Phantom Love

Chapter 21

        I sit in silence for almost twenty minutes before my guys start to file into the room. They're expressions are hard but once their eyes meet mine they visibly relax and their gazes become softer. I fiddle with the book in my hand and try to think of anything outside of what could be in this book and what new horrors I will learn about myself. Before I can spiral anymore though I feel fingers grasping my chin and turning my head until I meet a pair of light green eyes. 

        "Whatever it is, we will weather it together." Forrest says. 

         I nod and give him a slight smile as the guys climb onto the bed around me. Drazik settles his large body behind me so I can lean back onto him and the rest of the guys take positions in a circle around me. 

        "Nothing in this book will change how we feel about you, little one." Drazik says in my ear. 

        Between both Forrest and Drazik's assurance I feel some of the anxiety bleed away. I gaze around at all my guys and take a deep breath. It's time. Without any hesitation I flick open the compartment on the side of the large book and prick my finger on the sharp point hidden within. Without thinking my finger comes away from the needle like protrusion and, with the blood pooling on my finger, I trace along the front of the book, drawing the rune glowing within my mind. Once it's complete there's an audible pop as the book unlocks itself. I flip through the pages but see that the pages are blank. Right as I'm about to throw the book in frustration and piece of paper slides out from between the pages. 

        I gently pick it up and slowly unfold it. I read the first line and suck in a breath. I look to the guys and they all nod. I reach for the well of power in my core before weaving us into a soundproof barrier to keep outsiders from overhearing anything from the hallway. When I know it's secured I take a deep breath and begin reading out loud. 

       "To the woman I have become." I read that line a few times to myself before I grow the courage to read the rest, "If you are reading this it means that my plan has succeeded and you are whole once more. I apologize for taking your memories but for magic like this, there is a cost. I could give you a new life but it was at the cost of your old one. You may get some memories back as time goes on but fate is a fickle bitch. Just know that, while I wish to tell you everything, I do not wish to alter the course that fate has put us on so I will have to leave out much." 

        I look up to everyone and can tell that both Forrest and Em aren't pleased that they won't be getting all of the information but they nod for me to continue anyway.

        "It took a long time for me to come up with this plan and for the past hundred years I have been putting into motion. With Bella in my life now it has become easier to finish everything but as of right now I have no guarantees that it will work. After many escape attempts and half a decade of captivity I realized that if I had continued on the path I was on, I would either succumb to my captors or die. I was able to slip a piece of metal away after one of my escape attempts and the resulting punishment. With that piece of metal I have been slowly carving a ritual into stone. The runes will become yours once it is done and you will be doomed to a half life. Your powers and all knowledge of your previous life will be gone but you will be free of the hell I have found myself in, I hope you forgive me one day. 

        I have tethered your life force to your fated mate, or mates. Once you find them the connection will grow and once you have enough power, you will be able to gain your physical body. You have probably noticed by now the runes that reside just under your skin. These runes help aid in keeping your body in stasis while you gather enough power to reform. I added some to help control your abilities to avoid accidental catastrophe. The safeguard will be on until you are fully mated. Once mated they will leave and you will have access to the full amount of your power. The power you have is not supposed to be for one alone. Without familiars or mates of my own the only way for me to stave off the chaotic magic growing restless inside of me is within the fighting pits and the torture chamber.