Tamed: A Huntress Spin-off Novel (27 page)

I smiled so sadly at him. I loved the necklace; I just hated the reason he was giving it to me.

“It’s really nice. The claw marks are my favorite part. Thank you.”

He smiled. “Turn around.”

And so I did, lifting my hair as he put the necklace on my neck.

I turned and wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight. “I’m going to miss you.” I shut my eyes and let my tears slide down my cheeks.

He let out a sigh. “Me, too, Paige.”

I held onto him for the longest time, not ready to break away from him just yet as I savored the final hug before death took him away from me.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The half-moon was at its highest in the sky, the strongest as its power poured down on us. I could feel its power within. It vibrated against my bones and rushed through my veins. A feeling that was all too consuming as the wolf howled inside of me. Now I understood what the legend meant about how the full moon affected the wolf, urging it to abandon the human mask that it hid under and roam free.

“You can feel it, can’t you? The moon,” Hunter said.

I tore my eyes away from the night sky and looked at Hunter, who came to stand beside me. “It’s a rush.”

“Imagine what it’s going to feel like on the night of the full moon. I get excited just thinking about it. The rush you feel now is only a small taste of what is yet to come. It will overwhelm you and take control.” He smiled and nudged me in the arm. “I’m going to have so much fun taking you out on your first time. It’s always better if you’re in a pack. Since I left mine, it hasn’t been that fun.”

“You were in a pack?”

“Yeah. There were five of us, including me. I met Vi, left the pack, and moved here. My old alpha, Maddox, forbid any of us to mate outside of our own kind, but Drew and I couldn’t help ourselves.”

“Does it hurt to turn?”

“It’s painful, but it only lasts a couple of minutes.”

“That doesn’t sound too tempting.”

“I believe you already got a taste of what it will feel like. The muscles spasms you endured while you were turning is what you feel when your wolf comes out.”

I groaned. “They were the worst.”

He chuckled. “You’ll do just fine. You were at death’s door; you can handle turning into a wolf. Besides, I’ll be right there with you.”

“Paige,” Demetrius called.

I turned to face him.

“Do you remember the chants?”

My eyes instantly fell on Silas, who stood leaning against the wall with his arms folded and a frown to his face. Dark circles had formed underneath his eyes.

“I don’t remember all of it.”

“I’ll help you through it then.”

“Okay. Does he seem sick to you?”

He averted his gaze to Silas. “He hasn’t fed. He started looking sick earlier today. From the looks of it, it’s been a couple of days of him depriving himself.” He shook his head. “Out of all of the families that have come to me for help with saving their loved ones, he’s the most unique demon I’ve ever had to deal with. I actually think he’s depressed. The way he acted with you, so protective and willing to sacrifice himself to save you, shocked me. Although, I see him more of a danger because he does feel love, and when love and evil collide, it’s never a good thing. When hurt, he could easily be driven into madness by the same powerful emotion that consumed him…love.”

I sighed and shut my eyes as the heavy feeling grew. “He’s bonded with evil.”

I was more so trying to encourage myself to go through with it.

“Paige,” Violet called.

My heart sank as I focused my attention on Violet, who knelt on the floor, and as she lit the final candle, she shifted her attention to me. The candles shined their light over her face, and her skin glowed with beauty. “It’s time.”

I nodded and went to her. Silas came to stand beside me. Violet cut her palm with a dagger and let her blood spill in the middle of the pentagram, and I did the same. Violet held the dagger out for Silas.

“I have claws.”

“Okay, then. You should stand to the side for now. I have to leave the circle open so that you can step inside the pentagram after Paige breaks the bond,” Violet said.

“And then you spill your blood,” Demetrius said.

“I know what to do, hunter,” Silas said.

Violet handed Eli an Amethyst. “Put this down as soon as Silas steps in the pentagram to lock them in.”

“Okay.”

I took my place on the pentagram. With my body tense and my stomach heavy with hurt, I took in a breath and tried to push the feeling aside. I couldn’t allow my grief to cloud my mind. I couldn’t risk second thoughts.

I looked at Silas, whose miserable eyes were already settled on me.

“No hesitating. It has to be this way,” he said.

I nodded. He was right, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. I held the locket that was hanging from my neck.

“Remember, put power behind his name when you call on him,” Demetrius said.

I shut my eyes and focused. “Ambrose.”

For a moment, the air was still. I could feel the evil in the room before he showed, and the hair on my arms rose. Then he appeared. His eyes so malicious and angry, stared into mine, and with my eyes just as cold as his were, I glared back, refusing to let him put fear in me.

Demetrius began to chant, reminding me what to say. “I unbound my soul from you, Ambrose, and free myself of your evil ways-”

“So that you shall no longer have control over me!” Ambrose yelled, finishing the chant. A smile so sinister, crossed his face. “You’re not protected.”

I gasped as he lunged forward with his claws out. He suddenly stopped, gasping for breath as he held his heart. He fell to his knees, immobilized by the pain in his chest.

“Go on!” Violet yelled. Her arm was outstretched, and her hand was balled as she focused on Ambrose, unleashing her power.

“I unbound my soul from you, Ambrose, and free myself of your evil ways, so that you shall no longer have control over me.”

I repeated the chant over and over five times as air gushed all around us, swirling like a tornado, and when I spoke the last words, the unknown force hit into my stomach and I gasped as pain exploded within, ripping apart the bond that held us together. Ambrose’s face contorted in pain as he held his stomach, feeling the force shred through his insides. When it was done, I was relieved of the stabbing pain instantly, only to be left with a dull ache.

Silas stepped inside the pentagram, and Eli quickly locked them in with the Amethyst. Ambrose looked up at Silas, the anger masking the hurt he felt from his own twin’s betrayal. His eyes widened as Silas cut his palm with his claw and let the blood fall to the floor.

“You idiot!” Ambrose yelled.

He stood in a flash, driving his claws deep into Silas’ stomach. My mouth fell open as the sight of him getting hurt took my breath away.

“You’re willing to die for some girl who never even loved you back. You’re pathetic!”

Silas gasped, blood spilling from his mouth as Ambrose twisted his claws, shredding through his insides even more.

“Repeat after me, Paige. I cast you, Ambrose and Silas… demons of the night…to the fiery pits of hell…where you shall burn in the eternal flame of fire,” Demetrius said.

This was it…this was when I would have to let him go. Tears fell from my eyes almost instantly and I kept my head down, afraid to look up at him in fear that I would back out. I
refused
to include Silas’ name in the chant, because I didn’t agree with killing him. I was killing Ambrose, therefore, his name was the only name coming out of my mouth. Unfortunately, not saying Silas’ name wouldn’t change his fate.

“I cast you, Ambrose…demon of the night…to the fiery pits of hell…where you shall burn in the eternal flame of fire.” My heart thumped so hard against my chest as I balled my hands into fists, and forced myself to say it again.

“I cast you, Ambrose…demon of the night…to the fiery pits of hell…where you shall burn in the eternal flame of fire.”  My voice was shaking in sorrow.

I took in a much needed breath as the pain hit me deep in my gut. It was so overwhelming that I almost cried out from the ache. I was killing him! I could hear their gasps, their cries from the pain.

“Paige,” Silas’ voice filled with so much agony, and it made me cringe. I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to acknowledge how my words, so powerful and deadly, tortured his very soul.

My throat grew thick as the misery I was forced to endure tore me to pieces. I had to say it one last and final time. Silas would have to leave me forever. I wished there was another way. I just wanted to be woken up from the nightmare. I forced myself to continue on, and I looked up, immediately regretting it once my eyes fell on Silas. His face was contorted in pain and his skin bubbled, as if the blood that swam through his veins boiled with heat. With much hesitance, I finished the chant and watched as they burst into flames, burning until there was nothing left but the ashes of their remains.

My hand flew to my mouth and I cried so hard as the pain of losing him cut me deep. I gasped for breath. “I killed him!”

With empathy in their eyes, they looked helpless as they watched me fall apart, knowing that nothing would change how I felt. They all came to me at once, forming a circle around me as they embraced me with comfort and love. Eli hung back, waiting for his turn, and when they freed me of their embrace, I immediately went to him, wrapping my arms around him as I melted in his arms.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way. Let’s go in the house and I’ll make you some coffee with cinnamon in it, of course. Would you like that?”

He brushed the tears away with his thumbs.

I sniffled. “I think I’m going to stay here. Alone.”

“Alone? No. You don’t need to be alone right now,” Taylor said.

“We could have girl time, if you’re up for it. Company always seems to help in times like this,” Chelsea said, hopeful that I would say yes.

“If you stay here then I want to stay with you,” Eli said.

“I have to clear my head. Then I’ll come find you.”

“Guys, she needs time to process everything. She’ll be okay,” Violet said.

Eli exhaled. “Fine, but I don’t like it.”

His eyes fell on the locket, and he picked the pendant up. “Claw marks…it’s from him, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “It’s the only thing I have to remember him by. Do you mind if I wear it?”

He didn’t answer right away as he stared down at the necklace. “I will never agree with what you two had, but I can’t change how much you cared about him. This locket is important to you. I refuse to take it away. I don’t mind at all.”

He left a soft, lingering kiss on my lips before following everyone out of the training facility.

Some of the candles still burned, flickering their light all around me as I lied on the floor with tears covering my cheeks and my hand wrapped around the locket. I couldn’t keep Silas’ final moment of life from my mind, and I knew it would forever haunt me. He screamed my name. He begged me to stop, because it hurt him so bad. I closed my eyes and shook my head. It was a horrible sound. I had lost yet another person who left their mark on my heart, and it was proof that the omen, the burden of death, still followed me, continuing its torture on my heart and soul.

“I’m sorry, Silas,” I whispered.

****

The door to the training facility opened and I sat up, averting my gaze to Athena, Chelsea, and Violet entering the room. I eyed the bottle of vodka in Chelsea’s hand, and an already filled shot glass in the other. My mouth watered as the urge to have a drink rushed over me. With that temptation came fear. I was afraid to lose myself in booze. I let myself become a monster. I let myself become dependent on alcohol. I liked drinking, and I liked the numbness it brought, but I learned that it only made my life that much more complicated. I was hurting the people around me. I hated seeing the worry and helplessness on the faces of the people that I loved. It was making my relationship with Eli complicated, and if I didn’t stop, pretty soon, our love would only grow toxic. I didn’t see it before, but with the help and tough love around me, I learned that alcohol was only destroying me. There was another way to conquer my pain, and it was Eli’s way. I had a long road ahead of me before I got better, but I knew it would be worth it in the end.

They sat down with me and Athena placed the shot glasses on the floor in front of Chelsea.

“So, we think we waited long enough to come see you. I mean, it’s been an hour already. We were afraid if we didn’t come, you would’ve stayed in here alone all night,” Athena said.

“You’re probably right,” I said.

“You weren’t actually alone, though. Eli and Hunter have been outside, peeking in through the window,” Chelsea said.

I smiled. “I should’ve known Eli wasn’t going to leave.”

“Hunter actually had a fit when he had to leave,” Violet said.

“What? Why?”

“He’s your alpha. His duty is to protect and care for you, especially in times like this. He wanted to give you space, but he also has to fulfill his role as the alpha, so he decided to watch over you from a distance.”

I sighed. “Oh, right.”

I wasn’t so sure about the whole alpha exerting dominance over me thing.

“You don’t like the idea of an alpha, I know, but it will be good for you. He’s not overbearing, and as you can see, he’ll give you the freedom you need, but take control of the situation when you’re troubled and thinking irrationally…if he has it in him, that is. He’s a softy. Try it, and if you don’t like it, you could always go rogue,” Violet said.