Chapter 213: Loyal Dog
Chapter 213: Loyal Dog
\[Amaryllis\]
All traces of the man who had only minutes before had been tending me with such love and care were gone as Calyx took a spot next to me. As we settle into our seats, the driver, a member of the Witch Force, leers back at me, eyeing me with a mixture of desire and disgust. Our eyes meet, and I can feel him scanning my mind, looking for something to prove I’m not what I say I am, that I’m not as meek as I pretend to be.
But after having been abused by my uncle, forced many times to do things I regretted and wished I could erase, I was good at disassociating and letting my mind fall blank. After a few minutes of intense eye contact, I felt his searching mind retreat as he sat back, satisfied.
“Is there something wrong,” Calyx bristles, his tone as cold as winter. “We’re needed at the site. The spell must begin in…” he looks down at his watch, “...precisely 7 minutes. Otherwise, we’ll miss the window and will need to wait another 6 months. Do you want to explain that to Commander Sterling? ”
“No, Commander Paige,” the driver responds hurriedly, turning his body back towards the road. “The site has been prepared per your specifications. Commander Sterling is already waiting at the site and…”
“Good,” Calyx cuts off the soldier. “Get moving.”
The jeep rolls forward, carrying us away from the residential streets across town towards Downtown Clearwater. It stops outside of a grand building domed in class. It’s the courthouse. Once a place for justice, it was now just another facility of the Brotherhood. In the basement is a prison and lab space, on the rooftop, an old Moon Goddess temple has been transformed into a place of prayer for the sun. The rest of the building had been converted into barracks for the human members of the order.
Opening the door, without looking back, Calyx tugs on my chain pulling me towards the tall marble columns outside the main courthouse doors. “Come, Alexis.”
Even though I know this is an act, my heart falls at the dismissive way he speaks to me, pulling me along like a dog he has brought to heel. If I wasn’t sure of his love and devotion for me, even I’d be convinced that he didn’t find any value in me beyond what my body and my magic could do for his cause. My face carefully blank, I step down from the jeep to follow my captor dutifully, lowering my head to stare at my feet as I bend my back forward to give the illusion of detached submissiveness.
As we move forward, the three guards, watching our flank, fall back, scanning the area. I can feel the moment their gazes fall onto my nearly naked form, the sheer fabric hugging my full curves as I saunter forward. Keeping their voices low, I hear them analyze my figure, taking pleasure in seeing a powerful alpha like me reduced to little more than a pretty display.
“You think she fucks like a human?” One of the guards whispers, trying to keep his words quiet enough to not be heard beyond his small circle of protection.
“Nah, I heard witch bitches have teeth in their cunts,” one of the others grunt, repeating a ridiculous superstition commonly believed by ignorant humans. Our basic anatomy is almost identical to humans and wolves. Our only real differences lie with how our bodies absorb and use life energy. We have a connection to the natural magic flowing around all of us continuously. Wolves use it to transform and become strong, witches use it to bend the universe, to make the world around us change with intention driven will.
But if their idiocy keeps them from trying to take advantage of me in this situation, I see no reason to turn and correct them.
“I can’t believe the Commander is willing to spread her legs for the sake of the Brotherhood,” they continue to banter, turning this sacred ceremony into little more than their personal porno. “Talk about taking one for the team.”
“He’s always been a loyal dog,” his buddy sneered, mocking my mate for his mixed wolf blood. “That mutt has always been their fucking…”
Calyx’s jaw clenches as he stops, his back stiff as he turns to glare at the guard who closes his mouth without finishing his thought. Behind him, the elevator doors open with a ding, but he doesn’t acknowledge it, his focus entirely on the three, disrespectful human-witch hybrids who had been gossiping behind our backs.
The soldier’s eyes widen with fear as Calyx takes a small step forward.
“Be careful, brothers, your words reveal your lack of commitment to our cause,” my mate’s voice is calm and devoid of emotion. “It would be a shame to cleanse the order of your talents just because you don’t know when to stop talking.”
The three of them blanch, realizing that their commander had heard every word they said. Coming to attention, they stand a bit straighter, their fists crossing their chests in salute.
“Our apologies, Commander Paige,” the tallest of the three responds in a shaking voice. “We didn’t mean to sound disloyal, we just…”
Cal’s gaze turns sharp. “You were just being stupid,” he balks. “If I had known you were so…undisciplined, I’d have requested an all human guard.”
The three men flinch, his dismissal of their blended bloodline hitting them like a slap. Considering just a minute before they had been commenting on Calyx’s lack of humanity as a noted weakness, they know exactly how demeaning his words were intended to be.
“Remain silent and do your job,” Calyx ordered. “If I hear another fucking word out of your sick, pathetic mouths, I’ll offer the three of you up for sacrifice. I’m sure we can find enough loyal guards willing to…take one for the team.”
Looking down at my feet to hide my grin, I follow my mate into the elevator and send a wave of love and gratitude through our bond. As the doors open, Calyx responds with a rush of affection blended with something else…fear.
Lifting my head as we step out into the room my heart clenches, mirroring his own hot wave of terror as my mind catches up with my eyes and I fully take in the scene before me.
Ringing the chamber are our imprisoned gammas. They were bowed, bent over marble platforms that are carved with deep paths that lead to a large, communal trough.
In the center of the room, where the raised dais waited for my sacrifice, was my uncle Chancy, his grin wide as he pressed a blade against Parris’ neck.
“So glad you could join us,” my uncle frowns as he looked down at his watch. “And not a moment too soon. I thought you had forgotten, or had been otherwise…detained.”
My uncle’s eyes met mine as he said this and my heart jumped as I watched his frown flip, his lips curling upward in understanding as his eyes glow.
He knows. Somehow, my uncle knows we are lying
Holding out his knife, he offers it to Calyx.
“I believe your spell calls for a blood sacrifice,” Chancy grins knowingly, daring him to take a step forward. “Should I slit this gamma’s throat, or are you ready to do it?”