Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (3 page)

“I’m a few years older than you are my dear.
I didn’t live to be this old by being gullible.”

I grunted. “Untie their hands.” My pack
looked at me with doubt and surprise.

“Are you sure?” Tara glanced back to Rainen
and her guards.

“They’re not our prisoners. We came here to
free them.”

Rainen’s eyes narrowed. “Free us from your
own pack?”

I felt my impatience trying to surface. I was
tired, exhausted even. It had been a long day and an even longer
night, not to mention that I was now low on energy and needed to
sleep to restore it back to its normal levels. I pulled my dagger
from my belt, stalked behind them and cut the ropes that bound
their arms behind their backs.

“Go check them. They’re humans. They won’t
have marks behind their ears to identify them as shifters.”

Harold nodded to Gina who walked to one of
the fallen humans. She rolled him onto his stomach and pulled his
ear forward. Her eyes widened.

“There’s no mark.” She moved on to another
and then another. “None of them do.”

“That’s not possible.” Rainen went to check
one of the bodies. She frowned.

I went to stand by her. “It’s the stone.” I
searched the dead man’s pockets until I found what I was looking
for. I handed the small stone to Rainen. “It lets them shift. When
Braw separates a Maj or a Namael he can catch the animal in a
stone. They’ve been using these to get close to you and
Melana.”

I moved to another of the bodies and found
his stone. “Tara.” I tossed the stone to her. I had tried showing
Melana’s court the shifting stones and had been accused of already
being able to shift. I wasn’t making the same mistake twice.
Wedelves couldn’t shift and everyone knew it. Tara took the stone,
closed her eyes, and drew in one deep breath. Her form wavered and
turned into a coyote. Her caramel colored eyes blinked. She sat
back on her haunches and looked at me, her head tilted in
question.

I smiled. “That’s good, I think.”

Tara shifted back into a Wedelve and handed
the stone to Jasper. “Ugh. That is the oddest feeling. You can feel
your bones shift and everything!”

Rainen’s attention turned to me and I saw
Jasper tense. She ignored him and chewed on her bottom lip. “How
did you know where to find me? You said you came to save us.”

“Damian.”

Her eyes widened. “Damian hasn’t left his
room for years.”

“But he can project himself. At least he
could. The last time we saw him he told us he could only project
himself to me and Jasper. He said he would displace us to one of
the crossings and that we were to stay in the other world for a
year. He let us know when we should cross back so that we would
find you. He said to be ready to fight.” I looked into her eyes.
“Is he still alive?”

She nodded. “Barely.”

I turned to the dead humans and took a deep
breath. “Let’s find their stones.”

Rainen watched as we picked the dead men’s
pockets. “What do you do with them?”

“Keep them, for now. I’m hoping I can find a
way to release them so they can rejoin their other halves.”

When all of them were found they were placed
in the bag that already held almost thirty stones. My fingers
fumbled with the draw strings and dropped the bag. Jasper managed
to catch it before it spilled its contents onto the ground.

“You need to sleep, Shlova.” His blue eyes
bore into mine.

I nodded.

He turned to the rest of the group. “Let’s
get to the waterfall and set up camp.”

“Tomorrow, we’ll head to Howel.”

His gaze came back to me. “Why Howel? We
already found Rainen. We can talk to her here and head straight
home.”

“I want to see Damian. Maybe there’s
something I can do.”

Rainen grunted. “I’ve tried everything. I’ve
brought in the best healers, I’ve tried every spell that I know.
Nothing works. Something is sucking the energy right out of
him.”

“It won’t hurt for me to try.”

Her dark blue eyes narrowed. “Why do you care
what happens to him?”

I pictured the leader of the Maj with his
graying dark hair and his strange grey eyes. “He’s been helping
Jasper and I for the past few years now. It’s the least I can do to
try and repay him.” I could see the hatred and mistrust in her
eyes. I couldn’t blame her, but I was hoping we would be able to
get past all of our past encounters and work together in the near
future. More black spots floated into sight and I closed my eyes to
keep from falling.

“Shlova!” Jasper’s arms caught me and he
cradled me against his chest. “Alright. Let’s move it. We’ll be
staying at the waterfall for as long as it takes Hayden to wake
up.” I felt him turn. “You might want to stick with us. Running
into another pack of humans disguised as Majs might not work out as
favorably as it did this time.”

I heard Rainen grunt. I felt a nudge of magic
touch me. It was tentative at first then became a little stronger.
I pushed my own nudge at it as hard as I could. Rainen cried out
with surprise and I heard her fall to the ground before scrambling
up to stand again. I smiled, still unable to open my eyes.

“Are you alright?” Jasper’s voice was full of
concern. I squeezed his arm in answer. I heard his anger as he
turned to Rainen and could imagine the look on his face. “If it
even looks like you’ll try anything stupid like that again you
won’t make it back to Howel, is that understood?”

I felt her anger fill the air and got ready
to shield Jasper should she decide to throw any magic at him. The
atmosphere thinned and I relaxed.

“I wasn’t going to do anything to her. I was
just seeing how strong she was.”

“And?”

“And if she can catch me by surprise and
knock me flat when she’s unconscious, then I don’t plan on trying
anything on her while she’s awake.” I heard her turn and walk
away.

“Not bad, Shlova,” Jasper whispered in my
ear. “You managed to scare the strongest sorceress in
Quelondain.”

I took a deep breath and snuggled into his
chest, hoping that Rainen had meant what she had just said. The
darkness I had been keeping at bay closed in and sleep carried me
away.

Chapter Two

“What’s wrong, Jasper?”

I heard my mate shush whoever was talking. It
was funny how he could feel my dreams coming even before I knew I
was having them. When I was dreaming I was unable to control the
projection of my feelings which caused Jasper to feel every emotion
the dream gave me full force.

“Jas…”

“Shush. She’s dreaming.” Had I been able to,
I would have laughed as everyone took one deep breath and held it.
I relaxed and let the dream take me.

Great
, I thought to myself. I was
sitting under some bushes near a river. My hands and feet were
bound. My head was pounding.
I wonder who abducts you this
time!
There were six men in front of me. None of them looked
familiar.

One of them was looking around nervously. “I
still think we need to get farther away.”

“We’ve been going for two days with no break.
If I’m tired then they’re tired. It will have taken a while for
them to find the other girl that was with her.”

His friend grunted and their conversation
turned to regular events such as the weather and what they were
hoping to have for supper when they finally made it home. A seventh
man made his way through the woods and came to stand beside the
rest.

“It’s all clear so far.” He glanced toward me
and my heart jumped into my throat.

“Brice!” My voice was a hoarse whisper. His
eyes narrowed and I took a closer look. He had the same straight
dark blond hair and blue green eyes. He was even the right height.
I noticed that his shoulders were broader, his build thicker, and
though his facial features looked familiar, there was a marked
difference. A lump formed in my throat as I realized I had been
wrong. My friend hadn’t returned from the dead. The man turned his
attention back to his friends.

“Craig is going to keep a look out. I’ll keep
first watch in camp. You guys get some sleep. We’ll wake you in two
hours.” Two of the men nodded and moved toward me. A gust of wind
blew through the trees and I shivered.

“Alright, girl. Lay down.”

“Wh…” My voice caught in my throat. I scooted
backward closer to the tree behind me. Another shiver ran through
me, this one caused more by fear than cold. The shiver intensified
and turned into a tremor that ran through my entire body. I
recognized the feeling immediately. I was pulling energy from
somewhere and if I didn’t find a way to get rid of it, it would
engulf me. I remembered how Dave had looked after I had pushed all
of the excess energy into him. Could I do it again? Could I cause
someone that much pain willingly? Yes. I was a bit shocked at how
quickly the answer came to me. I hated fighting. I avoided killing
at all cost. And yet somewhere deep inside of me, I was starting to
feel a bit numb to these ideas. I had learned that fighting was
necessary if I were to live in Quelondain. I had also come to
accept that if I were to survive I would have to kill.

The blond man pushed me onto my back. “I said
lay down.”

Another tremor ran through me and all of my
muscles clenched. I tried to hold in a groan.

“What do you think?” The brown haired man
looked over at his friend.

“We were told to get her back. I didn’t hear
any specifics on what we could or could not do with her on the way
there.”

I felt the energy building inside of me. I
held it in, waiting for my chance to release it. The blond man
straddled me, his weight crushing my hands under me. The pain broke
my concentration and I felt power break out. I heard the rustling
of the woods to my left and decided this was as good a time as any.
I pushed the energy outward as hard as I could and watched the men
in front of me blow over backwards, their eyes wide, their mouths
open in soundless screams. I looked to the left to see what the
eighth man looked like and cried out. Jasper’s eyes widened as the
energy wave hit him and he flew back into a tree.

“No!” I heard myself scream in real life as
well as in the dream. I slid towards him as fast as I could, moving
like a mangled snake. Sticks and rocks cut at my arms and tore at
my clothing. “Jasper!” I looked up to see if he had reacted to my
voice. I doubled my effort when it became obvious he hadn’t heard
me.

“Oh, god, please!” I moved up to him and
looked into his eyes. They were open, but not seeing. I lay my head
on his chest. Nothing. I tried to call the green waves to me but
couldn’t with my hands behind my back.

“Argh!” I got onto my knees and slammed my
head against his ribs as hard as I could then put my ear back
against them and listened.

“Please.” I head butted him again and again.
I could feel my face swell and saw drops of blood fall onto his
tunic after I slipped and hit my nose against him. Sobs raked
through me. I curled up against him, crying.

“Hayden! That’s enough!” Jasper’s real hands
tried to shake me awake.

I fought him, trying to stay in the dream,
hoping that if it lasted a little longer, he might move behind
me.

“I can’t lose you,” I whispered. “I won’t
lose you.” I felt Jasper pull me into his lap.

“You won’t, Shlova.” His voice was thick.
“I’m right here.” He hugged me tightly. “Wake up.”

I let myself leave the dream and wrapped my
arms around him. “I kill you,” I whispered into his chest.

“Shush. It’s alright. It was just a dream.
You know we can change it.” He rubbed my back and pressed his lips
to my hair. “Tell me what happened.”

I took a deep breath, not wanting to relive
the dream, but knowing I had too. “I get captured. It’s the humans
but I don’t know where we are. The leaves in the trees are green so
it’s summertime and it’s not in the Wedelven Woods. They say I was
with another girl, but I don’t know who she is or what exactly
happens to her. There’re seven of them that I can see. Two of them
come to where I’m sitting and push me over.” I shivered at the
memory and felt the low growl that vibrated deep in Jasper’s chest.
“But then the energy comes.” I looked up at him. “Like with Dave,
but I know that if I push it into just one of them then there’s
still six of them to fight off.” I gazed into his eyes. They were
so alive, so full of worry. I remembered the unseeing look, the
glazed stare and fresh tears slid down my cheeks. “I pushed it out
like a magic nudge. It threw them backwards, killed them.” A sob
shook me. “You were…were there! I di…di…didn’t see…you! I saw it
hit you! My…my hands…were tied and I cou…cou…couldn’t pull the
greens…up!”

Jasper tilted my head up so I was looking at
him again. “It won’t happen. Understand?” He wiped the tears from
my cheeks with his thumb. “It won’t happen.” His lips brushed
against mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pressed his
forehead against mine. “It won’t happen.”

“If they take me, don’t come after me.”

He jerked and held me out at arm’s length.
“I’m not just going to let you go.”

“You have to. If you come for me the dream
will happen. I kill them. Just stay away until I kill them.”

“You saw seven. That’s doesn’t mean they were
the only ones. What are you going to do when the rest of them find
you, still tied, surrounded by their dead friends?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care. You won’t
follow me.” I looked around to everybody. “None of you. I won’t be
responsible for killing any of you. If I get taken you all stay
away.”

“And why is it that the humans want you?”
Rainen was sitting by the fire, Harold and Gina still at her
side.

“You felt how I can project? I’m sure you
know that Braw has a staff that separates a shifter from his or her
animal.” She nodded. “He wants to use me to project the power of
the staff to every shifter alive. He wants to wipe you out.
Liberate you I think is the term he used.”