Chapter Thirty-Five
Arabella
“The fire stone.” Is the first thing that I say as I step into the conference room.
Archer’s eyebrows raise, but he doesn’t give me a verbal response. Instead he gestures to the seat across the table from him.
“Arabella. Be polite.” Lucian scolds me.
I bite my lip as a blush forms on my cheeks.
Ever since last night there has been a slight shift in Lucian. There has been an air of seriousness that surrounded him that wasn’t there before. His playfulness still shines through, but he has been more demanding.
I’m not sure if I like it or not.
“May I please have the fire stone?” I ask sarcastically before holding my hand out.
A small smile graces my lips as Lucian sighs at my antics.
Archer chuckles as he observes the two of us. “I will happily hand over the fire stone to you temporarily, as long as you are willing to tell me the reason that you want it.” He gestures to the seat once again.
I roll my eyes before complying with his request to take a seat. Lucian takes the seat next to mine and immediately places his hand down on my thigh.
“I am very interested as to why you want the fire stone. I’ve heard from my brother all of the trinkets and treasures you seem to have.” Archer fills the silence in the room.
That’s just great, Lucian has been speaking to his brother about me. There really hasn’t been much positive that he can say.
I roll my eyes.
I shouldn’t have to explain to the person who killed every last member of the fire coven why he shouldn’t hold onto the one thing that meant the most to them. He held onto it like it is his very own prize for defeating them.
It’s disrespectful.
“Be polite, my little spitfire.” Lucian warns before squeezing my thigh.
A smirk slowly forms on my lips, is this how it is for couples? Being able to predict their next move?
While I find it comforting that he knows what my reaction would normally be, I did find it quite annoying that he thinks he can continue to command me.
“Why do I have to be polite to the person that is standing in the way of what I want?” I ask.
“Because that person is now your family.”
My family?
I bite my lip as I glance between these two men. Thoughts of my own family run through my head. Most of the thoughts are far from pleasant.
Even before it was revealed to my family that I was a siphon witch we were never close with one another.
The pressure that our mother put on all of her children to be perfect was enough to caused an unhealthy competition between myself and my siblings. My father is far too much of a pushover to ever stand up for his children, and his parents are just as bad as my mother.
The only proper family that I have ever had was, my grandma. The memories that I have with her make up for all the awful things that had happened to me by my so called family.
The last thing that I need is to care about someone and have them stolen from me again.
“After everything that has happened you all would want to be family?” I scoff. “How ridiculous is that?” I ask no one in particular.
After everything that I have done?
Yesterday I literally tried to kill Lucian, and now his brother wants to be a damn family with me.
“I don’t think it’s ridiculous.” Archer answers. “Growing up our parents weren’t that interested in us. We only had one another. Having another person in our small family would be nice.” He smiles at me.
I don’t think I have ever felt shame before. Embarrassed? All of the time? But feeling shame is new.
I am sure that Archer is aware of my actions last night. I just don’t see how after learning of my attempts to kill his brother he wants us to be family.
Lucian squeezes my thigh. “Just because those that are supposed to be family aren’t good to us doesn’t mean that we can’t make our own family.” He places a quick kiss right below my ear. “You don’t consider Valentina your family?”
When he puts it like that, it seems a little less ridiculous. Valentina and my grandmother were the only people apart of our coven that were against me getting shunned. Valentina was so against it she left with me. “I guess she is my family.”
I’ve never thought of Valentina and I’d relationship like that before. I always viewed her as someone who was constantly nagging about my safety.
Lucian places a small kiss on my cheek. “Exactly, so there’s nothing ridiculous about being family with someone who isn’t your blood. Now tell him why you want the fire stone.”
I cut my eyes to Lucian. Once again he is exerting his authority over me.
I smirk before turning back to Archer.
I like it.
“I need the fire stone for reasons.” Was my only explanation.
Sure Archer wants to be ‘family’ with me now, but how would he look at me if he knew that I planned to condemn my mother and a few other witches a part of my former coven to their very own personal hell?
Actually, he wouldn’t have much room to judge.
Archer lifts his hand from under the table, the fire stone finally coming within my view. “I am going to need you to be a little bit more specific Arabella.”
My eyes fall immediately on the orange stone.
The way the stone looks doesn’t exactly match the description that I have been reading for all of these years, it is slightly larger and has black streaks all throughout it. Still there was no denying that what he is holding is the fire stone. I can almost hear it calling out to me, begging me to hold it.
I glance at Lucian, a worried expression paints his face as he squeezes onto my thigh harder. A warning. One that I am no doubt will bruise later, but I am not complaining.
I turn back to Archer. “You want to know the truth? Fine. I plan on using that stone on my mother and the witches who have put children in harms way to get what they want. Honestly I want to use the stone on all of them. They are all hypocrites! They shamed me for dabbling in blood magic, and then use it to gain territory.” I take a deep breath in between my statements, trying to calm myself. “But for some reason your queen insists that not everyone needs to die.” I roll my eyes. “But those who disregarded the lives of children and my mother are the ones that need to suffer the wrath of that stone.”
Archer nods. “I agree. First we need to get permission from Marisol and Judah.”
I scoff at the word permission. I shouldn’t need permission to put down a few witches who have put children in danger or killed them.
Archer stands, leaning over the table with his hand outstretched.
I smirk as I lean forward grabbing the stone from his hand. I sit back down slowly as I observe the stone.
I have now held both the moon stone and the fire stone. Most witches don’t even get to see one with their own eyes, let alone be able to touch them.
I settle back in my chair, the awe of having the fire stone in my hand has yet to wear off.
I feel Lucian and Archer’s eyes on me, but I don’t pay them any mind.
The longer I stare at the fire stone the more it seems to be glowing.
I pull the stone back from my face a bit as my eyes widen. I am not exactly sure if I am seeing what I think I am seeing or if my mind is playing tricks on me.
Just as I turn to face Lucian my head is forcefully pulled back towards the fire stone, before my entire body is suddenly burning hot. It’s so painful it feels like my skin is on fire.
I open my mouth with all intentions of crying out for Lucian to help me, but instead a blood curdling scream comes out.
The heat on my skin and around me continues to raise to unimaginable levels before my sight is suddenly taken from me.
I feel as if my soul is being sucked from my body and being thrown about.
My vision returns to me, but I am no longer in the conference room.
I stand and observe my surroundings. It’s hard to make out anything, there’s nothing but different sized homes all on fire and the smoke that emits from them.
All of the heat causes sweat to coat my skin, and the smoke fills my lungs causing me to cough.
Am I in the fire stone?
I turn in the direction of a high pitched scream.
It feels like I am not in control of my body as I begin to run towards the sound. Fanning the smoke from my face with one hand and covering my mouth and nose with the other.
Whenever I pictured those living in the fire stone I never imagined it would be like this.
The smoke clears as I see a pile of dead bodies stacked on top of one another.
I suck in a breath as my eyes catch a necklace on one of the necks of the bodies.
A necklace that has an ember flame pendant. It is no doubt the pendant that all fire coven witches wear proudly.
I am not in the fire stone, but I am somehow witnessing the carnage that it has caused.
I gasp as I watch Archer, set the bodies aflame.
The same man who smiled across from me and told me he wanted to be family. Now I watch in horror as he watched the flames lick the bodies of his enemies.
Seeing this changes nothing, but it does remind me that all wolves have a dark side of them that can pulled out when it comes to their mate.
That’s why he did it.
They stole his mate, and put her in the fire stone.
My thoughts are broken as I hear a small whimpering cry.
Archer stalks towards the girl that is crying, holding out the firestone.
The threat is not lost on me.
Just as he is about to condemn her the same way he did the rest of her coven the ground is snatched from under my feet. My vision turns black and it feels as if I am falling.
I don’t know how long my vision is taken from me before I can see again.
I attempt to throw the fire stone across the room, but it only clatters against the table.
I feel my body begin to sway in the chair, and I feel my eyelids begin to get heavy.
“Bella! Please Bella! Tell me you can hear me!” I hear Lucian scream.
I sigh as I feel his cool hands on my body, but he sounds so far away.
I feel his hands cup my face before turning me to face him. It takes a while for my vision to focus on him, but when it does I smile softly at him.
“Bella, please tell me that you’re alright.” He pleads.
I want to say so much to him. Tell him that I am fine, tell him what I saw and so much more.
I don’t, because I know from my vision fading in and out and how weak my body is that I am probably on the verge of passing out.
“Lucian.” Is the only thing that I am able to say before my body slumps onto the table.