Merida
I lay on the king sized bed, with one arm wrapped around Mia and the other covering my face. A wave of anger shook me to my core at the thought of the witch's escape, pushing Melody to the surface.
The push stirred Mia, causing Melody to settle back down with me alongside him. It's been like this for two days.
As angry as I am about the witch escaping, I have to make sure I keep my focus on Mia. Looking over to her slow moving body, I keep my thoughts tight, centering my mind on one word. Heal.
The magic courses it's way through my body. From my heart towards the palm of my hand and from there into Mia's head.
I still didn't understand how this newfound power worked but from the moment Dr. Scott stepped back that night, shaking his head as I felt his resolve weaken, I didn't care how it worked. Only that it did. And that it could heal Mia.
And it did heal her, slowly, over the course of two agonizing days.
Growing uneasy, I wrap my other around her torso and pull her into me. I bury my nose into her chestnut brown twists, mesmerized by every small coil of her hair. Breathing in her sweet earthly scent, I will my mother's magic through my body faster, wanting nothing other than to see her awake.
I swear, Mia. I promised. I swear I will make this work.
The dim-lit room glowed as my magic grew inside me, pulsating through every vein. It illuminated around me and wrapped Mia and I in a soft white aura.
Within moments, I felt my mate stir once again as her injury continued to heal in my hand. Relief flooded into me as I continued to focus.
She's going to be okay.
Lulling into a near peaceful sleep, Melody shoots to surface abruptly. Shaking every nerve awake.
Intruder. He warns me.
I shift my body and lift my head, alert, as I glance over to the door but my Father's gentle face eases the tension out of me.
"Dad." I mutter as I place my head back down on the pillow.
"Just wanted to check on you." He says. Stepping into the room, he pulls up the desk chair and calmly takes his place on the side of the bed.
The action rightfully frustrates an overprotective Melody, but I force him to settle. Our Father isn't a threat.
"How is she?" He asks.
"Breathing. She almost healed. I could leave the rest to her and Madness but..." Peter nods in understanding. There's no way in hell Melody will leave her.
"That's good. Stephanie will be happy to know. Kristen as well, once she gets back from her run."
I learned shortly after we got back that whatever I did in the cage didn't only heal the mark on my leg, but Kristen's as well.
A shaky breath escapes me. "Dr. Scott was going to give up." I said quietly. "We all saw it."
Mother completely shattered in that moment. When we got to the hospital, Dr. Scott did everything but Mia wasn't healing nor was the wound sealing up.
My body moved before I even formed a thought. But it didn't matter. The moment I got my hands on her, I poured every ounce of myself into saving her.
The curse that threw Mia to the wall nearly killed her. It would've, if I didn't step in.
Peter looks at the glow in my hand as his eyes grow sullen. "I should've told you."
"What am I?"
He pulled his hands down his face. "Merida, I want you to understand. I didn't think it was true. No, I couldn't make myself believe it. Not after I lost them. But your mother- Natalie was so certain of it."
"The witch said that I'd receive a gift. That I will become a powerful sorceress and Darkness will come for me."
"The prophecy....." He said. "Do you remember what I said about your mother's coven? About the god they worshipped?"
I nodded, not knowing where he was going with this.
"Natalie's coven, The Blue Moon, is a coven hell-bent on power. Still are."
"She told me the coven betrayed Mother."
Sorrow raged within Father once the words left me. But my Father quickly won the battle, nodding. "When we were young, I met your mother by chance while traveling. We bonded almost instantly. To the point where I was suspicious of it at first. But I grew to love her faster than my own reason could pull me away."
"Within a year of mating, we were married and she was pregnant. It was around then that the coven came around." He took a moment to breathe, sorting through the memories he'd buried. "I knew she was a witch. But I didn't know at the time that she was from the coven that worshipped my ancestor."
"Would you have left? If you'd known."
"Never." Sorrow said sharply. "I'd loved her too much to do that." Father continued. "But as a child of Lykos, as a demi-god who's family was hunted for years by them, I should've been more cautious. At the time though, it didn't matter. The coven wanted my child. I thought Natalie would give him to them but once they appeared, she'd told me she defected."
"She abandoned them when she married me and so I decided to run to America to protect them. And that's when she revealed the covens intentions. The prophecy. I didn't think it was true, but the moment you were born, both Natalie and I knew for sure."
"What is it? What's this prophecy?" I pushed.
"Where there is Light comes Darkness. One day, two children will appear. One will be a child of Light and the other will be a child of Darkness. Servants to Lykos. To my Father. Two children, powerful enough to kill a God."
"Is Mia Darkness?" I ask him. The fear of his answer rising in my chest for a moment.
"No." He replied to my relief. "She never was."
"Then..."
"It was your brother. Elijah. It was in his eyes from the moment I first held him. Like the Light was in yours. The moment you were born, Natalie knew the coven was going to come for the both of you. She knew they were going to try to use the both of you. Like they did to my family. To use as puppets for their rituals." Sorrow lurked at the surface, watching.
"The plan was for Natalie to stay with Elijah and I take you. When you were both old enough, we were going to come back. But then they found her. And killed them both."
"But if they wanted Elijah, why would they?"
"I don't know, perhaps they didn't realize. But even so, it wasn't enough for them."
"What do you mean?"
"We searched through the cave and finally stumbled across something interesting. The Blue Moon coven apparently twisted the prophecy and thus their own people."
Like the witch.
"She's one of them. It seems they allowed her to go insane in the hope they might try to find you."
"Will they come for me?" I ask with Melody peering close to the surface.
Father leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees. "They can try. But I promise you, every last one of them will die before touching our pack borders."
It was the last thing Father said to me before he left to inform Stephanie about Mia's recovery.
For a tantalizing hour, the information swam around in my head. All of this. Was just to get to me.
All of Mia's suffering, was based on a twisted prophecy that no longer held any merit. Darkness was dead and my brother as well.
But with the realization of my abilities, it led me to realize why I never felt the pain of our split bond. I was being healed by my own power without even realizing it.
Through the grief that plagued me at the memory of a young brother I'll never meet again, one thing was certain. Mia wasn't Darkness and it was that fact alone that gave me solace.
As though she read my thoughts, Mia's earthly brown eyes opened to meet mine and my entire body stilled. I released a small breath as my power began to retract itself.
"Mia." I said. "How do you feel? Are you in pain?"
Suddenly, she took her hand and brushed her thumb across the side of my face. My skin burst with the tiny electric shocks from her hand, causing Melody to stir internally.
"Mia." I tense, uncertain of what to do.
"Thank you." She says as she slowly removes her hand from my face. "I didn't get the chance to thank you in the cave."
As the shock from her action wore down, I fought the urge to cry as I moved to hug her tightly, wrapping my arms around her like a cage. "I should've never left you!" I cry.
"No, it was my fault. I should've understood. I'm.."
No, she shouldn't have to apologize. Ever. Not after she nearly died because of me and I failed to kill the one who did it.
"Don't say it. You don't need to say it. It's okay." I repeat the last phase quietly as my hand goes to stroke her hair. My fingers move through each group of twists as they gaze her scalp. The action causes her to swoon in my arms.
"I want to fix it." She breathes in my grasp.
I pull back as I try to understand the meaning behind her words. A tear threatens to slip depending on my hope. "What?" I ask, secretly afraid of her response.
"Merida, I want to fix this." She gestures between us, confirming my guess. "Our bond. I want to understand it better. And maybe strengthen it, so it doesn't break so easily next time." A small laugh of joy breaks between us both as the tear falls onto the pillow beneath me.
I nod quickly. "Of course. I want that. I want to teach you everything."
"Okay, Teacher Merida." She laughs.
I laugh with her, holding my mate tightly as I resolve myself never to let go. I place my lips to the top of her forehead and she doesn't push me away.
Laying a gentle kiss there, I utter a promise to myself to never make the same mistake I made four years ago.
I was never going to lose her again.
ns 15.158.61.51da2
