19. Chapter NineteenAaron
Chapter Nineteen
Aaron
T wo days later, we were standing outside of a small house in a tiny community almost an hour’s drive from the city. We were at the conjurer’s home that Lucian told us about. When we called her the morning of my sleepwalking, she seemed unhappy to speak to us but agreed to help for a small fee. Melina mentioned that the town was self-contained and used little updated magic like transporters, holograms, or anything from the human realm. They also didn’t care for outsiders.
The conjurer, who went by the name Madam Yona, lived in a detached two-story house, which also served as a store. It was at the end of a long main road, full of similar-looking homes and shops surrounded by tall trees that seemed to serve as a natural wall enclosing the community. I could feel the magic tingle through my body as soon as we entered the town. There was a ward over the community.
Melina pressed a hand to my arm before we knocked on the door. “Perhaps I should do the talking.”
She seemed calmer since I hadn’t gotten sick in the last two days, although she had been hovering over me more often. While I liked the attention, I hated to make her worry. I looked down at her with a smirk. “Worried my charms won’t get her to like my kind?”
She rolled her eyes. “Although your charms are quite formidable, not everyone is going to love you like I do.”
The door opened before I could respond, and a smiling older Fae appeared. She was short and plump with fair skin and long black hair decorated with tiny jewels that hung around her face, almost reaching her knees. Her eyes, framed by deep lines from years of smiling and time, were bright yellow, almost like a cat’s. She wore a long purple tunic and pants set, and several rows of jewelry adorned her neck and hands.
When her eyes looked to mine, her smile dropped. “Nodoorian,” she uttered before looking past us up and down the road. She waved us in. “Come in, quickly.”
Melina laced her hand in mine, and we entered a room that looked more like a living room, filled with rows of bottles along the walls. There was a couch on the right, and several seats, and a coffee table beside a stone fireplace. To the left was a kitchen and dining space.
Yona ushered us to the living space and offered us a seat. “Tea?”
Melina shook her head, sitting down on the couch, me beside her. “No, thank you, Madam Yona. We don’t mean to take too much of your time.”
Yona sat down in an oversized leather chair across from us, closest to the fireplace. “It’s not a problem. I work by appointment only unless there’s an emergency, and I don’t have any more appointments for the day.”
I moved closer to Melina, tapping my knee against hers. Something about the house made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It wasn’t the smell, which was actually filled with the aromas of a stew. Had she been cooking? No, that didn’t matter. A stew would make me hungry, not unsettled.
I looked back to the conjurer. “How did you know I was Nodoorian? I didn’t even speak, so you couldn’t have heard my accent.”
She sat back, studying me. “I have a sense about things. My magic isn’t just focused on conjuring. I heal and do other things. I offer many services. So, you’d like me to place a ward against attacks from conjured beings over you?”
I nodded. “Yes, we heard you could help with that.”
She raised a brow. “Not many know I have that talent, but it seems you are friends with the right people. While my conjuring warding is strong, it’s not certain to help you in this situation.”
Melina leaned forward, desperation in her eyes that panged in my chest. I wanted to do something to soothe her worries. Although I could fight, I wasn’t invincible. “Yes, anything can help.”
She sighed, looking over to the fireplace. “I wished you’d gotten to me sooner. I’m afraid I can’t be of much help now.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
She looked back over to me, something like pity in her eyes. “My town gets news much slower than the more advanced cities. We like the old-world ways, but sometimes it means getting word can be delayed. But it also means that we have an easier ability to keep information close to our chest to avoid outsiders. We knew of a faction out to target you treaty couples. It’s a Nodoorian and Prinathian faction, did you know that? ”
We shook our heads. It was ironically the most probable. Two opposing sides join forces to achieve a common goal. Destruction. And then, when they got what they wanted, they would go to war again. “So, this faction is behind conjuring these beasts and kidnapping the couples? How did you know?”
Yona’s brows furrowed as she pressed her lips together in a tight line, seemingly something heavy on her mind. “We all know about the faction here. Some came to recruit our magic. Came to recruit mine, but I declined. I try to avoid trouble when I can.”
“So, you know who’s behind this?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve seen some of the factions, but they kept their faces covered. I don’t know who it is with that kind of magic. I wasn’t certain how it even worked until just now.”
Melina tensed beside me. “Don’t leave us in suspense.”
“They aren’t conjuring beasts at all. They’re turning us into the beasts. More specifically, the murdered Fae are the ones killed by the beast that were once Fae. More than likely their spouses.”
My heart pounded in my chest, a sudden sickness growing in the pit of my stomach. The pieces were slowly coming together, and I didn’t like what it was showing. Was she saying the two beasts I’d killed had been fellow Fae? Fae, who were turned into creatures against their will? “There are no kidnapped Fae, are there? The missing Fae are the ones turned into beasts.”
Yona nodded slowly. “I can’t say for certain, but that’s my hunch now. One-half of the couple is somehow changed into a beast and kills their partner. This isn’t conjuring magic at all. It’s transmutation magic, even rarer than mine and not one I have much experience with.”
“What made you come to that conclusion?”
She looked over my head as if she could see something I couldn’t. I looked upwards as well but saw nothing. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but you’ve been marked. There’s a dark aura over you. I know you feel it.”
I shifted, even more disconcerted. “Is that why I don’t feel comfortable in here?”
“Yes. I try to ward away dark magic in my place. You aren’t evil, so you could get through, but something is wrapped around you. While it could be that it means you are marked for an attack, by the way the aura is surrounding you, it’s coming from the inside. That means it’s less that something outside will attack and more that the attack will happen from the inside. Inside the body. Like a parasitic evil.” She crossed her arms. “Guess the healers in your town aren’t as sophisticated to have caught it, so much for all the advancements they have. But it’s why my conjuring wards won’t be of much help. Tell me, have you felt sick in the last few days?”
I nodded, not able to speak the words. Worry clouded my hearing, drowning out anything more she might have said like a crash of waves. I was marked. I would turn into a creature. I could kill Melina. Things were good between us. We were comfortable. Happy. How could this happen? How could something so right end? There was no way I could stay near her if I were going to turn .
I felt her warm hand on my thigh, and I looked over at her, only she wasn’t looking at me. Her eyes were on Yona, and I felt her fingers slightly dig into my trousers. “I think he’s sleepwalking too,” she said in a trembling voice that broke my heart.
She was scared, and I was letting her down. I was her alpha. I claimed her, and now we’d have to find a way to sever our bond so I wouldn’t find her when I left. She’d have to move. Maybe even out of the realm. As her mate, I wouldn’t be able to leave her alone. It would be physically impossible unless I were adequately restrained.
Yona tapped her chin, nodding slowly. “Yes, that tracks. The beast is slowly growing within him. It’s harder to control early on when he is awake, but when he sleeps, it’s when it gains the most headway. I’d say whoever this being is behind this magic is either not as powerful or is stretched thin. Typically, a transmutation can happen in one go. But if one is changing several, then it can take a longer time.”
That might explain the growling I heard. It had come from me. “But why would I leave in my sleep? If my aim is to hurt her?” Saying that part made me sick, filling my mouth with the taste of sawdust. “If that’s my aim, wouldn’t I want to stay near her?”
Melina rubbed my arm soothingly, and I pulled away without thinking, already feeling antsy by being near her. What if I changed right now? If I killed her, I would end myself. Perhaps that is what happened to those who changed. It would explain why we never found another body, even if it was a beast. They went off somewhere else and killed themselves.
Melina let out a loud sigh, and I cringed at my actions. I was making things worse by pulling away. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and purr for her, but I couldn’t. I was a threat not a calm.
“I think,” Yona began, “that it’s your way of protecting your mate unconsciously. You sense something wrong, and move away to protect Melina. Not far enough, but it’s an attempt to help.”
Melina shook her head, keeping her distance from me, although I craved her to move back closer. “When he gets sick, he begins to feel better the closer I get to him. The farther I am, the sicker he gets.”
“Yes, that too makes sense. You are his omega. That bond can withstand many things and it can heal.”
“Then wouldn’t our claiming be enough?” Melina asked, eagerness in her voice. “We were told the claimed have been fine.”
Yona huffed, a look of annoyance on her face. “The claimed have been lucky, but not all of them. Seems your leadership has been very selective about the information they share. We’ve heard of some couples who did not last. News gets here slowly, but it’s not as controlled as what comes to those living close to the court. Another reason we like to keep as separate as possible.”
I rubbed the bridge of my nose, further frustration rising. “Why would the court keep this from us? We just spoke to the queen not too long ago, and she said the claimed survived.”
“Maybe it didn’t happen when you spoke to her, or maybe she didn’t want to scare you. There is a lot riding on maintaining control. Keeping the treaty.”
Melina hung her head, hands folded tightly in her lap. “What can we do? Can you get the mark off him?”
Yona shook her head slowly. “I’m sorry, transmutation is above my capabilities. I don’t even know anyone who has that kind of power. It’s the stuff of legends.”
“Could they be using aid from another realm or court? Like the Nodoorians did with the witches from the human realm?”
That had been my thought, but until we found them, it didn’t help us now. I stood up and gave a bow to Yona. “Thank you. This was helpful.” I offered a hand to Melina, and she accepted it without any wariness. She seemed no more fearful of me after this information, and that brought me some comfort.
Yona rose as well. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to ensure my lovely wife gets home and is relocated and protected. Perhaps sent to the human realm for a while.” I raised a hand before Melina could object. “And then I am going to inform the court of what you told us and ask them to lock me up.”
Yona pursed her lips. “I’ll call the authorities as well and tell them what I know. I’m very sorry this has happened to you two, and that I couldn’t be of more assistance. It seems this union has worked for the both of you. There’s love between you both. I can feel it. I pray we can find some resolution before you change. ”
The sound of sniffling tore my attention from Yona back to my mate, who looked away from me, wiping her face with her free hand. “If he changes, can he be changed back?”
Yona sighed. “Perhaps with counter transmutation magic.”
Melina nodded thanks, and we left the house quietly. When we got to the transporter, she paused by the door, not getting in. Her eyes were watery, her face sad enough to end me. “If you think I’m going to let you break us apart, you will be sadly mistaken. We are in this together.”
I pulled her to my chest and kissed the top of her head. “I love you, Rabbit, but I cannot allow you to get hurt.”
She wrapped her arms around me tightly. Her grip was almost desperate, and I held her equally close with the same anxiousness. “I love you, too. We will find another way. I’ll lock you up if you get worse until we find a cure, but I will come to see you every day. I’ll go to the human realm and find help. Lila’s coven has to know someone with transmutation magic.”
That was a possibility. Lila’s coven was very powerful, or so I’d been told. I didn’t want to waste a second, and I definitely didn’t want to be at risk. I could change any day, any moment. I needed someone else around us, so getting her to her cousin’s house immediately made the most sense. He could protect her. I would then turn myself in. I would not argue with her about that.
“When could it have happened?” Melina asked.
“I don’t know. I suppose it doesn’t matter now.”
“Maybe Madam Yona is wrong.”
“We can confirm with the healers, but I’m taking no chances.”
“But I can heal you.”
I pulled away from her and touched her chin with a finger, lifting her gaze to mine so I could ensure she was listening to me. “Up until a point. Then I might be too far gone to heal. If I am near you, and I start to change, do not stay, run. Run for your life.”
She looked away, and I turned her chin toward me again. “I’m serious,” I growled, lowering the bass in my voice. “I will command you with my alpha voice, and I don’t care if you get mad. In this, I will not compromise. Your safety is my only priority. Always. So, make it easy for us both, and please do as I say, just this once.”
Fat tears dripped down her cheeks, wetting my fingers. I winced, wanting to grab my chest to ease the pain in my heart from her sadness. “Okay,” she replied in a weak voice.
I kissed her cheek, lips wet from her tears. “Thank you, my omega.”
She was crying in my arms, and I could say nothing to make her better. We were both breaking just as we were beginning to feel whole. The fates were cruel indeed.