Page 31 of Magic & Secrets (Twisted Magic #1)

MAGIC NEVER INTERESTED me. I didn’t care about the old stories about ancient gods and their human slaves.

That world wasn’t mine. Humans made me with their technology.

I was no different than a rifle or an airship.

Nothing seemed magical about a Bane Shifter, even if we mimicked the inhuman powers of the common Shifter.

My mate bond didn’t care if I believed or not. The magic engulfed me in a whirlwind of passion and power. Pandorium Forest rattled and roared in response to Calla and me mating.

Pan-Dissurath’s complaints couldn’t compete with Calla’s joyous laughter. She glowed with beauty. Her gaze shone with affection for me. I was all she saw. She smiled brightly and held onto me while the pleasure built.

My hands felt too large while exploring the lines of her lithesome body. Despite our difference in sizes, Calla seemed made especially for me. Her heat wrapped tighter around my erection, making me groan with pleasure. My lips sucked at her delicate throat.

Our bodies moved at a frenzied pace, reaching for the crest of this sublime desire. Calla gasped, and her eyes sprang open. She gripped my shoulders, seeming almost afraid as the heat between us peaked. I roared with pleasure, shocked by the intensity of what Calla and I created together.

The magic around us spun faster, lifting Calla’s hair as she held onto me. Feeling like she might be stolen away, I tightened my embrace.

The pleasure left me breathless. My heart raced. My body trembled as violently as the ground. I held onto Calla and begged for the power to keep her with me always.

Our bodies tumbled onto the mossy floor. My limbs were tangled with Calla’s. The whirlwind fell away, and silence returned to the forest.

“We should do that again,” I murmured while rolling onto my side and draping my arm across Calla’s sweaty body.

Gazing at me in wonder, she replied, “Yes.”

Her fingers traced my lips. I kissed her immediately. My body felt empty without her connected to it. Calla’s hands stroked my chest, making my nerves hum with desire.

Resting on her back, Calla stared up at the dark tree canopy. “My favorite part of the day was when I got to dream about you. I knew you were a threat to me, yet I was so curious about you.”

“I dreamt of you, too,” I admitted now that lying made no more sense. “Not of you as much as through your eyes.”

Calla smiled softly. “Solme Divige said you were my destiny.”

“Is that ancient one the reason why, after all these years, my kind can have mates?”

“I believe Solme Divige has plans for her offspring. She is likely why the Sagesse set my sisters and me on a path to meet you and your packmates.”

“Does destiny mean everything will work out?”

“It means the ancient ones are in play. Solme Divige wants my kind to succeed, but I’m unsure how much she can control the outcome. Or if her version of success will be something pleasant to live through.”

“Weren’t the ancient ones vicious? How can they want anything good?”

“I can’t imagine what she intends,” Calla admitted and stroked my throat. “Do you now believe your kind was created using magic from Vyanlpoth?”

“Does it matter if I believe?”

“The magic made to create you offers power others in this world don’t possess.”

“I don’t understand how magic works,” I admitted, looking around. “The ancient one living under Pandorium uses its magic to twist living things. It created the Elves, Ghouls, and other magic folk. How is that any different than what happened with us?”

Calla rolled to her side and faced me. I hated for her bare flesh to touch the mossy ground. Up on my feet in an instant, I located her cloak as a blanket. Calla smiled at me as if my simple gesture was the most generous act.

Setting back next to her, I kissed her softly and relaxed in her comfort.

Calla spoke in a tender, patient voice. “Pandorium Forest twists humans more passively. I wasn’t a normal baby left in the domain of an ancient one and changed like the Faeries.

The Gathering invoked Solme Divige during my creation.

They offered the ancient one blood sacrifices to appease her.

I am a product of Solme Divige’s direct magic, not simply a human contaminated by magic until I began a new creature. ”

“Tell me again what ancient god you think made me.”

“Vyanlpoth was known for different forms. He was apparently a cruel trickster with an insatiable bloodlust.”

“How would the Murade create something of magic?”

“Using a magic man or coven. The Murade’s choice to embrace magic makes sense. Their technology is limited. Look at how they only seized control of Mt. Elysium by ruining it for generations. Rather than rely on their technology to defeat magic folk, they designed their own magical creatures.”

“I don’t feel like magic.”

“No Shifter can do what you do. When normal Shifters mate, they don’t create whirlwinds and make the ground shake.”

Glancing around, I muttered, “I think that was just the ancient one under Pandorium irritated by the noise we were making.”

Calla smiled softly. “You are magic. I knew it as soon as we met.”

“Why didn’t my kind feel this way about the old Armgard?”

“Athorvath is an ancient one worshipped through telluric sacrifices like acorns and flowers. You and I were spawned from creatures who were worshipped through blood sacrifices. Maybe the old Armgard’s lineage was incompatible with yours.”

“They also had those little horns,” I teased, making Calla smile.

“They were easier to control,” Calla said and rested her hands against my chest. “The Gathering viewed the old Armgard as flawed because they weren’t drawn to violence and destruction. They dismissed them as too docile.”

“They were definitely not docile,” I grumbled, recalling the warriors I faced. “They were capable of killing my kind.”

“Because they were ordered to, Roque. The ones who came before me possessed no bloodlust. They only had overseers holding their leashes.”

“I refuse to pity them.”

Calla studied me before nodding. “I don’t expect you to, but understanding what we are matters. Forces exist in this world that understand how we were made. Why should they know us better than we know ourselves?”

“Does it really matter? You aren’t returning to the Citadel.”

“No, I can’t. I’ll be executed.”

A growl left my lips as I imagined Calla in danger. “Why?”

“They’ll worry I can’t be controlled. The Gathering’s greatest fear isn’t the Murade learning of their existence.

They worry their creation will outgrow them,” Calla said and cradled my face.

“And they’re right to worry. The New Armgard doesn’t belong to them.

We are the offspring of Solme Divige, and she is not one to be dismissed once her magic has been consumed. ”

Calla stretched out on her back and stared at the tree canopy again. “Solme Divige wanted us together. I can’t argue with her plans.”

“I’m apprehensive about an ancient beast brandishing control over my life.”

“Solme Divige might not know what will happen. Imagine once roaming powerful and free in this world, only to now hide in the dark and watch lesser creatures live out their lives. We might be mates for no other reason than she needed entertainment.”

Grunting my disapproval, I asked, “Can she see us?”

“I don’t know. She only shows me what she wants me to see.”

Nothing inside me wanted to consider the plans of the ancient beasts.

My only interest was the beautiful creature stretched out next to me.

I rested my hand on her chest, feeling her strong heart beating.

Though my fingers felt too rough to touch Calla’s soft skin, she smiled when they caressed her pale flesh.

“Roque, I believe traveling to Elatalora is a mistake,” Calla said in a tender voice. “We need to go to Mt. Elysium and warn your kind.”

“I’ve lost track of time. Tempe might already be prepared for war. He could have even sent more Bane Shifters into the world to seek vengeance. The loss of Haven Junction tore a hole inside him, and he’s no doubt volatile now.”

“Your kind would be safest on the mountain.”

“No one dares to fight us there,” I said as my fingers traced the pink skin around her nipple. “Tempe will think I’ve gone mad when I bring you with me to the mountain.”

“Do you think your pack will accept my presence?”

“They will have no choice. The world has changed. We need to change with it,” I replied, feeling edgy about Tempe’s potential reaction. “I will build you a house on the mountain.”

“I will help you build it.”

“And every time we mate, the entire mountain will know because of the commotion we make.”

Calla laughed without worry, causing her entire body to tremble with joy. She wrapped both of her hands around mine touching her chest.

“My sisters share the mate bond with Delta and Koda. Meaning, you and I won’t be the only ones making a commotion.”

“Tempe is even more stubborn than I am,” I explained, and she smiled wider. “He will not believe immediately. Convincing Tempe would be easier if Koda and Delta corroborated our story.”

“My sisters are intelligent. Enya is very well schooled. Mina bears the power of dusk and night. They will help your packmates survive whatever perils befall them on their way back to Mt. Elysium.”

“What does the ‘power of dusk and night’ mean?”

“In the time of the ancient gods, there was only eternal darkness. I represent the change from the shadows into the light. Enya represents the brightest time of day when the monsters are most forced to hide. Mina should be only dusk, when the light begins to wane and the shadows crawl back into power. And naturally, there would be a fourth sister, who represents night when darkness reigns. But the Gathering feared spreading the power evenly.”

“That’s why Mina has trouble controlling her power,” I said and added when Calla frowned, “I dreamt of her losing control. You were children, and a Shifter was hunting you.”

“Mina hadn’t meant to hurt him, but he was a cruel instructor. He also broke the rules by holding her down. Males weren’t allowed to put their hands on us like that, but he viewed us as dumb kids.”

“Is he dead?”

“The Gathering claimed his injuries were too severe for him to stay at the Citadel. Mina was punished for losing control,” Calla explained, revealing a flash of her temper.

“They feared us when we were very young. Eventually, they realized we wanted to please them. Once they held the power, their kindness faded. They became colder when several warriors disappeared. I think they feared what they had unleashed into the world.”

“The Murade was no different. I felt their pride in how they created us, yet they also resented our power. Tempe and Bravo were the ones to push back against their programming and demand our freedom. Without such leaders, I suspect I would still live at Operation Overlord.”

Calla’s sympathy warmed the air around us. She stroked my jaw, shoulders, and chest before kissing me softly.

“I can imagine us together with my sisters and your pack at the mountain.”

“Are you sure your sisters will agree to travel to Mt. Elysium?”

“Is there a safer location?”

“No, I suppose not.”

Calla sat up and leapt on top of me. Her hands rested on my chest before she dropped kisses along my ribcage.

“Let’s test if all that earlier noise was simply a result of our first time,” Calla said, sinking her fingers into my chest hair and running her teeth across my nipple. “Unless you’re weary.”

I growled in response to her teasing. Calla threw her head back and laughed. My hands instantly reached for her lovely breasts. I’d never even noticed the female body before. They died in the same way as male bodies did. There was no reason to take notice of their different curves and grooves.

Calla’s body fascinated me. She was perfect from her bright green eyes to her hard pink nipples. For a century, I had only wanted to be free and left in peace. As magic crackled in the air and I filled Calla’s body again, I was more than willing to spend the rest of my life being her slave.