Destiny Bewitched (22 page)

He took her face in his
hands. “Oh, Samantha,” he said. “I would fall a thousand times if
it meant the chance to love you.”

“I’m not ready to say
good-bye,” she whispered, clutching his wrist where he held her
face.

“Then don’t. Just say
you love me.” Geo closed his eyes as he stroked her cheek. “One
more time.”

She wanted the chance
to say it for a lifetime! This wasn’t fair. “I love you.” Her chest
ached as she choked back more tears.

When Geo opened his
eyes, she caught a tiny shimmer of moisture. He gave her a last
longing look then moved his gaze to something behind her.
“Aedan.”

She hadn’t even noticed
him there.

Geo handed Aedan her
sword, which he slung over his shoulder. “No matter what happens,
make sure she gets to the portal.”

“Aye. You have my
word.” Aedan took her arm. “Come, lass.”

Geo put a hand on his
shoulder. “I know I can never repay you. But thank you.”

Her vision went blurry
with more tears. “Please, no.” She reached out to grasp his arm but
he pulled away.

Geo inhaled a deep
breath then, when he let it out, his face hardened into that of a
cruel warrior. He turned away and a sob escaped her. She didn’t
even care enough to be embarrassed.

She scrambled to reach
him. One last kiss – or at least a hug – but Aedan forced her
away.

“Going up, lass.” He
captured her in his arms and crouched to jump.

Gaze on Geo’s back, she
whispered, “Don’t leave me.”

Aedan loosened his grip
once he got Samantha up into the stands, but his ominous presence
behind her was a clear message – he’d hold her back if he had
to.

Sam’s whole body ached
with tension as she watched Geo fight the hydra. Every bit the
skilled warrior, he managed to slice three heads off the beast. But
each one grew back another in its place. This was an impossible
task. Despair grew in her chest. She couldn’t bear to watch him
die.

The hydra’s shriek
echoed across the arena. Geo had cut through another head. The
other dozen swung around while two new heads sprouted from the
stump.

“Damn it!” she
whispered. “Come on you stupid animal.”

“He’s a prisoner too,”
Aedan said in her ear. “Just trying to survive, like your
mate.”

Her mate. Fresh tears
formed but she pushed them back. How she wished that were true.

Geo ducked and dodged
each head as it tried to bite at him. He was tiring. She could see
it in his body. He wouldn’t last much longer.

“We have to help him,”
she told Aedan. Her satchel was gone but she had to try
something.

“Oh, no, lass.” He put
his arm around her shoulders. By the tight grip he kept on her
upper arm, she got the impression this was less of a supportive
gesture and more of a restraint. “Do not interfere. It will only
make things worse for him.” Aedan gazed down into the pit. “Don’t
worry too much. He knows what he’s doing.”

The hydra’s tail
swished and nailed Geo in the gut, sending him soaring across the
ring. He hit the concrete wall then fell to the ground.

She gave Aedan a sharp
look, which he ignored.

Slowly, Geo rose from
the ground. The crowd cheered. She glared at them. Well, they were
getting their fucking show.

She already owed that
bastard, Shade, a long, painful death. She’d like to extend it to
the crowd too. There’d be no Underworld Games if there weren’t
people to watch them.

Suddenly, the ground
shook. She wobbled on her feet before regaining balance. A few
people yelped in surprise. She looked down. A crack split down the
center of the ring.

Did she do that?

No, she would’ve felt
power that big. “What was that?” She looked at Aedan.

He was focused on
something to the far left. She followed his gaze to the balcony.
Shade?

“Her,” Aedan said,
almost reverently.

There stood Nikki, a
fire burning in her eyes as she peered at the crowd below. Her
hands shook, and though she looked ready to pass out, Sam couldn’t
miss that stubborn Blackthorn expression.

Nikki had just come
into her power. And she had a hell of a lot of anger to let
loose.

Another rumble shook
the stands. Geo swayed but stayed on his feet. The hydra gave a
roar when the ground shifted under him.

Was her sister strong
enough to make a sinkhole beneath the hydra?

A loud crack answered
her question. The ground opened in the center of the pit. Geo
stumbled back from the edge. But the hydra had nowhere to go but
down. The heads pitched and swayed as it lumbered clumsily off the
jagged cliff. The chain around its leg snapped and the hydra’s
terrified scream made Sam cover her ears. But Geo was still
standing.

He turned and his gaze
found hers.
He’s
alive.
She breathed a sigh of relief.

Then his body jerked. A
strangled shout escaped him.

What happened?

She looked down and saw
it. The hydra had wrapped its tail around his ankle, its spike
pierced through his leg. A distant shriek came from the hole in the
ground.

Geo’s arms reached
toward her. Then he was gone.

“No!” She ran to the
edge of the ring, ready to jump, when Aedan caught her.

“No, Samantha,” he
said, wrapping his arms around her chest.

Her heart pounded as
she fought him.
Get
to Geo. Save my demon.

“Now is not the time to
mourn for him,” he rasped harshly in her ear. He spun her to face
him and gripped her shoulders hard. “Your sister needs you.”

Geo was gone. Because
of her. She couldn’t breathe. She gulped air but couldn’t seem to
get enough.

“If you don’t snap out
of it,” Aedan said, catching her gaze, “I’m going to slap you.”

What? She shook her
head. Focus! Aedan was right. Her sister needed her and they had to
get the hell out of there.

“Okay.” She swallowed
hard and pulled herself together. “Okay. Let’s get Nikki.”

Aedan nodded. “There’s
a good lass.” He patted her arm.

A rain of lightning
shot down from the sky. Thunder boomed and the dimming sky lit up
with blue streaks of light.

“What the…” she trailed
off.
That couldn’t
be Nikki?
She looked up at her sister.

Nikki cowered against
the wall.

A woman in elaborate
costume appeared in the center of the ring. Surely, she hadn’t been
there seconds ago. Next to her stood a dark, terrifying man. The
woman lifted her hands and a bolt of lightning hit the ground only
feet from her.

Members of the audience
screamed and ran for cover. Several bolts of lightning hit the
stadium in random places. Pieces of the ground and benches exploded
in the air. The mountain rumbled behind them. Murmurs of a queen
started behind her.

She looked down at the
powerful witch. Dressed in tall black boots, leather pants, and a
purple and black corset top, with an elaborate headdress placed on
her braided hair, she looked every bit an Underworld Queen.

Sage? How she’d changed
from the insecure girl Sam had once met.

The stone guard ran
toward the queen. With a simple squeeze of her fist, they crumbled
to dust. She huffed as if blowing a kiss and a gust of wind swept
through the arena, blowing the dust into the air. The mountain
shook again, chunks of rock plunged to the ground.

She was bringing down
the whole damn place.

The crowd panicked and
fled in all directions. Samantha looked up at Nikki. She remained
glued to the wall furthest from the action.

A pale shape moved like
a blur, circling Shade, landing blows as he struggled to fight
back. The rest of the guard was fighting other soldiers Sage
must’ve brought.

Nikki yelped when a
bloody body rammed into the wall inches from her. Her chest
tightened. She couldn’t lose Nikki. She had to get to her.

Sam looked for a safe
path through the chaos then caught the queen staring at her.

Sage looked puzzled for
a moment, as if trying to recall how she knew her. Then recognition
hit. She said something to the man standing next to her – a
personal body guard? – then he looked up at Sam. He nodded once,
put a hand on Sage’s shoulder then they both disappeared.

Samantha was still
trying to understand it when they reappeared before her. She jumped
back, startled.

“Sam?” Sage asked, her
brows furrowed.

“Yes.” Should she call
her “your majesty?”

“What are you doing
here?”

Aedan jumped in.
“Queen, I promised her mate I’d return her Topside.” He gestured to
Nikki. “And her young sister. They’re mere mortals. They shouldn’t
be here.”

To Samantha’s surprise,
Sage nodded. “Marcelo will take you.” She turned to the tall,
Hispanic-looking man beside her. “You’ll have to get Shade out of
here to interrogate him. It’s about time I shut down the
Games.”

Last Sam knew, Sage was
mortal too. She cocked her head. No. Something was different.

“Bring them to Selene’s
house in Salem,” Sage said to Marcelo.

That’s when Samantha
saw it. A small pair of fangs. Sage was a vampire?

Marcelo nodded then
looked up into the stands nervously. “Keep an eye on my mate,
por
favor
.”

Samantha followed his
gaze. A small fae girl balanced gracefully on a ledge, a bow and
arrow trained on some target below. She let loose and a gurgled
scream signaled she hit her target. She loaded another arrow.

“Looks like she’s doing
fine to me,” Sage said with a smirk.

Marcelo’s eyes filled
with concern. “I should never have let her come.”

“Oh, loosen up, big
guy.” Sage rolled her eyes then slapped him on the arm.

Samantha winced.
Marcelo didn’t look like the kind of guy you slapped around. He
smirked. “So says the girl mated to James.”

Her eyes twinkled as
she looked at the figure fighting Shade. “Yep. That’s my
overprotective idiot of a mate.”

The blur stopped a
moment to peer down at Sage. Slender, but muscular, with strawberry
blonde hair, even bloodied up a bit, the man was a dream to look
at.

“I’ll be right back,”
Aedan said, staring up at the balcony. Then he ran off before Sam
could question him.

Shade and Sage’s mate
began their fight again. It was impossible to see who was winning –
they moved too fast.

Samantha watched Aedan
make his way through the chaos, dodging and ducking the fights that
had broken out among the crowd. Where the stadium and the throne
intersected, he leapt up and grabbed a decorative ornament with one
hand. Swinging his body back and forth, he gained enough momentum
to throw his feet up over his head and land, perched on the top of
the balcony railing.

The guard standing near
her sister didn’t stand a chance. Aedan jumped, feet first,
knocking him in the chest. The guard fell and Aedan sliced his
throat before he could even try to rise.

Nikki scrambled away
from Aedan and his bloody knife, but he caught her easily.

“It’s okay, Nikki!” Sam
yelled, but doubted her sister could hear her.

Aedan threw her over
his shoulder then zig-zagged back down to the stands as if he held
nothing more than a sack of rice. Nikki put up a small fight. She
must’ve been weak from using her magic or she’d have fought
more.

He returned and placed
Nikki on her feet. Samantha grabbed her and hugged her so tight
Nikki had to struggle to get free.

“You’re crushing me,”
she rasped.

“Sorry.” Sam’s
traitorous eyes started tearing again. “I missed you so much. Are
you okay?” She looked her over but could see no serious injury.

“I’m sorry, little
one,” Aedan said softly. “I hope I didn’t hurt…” He trailed off
when Nikki turned to face him. His mouth popped open. Every muscle
tensed as his eyes grew wide.

“Aedan,” Samantha said.
“What’s wrong?”

He continued to stare
though he closed his mouth. His eyes darkened and held such
intensity, it actually scared her.

“Aedan!”

He flinched then gave
his head a shake. With no explanation, he turned to Marcelo. “Take
this one first, vampire.” He took Nikki’s arm and held it out to
Marcelo.

Sage had left them
already. From the corner of her eye, Sam saw her standing in front
of the mountain as rocks continued to fall to the ground. They had
to get out of there fast. Though Aedan was being scary weird, she
agreed with him – Nikki first.

Marcelo took Nikki’s
hand. He stopped and stared down at Aedan’s arm. For the first
time, Samantha noticed a tattoo on his forearm. Some kind of
symbol, but she couldn’t make out what it was.

“I can’t take you,”
Marcelo told Aedan.

“I know.” He rubbed the
tattoo then looked at Nikki. With that same intensity burning in
his eyes, he put a finger under her chin. “Until we meet again,
banphrionsa
.”

What?

Then Marcelo and Nikki
disappeared.

Seconds later, the
vampire returned for her. Samantha took one last look around. She
gazed at the pit where Geo had fallen, silently wishing for him to
crawl out. She could almost see it. First a hand, followed by his
muscular arm. Then his thick brown hair she loved to grab in
handfuls, his horns hidden underneath. His warm copper eyes and
slightly crooked nose. And the firm lips he used to melt her with
just a kiss. The sexy half-smirk that made her all tingly. His
husky voice calling out to her. Telling her everything would be
okay. He would keep her safe.

But he didn’t crawl
out.

Her knees threatened to
buckle as a sob escaped her. A firm grip on her arm snapped her
back to attention.

“Your sister is your
life now,” Aedan whispered, giving her a small shake. “Grieve hard
for him, but not too long. Samantha, you are all she has.”