6: Make it Stop

HERA

I choked and I instinctively clutched at my chest as if that’d soothe the pain I was feeling. Wanni’s smile widened and her chants grew louder, fuelling my discomfort even more.

This can't be the end. I can't go down like this.

I tried to hold on, to reach for the core of my powers and fight this. But I couldn't. The feathers were changing colors and my mouth was opening to confess the crime I had committed.

Before the words could leave my mouth, I felt a sudden overpowering energy. It drowned the discomfort I was feeling and soothed the pain in my heart. Instead of the pain, something else was growing, a gravitational pull, one so intense that my head whirled up and my eyes met the vicious ones of Atticus. From how his jaws were locked, it was obvious he was feeling this thing too.

Whatever it was.

The fake bond was getting strengthened and it was overpowering the effects of Wanni’s chants. Someone was helping me. Someone powerful was helping me.

I looked around the room. Everybody was lost in Wanni’s chants. The elders looked hopeful that Wanni might be able to expose me. Lilith was biting her fingernails in apprehension and Atticus was busy glaring at me. No one in the room had a reason to help me.

I focused more and I realised the energy wasn't coming from inside the room, it was coming from outside. It didn't make me feel better. Why would anyone want to help me in this palace? Who were they? And how are they so powerful?

“Did it work?” Elder Ayo’s voice jolted me out of my reverie. The feathers had reverted to the original color. Beside Wanni, Lilith was crumbled on the floor.

“No, I…” Wanni’s voice was shaking. Her whole body was trembling. I guess she knows what it meant for me to still be alive. She knows I never fail to keep my promise.

“It was working, then it stopped. If I could get another chance, I’ll definitely make it out,” she sounded even more desperate than Lilith did earlier, and even though she was sitting opposite me, she avoided looking into my eyes.

“That’s enough,” Atticus’ voice silenced every other noise; both the other elders’ murmurs of disbelief and Lilith’s quiet sobbing, “It has been proven beyond reasonable doubt that the mate bond I share with Hera is real. No one should doubt her again and this gathering is hereby dismissed.”

Everybody bowed as he walked away, his steps hurried, almost like he couldn't wait to leave the room with his Beta right behind him. The elders’ murmurs dimmed as they all walked out too.

“How did you do it?” Wanni snapped at me. Gone was the composure of the Head Witch, the only thing she had left was a bitterness trying to swallow her whole.

“The spells were working! You were about to confess, then you turned everything around! How did you do it? Tell me! There are no spells to make that happen!”

It was satisfying to watch her lose her mind. Her fear was so obvious and that's funny, seeing how I haven’t done anything to her. I smiled as I stood to my feet.

“You shouldn’t cower now,” I told her, looking down on her like she deserved, “save your fear for when I come back for my throne, when I make a crown out of your skull.”

Her head jerked up and whatever nonsense she was going to say died in her throat when the impact of my slap threw her to the floor. I didn’t wait for her to recover. I only gathered my gown and walked out of the room.

*******

I stepped out of the bathroom, fully refreshed and clean. When Agatha led me back to my room, a tray of food was waiting for me. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I devoured every single grain. Now, as I stepped out of the bathroom in a toweling robe, I wanted nothing more than to collapse on my bed and sleep off.

That became far-fetched when I became aware of the fact that someone was in my room.

Atticus was leaning against the main door, changed out of his royal clothes into something more casual; black joggers and a shirt. He started to advance towards me.

“Your powers are commendable, I must say,” he started. I remained rooted on a spot and when he got to me, he pushed me till I was leaning against the wall, “how were you able to strengthen the fake bond to the point of scaling through that ritual?”

So he felt it too? And he thought I did it? I thought back to the bizarre help. Someone within these walls helped me. But who and why?

“Why are you so interested in that? You should be happy I scaled through. Now, you can be king.”

He smiled.

I froze.

There was something utterly sinful about his smile, something attractive and dangerous. Like fire. It was dangerous, yet one couldn't deny its allure.

But why am I thinking about his smile?

“Is this your handiwork too?” I noticed his voice was strained like he was holding back from doing something, “this attraction? What are you trying to do, making me want you like this?”

The words, delivered with a hunger that simulated the hunger in his eyes, made me stop. He was completely pressed against me and before I could think, his right middle finger was tilting my head up, forcing me to look at him. His thumb traced the outline of my lips, unlocking a similar hunger within me.

I knew this wasn't real. Whoever helped me was doing this too but because it wasn't real doesn't mean it wasn't happening.

Angry lines stretched over Atticus’ face. From his eyes, I could tell he wanted to kiss me. And then kill me. His thumb caressed the fullness of my lower lipbefore something snapped in him. The next thing? His thumb and index finger grabbed my chin painfully.

“I don't know what you're planning or thinking but it’s going to work,” his words sounded even more strained, like he was using all his self-restraint from doing what he really wanted to do, “so stop it before I make you stop it.”

I swallowed. His proximity was doing something I couldn't explain to me. My whole body was in an overdrive and a primitive hunger was taking over.

“You’re the one in my room,” I managed to get out, “you're the one holding me. Maybe you should leave.”

He dropped my chin abruptly. His eyes were clouded with so many emotions; hate, disdain, hunger, want, and anger.

He took two steps away from me. Slow, hesitant steps like it was killing him to walk away. I could feel the gravitation between our bodies, the invisible force pushing us together. That was why it hurt him to walk away. That was why it was killing me to watch him walk away.

He turned away and stomped towards the door. He was just about to turn the knob when he stopped and I heard him mutter “fuck this” before turning back and walking towards me.

He barely got to me when his right hand cupped the nape of my neck, tilted my head up and his mouth covered mine in a hungry kiss.