Page 18 of Magic & Secrets (Twisted Magic #1)

“If anyone has bewitched anyone, it’s you!” I cried and pointed accusingly. “You’re always naked. What happened to your pants from the outpost? No doubt you figured wagging that thing at me would be quite distracting. I blame you!”

“Silly fledgling,” Roque replied. “Where would I keep the pants when I shifted?”

“In a traveling bag. Something with a strap like the Lion Shifters had.”

“Would this magical strap expand with my size? Lion Shifters only have two sizes.”

“Maybe,” I mumbled. Despite his valid point, I refused to treat his anti-mate talk as reasonable. “I guess the traveling bag couldn’t change sizes unless it were magical like you.”

“Science, not magic. You’re distracting me right now,” Roque growled and narrowed his gaze to scan the forest around us. “What are you hiding?”

Turning away, I wished I had kept my suspicions silent. Roque poked me in the back. He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

“Your hurt feelings are ruining your sense of direction. We’re going this way.”

“Why?” I asked, spinning around to him. “What will we find in that direction? You are aware Pandorium Forest shifts, so whatever you knew a hundred years ago wouldn’t be true now.”

“Of course, I’m aware of that fact. My training was no doubt better than yours.

” When I narrowed my eyes at him, Roque responded with a mocking grin.

I wished my heart wouldn’t race at the sight of his smile.

“I hear a river nearby. Humans live close to water. We’ll follow it until we find a settlement. ”

“I’ll go in the opposite direction.”

Roque tsk-tsked at me. “You’re so emotional. Wipe your tears and follow me. We’ll discover together where the others have gone.”

“No.”

“I’ll carry you.”

Crossing my arms, I stared at him. “What if the others are dead?”

“Then, their problems are over. We’re still alive and need to find our way free of this forest. I need to return to my pack and tell Tempe that the attackers are dead.”

“We’ve destroyed their offerings to Ivitithi. The remaining cult members will want to claim new sacrifices.”

“Did you dream that?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know what you dream is real? What if this Ivitithi creature is filling your head with madness?”

Unable to explain my connection to Solme Divige, I only admired his ruggedly handsome face. Studying me, he fell into a deep silence. The magic between us swelled until I could barely remain standing.

Stepping back, I knew what needed to be done. “We shouldn’t travel together. This magic between us has proven to be too distracting. I should go out on my own to protect us both.”

Roque narrowed his eyes. Around us, magic crackled. His gaze focused at the bright green moss sucking at his toes. He growled at the ground. I nearly smiled at how the moss retreated.

Despite my amusement, my heart felt heavy. The corners of my mouth refused to pull up. I couldn’t hide the pain of his rejection.

Were my sisters in the same position with their mates in other parts of the world? How could this be what Solme Divige desired?

“Perhaps, I am wrong,” I said, choosing to toy with Roque. “I could be confusing what is happening.”

“Yes.”

“I fell into your arms and assumed you were the one making me feel strange. It’s possible Koda or Delta are my mate.”

“No,” Roque sneered, storming toward me.

“No, what?”

Roque blinked rapidly, confused by the territorial need bubbling inside his belly. “Not them.”

“You, then?”

“No, not anyone. Stop trying to confound me.”

Despite the urge to touch him, I stepped back. “I believe your presence is distracting me. I need to travel alone.”

“When you can focus on reality rather than whatever is happening in your head, follow me,” Roque said and stormed off in the direction he had originally headed.

Admiring his wide, muscled back as he walked away, I already felt the sting of longing. I tried to tell myself these feelings were simply a magic spell meant to bind Roque and me. Why should we bow to these uncontrollable urges?

While walking in the opposite direction as the Shifter, I accepted how Roque was an anchor around my neck. He had distracted me since we met. Even now, I heard his laughter echoing in my head. I still felt his arms cradling me when he thought I was dead.

Roque felt what I did. If he was strong enough to ignore our connection, why shouldn’t I fight it, too?

I was a warrior, created by the magic of an ancient beast. Becoming so flustered by a male seemed beneath me.

I ought to focus on what I could do to improve my situation and get back to the Citadel.

I assumed my sisters were sensible enough to follow the same plan.

Logically, I needed to leave Roque and concentrate on the mission.

Except magically-bound mates defied the natural world. The link between creatures didn’t work like human relationships. I couldn’t simply choose to stop craving Roque.

I also couldn’t change my species. As much as I wanted to remain close to Roque, this mate bond spelled my doom.

If he learned I was New Armgard, he would destroy me like he had my ancestors.

What kind of guilt and pain would he feel afterward?

Why should I willingly end my life and sentence Roque to misery?

If I walked away, I could return to the Citadel while Roque remained blissfully unaware.

Heading in the opposite direction from the beautiful Shifter, I steeled myself against the magic luring me back to him.

My mind wandered to the past. As a young Armgard, I felt such pride over my first sword and shield.

We were told remarkable stories about the Armgard’s triumphant battles.

Only when we got older did we learn why our kind was forced to hide.

I’d been heartbroken to learn how the word “Armgard” elicited hatred within the Territories.

“Admitting your lineage will beckon a death sentence!” Warlock Gregory had announced to my class.

Recalling those days long ago hurt my heart. I began to worry over Mina and Enya. Was I fooling myself to believe they were alive? I knew Mina’s power outpaced mine. I could easily imagine her traveling back to the Citadel. Was Delta with her?

Once again, I felt as if the New Armgard and Bane Shifters were mere pawns of a powerful entity. Was this Solme Divige playing her tricks? Or did another ancient beast pull at our strings?

Replaying my vision from within the void, I brought the sounds and images before me, making them vivid as if I were back in the great hall with the massacre’s plotters.

I detected the scent of the sea in the air.

The cult was located somewhere near a beach, likely the Isle of Midsomer, where Ivitithi was thought to rest.

I replayed their words many times as I walked through Pandorium Forest. Eventually, I turned off all the surface voices and listened to the hum underneath.

A distinctive chant could be heard below the others.

The language wasn’t of any magic folk taught to me.

These words were older. They belonged to Ivitithi.

Were the ancient ones rising from their slumber? Had they ever truly been asleep? Was the pain and pleasure in the surface world no more than the entertainment of powerful creatures forced to hide in the dark?

Pandorium Forest suffocated me. I felt stripped of my bearings here and wished my sisters were nearby.

I could still sense Roque somewhere, but my mind got lost in the quiet hum of the ancient creature hidden deep under this forest. Like Ivitithi, the beast hidden underground was alive and speaking.

Pandorium Forest’s trees blocked most of the sun, leaving the ground cold and wet. I moved in a straight line, yet felt like I never created any distance from where I started.

Sensing deliberate movement in the woodlands, I paused my trek and looked around.

From behind me, a small male voice called out, “Don’t be sad, little lady.”

I swung around with my blade at the ready. A masked creature lingered near a tree. He was no more than four feet tall and wore rags over his hunched body. His wooden mask was painted with red markings.

Though I couldn’t see others like him, I smelled them hiding in the shadows.

“So pretty,” he said and crept closer. “All alone in this dark forest.”

Holding my sword before me, I asked, “How close is the nearest human settlement?”

“No humans around here. Just our little hovel.”

More of the creatures peeked out of the shadows, hiding behind their masks.

“Humans hunt Meiwia,” I said, counting twelve creatures creeping closer. “That makes humans a threat to you. I don’t believe you aren’t aware of their nearest outpost.”

The lead creature hissed. “What is Meiwia? We are not schooled in your human beliefs.”

“The Meiwia were once human thieves. They stole from the Elven kings who chased them across thousands of miles. Cornered in this forest, the Meiwia hid for years, unable to flee without facing the Elven Empire’s wrath.

Over time, the magic in the forest twisted their human bodies into something new.

To hide their deformed faces, the Meiwia wear wooden masks. ”

“Never heard of them,” the creature said and moved forward. “No humans around here except you, little thing. The pink on your cheeks is like a blooming flower.”

I counted another dozen closing in on my location. Their claws tapped excitedly against their wooden masks as they imagined the flavor of my flesh.

“You’ve been in the forest for too long,” I whispered to the male Meiwia before me. “You’ve lost the ability to sense a predator in your midst.”

“You smell like a doe fresh from its mother’s womb,” he mused. “I wonder if you’ll taste like one, too.”

I swung my sword in three swift motions, moving like the wind. The male Meiwia’s furry mop top fluttered next to his shattered mask. He cried out and hid his face behind his clawed hands. The others froze around me, waiting for a signal.

In the distance, I heard roaring from an enraged beast. The Meiwia pack tensed at the sound yet refused to abandon their prey.

“Either you point me toward the nearest human settlement, or I will cut off the thing just below your now bald scalp,” I warned and retrieved my second sword.

I swung them both in a circular motion at my sides.

“I have enough weapons for your friends. How do you imagine this day ending, little one?”

Despite my blades and the approaching roars, the Meiwia refused to scatter. They crouched low and extended their claws. As they prepared to fight me, I didn’t blame them for their lack of fear. The Armgard were extinct. I looked human enough and would offer a large meal for their pack.

The creatures suddenly froze and looked around startled. The roaring had gone silent, yet a new scent wafted along with the breeze.

To me, it smelled like cinnamon. To these creatures, it smelled like approaching death.