Chapter 36
MALLYN
T he leaves from the forest trees brush against me as I make my way toward the academy's beast detainment shelter.
Creed's contacts had found out that there were some strange movements made around here a couple of weeks back, and around the time we were kept busy. It might have some connection to our own attacks so he wanted me to check it out. See if I sense anything off.
Why had they even come to our town and our domain? And why bother with the academy?
Who were they? And what were they planning? There were too many unanswered questions.
And Creed was on edge more than usual, especially after Morgan's attack. He thinks the two might be connected. And if it was…Hell hath no fury like my brother. You don’t mess with one of our people and walk away breathing.
I make my way up toward the shelter. I had heard some of the beasts had gotten loose back then, or that some of the students might have released them as a prank. Highly unlikely though, even a low ranked creature would be hard for them to handle around here, unless they were fighting it in a group.
The beast runs along under my skin, a feeling of familiarity as I near the shelter.
It had definitely been tampered with. The containment spells were gone and the shed was still wide open, with no creatures to be seen.
It's cordoned off with restrictive spells, probably from the academy's staff, but I brush past it. I feel a small static prickle against my skin, but there wasn’t much that could hold my beast or its power back.
I head into the shelter and look for anything off or unusual.
The stench instantly hits me. Whatever had been in here was foul. My beast growls beneath me in agreement. But whatever it was, it was well gone.
The space is darkly lit with no magical fuse or electricity of any sort running through it, only the glow of the sun from outside putting any sort of light into the shelter.
I narrow my eyes, my beast's abilities allowing me to see even in the darkest of places and showing me it almost as clear as day.
I look around, and other than a few broken ropes in the centre of the floor, I see nothing unusual.
I pick up the ropes, my beast pushing me forward. I bring them to my nose, hoping to pick up someone's scent, maybe one of the people behind all this but instead am met with a slightly familiar scent. A sweet floral scent instantly tickles my nose and wraps itself around me.
I take another deep inhale wondering if my senses have gone haywire. Why would she have been here? And in these ropes?
Then I notice some dried blood on them…a tremor makes its way through my body as the beast rolls under my skin. A dark growl floods my ears and rings in my head before I shake him off, reminding myself she had been with Ezra and Annex all week.
She was fine.
If she had been hurt or in any danger, they would have said so.
I place the ropes down and leave the shelter, trying to shake the thoughts from my head and the growing growling noises ringing in my ears.
But why would she have even been here? Only the sixth year students were allowed around here for training. But that was definitely her scent…
Another tremor works its way down my body, his voice growing louder inside me. I make it outside, the cold evening breeze hitting me as I take a slow deep breath.
I wouldn’t allow him to take control. I take a deep breath again, pushing him down and to the back of me. There was no threat, not here or to any of my brothers. Or her.
My mind goes back to the shelter, running through the images of the frayed rope and then to Micai.
She was a complete mystery to me. How could something so small be so resilient and fearless?
Others can’t even meet our eyes, but she faced us head on, meeting our gazes and glares with her own. And for some strange reason her presence seemed to calm some part of me.
The beast didn’t roar beneath me and there was no feeling of bloodlust or rage when she was near. He would listen to her, watching attentively behind me, his interest piqued and thirst for carnage calmed. That, in itself, was more terrifying than anything else, for me…and for her.
What did he want with her? What was he planning, and why her ?
I had tried to stay away from her, keeping as much distance as I could. But I found myself slowly edging nearer and before I knew it, my eyes would unconsciously search for her; for her scent, her voice, and those deep blue eyes that would stray my way when she thinks I’m not looking.
But she didn’t know about the monster dwelling inside of me. One that watches her too intently.
I should keep away from her.
She could get hurt because of me. She would be no exception to his carnage or cruelty. Only another innocent casualty.
I had to keep my distance before she found out what I was and before she got hurt.
I know that I should, that I needed to, but the peace her presence gives me…
I hadn’t felt this way in years. Even after my beast has his ‘fun’ and when he's calm and placated, there is no peace or reprieve. I wake up in the forest wondering whose or what blood I’m covered in.
Only riddled with guilt and questions as to what he's done…to what we’ve done now.
But with her, Micai , it all fades away. Her scent, her voice, her smile, they do something to me that nothing and no-one else ever could…
Her soft smiles and gentle laughs make my breath catch in my throat, while my eyes watch and wait for each new expression she gives me. There's this sweet scent and warmth that flows around her and calls to me, pulling me a little closer each day.
I have to stop myself from laughing with her, and hold back the words that want to leave my lips when she's talking to us.
I have to stop my hands from reaching for her, or my fingers from brushing through her silky soft strands as she sits just feet from me.
My fingers twitch by my sides with the thought.
I shake my head. No, it was too dangerous, for her and for me.
As long as he was inside me, she wasn’t safe. No-one was.
But would I be able to push her away…ignore her?
Annex and Ezra were bringing her to the academy's ball tonight, and if I’m completely honest with myself…I wish it was me.
I drag a hand down my face, a slow sigh leaving my lips.
Now wasn’t the time for this. I had to look for any clues or scents that would help Creed find out who or what was messing in our territory.
I open my senses, allowing my beast's power to filter through and help.
I hear animals and smaller prey shuffling through trees and bushes around me, a small brook trickling in the distance, birds flying overhead, but nothing unusual and no people wandering nearby.
I close my eyes and take in the scents around me; the smell of pinewood and oak instantly hitting me, the scent of deer and rabbits and other small prey, and…something else. Something slight and faint tickles my nose, it scratches at my senses and has my beast rolling warily beneath me.
He growls under my skin–his warning–as I push him down. What was there to be wary of?
I open my eyes and move in the direction of the strange scent. It becomes stronger the nearer I get to the brook I heard just moments ago.
I get closer to the scent, until it becomes so strong that I can’t smell anything else around me. It's a sickly sweet scent, one filled with magic and malice.
I look down at the widening brook, but it's not water that's trickling down through it. There's a pure black liquid, one so dark you couldn’t see your reflection in it with just an endless stream of darkness.
It also reeked of magic. The kind you didn’t want to mess with.
I get closer to the brook, trying to get a better look at the black substance, just as my beast begins to howl in my ears. He tries to push me back, fighting for control as his roar rings painfully in my ears.
I push him back down again, a little more shakily as I take out my phone and try to call Creed. He would need to know about this.
Suddenly I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head.
I fall forward, my eyes hazing over from whatever hit I’ve taken from behind…and fall straight into the black flowing liquid.