Chapter 24 #2
“There is a legend that is passed down from generation to generation. That when the time is right, the savior of our family will gain Mila and Isla’s powers combined. It won’t work. It’s nothing except lies,” Aunt Pat explained.
“And how would you know when it’s the right time?”
“Doesn’t exactly say. Just said we would know.
The vagueness should have been the clue.
Your mother decided it was the right time when you were born a boy since we tended to usually have girls in our family.
Plus, you have an unusually high amount of magic within you.
Of course, she tried to suppress it and tell you that you were nothing more than a weak man, but you’re not.
Your circle is complete now that you’re with Max. ”
Mother took a menacing step toward her sister. I could see her gathering her magic, and she hurled it toward Pat, who was able to counter it, but it did throw her back a few steps, knocking her off her feet. When Mother was about to attack again, I shouted, “No!”
The woman who gave birth to me, the one who helped raise me, sneered, “Kill him, and I’ll spare her.” Her whole being was vile and disgusting.
“No,” I adamantly denied.
Grabbing Virginia’s hand, both women were ready to attack, combining their powers together. Simultaneously, my mother launched her spell toward Max, while Virginia hurled hers at Pat, who was still trying to get to her feet, unprepared for what was coming her way.
“No!” I roared at the top of my lungs. Summoning up all the energy and power within me, I prepared to save the two people who meant anything to me: my aunt and my mate.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion.
Stepping in front of Max to take the blow if I needed to, to save him because the world needed him in it still, I held my arms out in front of me, palms facing my mother and Aunt Virginia.
I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes, and released it with a shout.
My feet moved forward after disintegrating their paltry attempt at magic.
Mine was so much stronger. I could feel it coursing through me.
“You will leave and never return. You will never think of Max again, and you will stop trying to breathe life into a feud, which should have died out long ago in Germany, before either family left the borders.
Mother shook her head back and forth. “No. He is meant to die. You are supposed to kill him! It’s your destiny!”
“Why, Mother? Because you can’t? He is my destiny, but he it is my destiny to love him, stand beside him, and to work together with him to make this world a better place.
Our story isn’t the only one. His family version is different from ours.
The printed fairy tale is different again, but those people lived over a millennia ago.
Are we really going to continue to fight a war that has long been dead and buried?
His family suffered too. Mila did put a curse on him.
Isla did try to kill the princess and stole her children, and not only did she steal them, she threw them in the lake, hoping they would drown.
We cannot dispute that. So, when does the killing end?
There were wrongs on both sides, can you not see that?
It’s time this ended. I’m Max’s mate, Mother.
It’s time for a new beginning and to write a new fairy tale. ”
“No. I don’t accept this. I forbid you from forming a pair with him.”
“It’s done, Mother. You have a choice to make.
You can stand down and leave, pretend we don’t exist any longer or, if you keep trying to kill him, not that you could—I heard what you did on the day I was born—you will be the only one to blame for what happens here.
I love him, and I will protect him at all costs. ”
“I think you ladies need to leave,” Fizz stated, holding a rifle out in front of him, his aim on my mother and aunt. He was wearing camo-colored clothes, and I had the feeling he’d been here since the beginning.
She glared at him. “Liquescimus.” His gun began to melt in his hand, causing Fizz to drop it. His hands were already forming blisters.
“Mother,” I growled.
“You’ve betrayed me. You are no longer my son. I’ll kill you, and then I’ll kill him slowly, draining his life from his body, drinking it like a cocktail,” she hissed venomously.
“Do you feel the same, Virginia?” In response, she attempted to hit me with an arrow of energy. Takes less magic, moves faster, but easier to deflect.
Inhaling a deep breath, I released it slowly and felt Max slide his hand into mine, linking our hands together.
I smiled. Even in this shit situation, I could smile because he was at my side.
“Last chance,” I declared, looking directly at them.
Now, I had to protect Max next to me, Aunt Pat to the right of us about five meters, and Fizz to the left about seven meters away.
Yesterday, I would have been terrified. Hell, an hour ago, I would have tried to escape, but not today, not now.
I could feel the magic and power swirling within me, free from whatever prison in which it had been bound.
Max was the key to it all.
Aunt Pat was right. I had to choose between family and Max, and I chose Max. Somehow, I knew it would come down to this, but I wished it hadn’t.
They closed their eyes, and I called forth my own magic and power, whispering words under my breath.
They pushed their free palms toward the sky, and I could see everything they had collecting there.
The ball was enormous. Please, let me have enough.
They attacked, I countered, allowing my magic to blast out of me, protecting the ones I loved, decimating that which would destroy us.
A bright glow surrounded us, and I grabbed Max, pulling him into my body, holding him close. I couldn’t lose him. We buried our faces in each other’s necks until the blinding light dissipated.
When we could see again, my mother and my aunt were gone, and the only thing that remained were two piles of white ash. I’d killed my own mother, my aunt. Unable to support myself, I fell to my knees, and Max dropped with me.
“If you hadn’t, they were going to kill you,” Aunt Pat consoled me softly.
Tears cascaded down my face, and I could no more stop them than I could stop time.
“In my head, I understand that, but she was still my mother, even as mental as she was. I sound mental, trying to defend her when I didn’t like her and hadn’t for a long time.
Over the last five years or so, she’d changed. ”
“She and Virginia had become so set on revenge and power, it made them crazed. You, my dear boy, remained pure and good. You listened to your heart and thought through things logically instead of accepting everything at face value. If you had been as irredeemable as them, it wouldn’t have mattered that Max is your mate, you would have killed him.
” She kneeled down and grasped my chin to lift my head.
“You did what you had to do. Mourn the loss of your mother, but never feel guilty that it came to this. You protected your mate as would any knight of old, rescuing him from his tower.”
MAX
Holy fuckballs. Did that really just happen? I was here, saw everything, and could still scarcely believe it.
My disbelief or belief had to be pushed to the side for now. We’d deal with that later, or I would. Lorde needed me, and listening to his aunt, I had to agree. He was my knight in shining armor. He saved me from a death sentence, made me believe in love, and accepted me for who and what I am.
Wrapping him in my embrace, I whispered, “I love you, Sir Lorde.”
He clung to me, crying for his loss and because he had to be the one to deliver the killing blow to protect the people he loved. His aunt was right, he shouldn’t feel guilty, but then he wouldn’t be Lorde if he didn’t. He wouldn’t be the man I loved.
As he dealt with his pain, I would be here for him, no matter what.
“Fizz?” I called out, still holding Lorde.
He squatted next to me. “Yeah?”
“The—”
Fizz didn’t let me finish, “I’ve already taken care of it. You worry about your mate, and I’ll deal with the rest.”
Nodding, I mouthed, “Thank you.”
“Why don’t we go inside for a cuppa, and Fizz can do what he needs to do?” Pat offered.
It was weird. I still had the odd feeling from her, but it didn’t make me antsy, and I never had that with Lorde. Was it only because he was my mate?
“You have recognized his magic since the day he was born. It protected you,” Pat said as she passed me to open the front door.
Narrowing my eyes, I asked, “How did you know what I was thinking about?”
“Sometimes, we just know. Your swan is the same, he knew you and Lorde belonged together.”
I grinned. “We do.” I helped Lorde onto the couch and pulled him back into my arms. His sobs had abated, but he wouldn’t release me, and I didn’t want him to. It had to get better from here, right?
“Love you,” he hiccupped.
“Love you, too,” I repeated, relieved to have him with me still, ecstatic to be loved, sad that he was in pain and I couldn’t take it away.
This was the beginning of our happily ever after, and I could only cross my fingers, send positive energy out into the universe, and say a prayer that it got better from here.