shoots out at him. He raises a shield, but still gets blown back a few inches before he laughs. I hold in my gawk, looking around and seeing my family still on their knees, heads bowed. Aylin must follow my gaze because she quickly says
"You may rise, my apologies, I wouldn't have left you on your knees so long if certain imbeciles didn't bother me" she says with a look that promises death to our father. I have no doubt she could smite everyone else here if she so pleased.
I decide my father is a sadist because he shoots a gust of power right back at her, which she snarls at and without missing a beat, deflects it back to him. Not expecting it, my father jumps to the left and it hits the wall, smashing a couple pictures on it and leaving cracks behind as it dissipates. Well, this is off to a good start. Then I watch as...as the pictures literally piece themselves back together and quickly float back to the wall, as they were and that cracks close up. My face must not hide my surprise because Aylin glances at me.
"Magic. Nothing in this house can be destroyed. Ancient magic that one of our ancestors wielded upon the palace." she says, matter of factly.
"Well, I guess it saves you money on cleaners then." I respond.
"Well, sister, now that you're here, it would be an honor if you had lunch with me. I will have the servants show your party to their rooms to settle, I'm sure they're drained from the transport. We can all meet again after lunch." she says, and almost immediately two people walk in and collect everyone except me, Roman, my dad, and Aylin.
No one objects, so I don't butt in to ask if everyone is okay with that. I know Sophie's tired face anyways, and she was definitely exhausted. I make a mental note to ask what the transportation was like for them.
Once the four of us are alone, I fumble my fingers, trying to find something to say to start a conversation, any conversation to ease the silence. Thank the gods for my mate, because he's the first to speak up.
"The castle is beautiful, Your Highness." Roman says to Aylin
"I find the stone rather boring. I would prefer to upgrade, but that will not be allowed until I officially take the crown." she responds. Well, she's definitely blunt.
"This castle hasn't seen renovations since the day it was made, its stone walls are cherished!" my father says to her, pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaling in frustration as if they've had this conversation a thousand times
"Change is, and will always be upon us. The castle will be no exception under my reign. In fact, it will be the catalyst. Say whatever you please, you will not change my mind. You are well aware of this." she responds cooly, to which my father just throws his hands up in the air and turns to me
"Well anyways, welcome Amara and Roman. This is my lovely daughter, your sister, Aylin. How about we head outside and have lunch brought to us?" I just nod, I would be lying if I said I wasn't anxious to get to know Aylin.
Aylin starts towards us and we follow, my father next to her while me and Roman are behind them, hand in hand. As we're led through the castle I can't help but wonder how Roman is taking all this in.
'Well, this has started off interesting' I say to him through the mindlink
'No kidding. Your sister is intense, that's for sure. I can't say I expect any less from a queen, but damn. Pissing her off definitely isn't on my to-do list.' he replies
'That's an understatement. Although, my dad did warn me about her.'
'Well thanks for the warning, babe.' Roman responds sarcastically and I bite back a laugh
'You seem to be able to handle yourself just fine, I wasn't concerned' That was only partially true, I had kind of completely forgotten about that, I was more hung up on the fact that there's now a whole other species who has it out for me, then the fact that I would literally be leaving earth, all that.
'You seem to forget she outranks me, and she's technically my queen' he says back and I roll my eyes
'Whatever, it's not my fault you Alpha's have authority problems' I counter back and he just shoots me a playful glare.
I'm jolted out of our conversation as Aylin pushes open a massive set of doors and leads us out to what looks like the backyard. As soon as I step outside my breath is stolen from me. It was...beautiful...no that wouldn't even begin to cover it. The sky was light purple, with no sun or cloud in sight, and the air, crisp and cool, had a slight lilac scent to it. The grass was a darker green than the grass back on earth, and there was a small pond that was filled with a silver looking liquid. I didn't realize how different basic things like sky, grass, and water would differ from what I was used to. I look over at Roman, and I can see he's looking around too. Through the bond, I feel the same type of amazement and awe that I feel, although he was definitely hiding it better than me. His face was that of cool indifference while I had to pick my jaw off the ground and blink a few times to moisten my wide eyes. Aylin, just now noticing that we stopped following her, turns around. She looks at us, and then looks around
"Something wrong?" she asks, flatly. I look at her, my eyes still wide and I make the assumption she's never been to Earth, otherwise I'm sure she'd know why we were here looking bewildered.
"Just different from what we're used to back on Earth. Have you ever been?" I ask her
"No. I've had no desire. Humans tend to ruin everything they touch, no sense in getting attached to a world that might fall. Come, we can dine by the pond. It's a rather hot day." she says
I brush off her comment about earth, but she thinks this is hot? Werewolves definitely run hot, but this would be considered comfortable weather for us. I shake my head and blow out a breath as Roman starts to walk over to her and my father, pulling me along with him. I then see a small outdoor table next to the pond, nestled behind a couple trees. The trees at least looked similar to what I was used to. A little taller and wider, with darker shades, but still obviously trees. We all take our seats, Aylin at the head, me next to her, my father opposite of me, and Roman next to me. No one says anything as a couple servants sit a pitcher in the middle of us. Aylin is the first to reach for it, pouring her own glass and saying thank you to the servant who bows before walking away. The same silver-y liquid fills her cup and she passes the pitcher to me.
"So, this is your mate I take it?" Aylin says eyeing Roman
"Yes, this is my mate, Roman, he's Alpha of Ivory Moon pack back home." I say
"And a hybrid," she says. Not a question, man they really get hung up on that don't they?
"Yes. My late mother had demon genes, only the males in our bloodline are hybrids, so my mother was a werewolf only" Roman says to her, not the slightest bit phased.
"Interesting. Other hybrids I've met have no such pattern in their bloodline." Aylin responds, cocking her head slightly and studying him. I bite my cheeks and force back the hint of possessiveness that comes over me, seriously, why didn't anyone warn me about how stupid this mate bond could be? Thankfully, no one but Roman, who gently squeezes my leg under the table, seems to notice.
"My bloodline is rather unique. Our demon heritage was...artificially blended into our DNA." he says
"Alpha Roman's bloodline is blessed by Haures" my father cuts in nonchalantly. My sister raises her eyebrows
"Well, that makes much more sense then. Interesting indeed. I'm sure you're aware he's never granted any requests before, although most aren't so bold to summon him, so he must have sensed something strong within your bloodline." she says as he looks between us thoughtfully "almost as if it was foretold you would be mated to the tribrid" she finishes and I flinch at the title before I can stop myself. This doesn't go unnoticed by her, but her eyes soften and she clears her throat.
"After we eat, I'd like to see what you're made of in the training grounds" my father says to Roman, who raises a brow at him
"Amara told me you were excited to beat my ass" Roman says, his tone leaking with amusement and my father just laughs
"You could say that, but it would also be nice to fight with someone other than my kids" he says
"You don't train with your armies?" I ask him
"No, it's not customary for the royal family to train with their subjects." he responds with a shrug "a silly rule no one has ever cared enough to change. It makes sense however, no powers are on par with ours, so there has never been a reason to change it." I nod my head in understanding
"When can I start training?" I ask him
"Whenever you want, you can take today to settle in if you-"
"Today is good to start training." I cut in
"I can start training with you while they spar. '' Aylin says to me and I smile and nod, although she will definitely kick my ass.
"That would be great. Although, I haven't really...trained with my powers yet. Small things, but nothing crazy" I say, not wanting to say I used them during my little breakdown in the forest.
"I trained Azrael from the beginning as well, it won't be a problem. Anyways, your life up to this point, how was it? What was it like?" she says, again it takes me by surprise how blunt she is but I guess it's not an entirely odd thing to ask your sister you've never met. I shrug
"Uneventful up until the last month or so. I grew up in a smaller werewolf pack with who I thought my parents were and a brother, Seth, he's one of the ones who came with me. I had what one would consider a normal childhood until my parents were killed in a vampire attack, and shortly after my brother found his mate and moved to Roman's pack. I eventually ended up following him, found out I was mated to his Alpha and now here we are"
"What made you leave the pack you grew up in? I don't know much about werewolves, but it is very unusual to change packs outside of following your mate, is it not?" Aylin asks. I hold back my flinch this time, remembering I didn't tell my father about Felix
"Well, I never really felt like I belonged there to begin with, but there was a demon posing as a werewolf there, who happened to be working with vampires, and he somehow forced a fake mating bond with me. I ran when I realized it wasn't a real bond. I couldn't take a car, or driving service to Roman's pack because he was the beta and all would have reported back to him, so I ran through the woods and uncharted lands to his border." I finish
I feel Roman's anger through the bond, and my father's eyes have gone completely black, neither of which surprise me. What surprises me is the anger I feel rolling off Aylin, and I can see her black eyes staring at me. I start when I feel the ground start to rumble, but Aylin quickly shakes her head, and it stops. I look back at her to see just her sclera with black mixing with the white. That, mixed with the power and anger rolling off her...Gods, it's the most terrifying thing I've ever seen.
"You were taken advantage of by this demon? Who was he?" she growls
"I killed him" Roman says, not hiding the satisfaction at that, and both Aylin and my father smile coldly
"Slowly and painfully I hope?" she says
"I would do nothing less. May he be in Tartarus, suffering for eternity" Roman says
I watch my sister as the anger goes away, but there's shadows of a different kind in her eyes as she meets my gaze for a second before looking away. I recognize those shadows, they're the same ones that fill my eyes when I talk about my parent's death and I don't pry, but I instantly want to comfort her somehow. My father buts in as I'm about to reach out and grab her hand, and I stop myself.
"You didn't tell me that" he says to me
"It's not something I enjoy talking about more than I have to." I say, and that's true. I'd rather say it just once to those who need to know and then never bring it up again. In fact, I'd very much enjoy completely forgetting it and the feelings of being used and made a fool of. Both my father and Aylin nod in understanding and Roman gives my leg another squeeze.
"When do you take over as queen? It kind of seems like you already run everything down here" I say the first thing that comes to mind to change the subject
"I officially take over when I turn 300 in two years, but Father has had me unofficially running things. That is normal, so that way he oversees everything I do and can determine if I'm ready when the time comes" she says.
When...she turns...300...in two years... my eyes must be the size of saucers because my father laughs before he cuts in
"Amara is still getting used to immortality. Most werewolves only live to about 150" he says and Aylin cocks her head again at me
"I see. Isn't that what all mortals want though? To be young and beautiful forever? I would think you feel some relief finding out you will be living forever" she says and my mind instantly goes blank.
No, I wasn't thinking that at all, I was thinking how unfathomable it is to live that long, and she thinks that I'm shocked at my own immortality...because...I'm the daughter of two immortal beings...which would make me immortal. Oh goddess. I'm immortal. What of Roman, he's half werewolf, does that make him mortal? What in the bloody hell will I do? If he only lives 150 years, that's a small fraction of my life, and then I have to face eternity without him?
He's half demon, so maybe he's immortal too? But as far as I know, he has no living grandparents or great grandparents...I know he said his grandparents died shortly after his mother was killed...but was it old age that killed them? That's where his immortality gene would come from. I put my clammy hand on my head, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach as I turn and look at Roman. I meet his concerned gaze
"Are you...are you...what about you?" I say, my voice barely even a squeak as understanding and then questioning filter through the bond and my airways start to close. He doesn't know.
"None of the men on my mother's side have lived long enough for me to know, they were all killed in battle at some point or another. But mates aren't meant to live without each other, if you've marked me, I should have gotten that trait from you if I didn't have it already" he says putting his hands on my cheeks, trying to soothe me
It's not enough, it's not enough. I can't take "well it should work this way" as an answer. I can't brush it off and do nothing about it. What if it's not how it works? I would live the next hundred years before he starts to age and do nothing about it, it could be too late, there has to be a way to tie his life to-
"Amara, he's right. He would have gotten that trait from you if he wasn't already immortal. It's rare that demons are mated with other species, but when it happens the other species becomes immortal. Breathe." my father cuts in. I listen, not even realizing I was holding my breath and suck in some air as relief floods me. I close my eyes and put both hands around Roman's wrists, and turn my head to kiss his palm.
"You can't get rid of me easily, little Devil, don't worry" he whispers to me and kisses my forehead.
"I didn't realize I was immortal..." I say, and let that shock replace the terror I felt. Goddess, living for 300 years seemed unfathomable, let alone to be 700 like my father? I would outlive all my friends, all my family, I would be young, unchanged from how I am now while Seth and Sophie and Violet are withered with age. How is that fair? How boring it must be, how isolated, why would I even bother making new friends if I'm just going to watch them die? Spending 150 years with them would turn out to be the equivalent of a couple months.
"It's not so bad." my father cuts into my thoughts again and I swallow
"What of...what of my mortal friends" I say, tears threatening to spill at the idea of Sophie and Seth dying
"Well...there is a way...they would have to soul bond with you." Aylin starts "It's not something that can be done so easily and freely. This would tie their life force to yours and in turn their mate's. You must summon Eurynome and the binding must be blessed by her. Very few are granted the blessing, if done too frequent it can create a strong imbalance" she finishes
Hope blooms in my chest. It's at least something right? I can at least try, although I don't know the first thing about all that. My father summoned another high Demon to ask for help with me and it was granted, so maybe I have a chance. That is, if my family even agrees. I don't think they would say no, but I won't force them to give up their mortality just so I don't have to grieve them when they die.
"Would...would you help me? If they agree, of course." I ask Aylin and my father and they both nod their heads.
"I will, but don't get your hopes up. As I said, it can alter the balance of life and death so you would have to prove your worth to them. I would recommend neutralizing the threats you face first. If you can stop the vampires from taking over Earth, that may prove your worth." Aylin responds. I nod, great, another thing to add to my plate.