The Council's presence demanded the attention of everyone. There's a nervous tension hanging in the air over the student body.
I look over at Ethan and notice that he has a blank face on, as if he doesn't want the men on the stage to know how he was feeling. However, judging by the grip he has on my hand, I know he is nervous. I give his hand a gentle squeeze back and feel some tension leave him.
"I can tell that you are all curious as to why we are here," says one man on the stage. My eyes return to the council and fall on one man who seems to be the leader, probably the head chairman.
He has platinum blonde hair and a deep tan, though his dark eyes seem to hold something malicious, which ruin the almost angelic appearance he has. Those dark eyes scan over everyone carefully, as if he is looking for something, or someone.
"There have been rumors of a rebellion against the council. Our informant told us that it started at this school, so we are here to find these rebels and end it. Before things get out of hand."
Whispers start up in the room and Ethan turns to me with a confused look. "Have you heard of this rebellion?"
"No," I answer, and frown. "How could something this big have stayed hidden at a school? Especially one that gossips as much as it does."
He shrugs and opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by a loud whistle from on stage. All the talking stops as our attention is brought back to the council. The head chairman is still scanning the crowd, and his expression looks darker than before.
"We know who the leader of the rebellion is. It's someone who is a messenger of the Moon Goddess," he says.
His eyes suddenly stop on me and I hear more whispers start up. Out of the corner of my eyes, I notice everyone turning to look at me, but I can't look away from him. I can feel my connection with the Moon Goddess light up with fear.
She's afraid.
His face morphs into a dark smile and I feel like I can't move. "Ah, there you are."
Ethan shoots to his feet, anger rolling off of him in waves. "She has nothing to do with the rebellion! I've been with her nearly every minute since she has stepped foot onto this campus, and she didn't even know about the supernatural world before coming here! How could she be running a rebellion?"
His dark eyes travel from me to my mate, that creepy smile remaining on his face. "She could've lied. She could've played you all into believing that little story."
"She wouldn't lie to me, I'm her mate!" Ethan roared.
The smile finally dropped off of the man's face. Surprise colored his features. "A mate? That's impossible. I was never told of a mate."
Anger suddenly took over the surprise and I saw his fists clench. My eyes widen as Ethan goes flying to the side, as if pushed by something invisible. I try to run over to him only to have the head chairman appear in from of me, his hand shooting up to grip my face, fingers digging into my cheeks. A cry of pain escapes my lips and my hands rise to his wrist, trying to pry him off.
"You're coming with me," he hisses.
"No the hell I'm not!" I spit, and he gets that creepy smile back on his face.
"Then I guess it's gonna be the hard way," he mumbles. There's a pain in my head and then everything goes dark.
* * *
The next thing I know, I'm laying on the floor of someplace cold. My head is throbbing and feels strangely empty. It's as if I'm missing something, and then I realize that I can't feel the connection to the Moon Goddess anymore.
I sit straight up in a panic and that's when I notice the figure leaning against the wall. My eyes widen and I try to bring my hand to my mouth, only to discover that they are chained to something behind me. But I can't focus on that with a ghost standing in front of me.
"B- Brandon?"
A cruel smile takes over his face. "I'm surprised you remember me, sweet cheeks."
"You're dead! You died! I saw you die!"
He laughed and then walked closer to me, squatting just out of reach. "You can't kill an immortal."
Confusion wrapped my mind in a fog. "Immortal? What do you mean?"
"Well, immortal means I will live forever, that I can't be killed, that I can't die. You understand now?"
I glared at him. "That's not what I was asking and you know it. Either way, you still died! I was in that crash, you were impaled by a branch from the tree we hit! You had no heartbeat! I watched you get buried!"
"And then I woke up and dug myself out. I guess I should reword what I said earlier. I can die, but only until I heal and come back to life. That's what my immortality means."
"So you never bothered to come find me? To tell me that you weren't actually dead?"
He sighed and stood back up. "You still don't get it? I was never interested in you. You were supposed to wake up when I died. That was father's plan. Have someone close to you, someone you loved, die. And then you'd wake up. But that didn't work, and what we can't understand is why."
"Wake up? What do you mean?"
"Your powers! You're the daughter of the Earth God and Moon Goddess! And you were supposed to wake up, to stop hiding in that mortal suit!"
I backed up slightly. "You're crazy."
"No," a new voice said and I snapped my head over to the source. "He's right."
The head of the council stood at the door to this cellar, or wherever I'm at. His golden hair seemed to glow in the dark and his eyes blazed. A smile curved his lips when he saw me press back into the wall upon his arrival.
"What do you plan on doing with me? If I'm supposed to be some powerful being, why hasn't anything happened? I should be able to break out of these chains, right? So why can't I? Where are these powers you think I have?"
Anger washed over him and I was hit by a wall of force, pressed further into the wall. "I don't know, that's what you're here for. I need those powers, and we will get them out of you. You don't even have to be alive for it."
"W- Why.." I managed to choke out against the pressure on me.
"Because your mother, the Moon Goddess, needs to be taken down a peg, and I can't beat her with my current power level. So I'm gonna take yours. And once I've defeated her, I can take her place as the Throned God. The all powerful Sun God! I'll be the most powerful god that ever existed."
With one last cold smile at me, he left. I collapsed on the ground, coughing as the pressure disappeared. I heard the clacking of heels and lifted my head to see a very familiar face leering down at me.
"Now, why am I not surprised you're in on this?" I hissed at her.
Felicity, just flicked her hair over her shoulder and scoffed. "Why wouldn't I be? My mate is about to be the most powerful being in the world."
"Your mate?" My eyes flicked over to Brandon as he smiled and draped an arm around her shoulders. "Wait, if he's your mate, why were you trying so hard for Ethan?"
She laughed and crossed her arms. "He's the Crown Prince of the Elemental Kingdom. I was gonna become his Queen, and then he'd die from an attack, and then my mate would become the new King."
"You're insane!"
My head snapped to the side from a hit that I never saw coming, but based on the angry breaths on my face, it was due to super speed.
"And you're gonna die," Brandon spat at me.
I lifted my head and glared at them both. "I'm gonna get out of here, or Ethan is gonna come for me. And the only dead bodies, will be yours."
"Did you already forget? I can't die," Brandon said haughtily.
I smiled at him maliciously. "I'll find a way."
He scoffed and stood back up grabbing Felicity's hand. "Sure you will. Have fun with your research, we're going. But we'll be back soon."
The second they left, I dropped the act. Fear encased me. I tried to reach out for Ethan over the bond, but it was weak. I'm all alone.
I felt the toll from today's stress. I have no idea how I'm gonna get out of here, and I have a sinking feeling in my gut that Ethan won't be able to track me. With how powerful I've heard and felt the Sun God is, he probably transported me without leaving a scent.
I laid on my side and pulled my knees to my chest. My cheek was throbbing from the hit Brandon gave me, and my entire body was sore from the pressure that the Sun God had used on me. I felt hopeless.
Despite my talk earlier, I have no idea where to even begin in breaking out of here. I know I can't give up, but I had nothing going for me. I didn't have the strength to break the cuffs, and I have no clue where the keys could be.
I looked around and my gaze stopped at something that made my feeling of hopelessness amp up. A key was dangling on a hook across the room, most likely the key to my chains. And there is no way that I could get them. Even if I knew how the water had reacted to me that one time in the fight with Felicity, there was no water in here at all.
I scoffed degectedly. As if I could control that power at all. The only time it responded to me was to protect me from her fire.
My eyes started welling up with tears as I realized, not for the first time, that I really was all alone.