The Blind Witch
Chapter 32

You are cunning, little one. I shall make you submit. I will break that will of yours. I will make you regret ever escaping me.

After several minutes of crying in Victor's arms, Clarissa finally calmed down. But her body still trembled. She was scared; there was no denying that. She was scared of Erebus, of what he would do to get her back. But she was also afraid of herself. She was scared of how natural it felt to create the sun.

Victor gently rubbed her back as he hummed softly to her. He could feel her slowly relax under his touch. At the same time, he could feel his magic slowly replenishing under the night sky. He knew he could get them close to Haerford before sunrise. But they would need to begin jumping through the shadows soon.

“We should get going,” he said softly as he stepped back.

“Where is Aiden?” Clarissa inquired as she wiped her eyes.

“Back at Haerford,” he answered. “I was able to travel quicker by myself.”

“How long were you here?”

“I got to the castle only half a day after you. But I could not get in. So, I slowly circled the perimeter, looking for you. I was on the verge of giving up, thinking you were being kept elsewhere, but then I saw you peek through the window.”

“I saw you too,” she replied with a smile. “That is when I decided it was time to escape Erebus.”

“Come,” he said as he gripped her hands. “We still have a long way to travel.”

Clarissa nodded and stood close to Victor. They blended into the shadows, traveling quickly through the darkness. There were some spots where they had to leave the shadows and walk on foot. Victor needed the chance to replenish his spent magic. But it also allowed Clarissa to catch her breath. When shifting through the shadows, there is little room to breathe. When you become one with the darkness, the air is thin, almost nonexistent.

As the sun rose into the sky, Victor was unable to jump from shadow to shadow. They had to walk on foot. Thankfully, though, they were within a few hour's walk of the palace. By midday, they were close enough to the palace that the guards could see them. They were able to alert Aiden.

Clarissa gasped as a familiar wolf aura came into her view. She pulled away from Victor and ran up to the wolf. It was Cyrus; he shifted back into Aiden as they neared one another. Aiden wrapped his arms around Clarissa, swinging her around until they fell to their knees. He peppered her face with kisses as he ran his hands through her hair.

“I am so sorry that I left you,” he apologized as he began to cry. “I should have brought you with me. Please forgive me.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” she replied, holding his face in her hands. She could feel the stubble on his jaw. Her hands moved up to his unkempt hair. She sighed as she kissed him. She knew that he had been worrying over her. She wondered if he, too, starved while she was gone.

“Thank you, Victor,” Aiden said, pulling him and Clarissa to their feet. “If there is anything that you desire, I shall grant it to you.”

“I don’t need a reward for saving my daughter,” he said as he walked towards them. “I have a debt that I owe her, and bringing her home isn’t enough to cover that debt.”

Aiden nodded as he looked over at Clarissa. He could see that she was tired, that her face was sunken in. He led her inside, but others were waiting on them. Ophelia and Sybil had returned upon hearing the news of her kidnapping, and they brought with them Craigen and Anneliese from the Lode Star. There were also many of the Alphas who had gone hunting with Aiden. They had stayed behind to help in searching for their queen.

Everyone was happy to see her, and she was bombarded with questions. Against Aiden’s wishes, she went into the council room to talk to everyone. She wanted to explain everything while it was all still fresh in her memory. But when she sat in a chair, the exhaustion she staved off was taking over. Victor stood behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“She was being held at Requiem’s castle,” he said as he looked around the room.

“Why did it take so long to get her?” Aiden questioned. “You were gone for three days!”

“There was a magical barrier preventing him from going in,” Clarissa interjected as she took Aiden’s hand. “There was nothing he could do.”

“So what happened?” Ophelia asked.

“Erebus took me straight to the Requiem’s castle. At first, he and I just talked. He said that I was an oracle for Nyx. That I was Nyx. But when I tried to escape, when I tried to use my magic, he had me chained. The chain had an anti-magic spell on it, preventing me from being able to do anything.”

"What did he do to you,” Aiden demanded as he growled possessively. “Did he touch you?”

“He called me his consort,” Clarissa said, avoiding Aiden’s question. “I told him that I was fated to you. That you and I were bonded together. So he took my circlet and shattered it.”

She held up her wrist, showing that the circlet was no longer there. She then moved her dress to the side, exposing her unmarked shoulder.

“He also healed the mark you gave me,” she whispered. Aiden gripped her arm, pulling her close so he could see. Cyrus was furious within him.

Mate… she is our mate… he growled.

“Aiden, please,” she murmured. He was hurting her, but she did not want to say it in front of the others. He looked down at his hand and loosened it, but he did not release her.

“Continue,” he said as he tried to keep his composure.

“For several days, I did not eat nor drink anything he offered me. I could not trust him. But then, earlier, I caught a glimpse of Victor from a window. I knew it was my chance to try and escape him. So, I pretended that I gave up. That I was willing to submit to him. It was the only thing I could do to escape the chains. Once he freed me, I was able to create a sun.”

“It destroyed the castle,” Victor added as he looked at Ophelia.

“Creating a sun is a crime against the Earth!” Craigen yelled as he stood from his chair. “Did you learn nothing the last time you did it?!”

“And is bringing a god into our mortal world, not a crime?!” She demanded as she, too, rose to her feet. “Are you going to persecute me when the Requiem has brought literal destruction to life?!”

“Craigen,” Ophelia said as she turned to him. “Do you really intend to sit here and lecture the girl after she was kidnapped? How else would you escape a God? Pray tell that you have a solution that does not involve breaking any laws, man or witch?”

Craigen stared at Ophelia, but he did not argue with her. He sat back down in his chair, crossing his arms.

“You are dancing close to the line between defending yourself and bringing ruin upon this world,” he warned as he looked at Clarissa. “But I do not disagree that you did what was absolutely necessary.”

“So what was Erebus’ plan with you?” Sybil asked. “If you gave in to him, what would he do?”

“He would sacrifice me to get Nyx,” Clarissa answered as she returned to her seat. “I don’t know how, though. He did not go into great detail about what he would do. Only afterward would he become the God of Darkness. Without Nyx, he cannot create the chaos that he wants, if any at all. He needs her. He needs me.”

“So, what should we do now?” An Alpha inquired.

“Wait to see where Requiem went,” Clarissa replied as she looked at Aiden. “They won’t stay at their castle. We need to know where they are going. In the meantime, can you ask the Leader Council to summon their armies? Erebus will come back for me. We need to go to him, fight him before he can scrounge up enough bodies to fight with.”

“You heard your queen!” Aiden asserted as he stood. “Ophelia, help to summon the missing members of our council. They need to be here quickly; there is no time to waste. Craigen, can you get the High Priest and Priestess from the other covens to join us? If we are to fight, we will be fighting against witches. We are going to need all the help that we can get.”

“I shall call upon our leaders,” Ophelia said as she stood.

“I’ll help!” Sybil declared as she followed her mother from the room.

“I should return within a few hours with the other Priests and Priestesses,” Craigen stated as he looked at Anneliese. She nodded in agreement with him, and then they vanished, quickly returning to their coven.

Clarissa sighed with exhaustion as everyone began to clear out of the council room. She rubbed her face in her hands with a sigh. She looked at Aiden, but something was off with him. His orbs disappeared, and his aura changed into Cyrus, but he wasn’t shifted. He was in his human form. She could hear him growl as he stood. He gripped her tightly and led her straight to their bedroom.

“Aiden!” She cried due to his tight grip. But there was no response, only deep, low growls.

He took her dress and tore it from her body. She gasped as she covered herself. She looked at him. There were no magical orbs. Only a pulsating aura that she would only see when he was in wolf form. Cyrus had taken over.

“Mate,” he said with a husky voice.

“Cyrus, please,” Clarissa whimpered as she backed away.

This only infuriated him more. She was no longer marked. His mate, his unmarked mate, was trying to get out of his grasp. Cyrus yanked her towards the bed, roughly pushing her down. He removed his shirt, but as he went to undo his trousers, Aiden began to fight back for control. Clarissa could see several orbs start to pop out, but Cyrus was able to maintain dominance.

He stopped messing with his pants and went to her shoulder. He did not kiss her; he did not prep her. He extended his teeth and bit down sharply into her. Aiden tried to fight for control as Clarissa screamed in pain. She was crying, unable to push Cyrus off of her. All she could do was plead between her cries, begging him to stop. But Cyrus held on long enough for his mark to take. After his teeth retracted, he gave control back to Aiden.

Victor rushed in, slipping under the door through the shadows. He heard her blood-curdling scream from down the corridor. He had his sword drawn and ready, but he stopped. He saw Aiden cradling a crying Clarissa. He could see the blood dripping from her shoulder.

“I am so sorry,” Aiden whispered as he tried to calm her. Victor gave a silent sigh as he slipped back out of the room. “I tried to fight him. I am so sorry.”

Clarissa gripped onto Aiden’s arm tightly. Though she had not forgotten how it felt to be marked, this time, it hurt more. Cyrus had bit down on her shoulder harder. And then there was the absence of pleasure. She was left naked and in pain. But she did not try to pull away from Aiden. She knew that it was not him. She knew he fought against Cyrus. She could see it. She saw as his orbs and aura tried to fight for control.

After several minutes of him cradling her, she finally looked up to him. Her hand slid up his chest and neck, finally resting on his cheek. She pulled his face to her. Though she was still in agonizing pain, there was something that she wanted. She needed to kiss him, to feel his lips against hers. She wanted the thoughts of Erebus to leave her mind. Thinking of Erebus touching her made her sick to her stomach. But she craved Aiden. She wanted him, no matter how much pain she was in.

Aiden gently kissed her back but pulled away when her kisses deepened.

“We don’t have to do this,” he said softly. “You need to recover. You should rest.”

“I want you, and I want you now,” she asserted.

Aiden nodded, understanding that she needed him. He kissed her lips, but then he moved down to her shoulder. He gently licked the blood and kissed her mark. She hissed in pain, but she did not pull away from him. He laid her back, ensuring her head rested against a pillow. He stood from the bed as he removed his trousers. But he could see it in her eyes. Sleep was beginning to take over her. He smiled. He would rather her sleep. As much as he missed her, as much as he wanted to make love to her, he knew she needed the rest.

Clarissa fought to keep her eyes open, but her eyelids began to feel heavy as she took a deep breath. She closed them, thinking that she just needed a moment to rest. When Aiden would return to her, she would wake back up. But she didn’t. Within two minutes of leaving the bed, Aiden could hear her soft breathing. She was asleep.

He crawled into the bed beside her and covered them in the blankets. He laid on his side and pulled her body to his. He snuggled against her, smelling her hair. Though she needed a bath, he did not care. She could have been covered in mud; it would not mask her scent of cedar and jasmine. He was content to have her back in his arms. He would not let her go, not ever again. Aiden vowed that he would never separate from her again, even if it would be for a few hours. He would stay by her side, protecting her. He could not bear the thought of losing her. She was his, she was his mate, forever.

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