Chapter 47
Elijah
I grabbed the phone from her hand and cut off the call. My mother's words rang in my ears. It was nothing new, nothing I hadn't already heard before. Violence ran in our blood. We were bred from it, from immorality.
"Give it back to me." Vivian screeched, trying to pry the phone from my hold.
I stepped back, and her tries became a fail. "You're not going anywhere." I reminded her while switching off the phone and sliding it into my pockets. Any more calls from my mother were going to go nowhere.
She turned to Callan and plead through her eyes. "Please. I've to go back." She begged him, not me, though I wanted her to. I wouldn't listen to either way, but watching her begging for her freedom was a delight.
Callan glanced at me and I shook my head at his question. He understood. We couldn't let her leave, it was too dangerous. There were going to be repercussions and the last thing either of us wanted was to be dead, or worse used in a ritual to break a curse.
"She has my mother, Callan. I've to go there, I've to listen to her. You don't understand what it means. She threatened her. Please." She begged him, again and again.
I tried to come up with something quick, but with her voice ringing in my head, I barely could. There had to be a way out of this. My mother couldn't reach Vivian for as long as she stayed here, under this house I had spelled. She could never find her and without her help, she couldn't find the other two—Grayson and I.
"Give me back my phone!" She snapped, her hand reaching me.
I grabbed her wrist before she could reach into her pockets. "You're not going back, to her or the court. Get that through your head."
Her eyes leveled with mine, her emotions shifting within them. She slammed her hand against my chest, nearly pushing me a few steps back. "You promised me you'd fucking protect my mother." She yelled as rage began to consume her.
"And I did," I grabbed her arms. "I sent two men there, at the location, and there was no way any of them could be fought by anyone."
I left her arms and stepped away to think for another minute. My men couldn't have been defeated, not my mother's people. They must've taken her mother before, before I sent them there. Which meant, my mother knew there was something cooking in the air.
Fuck.
"Oh, then why is she being held hostage by your mother's people?" Vivian folded her arms across her chest and asked, her bruised neck tilted.
I caught a glimpse of the punctured marks on her neck, where Callan had fed from earlier. Everything reached my ears. The walls of this house were as thin as they could get.
"I'll go find her," Callan interrupted, putting her arms on her and keeping her calm before she turned all of us manic, and herself. No doubt about that. "Dion and I have worked for Alexandria for years, I know where she keeps her prisoners and we will figure out where your mother is and get her out of there. But, Elijah's right, you cannot leave."
"But what if you can't?" She asked, her voice shifting again and tears appearing in her eyes as she turned to Callan.
"I will. Trust me. I know Vragus far better than anyone else and we'll find her before tomorrow morning." He sounded promising and I had no doubt.
Callan had spent most of his life here, serving my mother and being favored by her. He was one of her favorite handymen until thirty years ago, a few days before I left the city. Ever since then, everything has been different here. I didn't bother to return until now when I found out there was a witch putting a spell on me.
It was a joke at first, nothing more, but when it began to work, I needed to return to find out who it was and why.
I was strong enough to protect myself from any witch's craft, but it took a lot more from me when I tried to protect myself from Vivian's witchcraft. She had some vicious spells up her sleeve, and they worked. Her magic was dark, but it was unheard of. There weren't many witches who had the power and the energy to do dark magic.
Asides from that, it was forbidden.
I was the only known person that rooted in dark magic and used it. Alexandria despised it whenever I did it—she was jealous. But that didn't make me stop. I continued to do so as I wished and there was no one who could stop me.
"Promise?" Vivian asked.
He cupped her face and I rolled my eyes at the same time. "I promise, I'll find her, but don't leave from here. Stay here."
She nodded, "I won't."
Callan glanced in my direction. I sighed, in relief. Anything was better than being killed by my cruel mother's hand. I didn't doubt that she wouldn't kill me if she knew I had been marked. She would gladly do it, without any hesitation.
I stepped aside with him, outside as the night began to darkness the cloudy skies. Vivian remained inside, unable to leave. The spell I put on her and the house was going to force her to stay within the walls until I wanted her to leave.
"Do you think you can find her mother? Or are you simply just trying to convince her that you can?" I asked him, wanting to know about his intentions.
The house was truly in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by woods and dozens of trees that kissed the sky. The nearest shop was a ten-minute drive away, it was a trailer park with barely anyone living there. Beyond the wild, there was a lake and a few hiking spots still unknown to many people.
"I'm sure I can. It wouldn't be too hard. Your mother has sent to capture plenty of men and women in the past. I know where she keeps them," Callan shared while nodding his head in belief. "It is better if we find her mother before Alexandria does anything with her. She has already gone through a lot."
"Through what?" I cocked my brow while crossing my arms. "She deserves what she's getting. You have no clue what kind of spells she has been doing, on you, on me." I reminded him.
Callan gave me a side-eye. "There's a reason to it, Elijah. Have a bit of warmth in your stone heart."
I chuckled at his words. "I'd rather die than take pity on a girl like her. She might have roped you and Dion with her conniving charms, but she cannot even reach near me," I gave my head a shake as my shoulders straightened. "I see the way you're desperate for her. She has you under her spell."
"It's not a spell," He denied. "I feel for her and I rather not have you harm or kill her."
My mouth went shut. Callan feeling for a woman, it was surely something new and unheard of. I had been gone for thirty years and this was what I returned to. What was even in that woman? She was nothing more than just a plain witch with little knowledge about dark magic.
"As you say," I glanced in the direction of the house and found one of the lights inside switched on. "We both know what happened the last time you felt for a woman."
Callan disappeared into thin air, leaving the secluded area and returning to court to find Dion before taking him and finding her mother. I didn't know what Alexandria had been doing in all the years I had been gone. I escaped to find peace from the court and the kingdom, it became too much to bear.
I had to go away.
And now, I had to return.
"Is he gone?" Vivian asked, her cheeks stained with tears.
I nodded, "He's gone." My eyes ran across her. What did he even see?
She continued to wear her ragged clothes from last night. There were wounds on her neck and arms, some I might have helped her get, but she wasn't merciful in scarring me either. Wild witch. I stepped into the house and the door behind me slammed shut.
"He'll find her. Stop worrying like a manic." I neared her and then began to circle around her.
There were two scars running down her face, one from her brow and the other one from her cheek which made me wonder where she had gotten it from. My eyes flickered away from her and I sat down before spreading my arms over the couch. I had nothing to do here except kill time and wait for Callan to return with her mother.
"Why did you kill your father?" I asked, invading the silence she was given.
Her head snapped at me. "What is with you?" She ground her teeth together and asked, her response rabid.
"You don't have to be rude—"
"I don't want to talk with you." She cut me off and walked away.
Without her knowing where to go, I stood up and followed her. It was rather enjoyable to find her angry and losing her mind. She should have never made a settlement with my mother. Everyone knew what it meant.
Her footsteps stomped across the hallway and when she realized I was following her, she stopped in her tracks and turned. "What do you want from me?"
I backed her to the wall and extended an arm over her before flattening my hand against the wall behind. "You should be thankful I haven't killed you yet."
"I'm not scared of you."
"You should be."
"Am not."
I smiled, understanding what they saw in her.
A fight.
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