Ravioli squawked from his perch causing the little girl to scream and poof from the room. The old womanpointed her gnarled finger at him and snapped, “What’s that?”
“My pet, Ravioli.”
“That’s not your Familiar,” she sneered before poofing away also.
A familiar? What was that! I was now left with even more questions! I huffed and climbed back on the bed, now wide awake as I stared across the room at my bird’s beady eyes. He was always watching me with an intensity I couldn’t fathom.
“A familiar,” I muttered to myself.
“He’s watching you child,” She whispered coldly into my ear once more. I jumped and my eyes flung open, burning from the brightness of the morning bursting through the open windows. Rí’s heavy arm was draped across my waist as I gently pushed it off me and sat up.
Had that all been a dream? Was I now making things up to try and get myself some answers? I pulled at the silk top I wore and frowned. Looking over at Ravioli watching me from his perch I squinted at him, if I really focused, it almost looked as though he also had the smallest of black mist floating around him.
A sleepy yawn from behind me and the toe-curling warmth of Rí’s arm sliding around my waist and pulling me back against his chest had my stomach fluttering.
“Wee on—”
“What’s a familiar?”
Twenty-Five
‘Confusion Of The Mind-Confusio De Ille Mnetis’
…
Darkness called to me, its cold empty arms open and ready to embrace me as I yearned to give in, yearned to release the burn of anger I held in the pit of my stomach. The misty draught of death whispered to me in sinful, silky ways of love. It floated around my seeking soul searching for an opening I kept shut and hidden with the biggest of locks my damaged mind could create.
But all locks erode after time.
I hovered between the scorching heat of Life and the alluring cold of Death. The temptation was constant to give in and join the Darkness in its hunt for revenge and vengeance and release its coiled body of pent-up rage.
It's always there, always with me, assuring me that I was not alone in this anger, not alone in this clouded world of sickness. It slithered across my clammy skin begging for me to answer its desperate call, sneaking in between the cracks that had become more exposed as the years slowly crawled by.
My mind flickered with the different ways of revenge I planned to bring upon my victims like the pages of a book. So many different ways and various weapons to choose from, each one gorier and more gruesome than the other. This however, I would always remember. It would be embedded within my mind and soul forever relaying the turn of events.
A shudder ran through my tense body as the hot lava-like blood flowed to the ground, splashing my clothes like a pretty little accessory I planned to wear with pride.The smell of its coppery iron tang mixed with the humid air, created a stifling smell that caught my breath. My face stretched with a smile as I looked upon my work of art; the splashes of colour spread far and wide and the mangled mess in front of me would be a horror to most. But to me, it was a glorious beginning, a release of creativity and need that had been building for years. Something within me had been let free and it wanted, no, needed more. Tension left my shoulders as a thrill of happiness stretched within me.
The body before me was shrouded in a wet darkness. The voices whispered to me, I ignored them at first, but they became so loud I had no choice but to give in.
Stepping over the spreading puddle of life leaving its owner, I gathered my leaking confused thoughts andshoved them back into its broken box of secrets where even I had no idea what had happened.
Twenty-Six
‘The Pleas Of The Weak-De Placitis Information’
Rí
“A Familiar?” I looked from my stunning Mate to her bird and tried to pull my thoughts from her sleep-mussed hair, kissable lips and enticing body teasing me in those silken pyjamas.
The bird only ever had eyes for Amaya, its black empty eyes always trained on her, watching her every move. I didn’t blame it; she was enrapturing. Her bringing up a Familiar was a valid point. Some powerful witches were lucky enough to gain a Familiar to help guide and comfort them during a difficult time of their lives. Amaya had been through so much it wasn’t surprising to me that a Familiarwould seek her out.
I said as much to her and she hummed, thinking over what I said. I found she did that a lot; she liked to process whatever was said to her, not giving a reply instantly like most. She tended to keep her thoughts to herself, though I had noticed her expression was less closed off around me.
The first time I had seen her smile, my stomach had flipped, and my dragon had roared his glee at our Mate. Pleasing her was all we ever wanted; we would live our long life making sure she smiled. She deserved the world and more- I knew it was going to take more than me to make her see that, to make her see that she was utterly perfect and was more than her abuse and pain. I knew it was going to take more than me as a Mate for her to see the love she could have, which is why I didn’t bat an eye at Ziel coming back to the castle with us. He had as much right to be by her side as I did; he was just going to be a difficult one to tackle. He was almost as closed off and withdrawn as her.
She needed my love, my devotion and my touch just as much as she needed Ziel and his dark view of the world. I saw the Darkness in her when she ripped the tongue from Fergus’s mouth. My dragon had chuffed with laughter and my chest had swelled with pride. My Mate wasn’t one to sit idly by and take the words of the Council. She was so strong. She just needed to see it herself.
And Cole?
