A Thousand Year Obsession ✔

42. Don't Fall For The Same Trick Twice

43. Don't Fall For The Same Trick Twice

It was a tooth this time, and not just any tooth, a wolf's tooth, torn straight from its mouth. I could only guess what myth this Immortal spawned.

"Are you going to do it or not, Morgana? We don't have another thousand years." Derek hissed.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not like I have a choice. I'm just relishing in trying your patience."

I didn't look at him, knowing that if I did, my confidence would crumble like a tower of building blocks. He moved closer behind me, but I didn't shrink away. He could get as close as he wanted. I would not let him intimidate me now. He was the only Immortal I truly knew, the only one that I actually believed I could defeat. If I couldn't be strong with him, I couldn't be strong with any of them.

His hands brushed over my shoulders, his warm fingers sliding down my arms to my hands. I suppressed a shudder, clenching my fists and viciously biting the insides of my cheeks. His fingers gently, but firmly, unfurled my own, and then, before I could realize his intentions, he spun me around and twisted my arms behind my back like an X, pressing me tightly against his chest. I looked up slowly, my eyes catching in his icy blue ones, the fierce resolution in them knocking my breath away. And just as I knew it would, my courage melted away like butter in the sun.

"Open the trap." His voice was quiet, stern, and very, very direct.

I swallowed harshly.

He let go of me and turned me back around, giving me a soft shove towards the tooth lying on the ground. I stared at it for a long time, then glanced swiftly over my shoulder at him. He raised an eyebrow. I inhaled sharply and turned back to the tooth, closing my eyes tightly as I reached my hands out over it. Then I summoned the magic within me and let go.

I gasped as the monster locked within the tooth hungrily devoured my power, sucking my will, my strength, my defenses, and leaving me broken and powerless, half conscious, but enough to see the shadowed form of a wolf rise out of the tooth, it's mostly grey mass growing larger with every ounce of magic it drained from me. It's emerald eyes turned towards me just before it had fully formed, and suddenly I found myself swallowed by the cold, heartless beast hovering over me. Then, the process was complete. The shadow beast glanced at me once last time, before dissipating into the breeze.

And I collapsed into Derek's waiting arms.

° ° °

The next four Immortals I freed were just a blur of grey. I'm sure I passed out over six times, and I faintly remember seeing a shadowy mermaid and a fairy , but I couldn't pick out reality from my dreams. And once I finally became fully conscious, I didn't even have the time to.

It was the sound of a door slamming open that woke me. I lurched upwards, sticky strands of my midnight hair tumbling over my forehead and into my eyes. A land of darkness surrounded me, and I blinked rapidly, running my hands over the covers of the bed beneath me.

When had I been transported from the woods to this place?

I bit my lip, and pushed the blankets away from me, slipping me legs over the side of the bed and wincing as my toes scraped against the cold stone floor. I heard shouting from what seemed like only a room away and I paused, my ears straining to pick out what was being said.