One room in particular seemed to be compelling her, drawing her towards it like a beacon calling for her attention. As she finally stumbled upon it and looked inside, she didn’t recognize the three males. Cocking her head to one side, Jelissa attempted to ascertain who they were. Something inside her nagged at her, tried to force her to recognize who and what they were. But the only reconciliation that her mind was able to come to terms with was maybe they had been pets of hers. They did seem to be cute and cuddly as they lay haphazardly about.
What she did recognize were the collars around their necks, and she opened her mouth and growled so ferociously it made the hair on the backs of their necks stand on end as her fangs sprang fourth. Faster than any being’s eye could blink, human or other, she went to each one in turn and ripped off the collars, as she had done to her own. Jelissa took a few seconds to stroke each of them before leaving the room as though they truly were pets. She would have stayed to play with them, but the hunger was still in control, and she needed to feed it. The three males were too weak to do anything more than look on as she walked away.
“I don’t give a damn what you have to do. Stop her before she gets out of here!” Seraphina shouted in outrage as her motley crew of minions dropped like useless flies, and one of them had the audacity to come to her empty-handed with no more than excuses.
Bowing her head in subservience, the female Lycan, a bitten werewolf not a born one, tried again in vain to explain the situation to her employer, her southern twang full on as her nerves began to get the better of her. “Ma’am, there isn’t anything we can do to stop her. She is literally ripping everyone apart who dares to touch her. And magick is more than useless against her; it’s downright dangerous.” When she spoke that last, she had a haunted look in her eyes.
“What the Hel are you talking about? That child can’t possibly be a syphon. No two witches in my line can hold the same power at once, unless they’re twins. Except for…” She let that sentence trail off, not willing to reveal that particular secret to anyone, especially a hired minion. One power everyone in her line possessed was the ability to steal another’s life force, but that was something they needed to be taught how to do. The ability to drain someone of their magick was hers alone. Seraphina was dealing with a bunch of idiots. Maybe hiring the outcasts hadn’t been her brightest idea. Then again, who else would dare to go up against the royal family?
“She’s not syphoning anything.” The Lycan’s eyes went as round as saucers. “Whatever magick is thrown at her not only bounces right off her, but back to the user ten-fold. One witch threw a spell meant to back her up, and it came right back at her, pushing her into the wall and crushing every last one of her bones in the process. And one of the pixies? I don’t know what type of dust he tried to sprinkle on her, but it bounced right back to him, and he exploded. Tiny little bits of him went everywhere. There isn’t anything any of us can do. No offense meant, ma’am, but she’s scary as shit.”
Seraphina plopped down in her chair like a sack of potatoes and mumbled to herself, “The bitch is a fucking reflector?” Aghast with the news she’d just heard, she vaguely recognized the female still standing there. “The last witch with the ability to reflect was my mother.” It was a good thing she was sitting down because thoughts and memories of her mother came at her so hard and fast it was a physical blow. A blow that stirred up feelings so strong they threatened to rip the spell that had been wrapped around her cold heart for over nine hundred years. Scrunching up her eyes as though she were in physical pain, Seraphina pinched the bridge of her nose, doing the best she could to reinforce the walls of the spell, before they came tumbling down.
“Ma’am?” The Lycan spoke up a little louder this time. “Ma’am, are you all right?”
Seraphina finally looked up then, her tone ice-cold as she spoke. “I don’t give a flying fuck what you have to do, but make sure she does not get out of this building. Find some human weapons, chain, what the fuck ever. Get out of here and clean up this mess. And tell that useless demon to make it snappy on killing those three males. His task should have been completed by now. Go!”
Once the Lycan scrambled out of the room, Seraphina let go of the scream she had been holding in. It was so loud and shrill it shattered every last one of the remaining monitors. Once more she continued to reinforce the spell around her heart, because without that not only would her plans fall apart, but she might not even survive the repercussions.
Without that spell? Every foul deed she had done to all the people she would have loved had her heart not been turned off for long, wouldn’t be as meaningless as they were when she committed them. And for all those feelings to come at the forefront at once to a heart that hadn’t felt a thing in centuries just might be enough to shatter her.
Jayden was doing his level best to figure out a way out of the compulsion that evil bitch had placed on him to kill Jelissa’s other mates once their collars had been ripped free. It wasn’t that he held so much
