Her Mortal Mate

Chapter Sixty: Elam

Jadea

For a moment I stared blankly at Constance. Shocked that I could be the descendent of the betrayer.

Inside my chest, something broke.

And all of the pain, confusion and depression I’d overcome when I had worked with Caden came flooding back. I was swimming in the dark, tumultuous feelings my blood family had given me.

I could hear my father’s voice screaming at me that I wasn’t enough. That he should have drowned me when I was born because of how great a disappointment I was. That, because of my gift alone, I was nothing more than a worthless liar. I would never amount to anything more than being a manipulator…

A hand in mine forced me out of my past. I took a shaky breath and realized there were tears streaming down my face. Adam pulled me towards him and he held me gently while I tried not to drown.

“You are safe. You are loved, Jadea. We will figure this out.” And in my mind, I felt him reach out to the others in my pack and connected us. Their love and comfort filled me, easing some of my pain.

I wanted to believe him. I really did. But I was drowning once again.

I was slipping back into that scared little wolf I had once been. The one who had overworked herself, the one who had starved herself because of the lows she had fallen to.

I was face to face with that debilitating depression. And as she stared me down, I could feel myself breaking. I could feel that void of loneliness and hurt yawn open, getting ready to swallow me whole.

“You are not alone. Not anymore baby girl. You will never have to face your demons alone,” Adam whispered in my mind. I could feel his aura bleed into me, as it gave me strength to face down the enemy within.

I felt the darkness hiss disappointedly before sinking back into the cage I’d chained her in.

“I will help you face her on a different day,” Adam stated. “I will help you through this, Jadea. You will not have to go through that alone ever again. You are safe with me. I love you, my luna warrior.”

I pressed my forehead against his while his love poured through me. I could damn near feel him in every cell.

“Jadea,” Constance redirected my attention to her. “I did not mean to bring up such pain. I wouldn’t be asking if it weren’t important.”

I nodded once and forced myself to find my strength. I straightened up, disengaging myself from Adam. In my mind, I felt him embrace me soothingly. Even though he wanted to be right by my side, he understood my need for distance as I tried to puzzle all of this out.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I closed my eyes and delved into what I could remember of my blood relatives. Neither of my parents expressed the same white hair or green eyes as I did, but genetics was complex and interesting like that.

So I would have to try to remember my extended family. Grandparents, uncles, aunts… All of which hadn’t come around often. Maybe once or twice.

Wracking my brain, I tried to shake loose a memory teasing the edges of my mind…

***Flashback***

For the past week, my father’s pack had been busy preparing for a celebration. Our chores had been tripled and the punishments for incomplete chores or sloppiness had intensified.

I shuddered, remembering the severe lashing I had been subjected to after I had accidentally spilled paint all over the ground. And then I had been refused any rations for several days. I was only given water and my father further punished me by giving me the most labor intensive jobs.

By the end of that week, I had been beyond weak. I had been starved. I had been tortured. Humiliated. I’d lost a lot of blood because of the multiple lashings I had received for jobs I was too weak to complete.

When it was all said and done, my father exiled me to my room until the festivities were over with a promise of a meal if I listened and did everything he asked of me.

I remember being confused over all the fuss of that week.

There had been whispers about the patriarch on my mother’s side, Pappy Elam, had secured some kind of truce. And that was the reason for our celebration.

The truce was a big deal that involved everyone connected with Pappy Elam. There were rumors it would bring great fortune and luck to him and his descendants.

It all seemed exciting, but … when the day of celebration finally came it, was frightening.

I remember I had been so excited to see what all the fuss was about, I risked getting my hide tanned and being starved just to get a glimpse of what was happening. And I remember dancing shadows. Scary shadows silhouetted by a fire. There were many scary immortals there. I remember demons, vampires, wolves. Even Fae.

My memories were becoming more splotchy, probably because I had been so scared I’d blocked out most of the memories for my own preservation.

But, there was one memory I couldn’t escape. The one of the innocent girl who had been laying in the middle of some symbols. Her blood stained the ground. Her middle had been ripped open, her guts spilling out. Her eyes were glazed over in death.

Her life had been sacrificed. And it had been a brutal one. Dark magic had been used.

And Pappy Elam, with his white hair and light, crazed green eyes, had been blazing from the kill. Her blood was dripping down his face as the fire surrounded him. And, to a child, he looked worse than a nightmare. He looked like a soulless devil…

***End Flashback***

When I snapped back out of my memory, I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs and my body was shaking. I had broken out in a cold sweat.

“Jadea?” Constance asked softly, stepping forward to place a comforting and grounding hand on my shoulder. In her eyes, I saw her knowledge. She had seen the flashback too through Ickarous’s mind reading ability. “It’s okay. You are safe. You are no longer there. You are no longer under your father’s or Elam’s control,” she soothed before pulling me into a soothing hug.

Once I was calmed down, I asked the next question. “So, where do we go from here?”

Constance’s gaze moved to Gabriel and in the depths of her gaze I saw the debilitating sorrow. “I have to focus on saving Celeste and Lance right now. We are in a bit of a spot seeing as we lost Raziel—our visionary—not too long ago. We have a generalized idea of where Leviathan might be keeping them, but we are blind as to what he may or may not want from us. You see, over the years we have slowly been capturing some of the Eschaton Guard and placing them in purgatory.

“With Celeste and Lance, Leviathan and Cerberus have two options: they make a trade or they take their losses and kill Celeste and Lance.” My heart clenched with dread. If they lost any of the Imperium Guard, it would be nearly impossible to defeat Cerberus and his Eschaton Guard. The fate of the world rested on Constance getting them back. She must be feeling overwhelmed by everything on her shoulders right now. “With my focus on saving them, I must ask you to hunt down Elam. Along with bringing Hans to justice. Your father, Lucien, will help you hunt them.”

Adam was a quiet spectator in my mind. And I felt his urge to offer his help.

I felt Ickarous shift once again. He pushed himself off his perch and stepped forward as he realized Adam was a visionary.

I wasn’t sure how I felt about him offering his help, mainly because he was a human and I didn’t want him to get hurt. He was my mate. I was a bit overprotective of him.

Constance’s gaze shifted to Adam as he stood up and stepped beside me.

“Don’t,” I hissed in his mind.

“They know already, baby girl. And from what I gathered from your thoughts, she could really use a break right now. The world depends on her getting them back. I don’t mind helping. Besides, you are a part of the council now, right? Which means utilizing every resource. I am a resource. And I want to be useful, Jadea.”

I understood that need to help. And there wasn’t much he could do in his mortal state. I relented, knowing it would be unfair and rather controlling of me if I denied him this.

Before Adam could speak though, Constance spoke up. “Adam, we appreciate your offer. But, I cannot use you in your current state.”

“I don’t understand,” he murmured, discouraged.

“Only an immortal would be able to withstand the test of power I demand from a visionary. I will not risk your life as a mortal for that.”

His gaze turned to mine expectantly. “I’ve already mentioned to Jadea I want to be turned,” he started softly and he could feel my distaste. He was rushing into this whole thing.

“Hmm, well that can be arranged. There’s a full moon tomorrow,” a new voice spoke up and Nikolai appeared. “If you are truly serious about being turned and helping us, we could make that happen.”

Before Adam could speak, I snapped fiercely, “No. I will not allow it.”