Unbound, a Paranormal Romance (Book 2 of the Spellbound Series) (6 page)

BOOK: Unbound, a Paranormal Romance (Book 2 of the Spellbound Series)
2.73Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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I nodded through my tears, and he walked me past Annie’s cell and on toward another.

“This one is better for you, Miss,” Bion said as he sat me in the darker of the two cells.

“Help me, Bion,” I said tearfully.

He nodded as he walked up the stairs.

I drew my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, sunk my head, and sobbed.

“Tears won’t help you here.” The faint voice of a woman with a dry throat came from the dark corner of the cell I was in. A chill of fear ran down my spine leaving me scared at the thought of whom I might encounter next. I turned toward the door of the cell that appeared locked, and I feared that was by order of Persephone.

“Who is there?”

“Stay where you are! I have not fed, and I am a danger to you,” she warned.

“Are you a vampire?” I asked

“Yes, and I have not fed in a very long time,” she reiterated.

“I understand. I have a friend that is a vampire too. I am Antonia, by the way.”

“Antonia, as in Hades’ lover?” she asked, as though startled by my name.

I nodded. “What is your name? And how do you know of me?” I shuddered as the shadowy figure move toward me. It only took seconds before she was in front of me. I blinked to confirm that my tired eyes were not playing tricks on me.

“You are the doppelganger that she has spoken of all these years,” the woman said cryptically. “I did not believe it but now I see that it is true.” She stood before my eyes, an exact replica of me: Same hair, nose, and mouth. Our resemblance was uncanny, except for her jet-black eyes. I stood and looked her in the eye, touching the side of her face as she turned away.

“I am too close…I do not want to hurt you, Antonia,” she said moving back to the dark side of the dungeon.

“But who are you? And how do we look alike?” I asked, moving closer.

“Stay where you are…please, I don’t want to hurt you,” she warned desperately. “My name is Joanna Hollander.” She sounded defeated.

“Joanna! But you are dead…Ben said you were dead.”

“Ben? How do you know Benjamin?” Joanna asked. In an instant, she was standing before me once more.

“I-I worked with him,” I said afraid to tell her that I loved him.

“Worked with him,” she repeated.

I stuck my arm out between us. “Yes. If you need blood, please take some of mine. I will need you to be strong when Ben gets here,” I said.

“But I don’t understand why Ben would come to the underworld?” Joanna asked.

“Because that bitch of a wife that Hades married is luring him here to save me,” I said.

“What? Persephone is luring him here for you. But if you just work together, why would he go to such lengths to save you?”

I hesitated. “Ben and I were a little more than just co-workers… When I found out he was a vampire, we became roommates… and lovers too. I think, though I can’t remember that part that clearly. But he was drawn to me because I looked like you. He even thought we were related. I was brought here to be with Hades and, well, now I am in the dungeon with you, waiting for Ben to arrive.
To save me and you too.”
I was exasperated by now.

“And Catherine.
What became of her?” Joanna asked.

“Catherine? You don’t know. Where have you been?” I asked, suddenly uncertain if this was all part of Persephone’s plan.

“I have been here in the underworld, waiting for the doppelganger to arrive. I was woken today and brought to this dungeon. And now I met you. What became of Catherine?” she asked again, grinding the words out from clenched teeth.

“Catherine became a vampire. She was recently staked by Ben,” I said with a smile that tickled my lips.

“No! Why would he kill her? She loved him and he her,” Joanna said angrily.

“That is true, but she was on the wrong side—evil. If you know Ben, which I think you do, he will only side with good. Now, drink. I need you to be strong if we are going to escape,” I said, extending my arm again.

“No. I do not drink of humans.” She turned her head. “We will never escape. Persephone needs us both and will not chance letting us get away.”

“What does she want with us?” I asked.

“Are you not aware of the tale of the doppelgangers?” she asked in surprise.

“I know that doppelgangers are lookalikes.”

“A doppelganger is an omen of death,” she corrected me. “Both of us are meant to die—and soon.” Her words stopped me in my tracks.

“Die? I’m not going to die! Hades won’t let that happen.”

“Of course he won’t…you keep telling yourself that. But he is not here, Persephone is, and she is evil. I did not think anything evil could come of Zeus, but she is evil, and she will kill you, me, Ben…whoever, without a second thought.”

“No,” I whispered. I sat down again and pulled my knees back to my chest, thinking of Hades and my love for him. He seemed sincere. Maybe he didn’t know that his wife knew about me, or that she was crazy enough to kill me. It wouldn’t be the first time a wife killed the other woman, but that still didn’t explain Joanna. What could she possibly want with her?

****

When people expect something to happen, it seems to take forever. That’s exactly how I felt in the dungeon. I sat, I cried, I paced, I talked to Joanna, and I found some cute things out about Ben, but no one came for us—not Persephone, not Hades, not Annie, Ben, Kevin, or even Bion. I was feeling defeated when the door to the dungeon finally opened. Hope filled my eyes as Ben’s handsome face rounded the corner, followed by Kevin and Dawn. That hope vanished when I realized all three were bound with chains and Dawn with a wind bind on her mouth. Annie ushered them into her old empty cell before walking over to me.

“Poor foolish Toni.
You will never
learn
who to trust, will you?” She smiled evilly.

“I don’t understand why you are doing this to me? What did I ever do to you for you to turn on me?” I asked pleadingly.

She laughed. “I know you have all of these men wrapped around your little finger. You are so dramatic.” She turned her back on me and walked away with no further explanation.

“Antonia!” both Ben and Kevin called when Annie was gone.

I couldn’t even speak. I just put my hand up to wave as Joanna emerged from the darkness.

“Benjamin?”

Ben’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Joanna, is that you?” he asked, walking closer to our cell.

“Yes,” Joanna said, crying tearlessly.

I walked over to her and put my arms around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug.

“Antonia, you and the vampire have an uncanny resemblance,” Kevin said.

“I know. She has already told me that we are doppelgangers,” I said, still in our embrace.

“The hair, the nose, everything is the same. How…and when did you change, Antonia?” Ben asked, looking at both Joanna and me.

“When Annie broke the spell it gave me back all of my memories, and changed my hair and eyes. And now I know everything,” I said as I looked over at Kevin.

“Don’t worry, Antonia, we will escape this place and have the life we always wanted with babies and a home in the countryside,” Kevin said as he smiled my way.

I decided I should tell him now rather than later. I patted Joanna and walked over to the bars that held our cell together. “Kevin––”

Just then, the dungeon door opened. We all turned to see who was coming when Bion made his way down the stairs. My eyes met his before he put his head down.

“Miss Antonia, Master Hades is on his way but he will need to
deal
with Persephone before he can get you and your friends out of here,” Bion said, breathless as he made it to the door of my cell.

“Thank you, Bion; you will be rewarded for all of your help.” I took his large warm hand in mine. When I smiled, he bowed, turned on his heels, and went back up the stairs.

“You are really delusional to think Hades will get you out of this Antonia,” Joanna said sarcastically.

I became enraged as I turned to face her. “You know nothing of my love for Hades or his love for me! Until you do, please do not speak to me about what he will do for me,” I roared.

“Antonia, you love Hades?” Ben asked, appearing confused.

The question caught me off guard. “Yes,” I responded before both men’s faces scrunched up in disgust. “I mean, I love you too, Kevin…and you, Ben. But my love for Hades is different.”

That’s when Dawn grunted. I looked at her and she was muffling and huffing at both Ben and Kevin. Then the ground began to shake. I lived in San Francisco for years and could still remember a few earthquakes that I felt, but this was unreal. The violent vibrations rocked the dungeon as the pounding got stronger. I stilled along with everyone else and concentrated on the moving ground. I fell in the midst of the shaking, as did Ben, Kevin, and Joanna, but Dawn stood solid. When the quake ceased, Dawn’s position remained along with her unfazed grimace.

“Dawn, did you cause that earthquake?” I asked as I looked up at her.

She shrugged and tilted her head to the side.

“Dawn is a witch,” Ben announced as he stood up.

“I know, courtesy of Annie,” I said, standing up and helping a frail Joanna to her feet.

“What do you mean?” Kevin asked as he also stood.

“I was sort of spying on you guys with Annie. Annie couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw Zelma’s book of spells in Kevin hands. She looked afraid when she saw it and then you guys asked Dawn to use her
magic
to help rescue me. I just put two and two together.”

“I wonder why she would be afraid.” Ben looked over at Dawn to Kevin, who just shrugged.

“But then Circe came,” I said.

“The goddess Circe came here?” Kevin questioned.

“Yes. She said something about a balance of nature, a witch of her blood, and Persephone, Hades’ wife,” I said without thinking.

“You know that Hades is married?” Ben asked. “And you still love him?” His eyes pleaded with me.

“Balance of nature… The only way the gods can throw off the balance of nature is to help a mortal.
Meaning you, Antonia.
And… is it Kevin?” Joanna asked looking between Kevin and me.

Kevin nodded. “I am still immortal thanks to my spell. I am frozen in time. Antonia was too until—”

“Annie reversed my spell,” I finished for him. “So, if Hades helps me, then what?” I asked as I looked around the cell.

Everyone shrugged and shook their heads as if to say they didn’t know.

“Who is Circe?” Joanna asked as she walked toward the other cell.

“Circe is a minor goddess, and she is the goddess of magic or sorcery. She is the mother of all witches,” Kevin said.

Dawns eyes got big, and I heard her mumble, “Mother.”

“She also warned Hades. I wonder if this was all part of the plan,” I said as I sat to ponder everything that had happened. “Joanna mentioned that doppelgangers are an omen for death and that we are both going to die. Do you know anything about that?” I asked, turning to look at both Ben and Kevin. I diverted my eyes so I wouldn’t have to look either one of them directly in the eye.

They both shook their heads.

I sighed as the dungeon door opened and a bubbly Annie trotted down the steps and over to the cell that held Ben, Kevin and Dawn. She picked Dawn up and pushed her toward the stairs.

“Don’t worry, it’s almost
time
. The married couple is having a chat as we speak,” Annie said, giggling as she pushed Dawn again.

Dawn turned to face Annie, and a muffled sound came through her binding. Her muffled scream made the ground shake again, knocking Annie to the floor. Dawn’s chains dropped beside her. With her hands free, she removed the binding from her mouth.

Annie crawled backwards until the bars were at her back in fear of what Dawn might do to her now that she was free of all that bound her.

“You are the meanest woman I have ever met…and I work in a hospital ER! Toni, how are you even friends with her?” Dawn asked in her usual southern drawl as she rubbed her wrists.

Annie was able to scramble to her feet. “You are messing with the wrong witch! You may have the some power, but that’s no match for my power,” Annie said as she snapped her fingers and fire formed in her palms.

Dawn’s already big blue eyes got bigger. “I am not messing with you. I just came to help my friend. I did not sign up for this shit!” Dawn shrieked, bracing herself for whatever Annie was about to do. “Let’s think before we act,” she pleaded as the other witch approached her, palms up. Dawn used her arms to block her face as the fire bounced off them, fizzled, and fell to the ground. Dawn dropped her arms and grinned. “Your threats are as scarce as a hen’s teeth.”

Annie’s mouth dropped open and her smirk was replaced with astonishment.

“It’s not possible. I have the old witch’s power!” Annie protested as she shook her head. She made a mad run for it, knocking Dawn to the ground as she raced up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind her.

BOOK: Unbound, a Paranormal Romance (Book 2 of the Spellbound Series)
2.73Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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