Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Phenex
The familiar scent of my world overloaded my senses as soon as my feet hit the ground.
I shifted immediately, the thrum of power in my veins pulsing in time with the beat of my heart.
My claws extended and my wings snapped out, the black feathers glimmering with a silver tint in the sunlight.
While I had plenty of power at my fingertips on Earth, Stella Tella was my home, and the elemental magic in my blood called to this land like a lover.
I had two tasks to accomplish: find Seraphina and fuck her brains out.
Well, three goals, then. The third being that I had to keep Dev’s sweet little soul safe.
He was floating around here somewhere. Delphine didn’t exactly give me all the details of the spell she performed to send us here, but as long as the mate bonds were intact, we could find our girl and make things right.
The jewel in the dagger hummed with a familiar energy. I patted the thing gently. “Oh hi, Dev. Are you cozy? Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.”
The jewel glowed, giving off some kind of irritated vibe.
Yep, definitely Dev. From what I could see of my surroundings, I was in the Uada Forest, north of the Zamina Castle.
If she was still under the control of my brother and the Kings, she’d be in the castle.
I closed my eyes and sensed the mate bonds within that connected me to Seraphina and my new brothers.
They vibrated with life, although dimmer. What exactly that meant, I wasn’t sure.
It was difficult to not feel some jealousy toward them.
Andras, Ty, Levi, and even Dev had connections with Seraphina on a deeper level.
They went through some serious shit to get where they are now, and Sera and I…
well, we needed more time. At least, she did.
I knew instantly she was the one. The one her father spoke of, the one Lailah ordered me to never give up on.
She was meant to be mine. Hells, I had more connections with her family members than any of the others.
And while I could make her scream with pleasure, feel the weight of our bond when our heated bodies writhed in ecstasy, gaining her trust was something I still needed to do.
And I would. If I had to spend every day of our extended lifetimes earning that trust, I promised to do so.
When I turned south, an uneasiness settled in my soul. The mate bond shuttered, as if the threads were being cut. My feet stumbled as pain lanced through my heart.
“Seraphina. No.” I groaned as I felt them being torn away from me. Andras. Ty. Levi. They were gone, ripped from my heart, stealing pieces of it as they went. Dev’s soul glowed within the dagger. Would this disconnect kill him? I had no fucking clue.
My soul was being shattered by the destruction of our bonds. Someone was doing this to her. I roared her name to the skies, begging for the gods to spare her life. Pain flooded my system, and I called to my mate one final time as darkness claimed my soul.
The night sky greeted me as I slowly pried my eyes open. A hollowness settled in my chest where the others should have been. And yet, something remained. The dagger hummed beside me, and I snatched it up.
“Dev! Are you in there?” I whispered to the stone. I couldn’t feel my connection to him like I had before, but there was some minute measure of power still linking us.
The mate bond between Seraphina and I was gone, lost. The hole in my soul ached to the beat of a deadly gong, solemn and unending. Something terrible happened to our girl, to us, and I bet my forked tongue it was my shit brother and those fucking cult leaders.
The forest stirred, and my heightened senses caught the gentle huffs of a jungle cat prowling not far from me.
The wind whispered with the gentle flap of wings, and I turned to the east just as a massive golden eagle dropped out of the sky.
The deadly bird of prey shimmered, and a young male dropped to the forest floor in its place.
He was not much younger than me, with olive skin and auburn hair.
His hazel eyes glowed with power. While he was unfamiliar to me, I didn’t detect any malice.
“Prince Phenex.” The male bowed, and I arched an eyebrow.
“While I do love when cute males bow to me, mind telling me why you’re worshipping at my altar?” I smirked, crossing my arms and waiting.
The male blushed slightly but kept his back straight. “I am Jormund, a member of the Stella Viri. We are loyal to Belfegor’s heir, and her chosen mates.”
A grin stretched across my face, and I stomped over to him. “Nice to meet you then, Jormund. Do you happen to know where my beautiful mate is?”
He nodded. “We retrieved her from the castle, but in order to get her away faster, we had her shift. She, ah, ran from us soon after. Elgo is tracking her, but even as a newly shifted panther, the princess is as clever as her father was.”
I barked a laugh. “Well, can’t say I’m shocked. Point me in the direction she went, and I’ll find her.”
Jormund nodded curtly and shifted back into his golden eagle.
He flew above the trees, and I leapt into the air after him.
He was nearly as large as me in this form.
Truxen daemons could transform into animals that matched their spirit, and the size of them was often twice that of a regular creature.
The daemon was fast, but I was faster. We flew due north, away from the castle and closer to the edge of the forest. The truxens lived beyond Mount Monkara.
Supposedly, the witches that weren’t exterminated by my father built a city near the mountains, hidden from the world.
Bels was always curious about it, but Mor and I never cared to take up our father’s mantle and hunt them down.
Why he had such beef with the witches, I still didn’t know. He refused to give us answers.
Our father refused us most things. Love, affection, a mother.
Her death was a mystery, and it happened when we were all too young to remember her.
King Corson Ormaenus was not an affectionate nor sentimental creature.
There were no photos of our mother, no letters or books of hers.
There were no soft, womanly touches to the castle we were raised in.
Mor and I rebelled against his solitary lifestyle.
Bels went full crazy the other direction, viewing females and partners in general as breeders or weaknesses.
Mor was more reserved with his thoughts, but we both understood each other in a way Bels never could.
He entered his villain era at a young age and never left.
Could someone so vile have a soul? Debatable.
A roar reached my ears from the sky, and I grinned. Fuck. Yes. There was some small connection still fighting for life between my mate and I. And I would do everything in my power to bring her back to me and my brothers.