Page 56 of Anywhere

Reaching out, I snatched the hood and yanked it away from her face. Green eyes, the colour of spring grass, greeted me, and I sucked in a gasping breath as we stared at one another.

“Mine,” I whispered as a spark of something that hadn’t been there a moment ago flared inside of me.

There was a flash and a tingling under my hand where I gripped her. Even as my mind continued to reel, my body and power recognized my third. I had a million questions about this connection, but that would have to wait until later.

She snarled at me, and I caught the flash of a blade.

“Petrobile,” I said, and she froze, the blade coming for my face.

“Rhys started out hating me. Why not you too?” I grumbled as I stared at the tip of the sharp knife.

I could feel her trying to fight the spell, but I forced the decorative blade from her grasp and cut the tip of my finger before tucking the knife through the leather of my belt. Swirling my finger in the air, I drew a small ball of power to the surface, then touched her forehead and drew a bloodied symbol that enhanced my power and kept her secure.

“I’m sure this is not how you saw your morning going, but next time, mind your own damn business and let a guy have his fucking smoke,” I said.

I glanced around for my lighter, but I had to concede it was lost forever. Fucking great.

Stepping back from the tree, I picked up the fallen stick. “Leibheis,” I said and smirked at the terrified look on her face. “Looks like this triad thing is going to happen.” Her eyes narrowed at me. “Yeah, I get it. You’re probably not interested in that.” She’d dropped a small pouch, and I picked it up and looked inside to make sure there wasn’t anything dangerous. I only saw some crushed berries. “Sorry about your berries,” I said and dropped them into the pocket of her cloak.

Sorry about your berries? I used to have swag and game. What the fuck?

I took a moment to look my third over. She was covered in dirt and smelled like it, but she was beautiful. Even with the glare that said she wanted to cut my cock off, I couldn’t deny the obvious.

“Listen, I didn’t want to come here, either, and I didn’t want to meet Rhys, but I did, and I’m shocked that I’m kinda happy about it. Hopefully, you’ll feel the same in time. I hope.”

Turning, I walked toward the castle with a floating redhead in my wake. Another thing that I thought was bullshit. My father would say that you needed to go into the forest and hunt down your third. Like, what in the actual fuck? Was it like a fox hunt? Were we supposed to travel around hunting down the right redhead? It seemed ridiculous, and I’d tuned him out.

I was going to have to crack a book one of these days. I could see it coming. Surprises were not my thing, and this place had thrown way too many my way in a short window. It was time I took this shit seriously.

Elewyen

I’d only seen red when I saw the man who had burned down the villages with the babes still alive. He deserved to die, and I didn’t give it thought when I attacked before the flame in his hand could do any more damage.

I blame the irrational emotions on the fact that I spent most of last night in a strange bout of pain that had me doubled over. I’d never experienced anything of the sort before, and if I hadn’t been so far away from my coven, I would’ve sought Azula out for help. One moment, I felt so sad that I burst into uncontrollable tears. The next, I was suffering from an invisible fire clutching my chest. There was a strange need with the pain like I needed to find something. It reminded me of the spirit voices that would call to me but with no words spoken. Between the bouts of pain, I made my way toward the source. There was no telling what I would find, but I needed to know. I needed to make it stop.

I hadn’t been expecting to find this man or for him to be so powerful. My coven wasn’t that strong. I was the strongest by far, and even I didn’t compare to the power wrapped around me, squeezing like a fist. It was so strong that it was making it hard to breathe. I had no idea where he was taking me or why, but it couldn’t be for anything good. Men like him didn’t take you for good reasons. Men never had good intentions. It had been ingrained in me that those with decent souls were a myth. No, men took you to hurt you and to destroy everything they touched.

The path opened to reveal a wide stretch of water, edged with gardens and a small house, but it was the massive stone structure that I could only see the top portion of behind the hill that had my eyes going wide.

No, not that castle! Please, don’t take me in there. I begged inside my mind since my mouth couldn’t move. My mind conjured a wide assortment of tortures, from burning my body to cutting my skin off in long strips to feed the magpies. I didn’t want to die, and Keeva needed me.

Azula called the men from the castles heathens of the worst kind and said that only those who wielded dark power lived inside. They sought to steal our power and fill us with their seed, so we were forced to bare them more red-headed babes. I never understood this. There were too many tossed away in the forest. Why not save them if they wanted red-headed babes? I shouldn’t have been surprised that this was where we were heading, considering he landed in a metal bird and used a car to get around.

“I have to tell you this is not the way I thought we’d end up meeting,” the man said and looked over his shoulder at me. He said it like we planned to meet. What plan? I did not know him. “I also thought it would be a lot more difficult to find you, but I guess this means I don’t have to traipse around the island searching for you. Knowing Rhys, he would make me do something like ride a horse. I would definitely break my neck. Now that I think about it, that probably would’ve been his plan.”

I had no idea what he was rambling on about, and I could barely understand the words he was speaking. His eyes were as blue as the water and just as deadly to drown in.

He looked back and once more referenced finding me quickly. Why was he searching for me? What did I have that he wanted? He didn’t want a red-headed babe, did he? Fear gnawed at the back of my throat.

He continued talking about a triad, but his accent was just too bloody thick to understand him clearly. We rounded a bend that led toward the massive structure, and panic gripped me as surely as his power had. Large men wearing leather and a savage appearance wandered the property. They all stopped to look over as we drew closer. They wore the marks of dark magic on their skin, and their eyes glimmered with the power they held. If I could’ve moved, I would’ve shivered and run for the forest. This was not a good place.

I could feel the death that remained on everything. It blanketed the grass and trees like those who had died here still lingered.

“I’m not sure what the protocol is. So, for now, I’m going to lock you up since you don’t seem thrilled about this or to see me in general. Don’t need you cracking me around again with this.” The man held up my weapon, and I wanted to grab it and beat him over the head with it.

“Liam,” the man called out as we stepped into the castle’s cool shadow and then through the biggest doors I’d ever laid my eyes on.

It was just as stunning on the inside and just as useless. Who needed all these things? What purpose did they serve? What was the shiny thing hanging from the sky by more shiny things? I wanted to run back to my forest and my hut with the rest of my coven.