Page 65 of Beastkin
I collapsed back onto the mattress, my heart hammering in my chest. The rope burned against my skin, a constant reminder of my captivity. I tried to reach for my magic again, but it was like grasping at smoke. The more I tried, the more it slipped away, leaving me empty and hollowed out. My little show of power had been nothing more than a fluke.
Worse than the physical pain was the silence in my mind where Karrick’s presence should have been. I closed my eyes, desperately reaching for our bond, but the magical rope seemed to block that too. All I could feel was a vast emptiness where his warmth should be.
Was he still looking for me? The thought of him searching the campus while I was trapped here made my chest ache with a pain far sharper than anything the rope could inflict. How would heeverfind me?
I heard voices in the hallway, and a moment later the door opened again. My parents stepped in, their faces a mixture of disappointment and determination that made my stomach twist.
“Phoenix,” my mother said, her voice gentle in that way that always preceded her cruelest actions. “We’re so glad to have you home where you belong.”
“This isn’t my home,” I said, forcing myself to meet her gaze. “And I don’t belong here.”
My father stepped forward, his tall frame blocking the light from the doorway. “That beast has poisoned your mind, son. But we’re going to fix everything.”
“His name is Karrick,” I said, my voice growing stronger with anger. “And he hasn’t poisoned anything. He loves me. And I love him. We’remates!”
My mother flinched as if I’d struck her. “You don’t know what you’re saying. It’s unnatural.”
“What’sunnaturalis kidnapping your own son and binding his magic. Or what about stealing his memories and tethering him withblood magic?” I shot back, holding up my bound wrists. “What kind of parents do that?”
“The kind who want to protect their child,” my father said sternly. “We’ve seen what happens when our kind mixes with... them. Nothing good comes of it.”
I laughed bitterly. “You haven’t seen anything. You’ve just been told stories by other bigots who are afraid of what they don’t understand.”
My mother sat beside me on the bed, and I shifted away from her touch. “Phoenix, please try to understand. We only want what’s best for you. A proper life, with a proper witch?—”
“Like Thomas?” I spat. “Is that your idea of what’s best for me? He just told me your little plan to marry me off to him the moment you wipe my mind.” I looked up at my father, fire in my eyes. “So much for your preciousbloodline.”
He didn’t even flinch. “An approved surrogate witch has already been selected. Once the two of you are married, you will have a child that shares your ancestry. That is part of the deal. Youmustproduce an heir. Several if possible. They will be raised in accordance with our beliefs.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Not only was I going to have my mind wiped, but then I would be forced to marry Thomas and forced to have children to carry on the hate my father so desperately clung to.
“You’re sick,” I growled. “The both of you.”
“Phoenix!” my mother baulked. “You don’t mean that!”
“Yes, I do,” I shot back. “And if I never break free of your magic for the rest of my life, I want you to remember this moment.” I looked between the pair of them. “I despise you both with every fiber of my being. I hate what you stand for, who you are, and what you’ve done to me. I am your son, and you treat me like a piece of livestock to be bought, sold, and bred.” I turned my gaze to my father, glaring at him with all my might, magic burning in my belly. Though my hands were bound, I ground my thumbnail into my palm until it drewblood. “And I curse you, for all eternity. Never again will the Emberwood family have another pure-blooded heir.”
My father’s face went white as the words left my mouth, and I felt a strange surge of power despite the rope’s constraints. Somehow, the curse had taken hold, I could feel it settling into the very air around us like a weight. But it was tenuous and weak thanks to my binding. It could still be broken.
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” my father whispered, his voice shaking.
“I know exactly what I’ve done,” I said, meeting his horrified gaze without flinching. “And I meant every word.”
My mother stood abruptly, her hands trembling. “Marcus, we need to perform the memory modification tonight. Before he does any more damage.”
“Yes,” my father said, still staring at me with something that might have been fear. “Call the Purity Front. We need to contain the curse first before we do anything else.”
“There’s nothing to contain,” I said, surprised by how calm my voice sounded. “It’s already done. The Emberwood line dies with me, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”
My mother whirled on me, her composure finally cracking. “You ungrateful little?—”
“Enough!” My father’s voice cracked like a whip. “No more bickering. I need to think.”
Thomas, who had been lurking in the hallway, poked his head in. “Is everything alright? I heard shouting.”
“Everything is fine,” my father said tightly. “Phoenix is just... adjusting to being home.”
I watched Thomas’s face fall as he took in my parents’ expressions. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this. Good. Let him worry about whether his precious deal was falling apart.