-18
CALEB’S POV
I drew in a deep breath and walked into my bedroom. It was time for penance. Peeling my shirt, I looked into the mirror. In the faint light of the candle, I could see the marks on my back.
Clenching my teeth, I picked up the hunter layered with silver and lashed against my back with as much force as I could conjure. The crackling noise of the whip echoed in the room as I struck myself again and again.
One… two…three…four…five…
I was about to strike for the sixth time when someone grabbed my hand.
“Why are you doing this, Caleb? How will this help?”
“It reminds me of my failure against those flamers, Meridith. It keeps the flame of revenge alive….”
Her soft hands cupped my face and her lips crushed against mine. I found myself responding with ferocity.
Aurora’s face flashed before my eyes and I pushed her away.
“Caleb… I… I am sorry…” Meredith said in a hurt voice.
I grasped her arm gently and said, “No, I am sorry. It is just that…”
She let out a deep sigh and said, “Aurora.”
A subtle knock at the door saved me from further explanation.
“Alpha, Djofull is here to see you.” Vondur’s voice sounded.
“Why does the Dark Lord want to see me?” I muttered, wearing the shirt quickly.
Djofull was known for discretion. He rarely visited anyone. I rushed to the conference room where Vondur had seated him.
He was wearing a long cloak and a black mask. So, it was true then
“What brings you here Lord Djofull?”
“Ah! I just wanted to see your beaten face.”
The veins on my head popped and I glared at him. Even if he was the Lord, he didn’t have the right to talk to me like that.
I grabbed him by the neck and gritted out, “No one speaks to me like that.”
The next moment I was shoved against the wall by an invisible force. I screamed out in pain as an intense wave of electricity coursed through me.
“I can kill you with the snap of my fingers but let us talk business first.”
The next moment, I fell on the floor with a thud. I dusted myself and sat back on the chair, trying to uphold whatever dignity I had left.
“Caleb, I have a proposition for you. We both can join hands and defeat the dragons together. I get ‘The Heart of Magic and you get your revenge. Call me on this number if you want to accept my proposal.”
He threw a card at me and vanished into the thin air. I sat there staring into the space in front of me. Was that how he talked business?
“So, will you accept his proposal?” Raina asked joining me.
“Never, Raina. He is the Lord of dark magic. No good can come out of an agreement with the devil.”
“True… then we should focus on garnering Painite weapons. If Adrian hadn’t switched the weapons we would have been ruling the Pearl Palace and the dragons.”
My face flushed with anger. I didn’t even get to avenge Adrian’s betrayal. Tyson killed him before me…
Soon, I would take everything back from me. My spies had told me that Tyson was not holding up well in the absence of Aslan. The moment I had enough weapons, I would attack him again.
AURORA’S POV
“Hey put me down!” Celeste screamed as she was twirled round and round in the air.
“This is so much fun, Aunt Celeste. Why do you want me to stop?”
“Stop being childish, Aurora. Put me down right away!”
It was so much fun to toy with Aunt Celeste. I didn’t put her down rather I increased the intensity of power.
I gasped as I saw a ball of water coming towards me. I used my other hand to block it with a shield of wind. My concentration was broken and Aunt spiraled towards the ground.
I watched in wonder as she created a barrier of wind to break her fall within a fraction of a second. I had learned how to control all the elements of nature but I still couldn’t compare to her in terms of speed.
“Aurora! I got you a glass of juice.” Logan said, trotting in happily with a glass of juice.
Logan was a young, handsome boy in his teens. Aunt Celeste had adopted him long ago and he lived with her.
“Thank you,” I said as I took a sip of the refreshing liquid.
“Where is mine, Logan?” Aunt Celeste said, crossing her arms.
Logan looked taken aback for a moment but then he replied cheekily, “I will get it for you when you are pregnant!”
He ran away before Aunt could react. I couldn’t help but giggle at Aunt’s furious expression.
“See what I can do with this juice.” I said, hoping to distract her.
My lips stretched in a smile as I raised the juice into the air. Splitting the drops of the juice, I formed a heart and shoved it towards Aunt.
Her mouth hung open in shock. I let the juice trickle into her mouth and when only half was left I poured it back into my glass.
“Ummm… the juice was tasty…”
“And what about my magic?” I asked, rubbing my hands.
“Ahem! Your self-control is better.”
“So, Can I go to meet Tyson and Aslan?”
“Not yet…”
Fifteen days had passed since I came here. Aunt Celeste was very sweet to me but whenever I tried to go out of the house, she would find a way to stop me.
In the beginning, I thought she was concerned about my safety. With time, I had come to believe that she had some other motive for keeping me here.
Drawing in a deep breath I created a wall of fire around her and got out of the door. I visualized the Pearl Place in my mind but couldn’t teleport back.
“It won’t work.”
I turned around when I heard Logan’s voice. I looked at him expectantly waiting for him to explain.
He grabbed my hand and dragged me to a cave. He drew in a deep breath and whispered, “You can’t leave this place without my mom’s permission because this place is not real.”
Great! To escape my previous prison, I had walked into another one.
“What do you mean that it is not real?”
“My mom will probably kill me for telling you this but this is a place created with representational magic. There are two ways to get out of this place…”
“Aurora… Logan…” Celeste’s voice sounded before he could complete the sentence and he ran away faster than a deer.
I would have to put up the pretense till I found out a way to escape this place. I pulled her into a tight hug the moment she walked in.
“Aunt, how good was my firewall?”
If she suspected me, she didn’t let it on. Smiling at me she said, “Good but I could break it in a few seconds. You will have to practice more.”
How I wished that I had the power to annihilate her. She was getting on my nerves.
.