Chapter 63

I watched as the bond worked to connect to Heris. I’d known for a while this fight wouldn’t be physical between us. It would be a battle of magic and wills. I just hadn’t found the words to tell my mates.
 
This connection, once formed, wouldn’t be broken until one of us was. Until one of us was dead. This was an all or nothing fight.
 
Vibrations from outside the bubble the connection created was rumbled through the air. I couldn’t hear or feel anything, but I knew it was my mates. They were furious and hurt.
 
“I see you didn’t prepare them. That was silly. It makes you a rather poor mate, not telling them goodbye, or giving them the chance to make peace with it. They’ll never forgive you.” Heris snarled.
 
“They won’t need to.” I hissed back to him.
 
“Oh, my,” he chuckled. “You think you have a chance of making it out of this. Silly pup. But I must admit you are your mother’s daughter. She thought she could protect you and your father. She barely succeeded in you. I finished them off just as I’ll break you.”
 
Heris grinned as the bond fully connected. An expression that made my stomach drop heavily. I pushed my emotions to the side, as Erik had taught me. Process later, act now. Emotions are distracting, don’t be distracted.
 
I stayed still waiting for Heris’ first move. He was more experienced, I wanted to see what he would do. He didn’t wait long.
 
Darkness fell around me. It was cool and wet, like a heavy fog. I felt them before I felt their shadows. Evil was the only word that could describe them. Creatures from nightmares that looked through my body and saw my soul. A soul that wasn’t as dark as theirs, a soul they could scare and feed off from. These creatures were him. They were Heris.
 
Shadows paced around me. It too dark to identify their forms, but the scent of blood fills my nose. It dawns on me then. This is what he used to cut my back that night in the car. These monsters.
 
“Ah I love watching the dots connect in your simple mind.” Heris’s voice is everywhere, yet I can’t see him.
 
My magic pulses thickly through me. It’s begging to be released. It wants to fight.
 
So, I let it. Suddenly, the shadows are gone and bright light as bright as the sun surrounds us. I’m looking at Heris. He growls and looks at me, but it’s like he can’t really see me. I move closer, shortening the bond between us.
 
My steps are silent. My breathing steady. I’m ready.
 
Heris’s eyes widen, but he doesn’t move. He glances around like he’s looking for something he’s not seeing. He’s looking for me.
 
My magic is blinding him.
 
I grin.
 
I send another jerk down the connection, and he moves back. He’s nervous.
 
“Not so arrogant, now, are you?” I hiss at him.
 
His back straightens, trying to put on a convincing appearance. He fails.
 
“What’s wrong? Were you expecting weakness?” I ask, stepping closer to him.
 
He doesn’t answer. I grin. He underestimated me.
 
I underestimated me.
 
Wrapping my magic around him, I watch as he stiffens. I can feel his magic, his chaos pulsing inside him. It wants out, it wants to kill me.
 
I’d caught him off guard before he even had the chance to use it against me. I smiled. He made a fatal mistake.
 
“You made this too easy, Heris. I was looking forward to a fight. But that’s alright. Just means I’ll get to see my mates sooner. I’ll get to witness fall out of your failure sooner. It would never have worked, you know. Chaos can’t lead. It would be, well, chaos.” I grinned and let my magic squeeze around Heris.
 
He groaned but couldn’t fight back. I watched as my magic devoured him. As he ceased to exist.
 
Then the bond broke, his life no longer existing. I collapsed to my knees on the hard cement of the basement floor. Pain radiated through my legs.
 
Frode and Rune rushed to my sides, their hands searching me for injuries. I moved my gaze up to Frode’s. Fury and joy warred on his face.
 
“Lecture me, later. Let’s get the others.” I said, groaning as I pulled myself to my full height.
 
I swayed, but Rune wrapped his arm around me. Concern filled his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
 
“I’m fine. Just tired. Let’s get the others and we’ll leave.” I said nodding to the room.
 
We moved slower than I wanted, but the strain of using my magic like I just had, pressed on me already. Frode got the door and put his hand on the doorknob, waiting for us. I nodded and he opened it.
 
The scent of blood was strong and wafted into the basement. My stomach turned. I dug deeper so I could get there faster.
 
I got to the doorway and froze. Stabilizing myself on the doorframe, I took in my mates. They were in rough shape and my heart shattered even more. Littered with cuts, welts, and bruises and swelling. They were chained to the ceiling, their long bodies barely allowing them to reach the floor.
 
My bond reached out to them as I raced toward them. This position for too long could kill them. Rune moved to help me with the locks, hissing when we realized the chains were soaked in some type of wolfsbane. It took us a few minutes, but soon we were lowering Erik and Sten to the ground.
 
I took them in, my heart aching. Footsteps came in behind us and I saw the healer we’d brought with us stepping inside the room. She would treat them the best she could here so we could move them safely.
 
She hemmed and hawed, but it only took twenty minutes and were loading up the SUV with my mates. We had lowered the backseat, so the back was flat. I crawled in between them and laid there holding their hands as we drove back. Relief flooded over me, and the exhaustion I’d been keeping at bay became overwhelming.
 
“Sleep, little one. You deserve it. We’ll wake you when we’re home.” Frode’s voice filtered through my head, but I was already giving in the sleep that was tugging on me.