Chapter 68: Competition Btw Mates
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Jace Pov
It had been twenty minutes since he watched the men carry Ana off from the window. He hadn't once moved to tell the others mainly because he feared he made the wrong choice by not fighting. There was no guarantee that she would get a trial, the king could have her killed on sight. His stomach knotted with anxiety.
The laughs from the kitchen grew closer and the rest of crew came bouncing into the living room
"Why the sour face? Someone poop in your cereal?" Lily mockingly asked pinching his cheek. Jace slapped her hand away and scowled at her idiotic question.
Taking a deep breath he prepared himself to tell them the truth. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later.
But before he could get a word out the basement door went flying off its hinges! Standing there in a sweaty rage was Seb. And boy did he look pissed. Jace had no time to wonder how he got the cuffs off because Seb came hurtling at him. The larger man tackled him hard into Cora's coffee table that shattered under their weight.
"What's going on?!" Simon yelled
"Seb stop it!" Marie shouted at her brother.
Seb didn't listen and swung his fist out connecting with the side of Jace's face. Seb was preparing to hit him again when Jace called on his natural magic. Jace held up his palm and Seb went flying across the room.
All witches are born with what is known as natural magic; it varies on degrees by how powerful your bloodline is. It's very addicting and the number one cause of light witches going dark. That's why witches normally use spells and call on the earth for power.
Jace quickly got to his feet and began to chant a restraint spell instead. Once Seb shook off the crash he attempted to attack again but invisible tendrils wrapped around him holding him tightly in place.
"Let me go witch! Where did they take her?!" Seb bellowed he was fighting very hard against his barrier and Jace was surprised at the power he had to use to hold him
"Someone please tell me what's going on?" Simon asked exchanging looks between the two
"I'm guessing it has something to do with Ana considering she's absent from this party" Lily jumped in saying in her usual Lily way.
"Let my brother go" Marie demanded stepping up to Jace. He wanted to but he couldn't risk Seb attacking him again.
"He needs to calm down first" Jace bit out. His body was almost shaking with the amount of force it was requiring to restrain Seb. Not even Ana fought it this hard. Seb had a dangerous look in his eye and they appeared to be changing colors.
Marie stepped in front of Seb and place her small hand on his large chest.
"Brother please, calm down" Marie coaxed
"NO! They took her! I felt it! And he let them!" Seb asserted. The spell was breaking and Jace was afraid that soon he would have to use more natural magic to hold him. How on earth is a human this strong?
"Look we have to figure this out together but we can't if you try to kill him. So look into my eyes big brother and relax" Maries smooth, gentle coaching did the trick.Seb gazed and his sister and some of the tension in his body eased. It wasn't much but a start. After a few more minutes of brother sister time Seb was no longer itching to hit him. Jace finally let his hold go and had to take a couple of deep breathes from exerting himself.
"Alright now what's going on? Where's Ana?" Simon immediately questioned full of fear and worry. Now here was the really hard part. Jace glanced at each one of them before having the courage to speak. The only hope was the rest didn't react the way Seb just did
"The king's army abducted her about a half hour ago" He finally muttered
"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted but Seb. No the other man vying for Ana's heart just stood back and shot death glares while the rest of them began ranting and yelling.
"Listen!" Jace shouted and interrupted all the chaos by standing in the center of the room next to the broken table. "Ana knew they were coming and she asked me to help make sure she was taken alone. For the safety of us all" he explained
"What about her safety?" Seb addressed harshly. Jace sighed running his hands threw his hair. This was such a difficult place to be in, but he had to stand by his decision. All eyes were on him, desperate for some answers.
"We will find her" Jace spoke with confidence and determination. Everyone was quiet. Lost in thoughts and fear. He couldn't allow that. Ana was depending on him to be the glue while she was gone. It was her that brought them all together and it will not fall apart now. "Please have faith in me and each other, that we will bring her back. This isn't the end" he added
"You want to lead us? You're an inexperienced half witch who can't even conjure a flame" Seb challenged him with narrowed eyes.
Jace did something he wouldn't normally do. Calling on his natural magic he allowed a flame to burst to life in the center of his hand. Everyone around gasped; not used to seeing Jace display his magic like this. But all he could do was stare at the stone face of Seb and push the flame to grow larger. If Seb thinks he's the only one stronger enough to protect Ana he's in for a surprise.
"Enough young one" Cora said gliding into the room.
From the look in her eye Jace knew she was concerned for him. He quickly closed his fist and smothered the flame. What he just did wasn't the way of the light witches. Only dark witches show such blunt displays of power.
Seb of course had enough and stormed out the house, slamming the door closed behind him.
"Let me go after him. I have a way with words" Lily of all people volunteered following Seb out the house. Jace wanted to punch a hole in a wall right now but he contained his anger.
He was so tired of competing with the other man. It was making him crazy and act irrationally. If this was how he felt now he could only pray the third mate never shows up.
"You know if she doesn't choose you, you can let go" Simon said placing a hand on his shoulder. His friend must have sensed his frustration at all of this.
"What are you talking about Sy" Jace responded exhausted. He then collapsed onto the plastic cover loveseat that made loud crunching noises in response.
"I read in the book about the three loves of the pure one. Apparently Celeste went through the same thing with three mates, but she ended up choosing a witch even though she had been married to a vampire for twenty years." Simon explained
"What three mates thing?" Marie asked before Jace could ask his question
"Uh Ana has three mates, I though everyone knew. Anyways so did her real mother. Celeste found her first two mates and married the vampire one but they never officially mated. It wasn't for twenty years after that she found her third mate which was a witch by the way. He ended up being her true love so she dumped her husband and mated with the witch, got remarried and had two children; Arc and Ana" Simon summed up taking a seat on the couch as well. Jace raised a brow at him
"Sy, can I ask what the heck does that have to do with anything?" Jace was clearly irritated and didn't need a history lesson from Simon right now. He rubbed his temples to soothe his building headache
"My point is if Ana doesn't chose you and fully mates with someone else you'll feel it but something will happen and you'll have the choice to let your bond go or keep it. If you let go it'll be like your freeing yourself to find another mate. Just thought you should know" Simon commented. Jace thought over it for a moment. Could he actually let go if she didn't chose him?
"What if I don't let go?" he wondered. Simon's expression changed to confusion
"Then you would suffer. You would still feel as strongly as you do now but knowing she's with someone else could make you crazy. I would hope if it came to that you would let her go. Once she's fully mated to another it's only broken if one of them dies." Simon concluded watching Jace making sure his words sunk in.
Jace pondered it for a moment.
The way he felt now he knew letting her go wasn't an option. But what if she didn't chose him but Seb? No he wouldn't cloud his mind with that nonsense. Seb may have a connection with her but they have history. Not the best history but he knew given the opportunity he could make it all better. Ana was his and he would bring her back.
Jace stood up pushing all mate thoughts aside and began to think of how to find Ana. The king most likely took her to his kingdom, the problem was no one knew where that could be. Most people that go there never come back.
He continued to pace the room knowing everyone was watching and waiting for what he would come up with. The one person that could tell him where they took Ana was Ana herself. That's when a light bulb went off in his head! He stopped pacing and turned back to his friends with a gleeful expression.
"I have an idea!" He proclaimed nearly leaping in the air with excitement…
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Lily Pov
Running outside into the darkening evening was not what she wanted to do. But she felt she had to; for Ana. Seb was so explosive and Lily knew exactly why and she planned on telling him.
"Hey! Wait up!" she called after him. Seb was walking along the dirt road kicking every rock in sight. She really had to jog to catch up to him since he wouldn't stop. Once caught up she spun him around to face her
"Lily you're the last person I want to talk to right now" He bit out angrily. Didn't hurt her feelings at all.
"Luck for me then because I'm the last person that wants to deal with you" Lily quipped back. Seb grunted. "Dude you need to control the testosterone and get back inside so we all can work together and get Ana back" She demanded
"You don't know what you're talking about" Seb sneered. He bumped past her to continue his walk down the road to nowhere. But his words really pissed her off. She may not know what she's talking about most of the time but this wasn't one of them times.
"SELF-CENTERED JERK!" She screamed after him. It worked. Seb stopped and came marching back right to her face. She wasn't afraid Seb wasn't the type of person to hurt anyone that didn't deserve it. Unless your Jace
"What you'd call me?" he dared. Lily stood on her tippy toes so she could almost look him in the eye.
"You. Are. A. Self. Centered. Jerk!" She said every word slowly so he knew he wasn't the only one angry right now.
"You know nothing about me or any of us for that matter" Seb countered folding his arms in that dominate way. Lily couldn't help the dry laugh that erupted from her. People always doubted her but she was more than ready to lay it out for him plain and simple.
"Ha! I know nothing! I'm on the outside looking in Seb! I see everything that you all refuse to acknowledge. Like the fact that Ana hasn't accepted who she is. Jace is afraid of his own power. He only did that fire thing because you pushed him! And Simon is going through the motions that everything is okay and he's taking it all in but really he's freaking out inside! The nerd is scared shitless! Oh and your sister is so strong but doesn't know how to step out of your shadow and prove herself! Mainly because you won't let her! Plus she has thing for Simon who clearly feels the same way about her! But they are both too shy and scared to tell each other! Damn it!" Lily's loud ranted ended and she was now breathing heavily. She had to place her hand on her knees to calm herself.
"So you got the others all pegged. But not me" Seb declared. Lily straightened up.
"Oh no I saved the best for last. Your biggest problem is your in love and you have no clue what to do about it. It's so intense and unfamiliar that you wrongly channel it into anger" She concluded.
"That's not true" He replied but it was himself he was trying to convince
"You're in love Seb. Hot, raw, passionate, all-consuming love that people like me dream of!" Lily declared "Tell me I'm wrong?" She pushed but from the look on his face she knew he wouldn't. His arms dropped and he huffed a sigh.
"It's hard! And when I think of what she could be going through right now I have to fight myself not to go into a rage and destroy everything in my path to find her!" Seb admitted with a slight glow to his eyes. For the first time since she met him, Seb looked afraid. But she knew it was Ana and not himself.
"I know but you can't run off alone like this. We need you and we have to stick together and come up with a plan if we are to find her" Lily reasoned. Seb nodded in agreement and she was so proud of herself for being able to pull him out the anger cloud.
"Want to hold hands and skip back?" She suggested with a smile. Seb rose a brow before chuckling a little. It was nice to hear him laugh even though it only lasted a second
"No, but we can race instead?" He offered with a half-smile. Lily shrugged feeling she would take what little fun she could get. But she hated losing and knew she was going to cheat some way.
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#Tobecontinued...
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