Page 12 of Magic & Secrets (Twisted Magic #1)

MINA COULD BARELY CONTAIN her anger until we arrived at our room at the inn.

The door hadn’t even shut before she shoved me against the wall.

I stared into her green eyes and knew what she was about to say.

Her words would hold a ring of truth to them.

Yet, I also knew she was aware something had been amiss since we arrived in this place.

“You want to die,” Mina hissed in the dead language of Solme Divige’s worshippers that was taught to us as younglings.

I considered the inn’s thin walls. The settlement humans were curious about our arrival and purpose here. They would no doubt eavesdrop if given the chance.

The Bane Shifters were also nearby, plotting their next move and likely searching for an answer behind our secrecy.

Despite his distance, I could feel Roque’s heartbeat, steady and strong. He called out to me. My mind swam with his need.

Tonight, I wanted nothing more than to remain at his side. Roque didn’t trust me. I shouldn’t trust him, either. We were natural enemies, whether he knew this fact or not.

“Are you listening to me?” Mina asked before glancing at Enya.

Our sister stared out into the night, radiating loss. “We shouldn’t have been sent here. The Sagesse made a mistake.”

“No,” Mina insisted. “We only need to focus on our mission. I will not be like the other bearers of dusk and night. I will complete my duty and return to the Citadel.”

Solme Divige’s magic nipped at my flesh, as if angered by the thought of abandoning Roque. When the ancient one said Roque was my destiny, I thought she meant he would be the end of me. Now, I longed for him to be something else.

“Magic corrupts my every thought,” I admitted to Mina. “I’m drawn to Roque. I sense he’s drawn to me.”

“It’s a spell. Nothing more,” Mina said in a dismissive tone betrayed by her gaze’s fearful glow. “The Bane Shifters are made from ancient magic. That’s what we’re sensing. When Roque accuses you of bewitching him, he’s simply feeling Solme Divige’s magic.”

“No, it’s more than that. I believe they are our mates,” Enya whispered and gripped the front of her armor in a panic. “What madness would allow for such a thing?”

“It’s a trick by Ivitithi to distract us,” Mina insisted. “The ancient one aided the attackers on Haven Junction. It means to keep its disciples safe.”

“I’ve been dreaming of Roque for many full moons. Not the other Bane Shifters, just him. I only saw his kind after the attack,” I told Mina, who shook her head and backed away. “It was Solme Divige’s voice I heard during my visions. She said Roque was my destiny.”

“He’s meant to kill you.”

“Maybe,” I said and glanced out the window to the woodlands where Roque was likely resting. “Or Solme Divige has bigger plans for us than to be the Gathering’s weapons.”

Enya admitted, “I’ve dreamt of Koda. I saw him at Haven Junction before the attack.”

“Yet you spoke nothing of this?” Mina demanded.

“Solme Divige told me to keep my dreams to myself. How can I disobey an ancient one with the power to dig around in my mind?”

Mina shook her head and backed away until she slammed into the wall. Unsettled, she tightened her hands into fists.

“I want to complete our mission and return to the Citadel.”

Stepping closer, I whispered, “You want to please the Gathering.”

“Don’t you want the same, sister?”

“I want to be more than a weapon,” I admitted freely now with a solid distance between the Citadel and us.

“You don’t care about pleasing the Gathering because you wield the power of dawn.”

“The Gathering has twisted your mind regarding your power,” I said, cradling her jaw in my hands. “You aren’t to blame for why your kind struggles. The Gathering hobbles you. Then, when your kind rebels against their chains, the Gathering blames you. It’s a lie you’ve chosen to accept.”

Mina squeezed her eyes shut, fighting between the Gathering’s training and her instincts. I stroked her forehead and cheeks, reminding her of her value. We were living beings, not simply weapons. The Gathering knew this fact, manipulating us into obedience.

I doubted the Bane Shifters were given such care by their Murade overseers. My heart ached at the thought of Roque never knowing a tender touch.

Despite the orchestrated attention from caretakers at the Citadel, I'd never truly trusted anyone within the Gathering. They weren’t my family. I only trusted my fellow New Armgard. Even among them, I could only display weakness in front of my sisters.

“We are the offspring of Solme Divige,” I told Mina while stroking her face. “She doesn’t care about the Gathering’s plans. She allowed them to use her magic to make us because she has her own goals. Maybe this bond with the Bane Shifters is our true master’s plan.”

Mina held my gaze and whispered in a frightened voice, “I’ve dreamt of Delta. He feels like the one to bring me to my doom.”

“Possibly, we are mere pawns in a game between ancient ones. This entire journey might end with our deaths. But seeking the Gathering’s approval will only lead us to war and death, too. They intend to use us one day. Why shouldn’t we see where this current path guides us?”

“You behave suicidally with the Shifter. Why bring up the Armgard?”

“Why not ask him about them? He has no reason to believe we’re Armgard. Roque thinks I’m a Witch.”

“They were behaving territorially like Shifters do around their mates,” Enya said, still at the window. “They’ll never accept the mate bond, especially if they learn what we are.”

“We waste time worrying over what we can’t possibly know,” I said and began to unstrap my weapons. “Days ago, we could not see this moment. We should be prepared for anything and assume nothing.”

“We can’t be their mates,” Mina said as she removed her heavy chest armor and sighed in relief. “The Murade designed their Shifters without many normal Shifter qualities. They don’t gain increased power from the moon cycles. They can’t breed. How can they have mates?”

“I know what I feel,” Enya said and finally began to discard the Elven armor given to us as part of our disguise.

Mina stared into my eyes, and I heard her unspoken fears.

“We know now the Murade used ancient magic to make the Bane Shifters,” I said softly as I held my sister’s gaze.

Enya nodded. “Like the Gathering, the Murade conjured ancient magic they couldn’t possibly understand, let alone control.”

“We’re shackled to the three Bane Shifters now,” I said and tugged free of my blouse. “Whatever spell holds us to them is beyond our knowledge. We would be best to work within its parameters.”

“Even if you’re right about the mate bond, hunting with them might be a mistake,” Mina said, seeming lost in thought.

“I felt wrong during the battle. Clumsy even. Those Lion Shifters should have proven easy to destroy, yet we struggled. With the mate bond clouding our minds, how can we complete our mission, protect the Bane Shifters, and avoid outing our lineage?”

Drawing a bath, I felt optimistic enough to claim, “We might find ourselves calmer now that we understand this magic between us and them.”

“Yes, but the Bane Shifters won’t believe it,” Mina said, choosing to remain negative. “They might also be distracted by the mate bond. They did take a long time to join the battle today.”

“We’ll protect them,” I said as if the entire situation was simple.

I considered Roque, a creature older than this very settlement around me. He had spent most of his life shackled to the will of his human overseers. Then, he hid away from the world for a century. Roque was innocent in some ways. Now, he was bewitched by an unknown magic.

As I cleaned up after several days on the hunt, I considered the ramifications of Ivitithi’s magic being unleashed upon Roque and his packmates. The Bane Shifters might survive under normal circumstances. Yet, the mate bond apparently distracted them. Would meeting me lead to Roque’s demise?