Chapter 21
I watched as Elijah’s car pulled from the driveway. He left his driver here in case I wanted to go somewhere. Yet I was to either take Summer or Collin with me anywhere I went. Elijah had also placed two body guards with me that were to follow me at all times. I sighed, as the last of the dust and dirt settled in the driveway. I turned and walked down the hall, walking back down the way I had come. As I walked I tried to connect with Amilia. Amilia. Can you hear me? I asked in my mind.It took a moment for her to answer me. Yeah. I can hear you.Im sorry, Amilia.I heard her chuckle in my mind. You have nothing to be sorry for, Faye. Elijah is terrified to lose you and I understand that. He has already lost so much. Once he returns he will let me out of here. You know that. I stopped at the door that led down to the Cells. The heavy wooden and iron based door stood ajar, the damp musty smell creepy up from the basement. I shuddered. This is not fair. You should not be down there. If anything I should be. I was the one who asked you to take me back to Vancouver!Amilia laughed again. It is what it is. My brother is trying to show he is in control. No fear and all that. Yet I have seen him become soft the past few months you have been here. You are changing him.
I sighed. I am not so sure that is a good thing, I admitted. I jumped when the door to my left opened and Summer walked into the hall. “There you are!” she complained. “I have been looking for you. The Queen Mother wants to speak to you!”I felt my heart sink. Why would Sophie want to speak to me?“Where is she?” I asked Summer who rolled her eyes at me. “She is in the throne room,” she said, looking around. “What are you doing on this end of the Manor anyway? Were you going to try and free Amilia?” She laughed at me. “She is under guard. And Elijah would be pissed at the pair of you. You may haI felt anger bubble up inside me. “Summer, you can not speak to me that way. I am the King’s Mate!” I told her, my voice even. I had had it with her. Yet I was still trying a calm and respectful approche. I had kicked her ass in front of the whole Tribe. I knew she had not forgotten that and I knew she would love to kick my ass for it right now too. She rolled her eyes at me. “Yeah, yeah, you both may believe in all the Mate’s for life bullshit but I don’t! Elijah is a man, he is King and he can have whoever he wants,” she said and turned away from me. I balled my fists at my sides. “Stay away from him, Summer!” I warned her. She laughed and turned to face me. “Who is gonna make me?” she asked me. “You?” She burst out laughing. “You may have caught me by surprise before, bitch, but that won’t happen again. I will make sure of that. No one will have him but me,” she said. I shook my head. I had had it with her. “I already have him, Summer,” I said, pulling my hair to the side for her to see my Mark. Her face faltered a little but then she smirked. “Marks can fade if you do not Mate soon after. So there is still room and time for him to play a little. I mean, you never know, I may be the one he is supposed to be with!” she said and leaned against the wall, smirking at me. I could feel the shadows rushing up at me again. It was going to happen. I was going to Shadow Jump. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. I had to breathe. I did not want to attack Summer, but she sure did deserve it. I knew that. Yet Elijah would be unhappy if I got hurt and I was not about to make him worry about me again. Not after putting him through what I had a few days ago. As I stood there, trying to calm myself, I heard Summer gag. I opened my eyes and saw Summer standing there, her hands around her neck, as if she were choking. That was when I realized she was. Her face was turning blue and she was gasping her the little air she was getting through her mouth. What caught me off guard most was that there was a thick black and purple smoke around her, the same mist like smoke that covered me when I used my Power to Shadow Jump. I stared at her in amazement. “Faye!” Collin’s voice echoed off the walls and I jumped, surprised by his sudden appearance. Summer fell to her knees, coughing and gasping for air. “What the hell did you do to me?” she screeched at me. I glanced between her and Collin and then looked down at my hands. I held a hand up towards Summer and clenched my fist. Immediately, Summer went stiff and she began to gag again. I dropped my hands again. I had done that to her just now? How? I look back at Collin who is watching me now, his face shocked. I look back at Summer who is still coughing, her hand at her neck. “Summer, I’m so sorry-”She backed away from me as I reached for her. “Stay away from me you FREAK!” she screeched. Collin sighed. “Summer, you need to calm down!”She ignored him. “Since Elijah is not here, I am going to take care of this...thing!” she said as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She pressed a few things on her screen and then held her phone out, on speaker so we could hear. “You have reached the Office of the Elder’s. Why are you calling?” came an old gruff voice. Collin growled at her. “You can not summon the Elders! There is no need for that!”
Summer smirked at him. “I disagree. And since my father is one of the Elders, he will be quite interested in what kind of demonic power the new King has brought into this Manor!” she said. And with that, she turned away, placing the phone against her ear and walked down the hall. I sighed and turned to look at Collin. “Release Amilia for me please,” I begged him. Collin sighed and shook his head. “Elijah would kill me!” he said, his eyes going back after Summer. “But I think he will be too busy by the time he returns from New York. Meet me in the library in ten minutes!” he said as he pulled a key from his pocket. I waited from him to disappear down the dark stairway before I turned and started making my way down to the library. What had I just done? Could I have killed Summer just now? I was sure of it. I wondered at the dark power I had felt. It was like the more she talked, the worse my anger seemed to get. I could not believe she had called the Elders on me. The Elders were only called when they were really needed. I had been told that they were only around now for extreme circumstances. Extreme circumstances being if Elijah were to suddenly die without having an Heir to his throne. The throne would pass to Amilia and it would be up to her to continue the Yansa line. I sighed as I realized that responsibility was mine right now. Elijah had said he would give me a child someday. However I was not ready to be a mother. I was sixteen. I was not ready to be Queen, either, but there are just some things that are thrust upon us and we have no other choice but to deal with them. I walked to the library and sat by the empty cold hearth. I was not sure how long I sat there. My phone buzzed in my pocket and I answered quickly. “Faye, are you alright?” Elijah demanded. I felt tears well up in my eyes. “Yes, I am fine,” I told him, keeping my voice as steady as I could.
I heard him sigh. “Why is Summer calling the Elders?” he asked me. I closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead for a moment. “Because I used my powers on her. A new power. It was the same thing as before, Elijah,” I told him. He was quiet for a moment. “The same how?” he asked me.I shook my head. “I don’t know. It felt the same. It is like my powers are tied to my anger and fear somehow,” I answered him. “Remember when I faced off with Summer during my first training session? That thick smoke that was around me when I used my Power? Remember how it stuck to me?”Elijah was quiet for a moment and then he sighed. “Yes. So what did she do or say to piss you off,” he asked me. I was instantly annoyed with him. Was he blaming me for this?“You do know she was the one who started this, right?” I demanded. “Faye, Summer is one of us-”My anger burst and flowed through me. “She wants you, Elijah! She is not going to stop till she has you-”He growled at me. “She will never have me! I am yours and you are mine,” he reminded me and I knew how stupid I was sounding right now. I felt so ashamed of myself because I knew he was right and I was the one who was being stubborn. “I know,” I sighed. “She just gets under my skin, so bad!” I groaned. He laughed at me now. “She has a particular talent for that. She called the Elders on you. Her father is on the Elders Council. He is not pleased,” he sighed. I rolled my eyes. “My run in the family. As I was telling you before, she is pissed that you Marked me. She wants you, Elijah-”He cut me off quickly. “And as I have told you before, she is nothing to me, You are my Queen. You are my Mate. Yes, we still have much to learn from and about each other, and we have the rest of time for that,” he reminded me.
I sighed. He always had a way of making me feel better. “I miss you,” I said, my voice soft. I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke next. “I miss you too, Love. I will be home tomorrow. And I will not be leaving your side for a long time after that,” he promised. The selfish girl I was, wanted to point out he had promised this before and yet he was always pulled away from me, pulled away to do his duty. A duty I would soon have as well. I sighed. I needed to wait. All things good come to those who wait. “I will hold you to that!” I threatened him. “The last time you said you would stay, you left me again!” Grabbing up a book sitting on the table next me, I flipped it open and skimmed through it. I looked up, suddenly wondering what other books I could find here in the library. Elijah sighed. “It won’t be like this all the time, Faye. With the change of Power and my new rule, not all the Tribes are happy with the decision that has been made. The Elders are speakers for the Great Spirit. That is the only thing that has remained the same. They still have a say over all of us,” he said. I sighed. “I know. I have never met the Elders and now thanks to Summer, I will. I need you here, Elijah,” I told him. I placed the book back on the table and walked over to a bookshelf. “Elijah, is this the only library in the Manor?” I heard him laugh. “No, we have a total of four. Two on each side of the Manor. The one by our bedroom is the biggest one we have. There is a bigger one at the Stronghold of the Elders,” he said and I smiled, nodding to myself. “Can you send me the address?” I asked him quickly before he had even finished speaking. I heard him sigh. “I do not want you going there by yourself,” he told me. I shrugged. “I will take Amilia,” I told him. He growled at me, loudly this time. “She is under house arrest. She is to stay put where she is!” he said quickly. I was getting really angry with him taking things out on his sister. Amilia was the only real friend I had right now.
“Well, I ordered her release,” I told him. Elijah scoffed at me. “You can’t do that!” he said outraged. I walked down an isle of books. “Well, I did. You can deal with me yourself as soon as I get back,” I teased him. He was quiet for a moment so I continued. “Elijah, she is the only friend I have! She brought me here. She gave me a better life by bringing me here to you! I owe her more than I will ever be able to give back,” I said as my fingers traced along a row of leather bound books. I knew my logic was working on him, just like it had before when we had spoken of his sister. “She is reckless!” he sighed. I smiled, knowing he would let this go. “She is perfect and I love her!”I could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke again. “I love you!”I smiled as his words created butterflies in my chest. “I know. And I love you!” I laughed. “Now trust me on this! Let me do this!” I reasoned with him. Elijah sighed again and was quiet for a moment. “Fine! But I want you to take your guards with you! They are to go with you at all times!” He reminded me. I nodded. “They will go with me, everywhere we go!” I promised. “And I will text you updates to let you know I am ok and nothing has gone wrong!”Elijah’s voice was strained when he spoke again. “I do not like that you are going to the Guard without me!” he grumbled. “I wish you would wait for me to return so that I could take you.”“I know. However, you are not here right now. So I have to take who I can take!”The door behind me opened and Amilia walked in, her face dirty and her clothes crumpled. I shook my head. I was still angry with Elijah for having done this to his sister. How could he do this to her? He only had two living family members left. His sister and his mother. And his mother was counting her days. Any day now, I was sure she would take ill. As I thought about her, I suddenly remembered that she had wanted to see me. I groaned and held up my finger to Amilia, telling her to keep quiet.
“I will send you the address. If anything happens to you, I will hold you responsible. Do you understand me?” Elijah asked me. I turned away from Amilia and nodded. “I will come back in one piece!” I promised. We said our goodbyes and I shoved my phone back into my pocket. “So what is going on?” Amilia asked me as my phone buzzed. I smiled and held up my phone for her to see the screen. “We are going to see the Elders before they can come here!” I told her. “I am not going to let Summer have her way. She has threatened me for the last time!”Amilia smiled. “Good!” she said as we left the library and set off down the hall. It says that the Elders are two hour drive away from here. We need to go as soon as we can!“I said as I logged the location into my navigator. As we rounded a corner, Summer was coming down the hall, flanked by two brawny men who looked ready for a fight. Amilia sighed. “Oh boy,” she said. When she reached us, she nodded to me and the two men stepped forward and reached for me. “Take her. Hold her until my father gets here. He should be here soon,” she said. Amilia gasped as the men grabbed me. My body locked into place once I felt their hands on me and could feel myself fighting for control. “Summer, what do you think you are doing? She is your Queen! You can not do this!” She snapped as the men grabbed me. Summer ignored her. “Be careful. She is a witch and can use demonic powers!” she said to the two men. One of the men grinned at me as he reached for me, his hand sliding up to my neck. I shivered in disgust and jerked away from him. Before I could react, his fist connected with the side of my head and I crashed into the wall behind me. Amilia screamed for Collin and she stalked up to Summer and they began to throw punches. “Finish her however you like!” Summer told them men. They looked up at her, a little confused. “You never said anything about-”
Summer wrench herself away from Amilia and glared at me. She suddenly held her hand up. “No. I have seen what she will do to this Tribe. To the King... Elijah will soon know what a whore she really is. I will make sure of it. I will just need some help getting the proof I need. And I know just who to get it from,” she said as she turned away from me. The two men that had been towering over me, leaned away and followed Summer down the hall, back the way they had come. Before they reached the end of the hall however, Collin appeared at the corner. “Collin!” I called. “Places Summer back in her Cell!” I said and he grabbed her. The two men looked at eachother, obviously wondering if Summer was worth the trouble. “For?” he asked me. I glanced at Amilia. “For another assault on the King’s Mate. Leave her there until Elijah is ready to deal with her!” I said and turned away from Summer. I was sick of her face and I was sick of the way she was treating me. I had done nothing wrong. Unless my just being here was the problem. I knew it was. She had told me as much. She wanted Elijah. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Summer screamed, her face twisted with rage. “The Elders are on their way here to speak with me! My father is on his way!” she screamed at me. I turned to face her. “Good. I am sure he would like to know that his daughter just tried to have his Queen assaulted,``I said. Summer glowered at me as Collin pulled her back the way we had come. I sighed and looked up at Amilia. “You did the right thing,” she assured me. I shook my head. “I know. However I am worried that the Elders are on the way here. I am not ready to face them and Elijah should be here for this!” I said. Amilia nodded and sighed. “He should. I agree. However this is a good chance for you to show the Elders that you know what you are doing!” she told me. I looked up at her, horrified. “But Amilia, I have no idea what I am doing!” I argued. She smiled at me, her sleek blond hair shimmering in the dim light of the hallway. “Yes, but they don’t know that!” she reminded me.