We headed back to the portal. As we stood before it, I felt a sense of dread that took over my whole body. I shivered. I had no idea what to expect once we got in there.
Caleb took my hand. “Hey,” he smiled slightly. “We’ll be there together.”
I nodded, then glared at the portal. “Let the games begin.”
We stepped in, and as soon as we got into the realm, Marco flashed in before us.
“Well, look who’s here!” He grinned menacingly, getting close to my face. “Nice of you to join us again.”
With one swift motion, he swung his fist at the portal, causing part of it to crumble, breaking the connection to the outside world.
“I see why you wanted that fixed,” he said. “And I’m sure you see now why I shouldn’t have listened to you.”
“Because you’re a coward,” I said plainly.
“A what?” He roared.
Caleb stepped between us, his eyes glowing red again. “Back off!”
Marco smiled and stepped back. “Why of course, Caleb. I should have known you would give in as well.” He stood straight. “Curious, you haven’t asked about your sister. She’s beautiful, by the way.”
Caleb glared at him. “I’m not worried about her. I know she’s stronger than you’ll ever be.” I heard his voice shake. That was a lie. He was worried about her.
“Oh, I see,” Marco nodded. “Well, then I suppose you don’t really need to know where she is.”
“She’s safe!” We heard. Morgyn stood by the door of HQ, glaring at Marco. “You can’t expect to play with people’s minds and not be called out.” He stepped off the deck and into the grass, walking toward us. He walked straight up to Caleb. “She’s fine, I assure you. She’s not here at the HQ. I advised her to spend her time elsewhere to be away from Marco.”
“Charming,” Marco rolled his eyes. “You think I would do something to her?”
“Why wouldn’t you, though?” Morgyn shrugged, “After all, she didn’t come here to play your game. She came here to help us, and everyone here.” He grinned. “And to help us show everyone here who you really are.”
Marco laughed. “Still trying to get the realm back?” He stepped toward Morgyn. “I’d like to see you try, honestly. You’re only as powerful as the lowest level spellcaster. You don’t have sage power. How do you expect to take back control?”
Before anyone could say anything, Marco struck Morgyn, knocking him backwards. He fell into the crushed column of the broken portal. Caleb grabbed Marco, throwing him back the same way he had done to Morgyn. He glared at Marco menacingly.
“Don’t play games with us,” he growled.
Morgyn stood up, walking up to Caleb. “Don’t provoke him,” he said.
Marco also stood up. “Yes, Caleb, don’t provoke me.” He stepped slowly toward Caleb. “You say vampires are harder to kill, but they’re still fun to hurt.” He stood practically toe to toe with Caleb, who didn’t budge. They stared at each other.
I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to get Caleb out of the situation, but I also didn’t want to agitate Marco even more. Morgyn seemed like he was in a similar predicament.
I sighed, but before I could say anything, Marco picked Caleb up with magic. Morgyn and I watched in horror. As if it was second nature, we stood together, grabbing our wands. We gave each other a determined look and nodded. With that, we said a spell together, lifting Marco up and away from Caleb.
To our surprise, Marco started laughing. “I see you got your power back,” he mused. “But remember who truly has power here.” He walked up to us, summoning a large ball made of magic. Morgyn immediately stood in front of me. My eyes widened in surprise and frustration. I decided against trying to get past him at that moment, but I found myself getting angry.
Marco grinned as Morgyn stood to protect me. Instead, he cast the magic at Caleb instead. He attempted to run, using his supernatural speed, but Marco was too close. The magic hit him, knocking him to the ground.
I rushed past Morgyn, jumping on Marco and throwing him down to the ground. I pressed all of my weight onto him, pressing my arm into his chest and glaring angrily into his eyes. For once, he showed me fear.
“Wh-what are you doing?” He asked, his eyes darting all around. He finally settled on staring at me, terrified.
I grinned. “Doesn’t feel so good, does it?”
He continued staring at me. “What are you going to do?”
I sat back, letting go of him. “Nothing! I think I got my point across.” I grinned. It was quite fun to play his mind games against him.
I stood up and glared down at him. “Let this be a lesson. If you even attempt to harm Caleb or Morgyn, I will not hesitate to end you.”
Marco’s, Morgyn’s and Caleb’s eyes all widened in unison. I flicked my wand and teleported away. I only teleported to the side of the building, but it was out of Marco’s sight. Morgyn saw me and teleported as well.
I knew he was there, but I didn’t look at him. “What the hell was that?” I asked sternly.
“What was w-“
“You jumped ahead of me!” I turned toward him. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
He stepped back. “Jade, I-“
“I don’t want you or Caleb trying to protect me!” I barked. I sighed and hung my head. “Please.”
Morgyn sighed as well. “I could say the same to you.”
I looked up. “What?” My voice was much softer now.
“Marco hurt Caleb and you jumped on him.” He looked at me, his eyes narrowed. He furrowed his brow. “You could have also been killed. But Caleb and I didn’t act.”
I opened my mouth to speak as Caleb walked over. I felt the anger growing again. “I know how Marco acts! I was forced to be his queen for a few weeks! If anyone knows the mind games to play, it’s me! And I refused to allow either of you to be hurt or killed trying to save the goddamn ‘damsel in distress’!”
Caleb and Morgyn both stood still, silent. I felt tears fill my eyes. I didn’t want to speak to either of them this way. What the hell was wrong with me? As my tears fell, I teleported away, escaping to the gardens to be alone.
I laid down on the edge of the pond, resting my head on my elbow and letting my other arm slip under the water. It was cool on my skin. Refreshing. If we were stuck here again, I figured I would look at the bright side of things.
My mind wandered. I heard laughs echoing in my mind as I gazed into the water. More tears fell, allowing my vision to be clearer. As I continued to watch the ripples in the water, I started to feel like something significant happened here. Something that made me smile. I tried to remember. I closed my eyes, picturing the pond. I pictured myself sitting by it. Nothing. Standing? Nothing. Walking nearby? Still nothing.
I opened my eyes and splashed the water angrily. “It’s no use,” I said quietly. “I’m trying to remember, but I’ll never be able to. Not until we can get out of this hell hole.”
“Need someone to vent to?” I heard.
My head jolted up, and when I looked behind me, Lilith was standing there, smiling. “Hey,” she said quietly. “What’s going on in your pretty little head?” She sat beside me and put her arm around me.
I couldn’t help but smile. “God, you sound like your brother.”
She laughed. “Well, I’ve been stuck with the guy for how long? What do you expect?”
I looked away. “He’s pretty pissed at me, isn’t he?”
“No,” she shook her head. “He’s worried about you.”
I sighed. “He shouldn’t be. I think my anger was valid.”
“What happened?” She asked.
“He didn’t tell you?” I sat up and looked at her, curious.
Once again, she shook her head. “No. He just said he was worried about you because you weren’t acting like yourself. Morgyn said you would probably be here. I figured maybe you needed girl time.”
I smiled at her. “Thanks.” I hung my head. “I snapped at Caleb and Morgyn because they were trying to protect me from Marco.” I looked at her. “I told Morgyn that I didn’t want them doing that anymore because of what happened to Morgyn. Yet, when Marco was going after us, both of them tried to come to my rescue!” I felt myself getting frustrated again. “Both of them!”
Lilith smiled. “Jade,” she said quietly, trying to calm me down. “Of course they want to protect you. They love you. Didn’t you do the same for them?”
I sighed. “Yes, I did, without thinking. But I feel it’s justified. I’m the one with the most power out of the three of us. If anyone is going to take down Marco, it’ll be me. Then they don’t have to get hurt.”
“Work together,” she said with a smile. “And I’ll talk to them about giving you some space to work and think as well. Them jumping in to save the day will only distract you, and could result in you getting hurt as well.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “I’m worried about them getting hurt.”
“Exactly, and if you worry about that, you won’t be focused on the task at hand.” Lilith nodded.
I also nodded. “You’re right.”
She stood up, but rested her hand on my shoulder. “I’ll leave you be for now, and I’ll talk to them.” She smiled wide. “But, from what I heard, what you did out there was pretty badass.” She winked. “Keep it up!”
And with that, she ran off with supernatural speed. I smiled a little. That was pretty badass, wasn’t it? I laid back down on the stone edge of the pond. Once again, I heard laughter. I closed my eyes, dipping my arm in the water. The laughter sounded like Morgyn and I. As I followed it, I started to see it. I was in the pond with Morgyn, glaring at him, but laughing.
“That went a lot better in my head,” he said.
I splashed him. “Ya think? What are we going to tell the others?”
“We slipped?” Morgyn grinned.
I found myself smiling as the memory became clearer. I opened my eyes and rested my palm flat on the water, gliding my hand gently over it. I thought for a moment, then got up, heading back to HQ.
Once there, I walked up to Morgyn, hugging him.
“Oh!” He said in surprise. “Hey.”
“Hi,” I said softly. I pulled away from him. “Follow me?”
“Sure,” he nodded.
I led him back to the gardens and over to the pond. I quickly switched on the device that would block our conversation from Marco. He didn’t need to hear this.
“Okay, it’s a pond,” he laughed.
“Just, look at it,” I prompted. “See if it triggers a memory.”
He did as I instructed and was still. I sat down on the stone. I was hoping it would come to him like it came to me. He opened his eyes, and smiling, he sat beside me.
“What is it?” He asked.
“I’ll tell you,” I looked down. “But first, I want you to try to have it come to you. Just listen.”
Morgyn listened again. I took his hand, and he smiled and squeezed it.
After a few moments, he looked at me and smiled. “I got you and I in the pond. Am I right?”
I giggled. “Yes, you are.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “It came to me like that too.” I gazed at him. “I’m sorry about earlier. I really don’t want you or Caleb to get hurt.” I felt a lump in my throat. “Or worse.” I looked away again. “I don’t want to sound like I’m better, but because my power is the strongest, I would rather be the one under attack than you two. That’s why I attacked Marco. I did it before Caleb could.”
Morgyn faced me and caressed my cheek. “I understand. I think maybe we all need to be in this together. Fighting against each other gives Marco and his crew the upper hand against us.” He smiled reassuringly. “I don’t want to lose you just as much as you don’t want to lose us. So instead of burdening yourself with the thought that your power will save all of us, let all of us save all of us.”
I nodded as our eyes met. He kissed me softly. “We’ve got this. Don’t stress over it.” He gazed at me lovingly. “We have time to prepare.”
“Unless he attacks us first,” I sighed.
Morgyn shook his head. “He can’t. If he does, he will be just going in blind. He knows that it would be stupid.” He stroked my hair. “Don’t worry yourself.” He leaned in closer again. “Let’s just make a plan, okay?”
I nodded again. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
“Shhh,” he smiled, holding his finger up to my lips. “Don’t apologize.”
I grinned and softly bit his finger. “Don’t shush me.”
He laughed. “Well, I was shushing you gently, but you’ve left me no choice.” He leaned in quickly and kissed me again, pulling him closer to him.
I giggled and pushed him down into the grass. “If you’re going to be kissing me, I don’t want to be near that water.”
Morgyn grinned at me, reached into the pond and scooped out some water, splashing me with it. “Oh?”
“Hey!” I laughed. “Rude!” I scrambled backwards, away from him so he couldn’t splash me again.
He grinned. “Are you scared of water?”
“I’m scared of you pulling me in there again!” I moved further back as he came closer.
He stopped and laughed. “I won’t do that.”
I folded my arms in front of me. “Oh really?”
He shook his head. “Nope! Not today.”
“I don’t believe you,” I giggled. I moved toward him, jokingly acting seductive.
He laughed and pulled me down, kissing me. As we pulled away, he smiled.
“It feels nice to laugh this hard,” he said.
I nodded, pulling a blade of grass out of his golden hair. “Yes, it does.”
We just gazed at each other for a moment, before I was rudely interrupted by a yawn.
Morgyn smiled. “It is getting late.”
I looked at my watch. He wasn’t wrong. I nodded as I yawned again and sat up. I switched off the device.
Morgyn stood up and took my hand, pulling me up as well. “I’ll meet you at home, in Caster’s Alley. I’ll go find Caleb and Lilith.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
He kissed my cheek. “This’ll be over soon.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. “I know. But not soon enough.”
I felt him nod. “I know.”
He hugged me tightly and kissed my forehead, and then we parted ways. Stepping into the apartment in Caster’s Alley again gave me a strange sense of nostalgia. I had only been away for a night, but so much had happened during the time I was away that it felt like I had been away from home for years.
I changed into my night clothes and got into bed. I sat up, my upper body against the headboard. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of any weakness Marco had that could help us in our fight against him. The thing he favored most in life was power. That’s all he ever wanted, and even when he had it, he wanted more of it. However, I knew at full power, I was stronger than he was. Morgyn was too. The two of us together could easily take him down, as long as we had help from the other sages, right? So I was going to make it my mission to talk to L. But what would I say? How could I prove it to her? That was going to be our biggest hurdle; trying to explain to brainwashed spellcasters that they were brainwashed. They wouldn’t believe it. After all, it went against the leader, high court and Greater Good.
Sighing again, I put my head in my hands. I flipped on the light beside my bed. This was going to be much harder than we anticipated.
I heard Morgyn, Caleb and Lilith come in. I opted to just stay in the room. I was quite tired, and I didn’t want to get my second wind by socializing all night. Easy to do with two social vampires.
Morgyn came in and closed the door. He smiled at me. “Shouldn’t you be trying to sleep?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?” I grinned. “I sleep sitting up now.”
Morgyn laughed quietly and got onto the bed. He made his way up to me and kissed me deeply, slipping his hand behind my neck.
I quickly switched on the device again, kissing him and pulling him closer.
“Feisty sage,” I giggled.
He nodded, gazing at me flirtatiously. “Mhm…”
*****************************************
We laid together, happily. I closed my eyes, falling asleep quickly in his arms.
Waking up, I had a strange sense of dread. I quickly got up and got dressed, trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake Morgyn. But it was strange. I woke up early, before any alarms. Yet, Caleb didn’t appear to be here. Walking around the apartment, I saw that Lilith wasn’t either. Morgyn and I were alone.
I brewed some coffee and grabbed a mug of it. I walked over to the window. Everything looked different. Hazy….as if there was a dense fog. But there was no weather in the vortex.
I furrowed my brow. What was going on? I knew I had to make my way to HQ, but I wasn’t going to go without Morgyn. I had a very bad feeling about us all being separated. This is what Marco wanted. He wanted us vulnerable.
I went back into the bedroom and over to Morgyn. I kissed his forehead sweetly. “Morgyn,” I said quietly.
His eyelids fluttered. “Hmm?”
“We should get to HQ,” I said, handing him a cup of coffee. “There’s something going on, and Caleb and Lilith aren’t here either.”
Morgyn looked down at the coffee, a look of fear on his face. “Thank you for the coffee, but I agree. We should get there now.”
I stepped aside as he got up and quickly got dressed. We went to HQ together, fearing the worst.
Marco greeted us as we got to the throne room. “Good morning.”
I looked around. “Where are Caleb and Lilith?”
“How rude,” he growled. “You didn’t greet me in return.”
I growled and in his face. “You don’t deserve any hospitality.”
Morgyn quickly grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away from Marco, but I didn’t budge.
“Where are Caleb and Lilith?” I repeated.
Morgyn, determined, grabbed me by the waist, pulling me down to the ground. He fell as well. Marco roared with laughter.
“Aren’t you two just adorable?” He stood up.
I scrambled to my feet, pulling Morgyn up. “What the hell was that?” I demanded of him.
He shook his head and gestured toward Marco, who smiled at me.
“So, you want to see Caleb and Lilith?” He asked quietly.
I nodded.
“Then you two have to follow everything I say. You’re becoming quite problematic, so I had to do something dramatic to keep you in line.” He smiled happily. “Caleb and Lilith have taken an extended vacation until you two are on your best behavior.”
“What?” I growled. “Where are they?”
Marco sighed dramatically. “Jade, you really need to learn how to listen. I said they were on vacation!”
I opened my mouth to snap back, but was interrupted by Morgyn.
“What do you want us to do?” He asked, his head down.
“Return to normal, the way it was before the three of you started speaking out.” He got close to me. “You don’t want to cause panic amongst our people, now do you? Telling them what a horrible leader I am. I mean, if they can’t trust me, who can they trust?”
“Us,” I snarled.
He laughed. “And I suppose you plan to take over my power?”
I smirked. “I could, and you know that.”
Morgyn grabbed my hand. When I looked at him, he was shaking his head.
I sighed and looked back at Marco. “Fine. We’ll comply.”
“Good,” Marco smiled and sat down. “Because it would be a real shame if we lost our best sages because they spoke out against the Greater Good, hmm?”
Morgyn nodded, fully complicit. I glared at him. I would gladly lose my life if it meant restoring the realm for everyone else.
“Now, get to work,” Marco commanded. “I’ll be watching.”
We headed down the stairs. I switched on the device and stormed out of the building.
Morgyn followed. “It’s only until we come up with a plan.”
“Every time we form a plan, he blocks it!” I shouted. “We’re never going to get out of this. Things will never be the same.”
Morgyn rested his hands on my shoulders. “Jade.”
“No, Morgyn! I’m tired of waiting. If I have to kill him to get the job done, I will.” I glared at him.
Morgyn shook his head. “Jade, if you kill him, you are no better than he is.”
I sighed as tears filled my eyes. “I know, but I feel like that will be the only way to truly defeat him.” I pounded my fist on the banister of the HQ. “I just want to know where Caleb is!” I screamed it loud enough for Marco to hear, or at least I hoped I had.
Morgyn shushed me. “Jade, please, calm down. We will never see Caleb or Lilith if you keep acting out against Marco.”
My tears fell. “I don’t know what to do anymore,” I whispered.
He pulled me into a hug, and I sobbed into his shoulder.
“Just play his game,” Morgyn said quietly.
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