Perfidious (Behind Smoke And Mirrors-Book 1)

19| Truths To The Lie

Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.

Watching Fia disappear, yet again, sobered me up. How many times was I going to let her slip away?

I could still trace her portal but I wasn't sure I wanted to do that in my current state of fury. I needed to let out some steam but instead, my thirst for blood multiplied. I was angry beyond reason and there were two ways I could reach a certain level of calmness.

I could hunt down an unsuspecting animal and tear it to shreds, or I could find an unsuspecting female I can fuck until she was screaming from ecstasy.
To be honest, I was so fucking furious that both of those activities would leave me still pissed off.

The audacity of Fia!! I didn't know if she just wanted to see me suffer or if she enjoyed stirring shit up. One thing is for certain though, she was infuriating. Although came to think of it, some things she said stuck with me.
Like the bracelet which was still a mystery to me.

The worst was though, that all this time I was with Fia, Tatiana was never on my mind, until Fia brought her up. She wasn't on my mind since the very first time I saw that fierce warrior with a bow she turned into that day when she shot me. Or when I spontaneously fucked Tatiana in that alley, when I spent a night filled with hot, wild sex with Fia.. she occupied every space in my mind.

Every fucking thought was her!
What was I supposed to do? She said Tatiana had her claws in me but in reality, Fia's presence took roots in the very depths of my soul and it was beyond comforting.
However, I couldn't just ignore the facts. I didn't know anything about her besides her name and that she was a killer machine. On contrary, Tatiana was an innocent woman who wouldn't hurt a fly. Fuck, I was losing my mind!

I opened a portal to get home, stepping through into the bathroom to clean up when my phone beeped.

I've been a bad girl. I'm waiting to be punished!
T

At the thought of soft lips around my cock it sprung to life. But did I want to fuck Tatiana when I couldn't stop thinking about Fia?

On my way
M

Faster than lightning, I was knocking on her door. She thought I was here for sex, and that might be so, but I also had ulterior motives. Everything depended on what I would discover next.
She opened the door in nothing but lace underwear. Grabbing my t-shirt she pulled me in with very obvious arousal showing on her face.

"Not so fast, baby! You said you've been a bad girl.."

"Yes, sir," She bowed her head in a submissive way waiting for my punishment.

My powers were unique in the gryphon community, owing them to the fact that my father was the Alpha Djinn, the first of his kind and thanks to him being extremely powerful his abilities passed onto me.
Mind-reading and compulsion were on the extensive list, nonetheless, I didn't like to use these powers on anyone, unless it was necessary. It felt like I was invading their privacy and I knew I wouldn't like it if someone would dig through my deepest thoughts.

Fia's words about Tatiana kept echoing in my mind so I did the only thing I could think of at that moment. I needed to explore her mind.

I tried to telepathically access anything that would prove or deny her connection to witchcraft but I stumbled on a wall. Every time I tried, my attempts bounced back with no success. That was weird! I didn't come across any human with these abilities.. unless her mind was blocked on purpose.
Let me see how, or if compulsion worked on her.

"Look at me!" She boldly looked into my eyes with lust, expecting me to kiss her as she kept glancing at my lips.
Her gaze never wavered and I looked deeply into her eyes.

"Here's your punishment - I'm going to leave without touching you, and you will not protest. You will not call or text until I get in touch with you.."

"What? Maddox..no.. don't be silly! You would go crazy without me, without my unquenchable thirst for your cock, or my mouth wrapped around you..., " she rubbed her hand on the front of my jeans as she whispered her last sentence into my ear.
OK, that was weird! Why couldn't I compel her? Was Fia right?

Suddenly I felt my anger rise. Without realising it my hand was wrapped around her throat and I shoved her against the closest wall.

"WHO ARE YOU???"

"I.. c-can't..b-breathe...Mad..., " I dropped her without remorse and she was gasping for air, coughing, trying to get as much oxygen into her lungs as possible.

"I'm going to give you one chance. Tell me who and what you are because you're not a human. Don't sweet-talk me because if you lie I will know. And I don't think you want to see me when I'm angry, Tatiana.. is that your real name at all?"

She looked at me with tears in her eyes and if she thought crocodile tears would work on me, she had another thing coming.

"Answer my damn question! Who are you, huh? Who sent you? And this bracelet... What is the purpose of this bloody bracelet? ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!"

"Maddox, I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you... but I was scared you would judge me... I'm sorry," She was full-on sobbing now and that irritated me even more. I was going to end up slicing her throat!

"Did you know who I was when we met?"

"Yes, but that's not why..."

"SHUT.UP! Just stop talking... I can't even look at you right now. What of the bracelet?"

"It was for protection. Maddox, please... I love you," I erupted in a burst of hysterical laughter.

"You love me! How can you love someone when you build a whole relationship on lies and deceit? This is not love, it's obsession the way I see it! Who sent you, huh? What was the reason?"

"No one sent me! I was scared, Maddox, don't you get that? I was scared that if I told you the truth about myself you would be angry. My coven..."

"I'm not angry, Tatiana, I'm fucking livid! How could I be so blind? How did I not sense you? Wait a minute.. you've planned this, this was your plan all along, wasn't it? WASN'T IT?"

In no time I was straddling her with my hand around her throat. I was going to kill her!

She was thrashing under me, clawing at her throat in the hope to free herself from my grasp, mouth and eyes wide open.

Erebos was controlling almost every move of mine and if it were up to him we would end her there and then.

But she couldn't be working alone, could she? The best would be to bring her to the dungeons for questioning before I strangle her to death. I stood up, leaving her on the floor in a fit of coughs and wheezing. I turned my back to her, walking slowly towards the door because I needed to breathe it out before I killed her on the spot.

"By the way, I'm fully capable of taking care of myself, I don't need your help with that!"
I was going to rip the bracelet off but it was indestructible. I placed my palm over it and whispered Ad conteram incantatores, dimitte me.
I could feel a veil lifting off my mind and my eyes. I started to remember slowly - how Tatiana approached me and using a spell she secured the bracelet on my wrist, how my life unfolded in the last year... a year! A whole year passed since my mate died.

She died by the hands of red caps...yet, she was with me, flesh and blood, looking very much alive. My mate! How?

Who cared about how? The most important thing was that she was still here. I needed to go find her and for that task, I had to rely solely on Erebos. He would be able to track our mate down!

I turned around to grab Tatiana and bring her with me to Talamaire but she was nowhere to be seen. Fuck! Not the best time to daydream about Fia!

With the thought of finding the only one who mattered, I turned to the door to leave when all of a sudden I saw a huge heavy object flying towards my face. I was too slow to stop it and suddenly everything went black.