Page 32 of Magic & Secrets (Twisted Magic #1)
ROQUE SEEMED RELIEVED when our mating resulted in far less noise. We still glowed, and the wind swirled around us. The ancient one hidden under Pandorium Forest was far less fussy this time around.
We couldn’t stop tasting and stroking each other. I explored his body, memorizing every curve of muscle and bone. I slid my fingers through every strand of hair. I even counted his eyelashes. Roque was mine to know completely.
Our bodies remained tangled together, lost in desire. Pandorium Forest hid the passing of time. We only felt each other.
Eventually, I dug through my supplies for a meal. We sat on the forest floor and had a picnic. Looking around, I couldn’t imagine how humans felt when they found themselves lost in Pandorium Forest. Their eyes could never adjust to the inky blackness. The experience must have been madness.
I saw perfectly despite the way the darkness moved around us. Roque shone like a lantern, giving me warmth despite the forest’s attempts to distract.
As Roque spoke of his daily routine on the mountain, I felt him accept how he could never return to such a simple life. We were two halves of the same creature now. I couldn’t survive without him. Our mating sealed our fates. If one died, the other was bound to follow.
Within Pandorium Forest, I pretended the world outside the darkness didn’t exist. Time stood still. My sisters felt like memories from another creature’s life. I wasn’t worried about the Gathering or Cult of Ivitithi. I could barely remember the slaughter at Haven Junction. All I saw was Roque.
Different now, my mate was open and generous in a way he formerly concealed from me and even himself.
Roque craved affection and smiled easily.
He owned such a protective nature under his gruff exterior and excessive growling.
When we slumbered, he curled around me to act as armor against potential threats.
Despite how I slumbered wrapped in his affection, my dream instantly sent me spiraling into a cold void.
Unlike within Pandorium Forest, I couldn’t see anything here. Lost in the blinding blackness and falling through the bone-cracking cold for so long, I grew numb.
Suddenly, I was standing in a moist location.
I still couldn’t see, but the scent of moss and mold tickled my nose.
Reaching out for something familiar, my fingers found rock, icy cold yet slimy to the touch.
I traced the outline of the surface upward to discover that the ceiling was no more than six feet high.
I realized I was in a cave somewhere in the Zorata Territory. The Bane Shifters were created and housed in this icy, northern region of Lavinia. Why was I dreaming of this place?
I sniffed the air in both directions. Detecting a foulness in the route moving lower, I took the opposite path. Something nipped at my fingers as I held onto the sides. Tiny creatures slithered along the walls. The rock around me began to glow, allowing me to see.
Sniffing the air again, I detected Enya’s scent.
I heard my sister’s voice echoing against the stone.
Turning toward where I’d come, I saw Enya running.
A leopard was right behind her. At first, I thought the creature was what she fled.
Its scent was familiar. I realized Koda was following her rather than chasing her.
His leopard form allowed him to run through the narrow cave.
Enya charged toward me, wearing an expression filled with fear. I heard her heart racing. The walls of the cave began to tremble, and a deep groan echoed from the route I avoided.
As Enya and Koda ran through me, oblivious to my presence, I felt gripped by the power of the entity in this cave. Something ancient and foul wrapped its magic around me and squeezed tight. As I turned to dust in its grip, the thing howled with rage.
I awoke screaming, certain the vile monster would follow me out of my dream. Roque wrapped me in his powerful arms and prepared to fight whatever I feared. Staring into his eyes, I couldn’t find the words to explain what I saw.
“We need to leave Pandorium Forest and travel to Mt. Elysium,” I said while wrapping my arms around his shoulders and trembling in his embrace. “We’ve lost ourselves in this forest. I suspect Pan-Dissurath is feeding off our power. She’ll keep us here forever if we allow it.”
“What did you dream?”
“Enya and Koda are alive together.”
I knew instantly that Roque wondered about Delta. His gaze took in the forest around us. He understood how we’d gotten lost here, first tricked by the curse of Widow’s Forest and now by the calm of Pandorium. Pan-Dissurath didn’t want us to leave.
“I believe my sisters will travel to the mountain,” I said as I slid out of his arms. “We should attempt to meet them there.”
Roque struggled to see past our mate bond.
His reluctance to leave made sense to me.
Roque wasn’t a solitary creature by choice.
He was never shown affection until I embraced him.
I’d shown him more kindness than anyone in centuries.
Roque trusted me completely. I could not harm him.
His pain burned through me. Why wouldn’t he become addicted to the comfort and safety he found with me?
However, we were both tied to others. Outside Pandorium Forest, our kind were in danger. We had information that could aid them. Our time hiding within Pandorium Forest had come to an end.