Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
I was thrown so hard out of Scarlet that I stumbled a few steps backwards and fell. As I looked up, I saw that Scarlet had done the same. She sat on the ground, staring at me with emotions I couldn't place.
"Scarlet?" I whispered and moved closer to her.
She back away at first, but then stopped and continued to just stare at me.
"Scarlet, please talk to me," I begged her, because her reaction made me worry. I had no idea what I actually had done. Just like with Alex, it had been mere guesses on how things worked from my side. I didn't know if what I'd done had been harmful to Scarlet in any way.
Slowly, she opened her mouth. Her lower lip trembled as she looked at me. "Zoe" was the only word that left her before she burst.
She sobbed and cried and almost screamed out the pain she felt. I quickly moved forward and placed my arms around her. To my relief, she leaned into my hug and continued her sorrow and grief while clinging onto me.
"Oh my goddess, Zoe. How could she? Why did she? Why would she?" the questions fell from Scarlet's lips between her sobs.
"I'm sorry, Scarlet," I said and with my words, my tears came as well. "It's my fault. It's all because of me."
She pulled away from me a bit so she could see me. In her eyes, I saw her conflicting emotions. The years she had spent hating me, the fact that it was my hands that had killed her mate, the new knowledge, the old friendship. I saw it all at odds with each other inside of her and I had no idea which was winning.
"I was getting in her way of controlling you," Scarlet stated, drawing the same conclusion as I had as to why.
She opened her mouth to say something more, but I wouldn't find out what. Over Scarlet's shoulders, I saw the Priestess coming out from behind a hedge. I immediately stood up, ready to fight. I felt someone grasp my hand from behind and looked around. I had temporarily forgotten that Felix was there as well, and though I knew I should have felt worried about him getting hurt, I didn't. Instead, his smile and his light squeeze of my hand sent me strength.
I turned back to face the Priestess and knew that no mattered what happened, she couldn't harm me anymore. She couldn't use me either. I had always been stronger than her and finally I felt it as well.
"So you are back. With your mate, I presume," the Priestess said as she stopped a few feet from us. Her eyes were like daggers aimed towards Felix. "I never expect this from you, Zoe," she continued contemptuously. "A witch hunter's son... But thank you for bringing him here and making this all a lot easier."
She made a flicking movement with her hand and I could feel the magic in the air. But I wasn't afraid like I had been when Scarlet had tried to use magic on Felix. I remained calm and unperturbed with the knowledge that just like she couldn't harm me, she wouldn't be able to harm Felix.
As the Priestess realized the spell hadn't worked, her expression froze. Some of her confidence seemed to waver.
"What's the matter?" I asked her and tilted my head. "Not what you expected?"
When the Priestess had cast the spell, Scarlet had made a slight movement. She had been keeping her eyes on the ground, but her head shot up. She sat so her back was to the Priestess and her eyes on me. And her eyes. There was a burning rage in them.
"What are you doing on the ground, Scarlet?" the Priestess asked, seemingly trying to hold on to her arrogance. "You look pathetic. Help me deal with this traitor and her mate instead."
Scarlet's eyes were still fixated on me as she spoke in a low and vicious voice. "To think that I ever viewed you as a friend. That I ever trusted you."
Behind Scarlet I could see all of the Priestess' confidence and arrogance returning, for she thought that Scarlet's words were aimed at me.
"You must have thought me a fool," Scarlet continued. "And I was. Such a fool. Deciding to put the blame where it was easy instead of trying to see the truth."
A frown formed on the Priestess. Uncertainty started to grow, as Scarlet's words didn't match her expectations.
"I should have been able to see through your manipulation, for when have you ever cared about someone other than yourself?"
"Scarlet, what in the name of the Goddess are you talking about?" the Priestess asked, a trace of fear shone through her voice.
Slowly and deliberately, Scarlet got to her feet. She wiped away the remnants of her tears and brushed off some earth and grass that had gotten on her clothes, before turning to meet the Priestess.
I watched as the Priestess saw those burning eyes and as she was hit by the realization that Scarlet's words hadn't been aimed at me. The Priestess took half a step back under Scarlet's gaze, but seemed to quickly realize what she had just done and straightened herself. Drawing herself up to her full height and bringing forth her magic. She let her magic dance around her as a display of power, but I almost wanted to laugh.
She had used that trick so many times to make me submit, and I always had. Her power had always left me scared. But as I felt it then and there, I realized how pathetically weak she actually was. How her power didn't even come close to the one I knew flowed through my body. I almost felt embarrassed over having been afraid of her.
Scarlet also didn't seem the least bit affected. Though in that moment, in her burning rage, I doubted that anything could make her back down.
"My mate," Scarlet hissed.
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