The Dormant: The Elemental Witches (Book Two)

~Cristina~ My hand went directly to my chest as I sprung up from the unknown bed I was sleeping in. It had to be a couple of days since we got into the formerly known Camp North Pack, and I was asleep in the master bedroom on the third floor. After it was decided we would come back here, it took us a day or so to arrive at nightfall. You could hear the screams of the captives and the somber looks of the vampires around. This place had become what I wish it would become…A death camp. I jumped out of bed, remembering that first night, everything seemed so dreary, devoid of life. The car entered the blood camp, and to one side where luscious forest grew once, was now cut down and brown. On the other hand, houses were being demolished to make room to make more structures. Those same structures were scattered around the place like a bad Lego game. They seemed like holding cells, each one with its own concrete appearance lined heavily with silver so it would cut the inhabitants' pack-bond. The only thing that remained from one of the greatest packs in America was the grand packhouse in the middle. As I entered the house, I grabbed Patrick's hand. Wolves roamed the first floor like zombies. They didn't look at us. Their eyes turn to the floor in silent oblivion like ghosts all around us. Domenico realized I was in shock as I saw the beasts around us. Grabbing one by the face, he brought his gaze up. ¨Don't worry, companion, these are house pets. I have made sure to remove the animal from them before they enter.¨ I gave him a curious look at how he did that. ¨A small amount of wolfbane in their diet keeps the animal asleep. I have also taken the teeth out, so if they do manage to shift, there's not much they can do.¨ He pressed his thumb and index finger on the wolf's chin, making him grimace. The rows where all his teeth should have been were now void and black. ¨Fuck.¨ I mumbled as I closed my eyes, feeling pity for the creature. My head turned to Patrick, and his face was emotionless, even bored as he watched the scene in front of him. Domenico looked at him, giving him a proud nod. ¨We are staying on the third floor, that area has been accommodated for vampire living…¨ Domenico waited for a second, losing his grip on the wolf's face. It scurried away as we walked up the stairs, Domenico proudly showing us around. ¨You should not leave your rooms unless you ask permission for it first.¨ Patrick and I nodded as we both answered him. ¨ Yes, Sir.¨ Now I was here alone. I looked at the empty bed beside me; where was my companion? My hand went on the doorknob, thinking. Be careful what you wish for. I opened the door as I felt woken up at an odd hour for a vampire. My feet walked to the room beside mine, Patricks. Softly opening it, I didn't find him inside. I took a breath. Where could he be? My legs went instinctively to the other rooms, an office, and the next one, a place that now was adequate so we could get blood ready at every hour. In neither of those, Patrick was. Now my soul was in my throat and I felt worried. Where could he be at this time? It was noon outside, and a single ray of sunlight on his delicate skin could kill him. Not caring about myself, I slowly walked the stairs down to the second floor. I grabbed the door that was supposedly our lifeline, the only thing keeping the sun at bay. Moving to the side so I could shield myself from the deathly rays, I quickly opened it instead of the sun; I was met with another hallway. The windows had been closed off here too. ¨He f*****g lied!¨ I hissed a pair of expletives at Domenico and, slowly trying not to make any noise, walked the long walkway. I turned my head towards a room as I heard noises from the inside. Placing my ear to it, I found the room was ajar, opening into a small slit where I could peek in at what was happening inside. I positioned myself against the wall and looked, then gasped. Inside the room, Domenico was lying on a bed. His hands were securely cuffed on top of his head with the horrible iron shackles he used on me. His skin boiling and red as a shadow shifted in the background, turning candles on. A pain began rising in my chest as I saw this. I may hate the creature shackled in the bed, but he was still my companion and we had bonds established. Then the shadow started speaking. ¨Domenico, I am planning on breaking him out. I need you to begin to install young Patrick's hate for the feline girl.¨ He shifted his face in pain, his yellow eyes looking lovingly at the woman talking. ¨In no time... The kid has lost every part of his humanity already. Every time he kills a human, he becomes stronger.¨ She grabbed a flog, and with a woosh, she brought it down on the plane of his feet, making him scream at the same time shredding the skin on them, blood oozing as she did it. ¨ I don't care about making him stronger. Not anymore. The child would be a tragic martyr to our kind. I only care he is the only one that can come close enough to her to kill her. He can kill Bastet before they can do something against Mot.¨ I tried straining my eyes to the side, my chest heaving up and down as I tried to find out who was the owner of the voice. The flog came down four or five more times on his chest before a loud thud came out of the room. The woman began walking, then planted herself on top of him. She started moving her hips as she passed her hands all over her body. The sounds and smells of s*x coming heavily out of the room. I leaned back, my soul-destroying as red tears came down my face. I tried looking back inside, as the woman shuddered and Domenico screamed out loud. She bit herself hard, and as she did this, instead of blood, light came out of her veins, finally revealing her face. ¨Lilith.¨ I gasped as she offered her light to Domenico as he finally came inside of her. I heaved in disgust at the sight of them, at the sin they were committing. I slowly closed the door, not knowing how to process what I had just seen, passing my hand on my hair numerous times, feeling my stomach turn. I shuffled around to go back onto my floor so I could forget about this. At the same time, Patrick came out of a room at the other end of the hallway. He had a picture in his hand. A photo of his human family. ¨Why are you here?¨ I whispered as I grabbed his wrist and quickly and silently ran up the stairs back to his room. He clutched the photo in his fingers, confusing feelings etched on his face. I put my index finger on my mouth, telling him to keep quiet as I closed the door to his room. ¨Who are they?¨ He asked out loud as he pointed at the picture in his hand. In it, two adults with his hair and features and two children, himself and Charlotte Addams, the feline girl. I sighed, biting my lip, not knowing what to say. ¨Patrick my son…. That is your family. Your human family.. your mom, your dad, and your sister….¨ He shook his head. ¨No! you are my mom.¨ He passed a hand on his hair, red tears straining from his eyes as he began remembering his human life. ¨ I am your vampire mother, Patrick, nothing would change that, but those are your real...¨ My own voice sounded choked as he sat on his bed, almost collapsing as I kneeled in front of him. ¨What happened? Where are they?¨ I thought for a second, knowing the answer would cause him pain. ¨Your parents are dead… He killed him.¨ I turned my face down, trying to hold the lie. ¨Domenico?¨ My head shot up, and I nodded. ¨And her... my sister?¨ I closed my eyes, grabbing his hands. ¨She is mated to the former Alpha wolf of this pack. She is right now living in Colorado. Charlotte, your sister, is the last of a long line of magical. That was the reason that they killed everybody in your family, even you.¨ Instead of hate towards her, Patrick looked at me, seething towards the animal that I called my companion.¨I am going to kill Domenico!¨ He stood up and tried walking to the door as I grabbed his wrist.¨ If you try doing that, you are going to die tonight. Patrick, we need to get out of here. They are going to use you to kill her.¨ Pointing at his chest, Patrick tried peeling my hands from his wrist, rage lining his beautiful vampire features. ¨I don't care I am going to kill him!¨ He roared. Lowering my voice, I used the only card I had. ¨If you do that and don't succeed, Domenico will kill me and then her. You will be left alone with him. Be patient, son, and let's make a plan to get the hell away from this place so we can go find her together.¨ He stopped fighting, kneeling down in front of me. ¨ Promise me we will get away from him!¨ Giving him a smile and brushing a red tear from my cheek with the back of my hand, I put my pinky up.¨ Vampire promise.¨ ~ Morrigan~ Stepping out of my small cottage and placing my hands up, I tested the wind even though feeling a faint zing, I could still feel him. Though I already knew where I was going, I still wanted to check if the God in question was in his fortress at the bottom of the ocean. I stood outside my door for a few seconds, my eyes closed deep in thought, waiting to get the electricity I only got when I was searching for him. A slight tingle began rising on my arm as a lover's caress slowly crept to my side until the warmth from him engulfed me. Opening my eyes, my kelpie was in front of me, neighing as he kicked the soil underneath its hooves, sensing where we were going. If there was a creature that was happy to finally be doing this, it would be it. Its love for Triton, the same as mine, though it felt best without the pesky feelings of betrayal that were forever etched in my soul. It only loved, and as it loved, it also hurt and longed to be around him. ¨Easy Beautiful.¨ I passed my fingers through its enchanted mane combing the flames that escaped it. ¨Do you remember where to go?¨I asked as it made another neigh, his front legs collapsing, making it easier for me to climb onto its bareback. I sat on my side and clutched hardly on its mane as it began running. In a second, we were not in my forest anymore but entering the ocean's cold waters, its mane going from a deep red-purple to a greenish-blue hue. Soon enough, my eyes landed at the place I helped sink into the ocean, Atlantis. I pressed my hands, making the kelpie stop on a deck in the middle of the fortress. I placed my hands up, creating an air bubble around me, and walked towards the place I was sure Triton would appear and waited sitting on his throne. Closing my eyes quickly, the energy of the room changed from the dark cavernous bottom of the ocean atmosphere to warmth as a hand slowly stroked my cheek. I instinctively pressed my face into it, the small goosebumps and tingles appearing immediately. The feeling melted away, and I opened my eyes as a pair of aquamarine eyes gazed upon me longingly. ¨I thought you rejected me.¨ His voice was the same as I remember, a mixture between a thunderstorm and a gentle wave. Shaking my head to clear it from the thoughts of having him in front of me, I grabbed the sides of the chair hard. ¨Not even I can reject a true mate bond. What I could do was run away from it.¨ Finally, I pulled my gaze from those eyes and scanned him from head to toe. He was still as handsome as the first day I saw him, his blonde curly hair moving around his face, his big eyes and straight nose made him look regal. What was new now was a small tattoo of a water rune on his forehead. His arms were still full, and even though he was dressed in golden armor and clutching a trident in his hand, you could still see every form of his body pressing against it. ¨What are you doing here, Morrigan?¨ His eyes went from longing to hate in a second, making my chest ache, forgetting that I was the actual reason for that change. His full pink lips pursing as pain shot through my chest at that thought. ¨ I need you to give them back!¨, I stood up and demanded the sea god for my memories. I tried losing them to protect all of us. He walked in front of me and began circling where I was standing. Not wanting to take my eyes away from him, I proceeded to copy his movements until he was where I was standing. He let out a loud, sarcastic laugh and turned away, sitting on the throne I was seated when he arrived. Squeezing my eyes, I began pacing in front of him. ¨I want them back!¨ Demanding a second time. He stared at me for some time and smiled. ¨I can't give them back to you.¨ Putting my hands in the front, I screamed. ¨Ahhh! Why do you have to make this so damn difficult…? They are mine, Triton, not yours, so I demand you transfer my memories back to me!¨ He stood up and was in front of me as fast as lighting, making me step back. ¨You my Goddess, have no right to come here and demand anything from me.¨ He hissed between his teeth, his eyes fuming in rage. ¨You expect to come here after a millennium of running away from me .... expect me to act as your always so faithful lapdog? That is so you, Morrigan, still thinking only about yourself. Did you really hope to come here and snap your fingers at me, and I would be the same entranced God you broke?¨ He grabbed my chin and brought my gaze back towards him. ¨Not anymore, witch… We may be mates, and we cannot reject our nature, but I will not fall for you again.¨ A small solitary tear came down my eye as he said this, but his face showed no emotions, no mercy. He didn't smile as he used to smile. His face was as cold as stone. ¨Triton…¨ I tried talking, making him drop my face and walk back to his throne. ¨You can't pin everything on me. What you did, you broke my trust… you broke my heart!¨ Remembering the moment, he took my knowledge and fed it to the person trying to harm us. ¨ If you would have protected them instead of giving that away... Quetz would still be alive.¨ That made him look back at me. ¨For my part about what happened, I asked for forgiveness numerous times. I have lived a lifetime of penance,my children have been sacrificed for it. I have been sacrificed for it, but I am not the only one to blame for this game, Morrigan. Yes, we can blame me for trying to protect this place and my people, or we can blame Aine and her for being so naïve and letting Lilith take over her magic to do horrible acts not only once but twice. Why then don't we blame Mot, who developed an extreme fixation on Aine and the mortal realms? We can even blame Quetzalcoatl himself for not putting a tight leash on his kind, making the rest of us afraid of what they would do. Morrigan, why don't you blame yourself… Not accepting our bond from the beginning and when our love's offspring was born, sending it away bargaining with her like a piece of coin.¨ I put my hand up, trying to shut him up. ¨Even though I said I passed her magic to you, I have always protected her...¨ My index finger was squarely on my chest as I continued. ¨I have always seen her and been by her side.¨ I tried explaining. ¨You almost let her die!¨ He screamed at the top of his lungs, making the water outside the throne deck ripple against the side of the bubble. I put my hands up, waiting for the structure to collapse, pink sparks coming out of my hands. ¨You shipped her to marry some unknown creature not even a capable witch… I have always had the best interest in her and only I..¨ He put his index finger on his chest, now mimicking my own. ¨I sent the mereman to save her when you left her to die… I gave her an oasis where she could always be protected from the outside world when I lost the Fae war… It was I who have made her and her kin live extraordinarily long lives, so at least when she dies, she can know where she came from.¨ I put my hands up, tears rolling down my face, knowing I had missed everything from my demi-goddess life. Opening my mouth, I tried saying something, but the words refused to come out. I could only pass the sadness I was experiencing. I turned around, not wanting him to see how I was crumbling, but I did just that as my knees gave way, hitting the floor, and loud wails came out of my mouth. I had given her the only tool I could, her familiar. Still, everything else I had washed my hands of her, not even a beldam so she could understand her magic, and now I was paying the price of missing her life. My mind was a wreck as I destroyed everything around me. Two strong hands brought me up to a hard chest, which I grasped and cried into. I could see my hand impressed on his forearms, Triton's mating mark...made by me. ¨Triton I am sorry. I know I don't deserve this. I don't deserve anything, but I am not coming for me. I am coming here for Bastet. Mot is awakening as we speak, and she is too weak to fight him.¨ He let out a loud sigh and let me go, making me collapse back on my knees. ¨When I thought you had changed witch!¨ He spat with venom, opening his arms. An altar opened in front of us. Inside of it, I could see what I had come here looking for, the most dangerous object in the realm. ¨I thought you had destroyed it when I asked you to!¨ He let out a loud chuckle. ¨I had... from your mind but that we decided was going to her when the time was right.¨ I walked towards it as the book came into full view. It was still as I left it. Its white-paper pages uneven full of secrets about dark magic, forbidden spells… ¨My grimoire!¨ I whispered as my finger tried touching it, to which he reacted by closing the door back up. ¨You can't have it Morrigan, you yourself put a hex on it that only our child could claim it. One finger on it, and even you would wither and die.¨ I turned around, my eyes big in disbelief. ¨And you let me do this?¨ He shrugged his arms and walked towards the door, his hands going up. ¨ She is coming right this moment to visit me, you would not leave this room until you tell her the truth.¨ He opened the door, walking out. f**k, I forgot as true mates; I couldn't counteract his magic. I ran towards the door. ¨Triton, open this door and let me out now!¨ I screamed as I banged loudly at it. I collapsed on the floor, my cheeks flaming and my hand gripping tightly at my dress. I could have thought of this from anyone, anyone, but not from him, not from my Triton.