Page 24 of Magic & Secrets (Twisted Magic #1)

I HAD OFTEN WONDERED what the old Armgard felt when fighting against the Bane Shifters. Were they scared of the large beast men? The answer was no doubt yes. After all, my heart raced as Roque leapt to the second floor and came crashing through the window.

The livid Shifter chased me down the stairs to the pub. He tossed aside chairs and tables to reach where I stood in a corner. His blue eyes flashed silver as he approached. His upper lip broke into a snarl. Roque looked ready to tear me apart.

“Control yourself, Shifter!” I demanded despite fighting laughter at the sight of him prowling toward me.

“I told you to hide,” Roque growled, sounding more beast than man.

“I did, which was why I could only help you from the upstairs window.”

Roque shook his head as his rage turned to frustration. “You know that wasn’t what I meant.”

“Your words felt more like a suggestion,” I replied before adding in a stubborn tone, “I feared for my mate’s safety.”

“No,” Roque insisted and cracked his neck. “Stop with that nonsense.”

“I feel when you’re in pain.”

“I was never in any danger.”

“Why did you take so long to kill the Witch?”

Roque backed away and prowled around the room, muttering to himself. He finally stopped near the table where we shared our dinner.

“I botched the earlier attack with the Sorcerer. Bane Shifters don’t fail. Even when Delta faced the Armgard and our packmates died, he persevered long enough to end the abominations. We always win.”

His words left me trembling. The way he viewed the Armgard stole my hope of him ever accepting me.

“Are you claiming you were toying with the Witch?”

“I was taking my time to ensure I didn’t fail.”

“She made you bleed,” I said, touching my face in the spot where his flesh had been sliced open. Only dried blood was left behind on his cheek now. “I felt your pain.”

“It was gravel.”

“I still felt when it tore open your flesh.”

Roque stared hard at me before looking around. “I should abandon you here. If I began running tonight, I could reach Elatalora by sunrise. Soon, I would be back at Mt. Elysium and you’d become nothing more than a foggy memory.”

“You should do that, but you won’t,” I said and walked to the bar where I poured water into a glass.

“And why is that?”

“Because we’re mates.”

Roque watched me with his arresting blue eyes. They shone like pools of ice. I felt different when his gaze fell upon me, both stronger and weaker.

“If we were mates, I would need to leave my pack. I could never bring you to the mountain. Neither human nor Elf can survive long at Mt. Elysium.”

Inhaling sharply, I muttered, “The world isn’t safe for you.”

Roque smiled in a wholly unappealing way. “You view me as weak.”

“I think the world has forgotten the power of the Bane Shifters. You’ve become no more than spooky stories told around the ingleside.

Why else would that Sorcerer and those Wolf Shifters challenge you?

They knew what you were and still attacked.

The Witch and the Ghouls didn’t even realize what you were. ”

“It doesn’t matter if they remember. I’m still me.”

“You’ve never lived a life where enemies come at you, day and night, without end. You’ve always had your pack. You went out into the world and did your duty before returning to the isolated base. I’m not sure you could survive a world where you were endlessly hunted.”

“Well, then, it’s a good thing we aren’t mates, and I will never have to test your theory.”

His words stung, leaving me filled with a rising melancholy. Yet, I chose to reveal nothing to him. If Roque wanted to distrust me, my tears wouldn’t change his mind.

“I liked it when you smashed their heads together,” I said as I walked to the rifles lined up against the wall.

Roque didn’t react to my words. I pretended to ignore his gaze drilling a hole through me. Instead of revealing my unease, I stripped the rifles of their ammunition.

“If I’m ever forced to kill you,” Roque said with utter sincerity, “I’ll make your death as quick and painless as possible.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder and smirked. “I can’t promise you the same courtesy. You’re very large, and I will no doubt need to get very messy to end you.”

Roque’s face warmed with a smile. “Amuse me with your battle plans, young warrior. How exactly would you destroy me?”

My smile fell away. “I would remove your head. It’s the only way to ensure you can’t regenerate and kill me.”

“Ah, but who is to say I can’t simply regrow my head?”

Laughing at his teasing, I shrugged. “There’s only one way to find out.”

“Would you keep my head as a trophy?”

My smile faded as I thought of our time together ending. “No, I’d keep it as a reminder of the beautiful creature I was forced to end.”

“I’m beautiful, huh? Is that why you think we’re mates? You’re impressed by my muscles,” he said and flexed his biceps while moving around the room like a peafowl displaying its feathers to impress a mate.

“You do have a lot of them.”

“And I never work out. It’s all scientifically engineered.”

“Uh-huh,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “You were built in a lab like one of the Murade’s androids.”

“Something like that,” Roque said, wearing a slight smile. “Did you vex your instructors? I can’t imagine Tirso would approve of your inability to follow instructions.”

“You aren’t my master, Roque.”

“Ah, but you think I’m your mate. That should mean you’ll obey me.”

Knowing he was baiting me, I smiled softly. “If you were my mate, I would obey you. Since you’ve insisted we aren’t mates, I will do whatever I choose.”

Roque grunted. “You’ll get yourself killed.”

“Then, you’ll no longer be forced to endure my presence.”

His expression turned dour. “This day has dragged on for too long.”

Peering through the spyhole in the boarded window, I noticed the bodies of the dead Ghouls, Witch, and beast were missing.

“Bones and all,” I mumbled, thinking of the surviving Ghouls. “Do you think they’ll come back?”

“No. But if they do, I will be awake. Bane Shifters don’t need to slumber.”

“We can take shifts.”

“No.”

“I don’t need to slumber much. I simply enjoy it since I like dreaming.”

“Why?”

Shrugging, I couldn’t explain without disclosing my connection to Solme Divige. “We can take turns.”

“No.”

“You’ll go first, and I’ll go second,” I said, inspecting the downstairs doors and windows before taking the still-armed rifle and extra ammunition. “We’ll slumber for one hour each.”

“That’s ridiculous,” he said, trailing me upstairs.

“Fine, we’ll slumber for thirty minutes each.”

Roque grunted when he realized I was teasing him. “I will remain awake.”

The upstairs contained two bedrooms. I chose the one without the gaping hole where Roque burst through. He followed me inside and took a spot at the barricaded window.

I set the rifle next to the double-sized bed. Unstrapping my weapons, I rested them on the small side table. Soon, my boots, armor, and cloak were neatly piled next to the bed. I slid out of my chain mail and leggings until I stood in nothing more than my undergarments.

Roque growled in response to my state of undress.

Ignoring him, I left the room and moved to a small bathroom located in the hallway.

The water ran cold but clean. I found a rag to wash myself.

My braids were a mess and took a considerable amount of time to remove.

I found leaves and twigs stuck in my hair from when I had fallen hours earlier.

Specks of dried blood dotted my face. My warrior paint in honor of Solme Divige was smudged.

After washing my face, I admired my appearance in the mirror. There was nothing out of sorts about the creature looking back at me.

I was still Calla of the New Armgard, spawn of Solme Divige and sister to Mina and Anya. My bevy remained in the world. I refused to believe my sisters were dead. Rather than assume the worst, I imagined Enya and Mina closing out on their second day with their mates.

Returning to the bedroom, I found Roque sitting on the floor next to the window. The chair was too small for his massive body. This human settlement offered a creature like Roque little comfort.

Roque silently watched me. Even before our gazes met, I sensed his longing. Still fighting our mate bond, he snarled and looked away.

“Perhaps, you could shift into a cute doggy and slumber curled up in the corner?” I suggested while settling into the bed.

“I don’t need to slumber.”

“If you’re tired tomorrow, you could make a mistake and put me at risk.”

“What about my safety?”

“Well, there’s that, too.”

Roque snarled again before catching on to how I was teasing him. Shrugging off my comment, he studied the foggy night through the spyhole.

“I’ll rest later.”

“Wake me if you need to,” I murmured and snuggled up with a blanket on the bed.

Though the Old Armgard rarely rested, the newer generation craved slumber when our minds could wander the world.

Solme Divige didn’t want us to remain locked away by the Gathering.

I sensed her frustration at how we couldn’t explore.

The ancient god saw through our eyes, yet we showed her so little.

I doubted the Gathering recognized the restless nature of the ancient one behind their greatest creation. The beasts from the early days of this planet were treated like mere tools to be exploited to form a better future that the Gathering expected to control.

Solme Divige felt more awake than many of the ancient ones. During the dark times, she was a fearsome creature, worshipped by thousands and fed blood sacrifices. The Gathering was foolish to believe they could comprehend her power or wrath.

As slumber took me, Solme Divige revealed her world before the ancient ones were forced to hide.

The Gathering taught humans were created to worship the ancient ones. What they didn’t share or know was how other monsters lurked in the darkness during those days. Offspring to the ancient ones, they were monstrous and always hungry.

They, too, had dug deep into the darkness when the world warmed. In my dreams, I felt them stirring, evolving, and plotting.

My mind revealed the horrifying creatures lurking near this very house. I smelled their bloodlust.

In my dream, I tried to wake Roque, but he only pushed me away. I began to run, forgetting my weapons. Suddenly, Roque was upon me. He pinned me to the mossy ground and tugged open my shirt. His scent filled me with hope and desire. Nothing could tear him from me.

His hands found my body in heat. I wrapped my arms around his wide shoulders and soaked in the waves of magic pulsing between us.

Just as his lips met mine in the dream, Roque shook me awake in the real world. I stared up at him, frightened by his intense expression. His eyes glowed silver with a mix of hunger and rage.

“Stop it,” Roque snarled and gripped my wrists before me. “You’re driving me mad.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re feeding this insane magic with your fantasies,” Roque insisted and stepped away. “If you can’t control yourself, I’ll throw you into the river to cool off.”

I looked around the room to find the sun kissing the horizon. Roque watched me from the window. His desire rushed off him in waves just like in my dream. Except right now, he seemed more likely to dunk me in cold water than kiss me.

Climbing out of bed, I didn’t waste time discussing what we were feeling. I hurriedly dressed before strapping my weapons onto my body. Soon, Roque and I walked outside.

“We’re traveling this direction,” Roque said and gestured east.

“How can you trust we’re traveling in the right direction?”

As we stepped outside, Roque grabbed my arms and leapt atop the pub. He used the roof as leverage to jump to the top of a higher building nearby. We stood over three stories high with only a ghost town and the dense woods in sight.

“Past the forest,” Roque said and pointed to the east, “is a land of mist. From here, you can make out the tip of what seems like a mountain, but is the Tower of Reason in the heart of Elatalora.”

“That seems like more than a day’s walk.”

“We’ll see.”

Roque wrapped an arm around my waist and jumped down to the ground. For a moment, he looked ready to keep hold of me. I stared into his eyes, memorizing the silver flecks within the blue.

If I survived this mission, Roque would become nothing more than a memory. I never wanted to forget a single moment of our time together.

I already ached with the pain of losing him. This magnificent beast would return to his mountain. How could I survive the rest of my life knowing what I had lost?

My mind snapped out of its melancholy long enough to remind me how danger awaited my arrival in Elatalora. If the wrong Elves greeted us, they were bound to ask many questions. Soon, I would need to flee or face my end.

Rather than ache for Roque, I began plotting an escape. I wanted to wait a bit longer, just to spend more time with Roque. Soon, though, self-preservation would guide me.

The Gathering might have created the New Armgard to fight and die for their cause. But Solme Divige was my true master, and she had bigger plans.