Fated Ties: A Werewolf Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 3) (8 page)

CHAPTER 9

Marella waded through the thick, white clouds. They were light and fluffy to the touch.

She was dreaming.

The sun shone down brightly, illuminating her long, silver dress. There was a light refreshing breeze that emanated a peaceful serenity.

“Angel,” his voice came, softer than usual.

She turned around to see him standing behind her, dressed in white pants and a snug shirt that clung to his broad chest, highlighting the well-defined muscle beneath. His thick, black hair blew in the wind. He was a sight to behold. She could feel her body warming just from looking at him. His piercing, red eyes looked upon her, afire with the depth of his love for her.

“Nathanial.”

He smiled. “Marella.”

“You conjured this for me?” she asked happily.

“I wanted to look upon you in the daylight. Here that is possible.”

“It’s beautiful,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and holding him close. His powerful arms pulled her closer.

“I have missed you greatly, Marella.”

“As I have, you.”

“At nightfall, I will return with Ryan to the White Realm. We will be together again within a few hours, angel.”

He pulled back from their embrace and then his lips crashed against hers. She tugged at his hair, pulling him closer.

“I want you now, Nathanial,” she breathed in his ear.

His hands slid down her dress and he started to bunch it up.

But then he stopped abruptly and eyed her worriedly. “Something is wrong. I’m sensing—”

“Me,” a voice came from behind them.

He released her and spun around, pushing her behind him in a protective gesture.

“Vazra,” he hissed, seething. “Leave us. You do not belong here. Only black magic could have allowed you to breach our subconscious minds to gain access here without an invitation.”

“Oriana is an asset in many ways, wouldn’t you agree?”

“If you’re hinting at having taken her to your bed, I do not care. But your daughter will. She is Ryan’s mother, after all. A bit incestuous of you, Vazra.”

Vazra looked past him at Marella, a fierce glare dripping with accusation. “You were my right-hand advisor, Marella. And you have betrayed me! Sleeping with the Vampire King?”

“He is my mate.”

“I do not care!” Vazra thundered. “Whore!”

Nathanial was on him in a second, his hand wrapped around his throat, hoisting him into the air. “You do not speak to her that way! How dare you? Apologize, immediately!”

“She will pay for her betrayal,” Vazra choked out.

“You will not touch her! She is mine!” Nathanial hissed as he tightened his grip, choking the life from him.

Vazra laughed. “You cannot stop me. You are realms apart.” His eyes flashed with flaming silver and then he said, “Look up. Time for you to leave.”

Marella looked up. Terror gripped her as she saw the sun forcing its way through the thick clouds surrounding them. A single ray touched his shoulder and he hissed as it burned his skin.

“Stop, Vazra! You will kill him!”

“If he leaves, that will not be his fate…for now.”

Several more rays of sunlight forced their way through the clouds, assaulting Nathanial’s entire body. He hissed and broke his grip on Vazra. He grunted against the assault.

Marella ran to him as she watched smoke emanating from him. He was seconds away from bursting into flames.

“Nathanial! Go! Now!” she screamed.

He turned to her, the flesh on his face peeling away from the sun’s brutal assault. “I cannot leave you,” he rasped, collapsing to his knees.

She was on him in a second, wrapping herself around him, trying to protect him from the sun above.

“Please, Nathanial. I am begging you. Leave. Wake up. I need you on the other side.”

“Marella—”

“I love you!”

Their eyes met and she saw his desperation to protect her. “I…love…you, angel.”

“Go,” she pleaded. “Now.”

He nodded sadly. And, in the next second, he was gone.

#

Nathanial’s eyes snapped open and he jolted upright in bed. To his surprise, Ryan and Orion stood at the foot of his bed. Ryan was yelling at him. It took him a moment to realize what he was saying.

“Vazra,” was his only answer.

“How are you…burned?” Ryan asked, gesturing to his face and naked chest.

“It will heal,” he responded distractedly.

He bolted out of bed and started to pace the room frantically as he tried to think. He knew Vazra was going to punish Marella for her
supposed
betrayal. He had to get to her immediately. But he had to be careful. He had to remain levelheaded. If he didn’t, he risked starting a war with the White Realm. That would be catastrophic for everyone.

“Tell me what happened, Nathanial.”

“He…he took her…burned me…he’ll…hurt her…he’ll….”

“Marella? Vazra took Marella? He knows about you two?”

“Yes.”

“You can’t just burst on into the White Realm without Vazra’s permission.”

“I realize that!”

Ryan gripped his arm, forcing him to stop pacing. “But
I
can with Cora’s White Realm blood running through my veins. I have an idea.”

CHAPTER 10

Cora! I am sorry! Help me, please! Only you can break it! Help me!

“Argh!” Cora exclaimed, clutching her head.

“You okay?” Josh asked.

She blinked hard and looked at him sitting across from her on the floor of his room. They were playing poker and he’d kicked her ass on every single one of the five hands they’d played.

“Yeah. Fine,” she answered, studying her cards. “I just thought I heard something…in my head. I’m probably just being paranoid, because of the whole Oriana thing.”

“You’re not supposed to be thinking about her, Cor. That was the whole point of us playing…to distract you from all of that until Ryan and your son return.”

She smiled sweetly at him. “You’re right. Sorry.”

He adjusted his weight on the floor and told her, “You gonna fold again, sweetheart?”

She rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re doing, Josh.”

“And what is that?” he asked, his eyes wide with innocence.

“Hustling me.”

He laughed. “Yeah. And you’re so easy, sweetheart. I can’t believe, in all the time that you and Ry have been together, that he never taught you
any
of his tricks.”

“
His
tricks? You learned from him?”

“Yup. He’s a mean poker player.”

She chuckled. “I think I’m learning.”

“Really?” he challenged. “Then call it.”

“Fine.”

And she proceeded to do just that. Josh stared in wonder.

She jumped to her feet and pumped her fists in the air, making a
whoop, whoop
sound of celebration.

“All right. I’ll give you that. You
are
getting better.”

“You know what I
can
beat your ass at? Every time?”

He climbed to his feet and brushed down his jeans and shook out his leather jacket. “What?”

“Racing.”

“Bike? Car?”

“Bike, of course. As soon as we get back to the human realm, we’ll do it. You game?”

“Always. But I have to warn you, I’m better than Ry.”

She cocked an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah, you wanna back down now?” he teased.

“Never.”

He laughed. “Oh, by the way, now that you’re stronger, you should call him out next time the pack fools around arm wrestling.”

“I can’t do that to him.”

“He’ll like it,” Josh assured her as he knelt back down on the floor and started shuffling the cards for another round.

Cora scoffed. “I’m sure.”

“He likes feisty women. It’ll get him hard.”

“It worries me that you know that,” she said as she joined him on the floor.

“Hey! He’s normally very vocal about that stuff.” He watched her face flush and he added, “Not since he’s been with you, though. He plays that close to his chest. I guess, cuz he loves you and all that shit.”

Cora started to laugh, but then the voice she’d assumed she’d imagined earlier ripped through her head. It was a lot louder this time.

Cora! Please…help…me. My…sweet! I’m sorry…I hurt…you! I need…you!

“David?” she gasped aloud.

Please! I beg you! Help!

“David?” Josh queried, stopping short and eyeing her.

“Yeah,” she murmured, getting to her feet. “Something’s wrong.”

“He contacted you? How is that possible? He’s not your mate. He doesn’t have a telepathic link to you.”

“I…it wasn’t the same. Not really telepathy. It was more like a call that only I can hear.”

“Well, ignore it. Fuck him. He’s in the human realm now.”

Cora shook her head. “No…he’s…
here
,” she said, her gaze locking with his. She closed her eyes and concentrated, focusing on David’s call, trying to ascertain his location. His call was so pained, so intense, that it was easy to latch onto.
Got it!

“Fuck, he’s in the basement,” she said, bolting for the door.

“The basement? I didn’t even know there
was
a basement,” Josh said as he followed after her.

They made their way down the stairs to the main floor. Glancing around, neither of them saw any sort of basement access anywhere nearby.

“Maybe it’s through here—round the other side,” Cora said, heading down the corridor.

“Wait!” Josh called after her, stopping short as something unsavory assaulted his wolf senses.

She hurried back to him. “What? What is it?”

He sniffed the air. “Blood.”

“You can sense blood? I thought only vampires could do that?”

“No, wolves can sense
anything
, anything that has a scent. And what I’m sensing now, it’s not just blood, it’s—” He stopped talking when he saw the look in her eyes.

“It’s what?” she pressed.

“Uh…never mind.”
He looked away and started to follow the scent instead. “Underneath the stairs,” he told her.

She stepped forward. And that was when she saw it: a floor tile that, on a quick glance, looked like nothing more. But, as she peered closer, she saw the tiny lever there. She reached for it and pulled hard. It moved aside with ease to reveal a concrete staircase beneath.

“Josh, yes! Here it is!” she exclaimed.

He threw out his arm, before she could take her first step. “Let me go first, just in case.”

She huffed, not liking his protective gesture. But she let him brush past her and go on ahead anyway, knowing he was just following Ryan’s orders to watch her back, while he was away.

They made their way to the bottom of the staircase and found themselves standing in a damp, acrid-smelling corridor with nothing but three doors on either side of them.

Josh choked violently.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Just…the stench of blood and…flesh…it’s…overwhelming. Shit.”

Flesh? Eww.
But she was on a mission. She wouldn’t let that stop her.

She brushed past him and approached the first door on the right. She reached for the handle and jumped back in shock. “My father’s magic.”

Her eyes narrowed with resolve and she gripped the handle tightly. Her fingers shook with fervor as she called a shitload of power to her to break through her father’s magic. Moments later, she heard a clang. She’d done it. “It’s unlocked now,” she told Josh over her shoulder.

She pushed open the door.

* * * * *

“Cora! Wait!” Josh screamed at her, the second she opened the door. The stench wafted towards him and it churned his stomach. He knew what awaited them inside now. And he didn’t want her to see it.

But it was too late. She’d already stepped inside.

He heard her scream. And then…violent retching.
Shit.

He hurried in after her and found her bent at the waist, throwing up violently. He reached for her hair, to keep it out of her face, but stopped short when he caught sight of the man hanging on the wall, restrained by chains and cuffs.

“Fucking hell.”

The guy was ripped to pieces. There was blood everywhere. His guts were spilling out. His features were barely recognizable.
Christ, I’ve seen a lot of horrendous things over the years, but this? This is something else.

Cora straightened up and turned to the man, doing her damndest not to look too closely. “David.”

“David? That’s him?”

Cora nodded sadly. “Yeah. My father…
he
did this.”

She approached him and upturned both her palms. Balls of white light exploded into being.

“Cora, you can’t! Vazra, he’ll—”

“I don’t care,” she snapped. “Despite what David did, no one deserves to suffer
this
.”

Fuck, I can’t argue with that.
“Hurry then.”

She threw the balls at David’s restraints. They shattered instantly. He groaned as he started to fall. Cora threw out her hand and held him in mid-air with her magic. She released it slowly and he crumpled to the floor. She skidded to her knees beside him. Josh was at her side in a second. She looked at him, terror in her eyes. “I…it’s…bad….”

“I know. Don’t look too close.”

“I don’t need to,” she realized aloud.

Josh watched in wonder as she closed her eyes, her hands hovering over David’s unconscious, bloodied, and shredded body. That familiar silver glow emanated from both her hands. He gasped as, moments later, he watched David’s wounds slowly start to heal right before his eyes.

But then her hands started to tremble and her head fell forward.

“Cora, pull back!”

“Not…yet.”

“Healing him is draining you!”

She ignored him. But then David’s hand shot out, gripping her wrist. “That’s enough,” he croaked.

Cora trembled at his sudden contact and her eyes snapped open, inadvertently breaking her magic.

Josh watched her waver and he quickly reached for her and wrapped his arms around her. She shuddered at his contact, just like she had with David. He knew what was going on with her. With Ryan away, he’d been keeping an eye on her, protecting her and watching her back. It was his duty to protect his Alpha’s mate. Ever since she’d found out about David touching her and doing hell knew what else without her consent, she’d been jumpy around all men.

“It’s okay,” he told her gently.

He felt her relax against him, trusting in his assurances. He helped her to her feet. He could feel her leaning into him, using his body to support hers. He glanced at David and saw him struggle to his feet. He was still bleeding from a couple of wounds, but nothing like he had been. He would be fine. He’d heal.

“Thank you,” he told Cora sincerely.

“Healing you drained her,” Josh snapped.

“Josh, it’s okay. It was my choice. Go, David. Now.”

David nodded. “I will repay you for this, Cora. Thank you.”

“Wait,” Cora said, reaching out to him.

Stunned, he took it warily. “Magical wards surround the palace, created by my father’s magic. He will sense you and refuse to allow you passage. You need
my
magic. Only I can breach his.”

David shook his head. “No, you have done enough. What you’re suggesting is treason. He will punish you, princess.”

“Seconded. Don’t, Cora,” Josh cut in.

“If I don’t, healing him will have been pointless.” And before either of them could protest again, she closed her eyes and gripped David’s hand tightly. When she opened them a moment later, he was gone.

“Fuck,” Josh growled. “You really want to get both of us killed, don’t you? Is that how you get your rocks off when Ryan isn’t around? Danger? Is this an adrenaline-junkie thing?” he muttered as he helped her to the door.

Cora rolled her eyes. “No one is killing anyone.”

They had barely made it back into the corridor when Josh stopped short. “Someone else is here.”

“What?” Cora gasped.

“A woman,” he said, leading them to the door on the far left.

“I thought you wanted to get the hell out of here,” Cora said when Josh gestured for her to unlock the door with her magic as she’d done before.

His gaze locked with hers, intensity burning in his eyes as he said, “She’s with child.”

“Oh my God!” Cora exclaimed. “You’re serious? And she’s in this hell hole?”

Without another word, she breached the lock. Josh pushed the door open and they both started when they saw who hung chained to the wall this time.

“Marella!” Cora shrieked, breaking from Josh and staggering towards her.

Marella gazed at her weakly. “Cora?” she rasped.

Her dress was shredded, her hair matted. Her face was bloodied and bruised and it looked like a couple of her fingers were broken. Lacerations covered her body and blood oozed from them. And as Josh’s gaze moved lower, he saw the swell of her pregnant belly.

“Shit. What happened? Why are you here? You’re pregnant?” Cora asked in a panicked rush.

“Go. Now. It’s…too dangerous,” Marella urged her.

“No, I’m not leaving you here!” She laid her hand gently on her belly and then told her, “The child is well.”

Marella smiled gratefully and tears filled her eyes. “Thank you. I didn’t know…he bound my…magic.” She gestured to the collar around her neck.

“Josh?” Cora said. “Can you break that?”

“No!” Marella gasped. “If you break it…he’ll know…you’re here….”

“Whose child is it?” Cora asked.

“Nathanial’s.”

“Oh my God.”

“You have to…stop him…don’t let him…come for me…it will…bring…war….”

Cora shook her head. “He won’t need to come here, cuz we’re getting you out of here right the hell now.” She called over her shoulder, “Now break that damned collar, Josh.”