Words of Power (Alice Gray Book 3)

12

"Who knows?" Evan said. "Some think it was a God, some think a powerful Fae. It never really mattered as there was no way to reach any of them."

"Didn't they try to open it again, this Eye?" I asked, unable to believe that the witches had allowed that privilege to be taken from them without a fight. I'd seen how power hungry they were, how the insatiable appetite for more and stronger magic drove coven life and corrupted their leaders.

"They had no way to. It was a gift, not within the realm of a witch's workings. After the first generation had gone, no one was left who had felt its influence. After the first couple of hundred years, even the top coven families had forgotten about where it had come from."

"Why does Biker Dude think that the Eye blinked?" I asked, unease bubbling in the pit of my belly.

Ralph had insinuated that I had something other that witch blood running through my veins. I had a really bad feeling about what that something might be.

"I mean, I guess if you had visions so soon after Bingham bound your magic, the Eye blinking could have prised your Third Eye open. Given you a way to beat the binding. But I'm a witch and I didn't feel anything."

We fell silent, contemplating this new development.

"Why me?" I finally said, my voice small and tired.

"Alice, babe, it's always you," Lucas laughed, while twisting out of the way of my slap.

I rolled off the bed, landing on the floor with a thud. Unable to stifle the massive guffaw that exploded out of my mouth in a blast of relief, I gave in to it. Laughing along with my pack-mates gave me a burst of endorphins that pushed all my troubles aside. The boys gave in to it too, and, for a blessed few minutes, laughter filled my head and body until my stomach hurt.

It was only just dying down when the brisk knock on the door startled our tear stained faces. My eyes darted to Lucas, body angling towards my Alpha, waiting for instructions. Evan mimicked my stance.

"Ralph?" Lucas asked, knowing he'd be heard through the thin plywood door.

No answer.

Lucas caught my eye and jerked his head towards the bathroom. Even I wasn't stubborn enough to argue when I saw that look on his face, his wolf close to the surface, flashing its ferocity out of his bright green eyes. I was in no condition to fight. The night had left me empty of whatever strength I had as a human.

Leaving the bathroom door a crack open, I watched Lucas approach the entrance. Evan placed his back to the wall next to the door and gathered his magic. The blue of his life-force was brighter now. The intricate sequence of his life-force called to me, stirring something deep inside.

The close air of the room quivered as he concentrated. Lucas's shifter heat mingled with it, making the atmosphere dense and stuffy. Tiny throbbing tingles of excitement travelled from somewhere deep in my belly, out through my body to the tips of my fingers and toes.

Lucas rolled his shoulders and shook out his hands before opening the door. Both men relaxed as they recognised our visitor.

"Anne!"

Lucas's body stiffened at the same time that I noticed her wide eyes. Anne's usual dimples were nowhere to be seen but there were deep stress lines cutting into her lowered brow. If I had to guess Anne was somewhere between fear and anger.

That's when it hit me. A bloom of desire so strong that it drew all the oxygen out of my lungs. I braced myself against the wall trying to dampen the euphoria that exploded in my brain at the sensation.

Thomas. 

His tall shadow fell across Anne in the same moment that I knew he was here. I slammed the bathroom door and locked it. After the horror of seeing what the vamps were doing to Jonathan, I couldn't face Thomas so that he could lie to me again. I thought that we knew each other now, that we were moving forward. It would hurt too much to see the deceit in his beautiful face.

But that wasn't the only reason.

It had started with a faint stirring of emotion that was growing with every second that passed. The visceral need that drew us together like fields magnetised by fate. I could feel our connection.

My magic was coming back.

I crouched at the base of the door, my head spinning with what this could mean. Would the DPA be coming for me now?

Did they know?

What if they decided to forego the trial and sentence me to death because my magic couldn't be controlled by sanctioned means.

The flimsy door rattled as Thomas tried to get to me, his voice an odd mix of commanding and beseeching. "Alice, I can feel your fear. Open the door. I need to see you."

"Dude, she doesn't want to see you," Evan said. "Ever thought that it's maybe you that scares her?"

"Do not interfere, boy," Thomas growled, shaking the door handle in frustration.

The weak hinges rattled and strained. It wouldn't hold long, but I couldn't spur myself to action. The overwhelming sensations that came with the return of my magic battered my brain. I'd got used to the dim, blurred level of human emotions. Having Thomas so close, the person who stirred the energy more than anyone else was beyond disorientating. I curled up on the floor, letting the cold tiles cool my feverish skin.

"Alice, I have to see you." Thomas's voice was hard and low.

I could feel his control slipping. His sharp anger was riddled with desperation, a volatile combination that made him dangerous and unpredictable.

My body shuddered with fear. Now that I knew the truth, I couldn't trust him anymore. I couldn't believe in his assertions of love. I couldn't believe in him. If they could do that to Jonathan, who knew what they planned for me?

"No, you don't," Lucas said, his wolf's growl reverberating through the human words.

"Don't push me, dog," Thomas retorted.

The dense energy from the bedroom seeped under the door and encased me as I lay on the tiled floor. As the tension racked up another few notches, the magic laden air pressed in around me, seeking a connection. My life-force lazily uncurled from somewhere deep within and a familiar buzzing filled my head.

The droning got louder and louder, drowning out the voices. Out of the noise chimes emerged, and with them a sense of peace that I hadn't even known I'd been missing.

Uh oh! The chimes of the silver tree never bring good news for Alice...