Spell Bound

Arabella

"That is not true." I whisper my protest.

I can't wrap my head around the words that just came out of Lucian's mouth. Eating the heart out of a child? Even if it is a wolf.

"I wish it wasn't true." He responds.

I turn away from him as my eyes fill up with tears. "Witch's wouldn't do that, we aren't savages."

I feel his hand grab mine, his thumb running over my knuckles. "Anyone can become anything when they are blinded by greed."

He lifts my hand before his lips brush up against my knuckles. "I know that you have loyalty to those who practice magic, but please help us."

A whimper exits my mouth. I will always be loyal to witches, but to do that to children is too far.

"They wouldn't do this if you all wouldn't be so selfish with your land. You all hoard it and all of the resources that are needed to make certain potions or cast spells." I fire back. I snatch my hand out of his as I turn to him. "Stop trying to fight against blood magic. If an entire coven is using it then the best thing that you all can do is surrender and follow their terms."

"You and I are aware that even if we did surrender their hatred for us would overcome any sense of reason and they would kill us all." He responds.

I bite my lip. I know that he is right, but giving information to our common enemy? I would be no better than the witches who turn their back on their coven and come and join the wolf packs.

"Please?" He asks again, reaching for my hand and placing another kiss on my knuckles.

I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, warming the area as I finally concede to his wants. As I nod my head slightly he rewards me with his stunning smile.

Telling him about the origin of blood magic won't give him any ammunition to end it like he thinks it will, so it isn't that big of a deal.

"I don't remember everything, my grandmother used to tell me this story before she died." I state as I comb through my mind, trying to remember every detail that she would tell me growing up.

"Take your time Bella. A little information is better than none at all."

I roll my eyes at his enthusiasm, he is probably ecstatic that he has proven his superiority over me once again.

I roll my eyes at my thought, if I was keeping score it would be Lucian three, Arabella zero.

Another kiss on my knuckles pulled me out of my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes at him as I pulled my hand out of his grip. "Warlocks are male witches, they are very rare. When a male has magic he is basically worshipped by the entire coven. They are seen as more powerful and they are automatically chosen to be the next leader solely because they are male." I scoff at my words. A lot of the times there are witches that are just as or even more powerful than the warlocks, but for some reason the male always has to be on top. "A lot of the men that are born into covens are jealous that magic is mainly given to women. About five-hundred years ago a witch gave birth to triplets, three boys. On their twelfth birthday it was discovered that one of them was a warlock. The other two brothers were jealous, watching their brother be praised and groomed to be the next leader of the coven. A little after they turned seventeen they ended up killing their brother. I don't recall exactly how they first ingested his blood, but when they did they realized that it gave them magic temporarily."

"So the power that the witches receive from blood magic is temporary?" He asks.

I cut my eyes at him. "Don't interrupt me."

He smiles as he raises his hands in surrender.

I smirk back at him. "Anyways they pinned the crime on someone else and they decided to show the coven that they were warlocks. They claimed that it was a gift from their brother who spoke to them from the afterlife. They were able to successfully keep up the charade for six months. After that the coven leader started to notice that their powers would get stronger after a death in the coven. He put two and two together and put a curse on them as punishment for their crimes."

I lose my train of thought again when he reaches up and brushes a few strands of my hair out of my face.

I gasp at his action, his knuckles brushing up against my eyebrows.

"What was their punishment?" He asks.

"The leader saw that they decided to kill witches at night and ingest their blood so he cursed them to spend eternity having to live that way. I am not sure what they called them back then, but in todays times they are referred to as vampires."

The shock that crosses his face is adorable. His lips are parted slightly and his eyes are widened. Now that I have seen it, this is what it looks like when Alpha Lucian is caught off guard. If only I knew that then.

"Vampires were created by witches?" He asked.

I nodded. "It is one of the witch's greatest shame. The leader of their ex-coven didn't know that havoc that they would wreak on the world after that."

"Thank you for telling me the truth, mate."

I scrunch up my nose at the name, fighting nausea when I say. "I am not your mate."

He smirks at me. "Now ask one of your questions."

"When will I be able to separate myself from you?" I ask.

"We have yet to complete the ritual, but once we do you should be able to leave my side without pain." He answers.

"The last thing that I would ever do is lay down with a mutt."

"You may say that, but the way you react when I kiss your mark or your lips tells a different story. If you were truly disgusted by me you would have never allowed me to bite you in the first place." He says smugly.

"I only allowed you to bite me because I needed power. If I had my own we would have never met." I fire back.

"Everything happens for a reason my little spitfire." He states calmly.

I sigh. There is no use in arguing with him, especially since I am still chained to this bed no matter what I do. I could knock him out cold right now and I still wouldn't be able to escape. Just pathetic.

"I am sure that is not the only question that you have for me, Bella." He states putting emphasis on the nickname that he insists on calling me.

"I thought the two of us were going back and forth with our questions?" I ask.

He hums. "I didn't know that you were so eager to answer my questions." He chuckles. "Very well, dealing in blood magic comes with heavy consequences." The way he phrased it was as if he was looking for me to agree with him.

I didn't even try to hide the fact that I was offended by his statement. "You wolves are so uncultured, of course you know next to nothing about blood magic." I cross my arms over my chest..

"Then teach me." He says firmly, his obsidian eyes staring straight into my soul.

I hesitantly nod while keeping eye contact with him. "Blood magic does not just effect the witch, it effects everything that it comes in contact with. If a witch has pure intentions, then only pure things will come with it. If a witch has bad intentions, then everything and everyone that witch comes in contact with is in danger. I am assuming that they have not done any reading or have been properly trained when it comes to using blood magic. The consequences of this are very dangerous to anyone who comes near a person practicing blood magic."

"So if anyone were to come into contact with someone who practices blood magic and their intentions were bad is there anything specific that can happen?" He asks.

"There are too many to list them all, the most likely thing to happen is that if you are supernatural it can drain the magic from you. So if I were to use it against a witch there is a chance that her or I could lose our powers or severely damage them."

"Is there anything that can be done to regain that magic?" He asks.

"What is with all of these questions on this topic? Did you or someone important to you fall victim to this?" I ask.

"Someone important."

I feel all the muscles in my body tighten. I fight the frown that wants to form on my face. "Who is this person that is so important to you?"

He chuckles. "I fear if I tell you who this person is you will go after them. What is the point of you telling me how to save them if you kill them?" He asks sarcastically.

I feel my sanity slowly slipping. Realizing that this entire time I have truly been played. "So this is what you wanted all along? To figure out how to save someone that is important to you?" I ask and begin to laugh hysterically. I take in a deep breath of air, my stomach hurting from the contractions caused by my laughter. "You did all of this to save a girl that you are in love with."

The only logical way to end this ritual is by killing one another. I had all intentions on killing him to end it, but now I know that he had the same intentions. The second that I tell him what he wants to know he will kill me and go be with this girl that is important to him.

I am not going to make this easy for him.

"Bella you are wr-"

He cuts his words off as I raise my hand in the air in front of his face. "Well I am very happy to tell you that the effects of blood magic are permanent. This female that is so important to you is going to die." I smirk.

He narrows his eyes at me. "Bella, that is enough." He demands. "You will give me the answer that I am searching for now."

I smirk at him. "I already told you. There is no way to offset the effects of blood magic." I state before rolling my eyes at him.

"Bella." He stressed the nickname that he gave me. "Please tell me how to save her."

I am not oblivious, I know what jealousy is. I felt it when I would watch my siblings do frivolous things with their magic. Things that I wouldn't do because I didn't want to waste the magic that I siphoned from the bracelet that my grandmother gave me. I am feeling that same jealousy now, only for a girl I have never met.

I glance down at my wrist to see the bracelet that my grandmother gave me. I am surprised that the elastic cord, beaded bracelet has lasted as long as it had.

As I observed the bracelet I realized next to it was the gold bangle that I had found in the library. Throughout how chaotic the last day and a half has been I forgot that I was wearing it.

I fight the smirk that wants to form on my face, before turning back to face Lucian.

"I am not sure if there is a way to reverse the effects of blood magic, but maybe if you bring me my book." I point to my backpack that sat in a chair in the corner of my room. "I can look through it and see if it says anything about it."

He smiled brightly at me before getting up to retrieve my backpack.

I am lying to him, but he isn' aware of that. I have gone through that book a million times over, there isn't anything on reversing the effects of blood magic.

I am the only person who knows how, because I am the only person who has lived long enough to try.

I glance down at my bracelet, as he places the backpack on the bed next to me.

I am going to get out of here one way or another, and I am going to live my life. While I am doing that the girl that is so important to him is going to have to deal with blood magic wreaking havoc on her body until it kills her.

Then they can be together in the afterlife.