I roll my eyes, the pain shredding me from the inside barely kept at bay. "Are you done now?"
He snarls low in his chest.
I start pacing in front of him, running a shaking hand through my hair. "Kass was right," I mutter. "You really are a dramatic bastard."
His growl rumbles through the air, but he doesn’t twitch a muscle.
I force myself to keep moving, to breathe through the next spike of white-hot agony. "What the hell is happening?" I snap at him. "Where the fuck are we? I’m guessing inside my mind?"
"Ourmind," he growls, voice rough, cracked with something like fury.
"Our mind," I echo grimly. "Fine. Whatever. At least you can talk normally here. That’s something."
I meet his furious gaze and huff out a humorless laugh. "Nice to finally meet you, by the way. Real pleasure."
He just glares at me, muscles rippling under the mass of glowing bindings strangling him.
I square my shoulders. "Now, can you tell me about the witch," I demand. "The one who did this. To you. Tous."
The last word sticks in my throat, because suddenly — finally— I feel it. Something thick. Tight. Burning against my skin. My hand flies to my neck. Finds it. A collar. Just like his. Burning with magic.
A fucking leash. Dragging me further from her with every breath I take. I guess it makes sense. It was probably hidden from view before. There was no use hiding it on Draxis, since he was suppressed and I couldn’t shift.
"Yes, I can tell you," Draxis says, snapping weakly at the glowing binds once. "The witch bound me from speaking to others, but not to you. She would’ve needed a separate spell for that — and she didn’t bother. Thought she was safe once our connection was cut. She thought I was locked away for good."
He lets out a rough huff, nostrils flaring. His silver eyes burn like twin stars. "The magic she used has a catch. It's powerful, it keeps us chained under her will — but it cost her. It weakened her so much that her memories bled into the spell. I saw enough of them to know the truth."
My pulse roars in my ears. Finally. Finally, a crack in this damn nightmare.
"Who is it?" I demand. "Who’s the witch?"
"A bitch," he snarls. "Amira’s mother."
"Luna Hana?" I ask, thrown off.
"No," Draxis growls, shaking his massive head. "Hana isn't Amira’s real mother. Her true mother is a full-blooded witch. Red hair. Eyes like gold. Her name is Galla." His snout curls in disgust. "And this witch’s father? He's not mortal. He’s a god. One of the old ones."
A chill sweeps down my spine. "A god?"
"The God of War," Draxis spits, rolling his eyes. "He’s still salty about losing that war to our kind. He knew about the two of us long before we were born. The prophecy was whispered among the gods. So he seduced a witch, made her bear a daughter, and he gave that daughter a mission."
"What mission?" I grind out.
"To steal our power. The power of a hellhound," Draxis says, chains rattling against him as he struggles to move. "To leash us, to bind us. To take what should never have been touched and hand it over to someone under the God of War’s dominion."
My stomach twists into a cold knot. "So... Galla wants our power for herself?"
Draxis scoffs, a bitter sound. "She can’t. Not anymore. She burned too much of her own strength, leashing us. If she tried to take our power for herself, it would kill her instantly." He leans closer, eyes flashing. "That’s why she’s using her daughter."
A curse tears from my throat. "Fuck. Fuck. That bitch will kill Kassira—"
"She won’t," Draxis growls, deep and dangerous. "Not yet. She can’t."
He jerks against the threads around him once, frustrated. "The first time we met our mate, she could’ve killed her then. But now? Our bond grew, it’s too strong. Killing her would rip the bond apart violently enough to break the leash. It would shatter the spell completely." His lip curls into something savage. "They won’t risk it. Not before they force us to mark that false Luna. That evil bitch. Through the mark, all our power will transfer to her."
“So we could’ve marked Kass and transfer all our power to her?” I ask, feeling stupid all of a sudden. We could’ve avoided all this.
“No, the magic is weaved in such a way that our mark is safe only for Amira. It would’ve hurt our mate.” He looks to the side, in shame. “I got too carried away once, I couldn’t help myself. I almost marked her.”
