The Muses

Chapter 3

“What are you doing here in our small town?” Collin asks, putting the papers down.

“I just wanted a new change. I didn’t realize it was against the law to move to a new town. I was unaware of a Coven of Witches here. If I knew that I wouldn’t have come here. Your kind always thought you were better than everyone else.” I say rolling my eyes and crossing my arms across my chest. Collin gets a little mad and I can see it bugged Jace. I’m not sorry. Witches always think they’re better because there are more of them.

“We know how to be civil,” Collin says under his breath. I snort and he glares at me. “Our headquarters was invaded by Pan the Horned God. Do you know why?”

“Well, of course, I know why I am the one who had to tell you who it was,” I say rolling my eyes and giving a small smirk.

“Would you like to share with the class why he was here?” Collin asked through gritted teeth. Jace raised an eyebrow at my sass.

“Oh. No, I would not. If it’s all the same to you.” I say with a smile. Collin looks at Jace who was snickering.

“Fine. Jace put her in a cell. She will stay there till she decides to tell us why we are getting visits from the Gods.” Collin says standing and smiling. Jace sits up straighter as Collin leaves and we are left alone.

“Anya, come on. Just tell us what happened.” Jace says standing up to his full height and leaning over the table grabbing one of my hands.

“Jace, it’s not that simple. If it was, I would tell you.” I eye the audio recorder knowing it is still on. Jace got the hint grabbed the recorder and slammed it into the wall, breaking it.

“Now that we aren’t being listened to, can you please explain why?” Jace said, looking back at me.

“I can’t say the full reason but what I can say is that it has something to do with my father,” I say looking away. “My father is in no way a good guy. He causes destruction wherever he goes.”

“Yeah, I know how that is. Collin isn’t the warmest soul.” Jace says with a chuckle.

“Let me put it this way, Jace... Collin is a slice of warm apple pie compared to my father. You could say he’s the devil.” I say with a chuckle not missing the irony in what I said.

“He can’t be that bad,” Jace says grabbing my arm. “Come on. We have to go to the cells now.” He says pulling me out of my chair.

“Wait! I want to explain something to you.” I say standing up to him. “Real quick. What do you know about shifters?” I ask not wanting to explain something he already knows.

“Well, I know there are different kinds,” Jace says confused.

“Do you know about a small thing called mates?” I asked hoping he would know.

“Mates? Oh, that’s when they are with someone forever. Picked by the Gods right?” Jace asked with a confused look on his face. Means he knows the basics.

“A mate is your other half. One destined for you by the Gods. Your Yin to your Yang. Your soulmate. They are supposed to be there and understand. A mate’s love is unconditional.” I look down for a moment then back up at him. “I know you feel it. The electricity. In my world, that means we are fated. You are my mate. I am sorry this happened or that we found out this way.” Jace stands speechless. His eyes are slightly wide.

“That’s why when my dad is mad at you I want to just rip him apart,” Jace says very matter-of-factly. I give a small nod. “That’s why when Pan was here I grabbed you to protect you.” Jace takes a small step closer to me looking down, making me look up at him. I give another small nod. Jace leans into me and our lips barely brush each other. “That’s why I want to kiss you right now.” I give an even smaller nod making our lips brush into each other again. I can feel Jace hesitate and he sighs looking up at the door and giving me a light kiss on my forehead. “Since you want this to be a secret, which is obvious since you waited till my dad was gone, I still have to put on this charade. We need to go to the cells.” I don’t move and sigh.

Jace opens the door and walks me out and down the corridor to the basement where they have 10 cells lining both sides of the wall. It’s darker here than it was in the room we were just in. Jace looked around to see if anyone was down there and the hall was empty. I was the only person down there being kept. He motioned for me to enter the first one on the right and I took a step into the cell. The moment I do, he grabs my hand and spins me around quickly. The moment we come face to face he crushes his lips into mine. I freeze for a second as the sparks rushing through my body surprise me. When I realized what was happening I kissed him back quickly before he pulled away. “I’m sorry.” He said as he locked the cell. The moment it locked I felt so tired. “The cell is charmed to take away all magical abilities.” Jace looks down ashamed. I nod understanding it was so I couldn’t shift. Jace heads up the steps and I can hear him pause at the steps before closing the door. I slid down the wall and curled my knees to my chest. My head is resting on the wall behind me. I close my eyes and start to drift off to sleep not knowing how long I was going to be here, but hoping it’s not for much longer.