Blood and Magic ||Paranormal Novella||

jameson iris

Sneaking out of Bran Castle was easier than it should have been, but I guess that when you lack a scent, werewolves as guards were near useless. They didn't bother looking for what they couldn't hear or smell, so distracting them by throwing objects away from where we wanted to go was child's play.

"The cell would reek of us." I realised in hindsight, we had just reached the bags we had stashed a more than safe distance from the castle. The first thing I checked was the silver knuckle dusters in the side pocket.

"What do you mean?" He seemed genuinely confused.

"We took the elixir before we left. Mine was wearing off. We didn't take it before we..." I didn't know which word to use. Sex was too straightforward. Made love wasn't desperate enough. Fuck didn't cover the emotional aspect.

"Before you marked me?" I looked at my left hand.

"I thought the male was supposed to mark the female." I allowed the change of topic for a moment, distracted by the shimmering gold patterns swirling around my skin.

"You're too stubborn for that." He said. "I'm not complaining about it. If I had marked you, it wouldn't be half as stunning. How did you make it gold?"

"Just thought about how much I like your eyes." I joked. Truth be told, I didn't even know how I marked him, let alone made the patterns gold. "Are we sure they can't track us?" I had to focus. I was the hunter. I had to be the serious one.

"There's too much foot traffic to and from the castle to track our prints. Without being able to smell us, they have no chance. We have to take the head start." He said, picking up his bag and opening it to pull out his spare shirt since I had ruined the other one. "Why are you concerned about the cell?"

"Because we could have played this differently if they caught us. You can't go back now." I said, my eyebrows furrowed. His life, his mother... there was no reversing what we had done.

"Good." He responded simply as he changed his shirt. Seeing his chiselled body again almost made me waste more time. It took everything to remind myself that time wasn't something we had an excess of. "Besides, they'll know what you are, who you are. They're going to know who they're fucking with."

"And who I'm fucking." I trained my eyes on his as he finished buttoning up his fresh shirt. He straightened it and shook his head.

"There are other things they know. We are mates. I know everything. I'm going to help you. They were afraid of us before and now, we're together. They know what you are and I know what I'm capable of. They'll be terrified." He said. I took a deep breath and nodded. "What do we do next? This is your plan B, after all."

"I never really got this far. I think I originally wanted to get the witchbloods to come forward, but that's what the Day and Night Factions expect." After pulling out my handgun and silver dagger, I put my bag over my shoulder. We'll make camp later, I'll change then.

"So, what do we do instead? Obviously, the end goal is getting you in power, but we need steps to get there."

"I would have to prove my legitimacy as a witch, as a ruler. Their people would have to follow me by choice. Having a people that want you as a ruler makes them less likely to want you dead." I stood up. "Supernaturals are easy to win over. I just have to challenge them, but I need enough standing with the mortals to be respected. Jameson doesn't want what he's been given. If we go to him, tell him we'll help..."

"He can use his power to help us and back you up with the mortal armies, if needed. Once the mortals know they'll die if you aren't in power..."

"Then the next step is going to Jameson and preventing this war by instigating a different one."

~

I took a patient breath as they cuffed my hands behind my back. Travelling back to England had taken nowhere near as much time as when I had kidnapped Shai. He knew what he could do now. The few hours of night he had he spent sneaking into the library to read on his family history, their powers. Yes, his gift was persuasion, but he figured something else out. Some of the Edwards had been able to teleport.

It hadn't been easy, but he had somehow figured it out, even though he couldn't go very far. He was limited to what he could see, but it made the trip quicker. And now we had reached England, made it to London, and were imprisoned by the Mortal King's men.

"I fucking hate Buckingham Palace." I said under my breath as we were escorted through the foyer and taken through far too many halls and doors to bother trying to remember the way out.

"Dev, do you mean you don't like the dreariness of this place?" The guard gave my mate a pointed look.

"Prisoners shouldn't talk."

"They also shouldn't be dragged into Buckingham Palace. We should be in jail, which leads me to believe we aren't truly prisoners. That cuffing us and dragging us here is a cover. Jameson knows what we are here for, and he wants to make a deal, but needs to pretend he's bringing us in, just in case Jupiter finds out." The guard said nothing else as we finally reached the last door. I only knew that because as it swung open, I locked eyes with Jameson Iris, the Mortal King.

"So it's true." Was the first thing he said. "You're a witch."

"And you're a changeling. Are we going to point out that Shai's a dhampir..." the door closed behind us. I felt a strange electricity in the air. A spell. If he used this room for meetings, it was probably to stop anyone from spying on them.

"You can take off their cuffs. It's safe here." Jameson said. The guard immediately undid my cuffs first. Not because I was less of a threat, but because I was holding all the cards. Jameson knew it. If he didn't help me, I would still get the throne, and he would have made a new enemy.

"They didn't mention that..." He said as Shai was uncuffed and he saw the marks.

"It doesn't change much, just that I come as a package deal." Jameson eyed me carefully.

"When I heard the statue was stolen, I hoped it meant someone used it... I didn't realise it would have happened right under their noses. It makes it somewhat sweeter." He said. "You came here because you know I don't want this. I don't want to lead my people to slaughter. I know you want to help. Now convince me you can actually stop the mortals from being killed."