Blood Tied (24 page)

“And once you’re dead, no one else will. Ever again.”

“I agree,” he said. He clasped his hands behind his back and strolled the length of the hearth. Like an obedient dog, the chains keeping Aiden suspended followed close behind.

Why was he talking to me instead of fighting? What was he waiting for?

“I’m rather unique,” he finally said. “But I won’t be dying any time soon. I can pretty much guarantee that.”

His cockiness stoked my fury. I had to restrain myself from lunging at him and shoving him into the fire, but that was what he wanted. He was goading me into acting rashly. He was counting on my newly found emotions taking over, as they had before, and leading me into whatever trap Ben waited to spring.

I held on tightly to my restraints. I wouldn’t make a move until he revealed his hand.

“Let me tell you a story,” he said. He motioned toward two chairs across the room. One slid over to him, and the other crossed the room to me. He sat down and gestured for me to join him. When I didn’t move, he shrugged. “Suit yourself.

“Did you know that centuries ago the Conclave forced all the fae here?” He waited for me to respond, but I’d already heard all this from Aiden. When I didn’t, he continued, “The fae didn’t want to leave our world. They loved it, but the Conclave insisted. Do you know why?”

“Because they are made of pure magic,” I answered. It wasn’t the whole truth, but I wasn’t going to share what I knew with Ben. It was better to let him talk while I figured out how to save Aiden and get us out of here. “Had they stayed, it would have been impossible to keep our existence a secret.”

He shook his head as if he were disappointed with me. “And here I thought you were the smart one. What you’ve been told is a lie fabricated by nine robed figures with more secrets than you can imagine.”

Aiden had implied the same thing, but what did Ben know about the Conclave’s secrets? More importantly, how could he know
anything
about them? They only associated with the protector covens, and our contact with them was minimal at best.

“They herded the fire fae here for their own selfish reasons,” he said. “None of which had anything to do with keeping magic a secret. Unlike the rest of us, the fae are creatures of pure magic. Their link to the Gate is even stronger than ours, and the Conclave feared that power. The only way to solve their little dilemma was to make the fae depart our world, thereby removing their immediate threat. They will do anything to keep their stranglehold of power, anything at all. That’s why I am here. To release the fae from their imprisonment.” He studied the floor with great sadness and pain. “I know what it’s like to live apart from everything and everyone else. Being kept in a jail of the Conclave’s making.”

I didn’t trust every word that came out of his mouth, but the emotions behind his words told me part of his story was undoubtedly true. He had been the Conclave’s prisoner. That must have been how the Conclave had known who the shadow weaver was, and if they were harboring secrets, it would even explain why they hadn’t told us.

“I know you don’t trust them,” he said. “And you shouldn’t. They aren’t what you think they are.”

“Yes, well, neither are you,” I said. “You pretended to be a friend to my family. You were just using them. And me.”

He jutted out his lower lip, pretending to pout. “Don’t be upset with me,” he said. He leaned back in his chair, shining his crooked smile in my direction. “I may have had ulterior motives, but believe it or not, I wanted you from the first moment I saw you. That’s why I didn’t let that vampyre kill you during Mabon. He wanted to. Very badly. But I saved you.”

I scoffed. “You didn’t save me. Mason did.”

“You can’t really believe that?” he asked with a laugh. “Your brother might be a burgeoning shadow weaver, but he’s not exactly an experienced warlock. He’d just come into his powers, for fuck’s sake! Do you really think someone with virtually no experience with his magic would have been capable of saving you?” He stared at me as if the answer was obvious. “It was me. Not Mason. I ordered the vampyre not to kill you when it had you in its grasp. That’s what gave Mason the time to run in and save the day.”

Was he telling the truth? I recalled the vampyre hesitating for a moment before Mason ran into the backyard. That was what had given me the time to freeze it and for Mason to use his shadow powers and send it packing.

My knees unlocked, and I fell back into the chair.

Ben stood up, slowly traipsing the distance between us. “There was something about you. The defiance in your eyes as you fought. The coldness with which you viewed the world. It reminded me a lot of myself when I was younger.”

“I’m nothing like you,” I mumbled. My eyes threatened to close, but I forced them open. Why was I so tired all of a sudden?

“But you are,” he said, standing only a few feet away. “The way you viewed the world was the way I used to. Because I had no choice. My father demanded restraint. He forced me to control myself, much the same way you had lived your life in emotional shackles. I had no choice but to obey, to be what he wanted me to be. But I rebelled. I finally did what I wanted, and I paid the price for disobedience. My father stood by and watched as I was punished. He could have saved me, but he didn’t. And because of him, I am what I am now.”

“And what are you?” I asked. Only a foot separated Ben and me. He gazed down at where I sat, his brown eyes regarding me with the same overpowering desire I’d seen when we first met.

“I’m everything you could be too.” He cupped my cheek in his hand, and my skin crawled upon contact. “All you have to do is let me in.”

I stood, crossing the remaining space that separated us. “Is it that easy?”

A smile spread wide across his face. “It is,” he said, reaching out to me. “Just take my hand, and neither of us will be lonely ever again.”

I took his hand in mine, and when I did, he let loose a scream so loud, it echoed off the rafters.

BEN’S EYES
grew wide as I poured all the gathered energy I had collected from Otherworld into him. He shuddered and convulsed before falling to his knees.

The idea had struck me when King Oberon incinerated the vampyre with his power. If the purity of fairy magic could kill a vampyre, then chances were good its natural radiance could do the same to someone whose power was darkness.

As if on cue, the shadows that clung about Ben were flung away as I dumped wave after wave of pure fae magic into him.

“What have you done?” he asked, attempting to pull his hand from my grasp. He glowed in a kaleidoscope of colors, as if a rainbow was attempting to force its way out of his skin.

“Giving you power,” I replied before whispering a spell that turned my grip into steel. He wasn’t going to get away from me. “Isn’t that what you’ve been after all along?”

“I’ve been after you,” he said.

His answer unleashed a hurricane of fury. It grew and swirled until I had no choice but to give it release before it shredded me from within. I increased the pressure of my grip and forced the remaining dregs of power into Ben in one concentrated burst. It crashed into him so hard, he flew backward out of my grip. He slammed into the brick fireplace and slid down its side.

“You played me for a fool,” he mumbled. “I thought you were really considering choosing me at last.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked. The winds of my anger howled. “Did you forget I can see the lines of your blood magic?
You
were trying to manipulate
me
! I could see you tugging on the strings, trying to get me to dance to whatever tune you happened to be singing.”

He chuckled and winced at the same time. I’d inflicted some damage. It wasn’t as much as I hoped, but it was a start. “You continue to surprise me,” he muttered. “I won’t underestimate you again.”

“Good,” I said, strolling over to the chains that clung to Aiden. If Ben was weak enough, my magic might break the restraints. I uttered a spell, and the chains shuddered before disappearing. Aiden fell into my arms, and I lowered him to the floor.

Dried blood caked his neck, and his breathing was extremely shallow. His already pallid flesh had grown even whiter. What had Ben done to him? “Aiden, can you hear me?”

His eyes fluttered open. He attempted to move, but he grimaced in pain. “Thad… you have to… get… away.”

I wasn’t going anywhere. “Not without you.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate me, either,” Ben said behind me.

I turned to see Ben standing. He leaned against the fireplace. His brown eyes had gone black. Whatever emotions Ben may have felt for me, whether they were genuine or not, were gone. I’d attempted to kill him, and he was never going to forgive that.

“You can barely stand,” I said. “You’re in no shape to fight.”

“I heal quickly,” he said with a grin. “But until I’m up to snuff, I have others who will fight for me.” He gestured to the shadows, and three figures emerged from the inky shroud.

It was my brothers and Drake. They were alive. I wanted to run to them, throw my arms around them and give them the biggest hugs I’d ever given them in my life, but red ropes of energy clung to them. They were being controlled by Ben’s blood magic.

“It’s time for your family reunion,” he said, turning to my family. “Kill your brother.”

I erected an ice wall as Pierce’s electricity slammed into it. Blue sparks crackled all around me as he and Mason charged. I froze the ground around them, encasing their feet in ice. They cursed and fired volley after volley of electricity and shadow at my rampart. I had only a few minutes at most to get Aiden out of here and find a way to break the spell my brothers were under.

“Aiden, we have to go.”

He waved me off, clutching his neck and stomach. “No,” he said. His voice cracked like a whip, and his green eyes grew emerald hard. “Get out of here. Now!”

A huge arm wrapped around my neck and placed me in a stranglehold. It was Pierce. I kicked and flailed, trying to free myself from his grip, but he was too strong.

“Hold him still,” Mason said. Shadows folded in front of him, weaving into a giant stake. “I want to look him in the eye while I kill him.”

“I want to do it!” Pierce argued. Arcs of energy sizzled off his free hand. “He always thought he was better than me. It’s time I proved him wrong.”

“No,” Drake said with his usual southern accent. He ambled over to us, a sly grin slanting his lips. “Let me do it.”

“Fuck that!” Pierce said. “You’re not even a warlock.”

“That’s right,” Drake replied. “How humiliatin’ would it be to know a human ended his life?”

My brothers laughed.

“Holy shit!” Pierce said. “That’s perfect!”

Mason nodded. The darkness of his power infected his gaze.

As Drake drew closer, he winked at me, and that was when I noticed the red threads of energy hung slack around him. Blood magic had been cast on him, but it wasn’t working. Just like when I’d given him that sleeping potion or when Mrs. Proctor tried to spell him.

He was somehow immune. Gerald Wa had been right. He was exactly the type of weapon we needed.

Drake raised the stake high. “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Pierce replied, but Drake had been talking to me, not my brother.

I had no clue what he was planning on doing, but I had to be ready to act when he did.

He brought the stake down into Pierce’s forearm. My brother hollered in pain, releasing me.

Although it pained me to do it, I froze Pierce solid. He was too powerful not to be taken out of commission.

Mason glared at Drake before lunging at me. “
Desine
,” I uttered, and Mason stopped in his tracks, unable to move one muscle.

“Impossible!” Ben muttered. He didn’t look as ragged as he had earlier. The color had come back into his cheeks, and he was able to stand without leaning against the brick wall for support. “How?”

“Your lame-ass magic don’t work on me,” Drake said. He pulled an athame out of his back pocket. When I saw the blade that had been blessed by my father, I smiled. Drake had had enough time to pull it from the backpack before the vampyren tossed them into the void between the two worlds.

“
Hupakoue moi
,” Ben said, grasping the red bands of energy that draped Drake.

“I will not obey you,” Drake replied. His gift with language astounded me. The ropes of magic Ben tried to pull taut with his Greek incantation slid completely off Drake.

Ben’s eyes grew wide, and he smacked his lips in hunger. “There’s power in you,” he said, inching his way closer. “I couldn’t sense it before, but I can feel it now. I must have it.”

“No, you won’t,” I said. I took a deep breath and exhaled a snowstorm. Wind and ice blinded Ben. He held his arms in front of his face, trying to block out the stinging barrage. Eventually, it became too much. He flew off his feet and crashed into the wall fifteen feet away.

Drake’s blue eyes grew twice their size. “How the hell did you do that?”

I had no clue. “The idea popped into my head, so I did it,” I replied. “Find a way to free my brothers. I’ve got a feeling you’re the only one who can.”

Drake nodded and darted over to Mason while I headed over to where Ben had fallen.

As I approached, he wiped the ice and snow from his face and laughed. “Your powers are growing rather quickly,” he said. “You’ve
got
to tell me how that happened.”

“You want to know?” I asked. “It was meeting Aiden.”

His gaze grew sharp enough to cut me.

I laughed. “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d like that answer. The moment I met him, something inside me changed. My life had been one frozen tundra of indifference. I didn’t care about anything but my magic, my power, myself. But when I met Aiden, I thawed. I began to feel things again, like I used to when my mother was alive. He showed me it was safe to feel. It was okay to experience life and all the good and bad that came with it. And when I gave myself to him, I opened up a door that had frozen shut, and with each new emotion I’ve experienced since then, I’ve been able to do things I’ve never been able to do before.”