Chapter 20
Part 2
(Magical Circle)
Etienne
For the better part of the evening I sat silently by and watched as my beloved quietly interacted with his grandmother. My heart warmed at the sight of watching Seth connect with his only remaining blood relative. As the day turned into night with the sun settling and the full moon rising, I could feel the energy in the house shifting into something greater.
The rising surges of magic in the atmosphere tickled like little electrical currents across the surface of my skin. Soon it would be time to finally get this show on the road. I stood from my perch behind my desk and I watched Seth's beautiful eyes as he focused on me, and with a slight nod of his head. He let me know he was ready.
While he and his grandmother conversed, I'd turned my thoughts elsewhere and spent the majority of my time mentally surveying the wards I have set around my home and my coven. I'd checked in a time or two with Jacques, Sebastian, and my enforcers protecting our people and its surrounding property. I tried my best to give them the privacy they needed to reconnect without having to let my fated out of my sight. All of my senses and my overwhelmingly need to protect him refused to allow me to leave his side for anything or anyone.
As I approached the bed where Seth and Antoinette were seated she gracefully rose to her feet. She lifted her chin and looked me directly in the eye. For a brief moment, I was completely mesmerized and just like that, she had me at her will. It was a true testament to just how powerful of a warlock she truly was. I couldn't break my gaze away from hers even if I'd wanted to, and I knew better not to panic. I watched her magic swirl within the depth of her dark eyes and I felt her probing my mind.
My room suddenly disappeared, my mating link to Seth went silent and I almost panicked for a second, but I felt a rush of soothing warmth flowing over my senses. Seth was safe, I was safe, so I dropped my mind shields and opened my thoughts to the powerful witch standing in front of me. Visions of my garden, my coven, and my little love projected through my head. Snippets of time filtered through my consciousness and I steadfastly focused on what I was supposed to be seeing.
I'd forgotten my mother's tales about her best friend, Antoinette wasn't just a warlock. She was a seer as well and she was showing me what she knew about the upcoming events occurring later on tonight. On the outside and to anyone looking at her, she was the picture of serenity and calm. But underneath that façade, I could feel her rage. I was shocked to find out that this precise situation was destined to happen by the fates own design. Moreover, that my love had to have experienced the painful assault he sustained which almost took his life.
My entire body went rigid with the truths being projected into my mind, with the instructions I have to follow later tonight in order for fates design to run its course. I shuddered with the thought of what was revealed to me. What was going to come from the events of the night would bring peace not only to my coven, but to all the paranormal groups represented here tonight. I internally raged about the fact that Morgan wouldn't be punished by hand, and I so deserved the retribution I had planned for that son of a bitch for daring to attempt to murder my mate before I'd even laid my eyes on his perfection.
But with what Antoinette has revealed, Morgan's dark delusions, his overinflated ego have sealed his fate, and his time on this plane have run its course. The arrogant bastard had no idea what was coming his way. He'd thought that by dabbling in the dark forms of magic, he was stronger than the elders, myself, and my mate combined. His life was the price he was going to have to pay to the fates with for blatantly defying them, and only then will all paranormals to live and love in peace. Without the threat of discovery, prejudices, and possible death.
Antoinette released the hold she had over my mind, and I immediately felt the pulsing connection to my mate snapping firmly back into place. I turned my head to look at him and he was quietly sitting where we'd left him. He looked up at me and gave me one of his breathtaking smiles. He was the picture of innocence, and I understood why Antoinette didn't share the outcome of tonight's activities with him. Seth's soul was a pure as light piercing through the darkness. It was bad enough he was going to have to witness the dark, destructive abilities of the very magic that runs through his veins without having to be forewarned about it.
"Come my love, it's time." I said as I held my hand out to help him stand from where he was seated on the end of our bed.
His grandmother stepped forward and placed both her hands on his cheeks. "You both be safe tonight. Trust in each other and let your bond and your hearts guide you, even when you think the impossible." With that being said, she kissed him on his forehead and then she faded out of the room.
Seth stood there for a few seconds and blinked at the spot where Antoinette disappeared from. "I wonder if she'll ever use the door to come and go like a normal person?" He asked and despite the seriousness of our current situation, I couldn't help but to throw my head back and laugh out loud.
"I sincerely doubt that. Just think if you had the ability to be anywhere, and go anywhere you want with just a flick of the wrist or a thought in your mind. Wouldn't you make use of that talent at every given opportunity?" I asked as I gathered his sexy little body against my much larger frame.
"Well, I suppose." He replied before his slender body shivered against mine. "I can feel the energy building in the air. I guess it's time to go out there and get this over with. Is everyone and everything in place?" He asked as he turned his gorgeous face up to look at me.
That's when I felt the block Antoinette placed on my knowledge about the outcome of Morgan's fate by the end of the night. She didn't want Seth picking up on the information through our mating bond. I was dying to warn him about what was going to happen. What he would be witnessing tonight, but he wouldn't understand the events leading up to what was going to ultimately occur out in the gardens of our home later.
The bitter history between Morgan and Antoinette have come to head, needless to say, Seth wasn't the first member of her family line the bastard had tried to do away with. The only difference is whereas Morgan had sent his minions to try to kill Seth, he'd used matters of the heart, the all sacred bond of a mate to betray and try to kill Antoinette years ago, but she'd managed to survive. The hurt and the betrayal had led her into hiding Seth's whereabouts and sent her into seclusion.
With Morgan unquenchable thirst for power, he'd taken something paranormals held to their hearts with the utmost reverence and defiled it, destroying the bonds and the love of your fated. That offence alone was punishable by death. The bastard had always known and was quite jealous of the face that Antoinette was way more powerful than he was, and anyone from her family line would have the strength to defeat him and his unsavory purposes.
Now, Antoinette seemed more determined than ever, that one or the other, or both of them were going to face their end tonight. I surely hoped for all concerned especially my mate, it was going to be Morgan's despicable life that was going to come to an end. Even if I have to break my promise to Antoinette of stepping back and letting what's going to happen come to pass, that warlock was still currently breathing his last breath. He just didn't know it yet.
The very air outside buzzed with energy and a life all its own. I could literally feel the supporting magic of my entire coven and that of the elders shrouding my mate and I with protection and encouragement. Very few present, except for the elders knew about the true history between Antoinette and Morgan. Only a select few of the elders knew that they were true mates until Moran evil and greed destroyed their bond. And no one knew of Antoinette's return from herself imposed exile.
When Seth and I reached the clearing, my coven members, Jacques, Sebastian, Remy, and the elders were already in place in the never-ending circle of protection laid down for the specific purpose of the summoning spell we were going to cast. Seth looked up at me with those beautiful trusting eyes and I couldn't help myself as I leaned forward and captured his sweet lips in a brief, but sweet kiss.
"You are my everything, little one. Never forget that. We're going to be just fine." I assured him and I felt ten feet tall when he smiled up at me like I was his reason for living. I was glad, because he was definitely the reason behind my entire existence. "Let's do this." I said as I led him towards the center of the summoning circle.
Words could not describe the feeling that threatens to obliterate everything and everyone around me when Seth's incredible powers melded with my mine. The sight of him with his flawless, pale skin and expressive eyes glowing amber in reflection of my eyes always left me breathless. But tonight, I couldn't afford to get lost in the luxurious warmth surrounding myI felt the heart. I had to focus on the summoning in order to keep my mate and my people safe. I began chanting the ancient spell, calling Morgan forth from wherever he was lurking.
The elders added their voices to mine, I felt Seth magic ebb and flow through my veins as if it were my own. I refused to take my eyes off him as I felt the shift in the atmosphere. There was a shimmering if displaced air in the center of the circle to our left. I murmured the last phrase of the summoning spell and I felt the heat of our combined magic peak like a painful spike to the chest mere seconds before Morgan appeared sputtering and cursing as he looked around in shock at the current vicinity. Our magic eased and ebbed away before I pulled Seth behind me using my body as protective shield before turning to face the enraged warlock.
"Congratulations, I see you and your little witch figured out a summoning spell. Now that you have me here, what are you going to do with me?" Morgan taunted with a sneer on his face.
Morgan would have once been described as being very handsome, but years of practicing dark magic and his evil practices have left the ugly remnants of his actions across the once beautiful face. "It's just as well you brought to your little love nest. It saves me the effort of breaching your wards to kill your pretty little mate." He spat and nothing could have held me back from lifting my hands and sending a surge of energy to knock the smug bastard off his feet. It was fully time for Morgan to finally realize that I was not one to be fucked with.