SoulBound (Prologue - Chapter 3)

         10/01/2010                    

Soulbound

PROLOGUE

The Council, Romania

1014AD

I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. It was so cold I could see my breath. Fog cloaked the land but you could still see the flashes of violent magic a few miles out from the castle. 124 days this had continued, 124 days of piercing screams, deafening cracks and bodies carried in to the foyer. I watched the Albion Court and Kingdom be ripped to shreds by the violent being of the Vampires. The humans helped...not much of course, what could they do with their feeble armory? But it was help all the same. And we needed that in spades.

My High Priestess, Isobel Spellings looked upon her people with despair, a single tear escaped and she dashed it away quickly. I rubbed her arm.

"Priestess, we must go inside, it is not safe out here."

She nodded and turned, but I grabbed her arm as a young man ran towards the castle, screaming my name. "Priestess?" I asked.

"Go. Go child."

I ran.

My footsteps echoed loudly through the stone halls. My heartbeat was erratic and thumped loudly, I could only think of one reason that my name would be screamed like that. Romeo. Please, Goddess no, I can't...

My breathing became so labored I thought I would faint. I approached the Great Hall and stopped. My chest heaved with every breath, black dots swam in front of my eyes. Adrian was frozen in place, horror in his eyes. He walked slowly over to me and went down to one knee. And presented Romeos helmet.

I screamed and everything went dark.

I woke in my room, hoping it was all a bad dream but if it was a bad dream why do I feel like I've had my heart ripped out? Why would my eyes feel puffy as though I'd been crying while I slept? And if it was a dream why would Romeo's helmet be on my dresser and not on his head where it belonged?

I started to cry again and gasped at the pain in my chest.

I knew what I had to do, I ran upstairs until I came to the door that led to the roof. If I couldn't be with him in life then I'll be with him in death. Certain of my fate I opened the door and walked out on to the roof, I took off my shoes so I could feel the air against my soles when I dropped.

CHAPTER ONE

Workington, West Cumbria

Present Day



Seated at the kitchen table drumming my fingers impatiently, I stared at the phone, waiting for the call I'd been hoping for in over a fortnight, the call my future would depend on, yet again. Two years Onyx, Michael, and I have ran from our kind, the Alius-mundus. A reward to whoever handed me over to Charles, the current leader of The Council (but temporary - as only a woman can lead), my Grandmother's murderer, and of course... my husband. Charles tricked me into marrying him through magic and the spell that bound us gave him half my powers. He then went on to kill Gran and curse my brother, leaving us almost defenseless. So we made like bananas and split, before the shit hit than fan more so than it did. If he captured me, there was no telling what would happen as the last remaining high priestess.

         I glanced at the phone again. Three days had passed since a call from Michael; fear was choking me, clouding my thoughts, What if something happened to him? I would never forgive myself if... No! I would not think like that. I paced the small, quaint kitchen for the fourth time. The yellowing cabinets sparkled where the sun hit, I caught glimpses of my reflection through the glass panels. My face looked paler than usual and my hair was a red, frizzy mess. I looked at the cat clock again on the wall, held my breath, let it out, crossed my arms. The clock's animated eyes ticked right, left, right, left, its tail swung rhythmically below.

         "Will you stop moping around already?" Onyx padded into the kitchen. "Michael will be back soon. But if not, hey, I wouldn't complain."

         I scowled at my brother. "Shut up!" Onyx wasn't Michael's biggest fan. He thought he was weakling and a coward, someone who would sacrifice his own mother to save his own skin.

My brother is a cat. A walking, talking, fluffy black puddy-cat. The curse Charles cast on him. Onyx hunted Charles after what he did to me and for the first time in Onyx's Warrior life, he wasn't fast enough. My brother will stay forever in cat form, but as long as there's breath left in my body I will never stop trying to save him.

         "Well, maybe, I'd feel a little bad about it," Onyx continued, "especially, since it's supposed to be me out there kickin' some goblin butt. Instead, Michael gets to have all the fun. Where's the logic in that!"

         I scraped my chair back and stood up in a huff. "The logic Onyx, is that you are only a foot tall standing on four tiny legs. The only weapons you have are your small teeth and claws."

         Extracting his nails, Onyx inspected them with pride. "They may be small, but they're deadly."

         "Your ego will be the death of you." I told him massaging my temples.

It was 4:50 in the morning, I hadn't been able to sleep properly for two weeks, but today's the day Michael promised that he would be home. I start my first day at college in 3 hours and 50 minutes and I knew that I was going to be perceived as one of those lazy students who only attend college to sleep. To me first impressions are important.

I needed coffee. Lots of it!

I switched on the kettle and prepared my coffee cup while Onyx insisted that I go back to bed for another couple of hours. I told him no. "I'm awake now, if I go back to sleep, I'll never get up."

Onyx rolled his eyes. "Well at least make me one whilst your there."

"Isn't caffeine bad for cats?" I asked innocently.

"Yes! and make it a double."

The ringing phone startled me and I almost scolded my hand, I roughly placed the kettle back onto its holder and ran to the phone hitting the speaker button.

         "Hey babe," The voice on the phone greeted me. Onyx made an over-dramatic gagging noise at the back of his throat.

"Michael! Where the hell have you been?" I asked ignoring my brother.

"I've been saving the world, baby. That's kinda what I do now."

I cupped my hand around Onyx's mouth when he began making smarmy comments about my boyfriend and how he couldn't even save a football goal.

In the meantime, I caught an hour kip, the fatigue and stress of the last few days taking its toll. Michel woke me up minutes before my alarm clock with his sweet kisses and let's just say, I only just made it out of the house on schedule.

* * *

I drove down the winding roads of Workington, West Cumbria. The small town of Grayson Green was beautiful, greenery everywhere you looked and the scent of wild flowers bombarded your senses. We moved to this little neighbourhood just a month ago, long enough to see how friendly the people are here. Everybody knows everybody and are acutely aware when someone new moves into the neighborhood - even if you move into the detached house at the end of the road. On our arrival, we received enough apple crumbles and fruit baskets to last a year. Unfortunately, the fruit went soggy and the apple crumbles had taken over the freezer.

The sun was making its way to the north point of the sky, an hour to go until midday. The days seemed shorter here than Piccadilly, London. I missed London. I missed the hustle and bustle of the crowds. But I mostly missed my friends.

Pulling onto the college grounds, I attempted to acquire a space in the tight knitted car park, but a black Toyota Prius beat me to it. I cussed under my breath and found another spot a few cars down. I switched off the engine and lolled back in the seat, closing my eyes. Stomach clenching, I took a few deep breaths. I didn't understand why I was so nervous but butterflies were attacking my stomach so much it was making me sick. It wasn't the first time I'd gone to college. A year and half ago, I attended a Manchester college, unfortunately, it was cut short when one of the Fey spotted me and attacked our home. We left that night before news got back to the Wicca Council, and inevitably, Charles.

Before getting out of the car, I gave myself a once over in the mirror.

"You can do this," I told my reflection. My blood red hair was pulled into a high ponytail; a couple of loose curls tickling the back of my neck. Sweeping some black mascara over my eyelashes to enhance my blue eyes, I muttered, "It's just college, no biggie. You know, third time's a charm." Michael had insisted that he should come to college with me, but I refused, I didn't need someone to hold my hand. Once I'd convinced myself that no one was going to jump out of a bush and kill me, I topped up my lip-glossed mouth, took a deep shaky breath and stepped out of the car.

I dodged around the moving cars as I made my way to the college entrance. There were huddles of students everywhere, some even sunbathing on the newly mowed grass topping up on their sun kissed tans that only a sunbed could give. I regretted wearing my denim shorts and showing off my white legs.

Six girls was blocking the entrance to the reception, I was hoping they were going to move, so I wouldn't have to ask them. I didn't do well with confrontation, and I've encountered these types of girls many times. They were wearing track suit bottoms and t-shirts, silver chains around their necks and faces plastered with make-up. The hard expressions on their faces dared people to ask them to move.

Before I approached them, a petite, blonde girl beat me to it. I could tell that she was timid from the way she held herself. As I got closer, I could hear her quiet voice, "Excuse me, could I please get passed?" The girls didn't seem to acknowledge she was there, but as soon as a gap opened, the blonde went for it.

I watched closely as I intended to follow suit. Everything was going smoothly until one of the rowdy girls was playfully pushed by a friend and knocked the blonde to the floor. I hoped my first impression was wrong and they'd apologies and help her up, but I knew what was coming.

Don't interfere, Sapphire.

But, what if they hurt her?

"Watch it, bitch." One of them shrieked.

Do not get involved. Do not get involved.

But I could hardly just stand and watch! I screamed internally.

The blonde collected her things off the floor and dumped them back into her bag. "You fell into me." She said as she straightened up. I didn't expect the outburst, they didn't either.

I took a step closer and hesitated. I can't make a scene. I can't be noticed.

But I can't let her defend herself alone. You know this is morally wrong!

"What?" One of them glowered, a brunette with long, poker straight hair. "What did you just say, freak?"

Just use a little bit of magic maybe fling her back in the opposite direction to the Blonde. It'll distract them...

The blonde stepped back surprised when the brunette moved into her personal space.

If this situation happened in the Council I knew I would be straight over there breaking it up, maybe even punishing the bullies for their disrespectful behavior. But, here, I couldn't risk getting the slightest bit angry and accidently revealing magic. Charles stole Glamour and Empathy powers from me but I still had Time Freeze and Telekinesis. Freezing time would not make things any better as someone could walk out the doors and notice human statues. I could move something with telekinesis to distract them but Glamour would have been perfect for this situation.

Thankfully, the taunting stopped when a middle aged woman appeared in the doorway ordering the group of girls to come inside. I ran over to help Blondie pick up the rest of her stuff from the floor.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She took the things out of my hands and called the girls a bunch of names that a mother would go running to get the soap for.

"My name's Sapphire."

"Lily. Sorry about that, I've been putting up with them bitches for too long. All because I hit Chelsea with a hockey stick about forever ago in P.E, which was clearly an accident. Why do people feel the need to ruin other people's lives?"

"I ask myself that same question every day."

CHAPTER TWO

The office was warm and stuffy, pictures of the college through the ages hung on the wall. The Banshees had disappeared which was a relief. Lily said she had to get to class and thanked me for helping her. I just wished I could have done more.

A slight woman sat at her desk, glasses balanced delicately on the tip of her nose. She was discussing something with another student so I took a seat and twisted a lock of hair around my finger while waiting. The student ended the conversation with a smile and turned to leave.

When are eyes met I failed to hold in a gasp. The emotions that hit me in that moment was so strong it hurt. Fear, sadness, remorse, anger, lust and love. Love so strong I could barely breathe. And it vanished so quickly I wondered if I'd imagined it. What the hell was that!

He was six foot with a lean, muscly frame, his face all angles and sharp edges, messy brown hair crowned his head. The contrast of olive toned skin was stunning against the black t-shirt, fitting snugly around his torso. He cleared his throat and started towards me. He stopped suddenly, and tensed seeming to fight a war inside of himself. The muscles in his strong, square jaw bobbed up and down like he was grinding his teeth. He held my gaze for a moment longer, then gave me a slow, arrogant smile and carried on for the door. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and filed that in to the 'Something to think about later' file in my head, I had enough to concentrate on today.

At the end of my first class, I felt a poke in my back. Turning I recognized the Blonde from this morning. She smiled.

"I was wondering if you wanted to join me for lunch?"

I grinned. "Yeah, sure"

We chose a table in the corner by the window giving us a nice view of the woods beyond. Rain clouds moved over, eclipsing the sun and the room went a little darker.

I tucked in to my dinner enthusiastically, I hadn't had any breakfast and now I was ravishing. Lily popped open a bag of Malteasers and offered me one, I declined. I learned Lily was bubbly and talkative. It was easy to have a discussion with her - she did all the talking. She was telling me about a boy, her derogative words not matching her affectionate tone. Telling me how he can sometimes be oblivious and clueless. When she stopped talking, she turned, her eyes scanning the room. I guessed she was checking to see if the boy had come in.

"I don't understand, you know? Why does he feel the need to be in the 'It' crowd. We've been friends since we were born, and..." She trailed off and sighed.

"Why don't you just tell him?" I smirked.

"Tell him, what?"

"That you like him." I stated it matter-of-factly.

She spluttered and tried several times to argue, but we both knew it was true. "Is it that obvious?" She finally asked.

"To me, but only because I've seen this movie so many times."

"So how does it usually end?"

"With him confessing his undying love for you." I grinned. "I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn."

She smiled. "No, I like it. I need that. Someone who will tell me how it is. I think you and me are going to best friends."

I attempted to smile back, but I'm not sure how it really looked.

* * *

I was daydreaming about this morning in the office, when a boy clicked his fingers in front of my face.

"Hello, excuse me." I blinked and looked over. "Could you pass me a book?" Snappy asked.

He was casually leaning over a small table smiling with full white teeth. I couldn't decide if his short, spiky hair was blonde or brown. I realized I was staring so I flicked my eyes to the stack of text books dumped on my desk. I quickly passed one over to him, put one to the side for myself and passed the rest to Lily.

"Thanks." Lily smiled. "Wow, that's a pretty tattoo. What is it?" Her eyes caught the dark blue outline on my wrist.

"Oh, um, it's nothing. It doesn't really mean anything." I said, pulling down my sleeve. That was a lie. It wasn't a tattoo, it was a birthmark. It also wasn't just 'nothing'. It was a very important mark that represented the Triple Goddess.

I gazed down at the birthmark made up of three Moons that covered the inside of my right wrist. The Waxing Moon represents the Maiden, the Full Moon represents the Mother and the Waning Moon represents the Crone. It's a sign of whom I'm supposed to be, a mark of power, of rightness, that I belonged to the Wicca council and not just belong to it, I was suppose lead it. Attempting to distract myself from responsibility and doom and gloom, I flipped open the book.

AS Level Psychology

By Michael Eysenck

This is going to be long day, I thought, regretfully turning to chapter one.



The spiky haired boy stood beside my desk when the lesson had ended. "I'm Jay Macintosh."

"Sapphire."

"Oh, I know, everyone knows about the red head who moved in on Wishes Wharf," He grinned.i

"Hey, Jay, she's my friend, go get your own."

I instinctively knew this was the boy Lily was in to but if I didn't the dreamy look in her eyes would have given it away.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know we were calling dibs."

I stood, grabbing my bag from the back of my chair. I walked down the corridor with Jay on one side and Lily on the other.

"So, has Lily talked your head off yet?" Jay asked playfully thumping Lily in the arm.

I laughed. "No, but there's time yet." I grinned.

"Haha, guys."

"So, is there a Mr Sapphire?" Jay asked. Lily's smiled faltered.

"Yes," I giggled. "But wait till I tell him his new name, he might change his mind."

I elbowed Lily, playfully. She smiled but it was obviously forced.

"See you tomorrow?" I asked. She nodded and pulled me in to an unsuspected hug.

Jay gave me a fist bump after I dodged his hug. He found it funny but I didn't want to upset Lily more.

"Okay, see you tomorrow then."

"Bye." I lingered, watching as they turned around and made their way to class. Lily and Jay seemed like such nice people and wondered if they'd still treat me the same if they knew what I was. My thoughts were interrupted when the guy from the office shoved past me, nearly knocking me on my backside.

"Hey, what the hell!"

Silver eyes turned on me and his lips pulled up in that arrogant smile before heading into the classroom. I growled something unintelligible and followed suit. I'd been standing around so long all the seats had been taken. I glanced to where Silver Eyes was sitting and next to him, the only empty seat. Great. Just wonderful. Jaw set, I slowly began to walk over, being careful not to make eye contact with him. I dropped my bag on the floor and sat down with a huff. The first thing I noticed when I sat down was the smell, his scent, he smelled like old spice, peppermint and something I didn't recognize, it smelled amazing. His eyes were on my face, I could feel it. A bad itch that needed to be scratched. My resolve snapped and I turned to face him.

"What?" He mouthed with a mischievous grin.

I opened my mouth to say something, but I wasn't sure what to say. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes (it was easier to be mad that way) and answered through gritted teeth. "Would you, please. Stop staring. At me."

I took another breath but kept my eyes closed. A moment of silence stretched between us... then, in my ear. "No."

The feelings that I felt this morning came rushing over me again, so strongly I clutched my chest and gasped for air. Visions of the man beside me filled my mind. His face at every angle, the way he looks when he's sad, angry, worried, excited, flirtatious burned in to my brain. My heart felt like it knew him, had always known him. And just like this morning they disappeared just as quickly as it started, leaving me feeling empty and bereft. What the hell was going on!

I chanced a look at the guy next to me. He was looking at me, his face full of concern.

I fixed my eyes on the wacky looking gentleman who had just walked in, refusing to acknowledge these feelings inside of me. He wore a brown patchwork blazer, black trousers, burgundy shirt and a well-designed tie. He strode confidently into the center of the room easily getting the class' full attention.

He spoke enthusiastically. "I hope you're all having a good first day. Firstly, I want to get to know my new students, so we're all going to take turns standing at the front and telling the rest of the class a little about yourself."

A chorus of moans rumbled through the room, many of the students looked as petrified as I felt.

"I know, I know," he said pretending to sound sympathetic. "I'll do the honors of going first."

After the tutor informed us that his name was Timothy Chew, he'd been working at the college for over ten years, and his favorite animal is a penguin, he began to pick out students for their five minutes of fame. Thankful that Timothy had started with the opposite side of the class, students being picked out row by row, made me and Silver Eyes dead last. I obsessed over what I was going to say. Obviously, I could not tell the truth.          

'My name is Sapphire spellings and I'm a Lamia, that's a Witch for those of you who don't know the term. I'm a member of the Wicca Council, a place hidden from humans in London. I'm on the run from my husband - by magic- who is trying to kill me because I have complete control and power over the Council. Power that I don't want.

'I live with my boyfriend, he's a Lamia too and my brother's a cat! My husband - by magic- put a curse on my brother that kept him in the form of a cat, oh, and he also took my most valuable powers and killed the person I loved most in the world.

         'Any questions?'

Yeah, I'm sure I wouldn't be escorted out in white jacket.

         "Excuse me? Sapphire, is it?" Timothy said pointing at me. "You're next."

         Hushed whispers flew around the room; "That's the new girl! The one from London" "I heard she moved here with her brother, but no one's ever seen him." "I heard she's under police protection, had to change her identity and everything." "I heard she was on the run from the police."

Even though they were light years from the truth, my blood still froze like ice when they said 'on the run'. I was afraid of this, drawing attention when I was supposed to be keeping a low profile. How did news spread so fast around here?

I took my time walking to the front. I took a deep breath never taking my eyes away from the wooden floor.

"Hey," I started. I received a couple of 'hey' replies and giggles. "My name is Sapphire Spellings. I'm eighteen years old and I live with my brother. I work at a bar. I'm not sure if you know it? Fusion...?"

The class was quiet, so quiet in fact; you could hear birds singing outside.

"Where are you from?" He asked. "I can't help but notice an accent."

I moved my gaze from the floor to Timothy perched on his desk. "I'm from London." I answered. "My parents still live there, I moved here to study and my brother came with me."

That wasn't exactly true, only my dad lived there. My mum was murdered by the Council when I was just eight years old. That's when Onyx and I moved in with Gran. My gaze unwillingly flicked to Silver Eyes. He was slouched in his chair, one arm resting lazily on the back of my seat. Remembering my wave of feelings I had, I dropped my gaze quickly and returned to my seat.

"That's all we have time for today." Timothy announced.

"Interesting." Silver Eyes was staring at me so intently, I shivered.

Before I could ask him what he meant, he stood in one fluid movement and left the room. Goosebumps raised on my arms as I watched him leave. There was definitely something weird going on, I just didn't know if I wanted to find out what it was.

CHAPTER THREE

I couldn't wait to get home, the smell of burning incense always helped me relax after a tense day, and this was definitely one of those days. Our home was a sea of burgundies and purples. A large TV sat in the corner and a beautiful old built-in fire place in the centre. Onyx woke up while I padded around the room. Onyx woke up when he heard the front door close behind me, he stretched, shook out his fur and sat up straight. I collapsed beside him.

"How was college?" He asked through a yawn.

         "Not bad. I met a couple of friends."

"Just be careful who you trust, Sapphire, remember Axel?"

Axel, uh, what a mistake that was. We met him in Liverpool, befriended me whilst I was working in a caf quite the charmer he was to. Made Michael insanely jealous. Only later I found out he wasn't being so nice because he wanted to get in my pants, it was because he was working for Charles. We woke in the middle of the night to find the house on fire and Axel standing outside, watching. We barely made it out alive.

"I still find ash in my fur,"

"I know, I'll be more careful this time, I promise." I said thinking of Silver Eyes. What was that today?

"Onyx, have you...er, nevermind." I pretended to inspect my nails, hoping it looked like it was nothing important.

"No, go on," Onyx urged.

"Where's Michael?" I asked first.

Before Onyx could answer, Michael walked in with a silver Chalice in one hand and a bowl of apple crumble in the other. He wore only a pair of jogging bottoms that loosely hung on his hips; it was enough to drive my insides crazy. Michael had always been incredibly good-looking, like how you would imagine the God Apollo to look; bright golden blonde hair that shimmers in the sunshine. Skin a golden brown that would make any sun-bed addict melt with jealousy. His eyes were the most striking colour of orange. I grinned at him and in a moment that felt like thirty seconds he had me in an embrace, kissing me passionately, unselfconscious that my brother was in the room and could no longer kick his ass for his impertinence. My body filled with tingling heat that only he could provide.

"Okay, okay, put her down. Goddess that is disgusting." Onyx grimaced.

I laughed delightedly. I had missed Michael so much, more than I could bear. Apart from a swift goodbye this morning, I hadn't seen him since he set off scouting the county, that was four weeks ago. Looking for things that go bump in the night, we had to know if anyone or anything had come searching for us.

"Missed you," he breathed against my cheek, the sound of his voice made me shiver.

I smiled wider and pulled him in for another kiss.

         "Hello! I'm still here! And still unable to kick his ass for this!"

When Charles had cursed Onyx into the form of a cat, it also took away his powers. Before the curse, he was over six foot, muscular with jet-black hair and blue eyes. His powers were Mind Reading, Shape Shifting and Cloaking. He could also bend Fire to his will; he loved that power more than anything else.

"Hey, beautiful." Michael greeted me with a kiss. "How was your day?"

"Meh," When I looked at Michael, I felt instantly foolish about today's events with the Silver Eyes. I still didn't understand the feelings I had towards him, maybe it was just a crush. An innocent attraction that means nothing at all, I mean, I bet Michael's constantly eyeing up girls every opportunity he gets, it doesn't mean anything. And to be fair, Silver eyes is really hot.

The thought instantly made me feel guilty. If Michael was there to witness the chemistry between Silver Eyes and me, well, the only chemistry would be Michael's right-for-spite hand pulling the innocent boy's life out of his body.

"I knew I should have gone with you." Michael said pulling me back to his beautiful eyes. "There's something bothering you, tell me about it."

"It's nothing," I shook my head and gave him my best smile. He saw straight through it.

Michael rose his eyebrows as if to say 'I'm not going to stop asking until you tell me.' I remembered something else that had happened today that I could use instead.

"The friend I made today, her name's Lily." Michael looked at me blankly. "I introduced myself to her aftere she was being bullied by a bunch of the girls and they pushed her-"

"Sapphire, you didn't..." Onyx asked eyes wide. I should have known he'd automatically jump to the worst thing I could have done.

"No Onyx, I didn't! But trust me I wanted too." I didn't have to lie about that.

"Saph, I'm glad you met a friend but, if this Lily is a trouble magnet, you might need to stay away from her." Michael said softly.

"I hate to agree," Onyx added, "but we can't risk you going all Carrie on these girls if they have another run-in."

"Guy's I'm not a monster and I'm certainly not Carrie. I have full control of my powers. And my mental state."

         I finally got the boys to agree to let me go to College for a little longer. Talks of power made me eager to get down to business. I ordered the curtains to close and the Book of Shadows to come to me. Both responded with a flick of my wrist.

I scoured through the pages I'd seen a million times retrying spells that I had already cast, hoping that it would be stronger next time. The old book had been passed down generations, mother to daughter, until finally, it was my turn to possess it. You couldn't see the wear of time, it still looked next to new; the leather cover still a shimmering ruby red; the yellowing pages were the only sign of age.

"Found anything?" Onyx asked a few minutes later. My brother was very skeptical of my trying to un-curse him. I often thought that he'd give up on the idea and accepted the body of the cat forever. I was afraid to ask.

I fell onto a random page and quickly read the ingredients. "I'll try this one." I told them. I called for the Athame Dagger and sliced a slither of Onyx's fur, placing it into the silver chalice. I slit a small gash on my hand and let the blood drop into the goblet, dyeing the black fur a dark red.

I repeated the chant. "Rupture the curse, the truth will immerse." Then Onyx and Michael joined in.

After a couple of minutes, I could feel an energy slowly building up around the room, but it was very faint.

A few minutes later the boys cut off from the chant.

"Onyx," Michael said, his tone warning.

"I know." Onyx told him. "Sapphire, you have to stop." My brother told me sternly. I carried on stubbornly. "Sapphire!"

         "What?" I asked breathlessly.

         "You're using too much magic. The Wild hunt could locate you."

         "But I could feel it working. It could have worked!"

         "The spell isn't strong enough, Sapphire. The magic was there but there wasn't enough, it would have taken at least two days straight to hit the mark."

"I could have done it." I argued, tears brimming my eyes.

Michael pitched in this time. "Did you hear what he said? It would have taken days, it is impossible for us to keep it going without breaking for necessities. Food, drink, sleep. And plus the Hunt would have caught you before any of that." He came up close and wiped the tears away, then pulled me into a tight hug.

They were right. The Wild hunt would have caught up with us. The name also known as 'The Bringer of Death', is a group made up of rebellious Witches and Fey. Legend says the beings who died in the Great War between The Council and the Fey, are now bound to serve Death in the hunt to catch wandering souls or worse, deserters like me. I had fled from my responsibility as a ruler, and now I'm a convict. The most frightening question is; if they caught me, what would they do with me? I ground my teeth in frustration. If I don't use what's left of my full power, we'll never break the curse, but if I use my full power, it will cause ripples, and someone in the Alius-mundus would sense us: bounty hunters, the Fey, even the frigging Dead!!! For different reasons of course - most of these don't care about the Council - food for most, a Witches' flesh and blood is supposed to taste like the most incredible candy. We believe it's the magic that pulses through our veins

The vase on the mantel floated above us and smashed with my anger. Our powers were tied to our emotions, can you imagine what it was like growing up? Being a teenager was bad enough without telekinesis and a brother who could manipulate fire, not to mention read your every thought. The sound of the vase shattering brought me to my senses. I sighed.

Michael took my hand in his. "Don't worry, we'll get it right."

"Sorry," I said in a small voice. Onyx curled up in my lap, rubbing his head up and down my arm.

"It's not your fault, Sapphire," Onyx paused. "This is my fault..."

"Don't you dare blame yourself!" I hissed.          

"If I hadn't hesitated-"

"Please, don't Onyx. You know I hate it when you blame yourself. None of us saw it coming." Least of all me, and I should have done, shouldn't I? He was my Consort after all. I could feel tears pricking my eyes again. Taking a deep breath, I tried to hold myself together. "I have to get ready for work."





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         By          Kirsty Gleave and Kylie Stott          Page 8