What if none of these tortures were actually real? If Sameen could move, maybe the others could escape their nightmares as well.
Celia placed the baby in the center of the altar. “You will be ours, little one. Now and forever.” Tracing the control sigil over the infant, she sealed the casting by drawing a sharp fingernail along her palm and letting a drop of her blood land on the newborn’s forehead.
No. You can’t have her. She’s Mara’s!
Cade obviously agreed with Sameen, because the wolf growled with such anger, it seemed to fill the room.
The group of practitioners started to chant in Gaelic, and Eli fell over, his arms and legs twitching as he screamed. His back arched, and the tower rumbled underneath them. Sameen couldn’t let them take his earth. He wouldn’t survive. No earth elemental ever lived after losing their element.
A thin stream of dust escaped his lips, swirled around the room, and settled over the baby until the little girl let out a wail. When she stopped to inhale, she absorbed the element, and her tiny body shuddered.
Sameen screamed, even though no sound escaped her paralyzed lips. She could do this.Salvation comes from strength of heart. Strength of heart.
Her love for Peter. She focused on him, on his eyes, on his pained whimpers and yips as he struggled to free himself from the pile of burning rubble.
“I love you. Fight for me. It’s all in our heads. Our worst nightmares. You can escape this. So can I.”
The practitioners turned towards Sameen, and the collective power of their magic hit her square in the chest. All the elemental fragments inside her fought to escape, and the pain…it was like nothing she’d ever experienced. Worse by far than any time the Thirteen had tortured her. Worse than not being able to blink for months or even years. Worse than knowing she was nothing but an object. Worse than losing her freedom a second time.
Air fought its way free first, unseen until it wrapped itself around the baby, lifted her a few inches off the altar, and gently set her back down. Water followed in the form of Sameen’s tears, landing on those pale, chubby cheeks and making the child scream even louder.
Fire crackled over Sameen’s skin, blistering and burning her fingers yet again, and heading straight for the altar. As the last vestige of elemental power left her, Sameen crumpled to the stone floor, her heartbeat slowing, unable to breathe, and knowing that in seconds, she’d die.
Flames spun in a circle over the baby. Mara begged for her child’s life, her voice so weak Sameen could hardly hear her, and Cade howled.
“Not every truth is right…”Paddy rasped, his pale lips coated with blood.
Sameen pulled in half a breath, fearing it might be her last, and stared at her mate.“Protect the baby…”
* * *
Peter
The fire element that bitch had pulled out of his mate was heading right for the Mara’s child. Peter growled, kicking his back legs hard enough to loosen the heaviest beam. It tumbled off the pile and…disappeared?
It’s all in our heads.
Sameen’s words. He’d heard her, but he hadn’t understood. Yes, this was his worst nightmare, but that made it no less real. The pain of his pelt burning, of his broken ribs, his cracked pelvis, the stench of smoke and blood all around him…
Everything the old man had said. Every word over months and months suddenly made sense. Peter scrambled to his feet, the rubble vanishing before his eyes, and jumped with every last bit of energy he could muster. The swirling fire element shot into Mara and Cade’s baby just as Peter closed his jaws around the material swaddling her.
He landed next to Cade, placed the baby against Mara’s side, and grabbed his alpha by the neck.“Move!” he growled at Cade, and shock—if nothing else—got Cade’s legs under him. Regulus broke free from the practitioners’ illusion and flew towards the closest witch, snapping her neck before Peter could even blink.
“Rachel…” Mara’s faint whisper stopped Cade in his tracks. “The blood…”
The alpha wolf gently pawed at his daughter’s forehead, wiping away the drop of Celia’s blood marring her pink skin. With a howling cry, the little girl flailed against the swaddling, her cheeks turning bright crimson. The fine wisps of blond hair covering her head caught fire, and the walls around them started to crumble. Raindrops pelted the group, washing away the blood pooling around Mara, and lending a glow to the water elemental’s skin.
A gust of wind caught Celia off guard, and the witch flew back ten feet. Regulus killed a second practitioner and Cade tackled a third. Peter reached Sameen’s side and pressed his nose to her neck.
Come on, sweetheart. Wake up. Fight.
All four elements battled one another, fiery explosions landing within inches of the practitioners, rocks falling from the ceiling, and blasts of air knocking the last two men wearing black robes onto their asses.
Sameen’s eyes fluttered, and Peter whined. “Please. Look at me.”
“Regulus,” she managed. “Need him…and Paddy. Help me.”
He was useless as his wolf. Regulus couldn’t understand him, and Paddy…the man was dying. Sameen struggled to push up on an elbow, and Peter lay on his belly, reaching for his humanity. The shift shattered his bones, and with the memory of the fire and being trapped under the rubble so fresh in his mind, he almost gave up. But Sameen needed him.
