Chapter 20 Jaxon
Jaxon
“You look like shit.” Calla smirked. “How did last night with the witch go?”
Not good enough. My wolf growled. It ended too early when we dropped her off because this fool couldn’t follow through to seal the deal.
She’s not talking about Tisiphone, I snapped at him, bending over to stretch out my lower back and wishing today of all days that I could avoid dealing with anymore problems.
I had enough of my own.
“Her name is Emily.” I’d gotten her name as an afterthought last night before I’d sent her on her way. “She’s headed to get in touch with the Ossory Alpha. Liam. He should be here soon.”
“So we’re just going to wait for all the Alphas to get together and solve this?” Calla asked.
I frowned. Isn’t that the way it always was? “That is our job.”
“You’d think Vincent would know better than to try and start a war with the humans before enlisting the Alphas’ support first,” Ahmad said, keeping his voice down as he cast a wary glance to the warlock guards getting ready for the day.
“Unless he thinks he’s more powerful than our wolf Alphas.” Amir flexed his shoulders as he stretched out his arms.
The morning sun blared down on us, warming the day too early, and I frowned because Amir actually made sense.
Bullshit. Vincent is just a warlock.
“Has anyone actually seen him use his powers?” Gentry asked. “I heard he had some serious strength. They say he’s blessed by the gods.”
“Rumors.” Ahmad jogged in place.
“Right?” Amir said. “Besides, it’s not like he can take on Alpha Jaxon over here.”
The three males looked at me, smiling.
The sun was way too bright today.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, knowing they didn’t know the full truth either. I preferred it that way. “I’m just a simple farmer with some earth magic.”
“Whatever you say, Alpha,” Gentry teased.
Calla’s wolves’ ears twitched as she stood up straight. “Look, there’s Trish.”
Great. Still, my wolf puffed up his chest.
The gods must’ve hated me, because just once in my life, I’d have loved things to go easy. Like if Tisiphone had slept in and decided to stay safely in her tent. Take a lazy day. Get her nails done. Far away from the mysterious warlock with a death wish. I even would’ve paid for it.
“Good morning, coven.” Tisiphone’s voice was bright and airy. I expected it to be roughened after the night we’d had.
You should’ve made her scream louder.
I bent to touch my toes again, feeling my cock harden painfully just thinking about last night, and hoped my loose sweatpants would save my dignity.
“You’re extra peppy this morning.” Calla’s tone was suspicious. “How was your night?”
I stilled, suddenly needing to hear this answer more than anything I’d ever wanted to hear in my life.
“It was… Um…” Trish locked eyes with me, and a small smile turned the corner of her lips. “Good. Really good.”
What is happening?
My wolf howled to the heavens.
Calla’s gaze darted between the two of us, confusion written on her face.
Amir was blind to the situation, though. He draped his arm over Trish’s shoulder, pulling her into the fold. “Any word from our Alphas?”
“Not yet.” She pushed him off just as my wolf started growling possessively. I hit my chest, trying to silence the beast.
They’re cousins.
Distant ones.
We’re not animals here.
“How about you guys?” Tisiphone asked. “Any word on what the trial will be today?”
I sidled up next to her, breathing her sweet scent to soothe my wolf. “Whatever it is, we’ll need to stick together.”
“I heard you the first time, Alpha.” Her honey-brown eyes blinked up at me. “That’s why I’m here with you all as my coven. Just like you asked.”
I could barely think over the blood rushing from my brain to all my other parts and my wolf howling his approval.
This is Tisiphone, I struggled to remind him. She’s got something up her sleeve.
“What’s the catch?” My eyes narrowed.
She shrugged. “Can’t a girl just say thanks?”
I almost choked on my own spit.
If that’s all it took to get her to listen…
“Safe to say that something happened between those two.” Calla laughed as she scratched the top of her wolves’ heads.
I growled.
Tisiphone growled.
“Finally,” Gentry sighed. The four of them began a slow, dramatic clap.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tisiphone said.
I tensed beside her. “Let’s all just focus on the mission.”
“Attention!” A warlock called from the front of the field. Tisiphone and I shared a quick look that was over too soon as everyone turned to watch Vincent stroll to the front.
“Good. You all survived.” The prick smirked. “But the physical test was the easy part. Today, we’re going to test your real skills. It’s time to show off your magic.”
I hated that we were surrounded by our nosey friends, because I would’ve loved nothing more than to comfort Tisiphone when the color drained from her face at Vincent’s words.
*
They split us into groups of three. I made sure to stand beside Tisiphone when I saw what was happening down the line, ending up with her and Calla as partners.
That helped soothe my beast a bit. He struggled to deal with the smell of these unmated males surrounding us. I’d never much liked the scent too close to Tisiphone, but it was brutal as the morning sun beating down on our heads and shoulders as we stood waiting for instructions.
Stand closer. Rub against her.
He didn’t like that our scent was fading from her skin.
I thought we were over this, I snapped at him.
You thought wrong. My wolf was going off the deep end. I’d worried about this. Last night, I had a feeling. Now that he’d gotten a taste—had the knowledge that no other male touched her—his primitive instincts were taking over again.
And it was terrifying to think I wouldn’t be able to control him, but I’d fight until my last breath if I had to.
“Earth to Jaxon.” Calla snapped her fingers in front of my face, earning half a snarl before I realized what was happening. “We’re supposed to start now.”
She and Tisiphone were holding hands, reaching for me. “It’s time to work together,” Calla said sarcastically. “Isn’t that what you commanded?”
Tisiphone smirked, but she was still ghostly pale and her hand trembled a bit when she rested it in mine.
Despite my wolf calming at her touch, the scent of her fear was making my head swim.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” Tisiphone whispered.
“And why not?” I forced myself to stand relaxed and keep my tone playful, even as my pulse started to race.
Tisiphone made the cutest growl. “Because I might hurt you.”
“Please.” I scoffed. “It’d take more than a little thing like you to hurt me.”
“You’re in a mood,” she bit back. “Maybe you should’ve let me return the favor. It wouldn’t have killed you to loosen up too.”
My jaw about dropped, but I kept it closed, tensing my muscles instead. This bolder side of her I hadn’t seen in a while. I’d like to think I played some part in it. But her earlier kindness was fading as she continued to scowl at me.
“As fun as it is to watch whatever is sparking between you two.” Calla yanked on our hands, reminding us she was in the circle. “What do you mean by hurt him?”
Trish shrugged. Embarrassment crept onto her skin. “I haven’t killed anyone yet, but there’s always a first time for everything.”
“It’s a simple warding spell,” I said, trying to maintain control over the situation before anyone freaked out. “I can ground you. Lean into my magic if yours feels overwhelming.”
Tisiphone’s hand tensed in mine, but she knew I was speaking the truth. We’d played with our magic as children, and her specific powers fed well off mine, so I knew she could take from me what was needed.
And if that wasn’t the story of our lives…
“Fine,” she muttered, staring straight ahead. “What are we warding against, exactly?”
I resisted the urge to brush my thumb over her knuckles and soothe her worries. Touching her last night so intimately had been a mistake. Now my head was a mess when I needed to focus to keep us all safe.
“It’s going to be a protection ward against a magic attack,” I said.
“Did you see this?” Tisiphone asked Calla. There was something sharp in her tone as she looked at where Calla and I held hands to form our part of the circle.
“That’s not how the sight works. You know that. Or you did, once,” Calla said.
“Right.” Trish sank further into herself. “Wait, why would Vincent care if we can form a magic protection ward? It’s not like the humans can attack that way.”
“Just trust me,” I growled.
Her grip on my hand tightened, but she didn’t argue.
I began to mutter the incantation. It was one we all knew.
One Lisa Cerberus taught us when we were young.
I chose it because Tisiphone would have no problem reciting it, but I didn’t expect to hear her voice crack in pain as she joined the chant.
It was too late to change course now.
Our magic was rising. The rightness of it filled my soul. Like called to like as our voices melded in perfect harmony. A gentle breeze picked up, swirling around us in a blurred tornado of colors on the wind. Playful, child-like, and pure. Our magic grew.
It was perfect.
A web of blue silken threads wove around us, invisible to the human eye, but vibrantly alive to me. I felt the earth shift under my feet, welcoming us home, as the air around us bent to our little creation.
But there was nothing weak about it.
This was powerful. Strong. Fueled by our conjoined magic.
Still chanting, I turned to Tisiphone, hoping she’d see the beauty of it. But her eyes were closed tight and tears streaked her cheeks as she feverishly muttered the spell.
A shake of Calla’s head drew my attention. Her mouth was still moving with the words as she motioned with her eyes past Trish’s shoulder to where Vincent stood in the center of the groups.
Just as I’d suspected, magic crackled around him. But I wasn’t expecting to see the clouds gathered above or the energy he pulled from the sky, gathering it into his hands.
Fuck. He was a warlock of the sky and elements. By the looks of it, he held the weather in his palms, and he was currently directing it at the group to our left.
They screamed as their ward blew apart and the three went crashing to the ground.
Vincent smiled as he regrouped.
I spoke the chant louder, tightening my grip on Tisiphone’s and Calla’s hands. I didn’t think I needed to draw on my other powers yet, but just in case, I readied myself to protect the three of us.
Slowly, I walked us in a circle, giving Vincent my back despite the growling of my beast.
I can take the hit, I told him, not missing a beat of the chant.
And I’m glad I moved.
Vincent’s magic was an icy cold blast that stole the wind from my lungs. It wasn’t strong enough to do any damage against our carefully constructed ward, but it could’ve easily shocked someone less powerful into creating an opening.
The girls kept chanting—Tisiphone none the wiser to what just happened—and I almost told them we were done when Calla’s eyes widened.
I glanced over to see what she was staring at.
The web above Tisiphone’s head had blackened, crisping and cracking with ice as it traveled like rot and ate at our ward.
I slowed the cadence of the chant as I looked over my shoulder. Was this part of the warlock’s plan? He’d gathered his power again and was aiming at the next group, but the hit to us hadn’t been so strong. Could he have left something behind to finish the job?
I glanced back to our perfect ward, watching as the darkness continued to grow. It spread out from Tisiphone, latching onto my arm. My instinct told me to keep the chant going, to not let Vincent win. But I faltered. If Tisiphone got hurt, I’d never—
Calla stomped on Trish’s foot, making her open her eyes. She took one look at the rot and screamed.
Tisiphone cried as she tried to shake my hold off her hand. “Let go. Please. I told you this was a mistake.”
I held tighter, chanting louder and catching her attention, as I pleaded with my eyes.
Her gaze caught mine and filled with an apology as she chanted again, raising her voice to outperform both Calla’s and mine combined.
I breathed into our magic, drawing it into the well of my heart-space. Into the connection that was always there, even when I lay alone, miles apart in a cold bed, aching for what would never be.
And I sent that strength back out into the world, giving it to each verse we repeated until the rot receded and our shining ward remained. Pure. Untouched. Whole.
“Bravo.” Vincent clapped behind me, addressing those of us still standing. “You all may drop your wards now. It’s time for the second test of the day.”
I exhaled slowly as Calla’s hand fell from mine and held onto Tisiphone’s just a moment longer before she yanked it away as if she’d been burned.
“I can’t do this.” Tisiphone refused to look either of us in the eye as she took a cautious step back. “It’s too dangerous. You all need to stay away from me.”