Bound by Prophecy (Bound Series Book 3) by Stormy Smith Read Free Book Online Page B

help Willow off the deck, but I held out a hand to stop her.
    “No, please, stop. Allow Baleon to carry her to her quarters and assist with her rejuvenation.”
    Only once I was standing did I realize I felt one hundred percent like myself. Better than myself. I stepped to Baleon as he lifted Willow into his arms. She was already asleep, likely passed out from the exertion, as Amelia had done many times before. There was only so much power a body could take before it shut down out of self-preservation — especially one whose power had been withheld for so long. The women from my mother’s labs weren’t much different than Amelia when we first met in Brighton. The Keeper power was too much to handle. Her outbursts, her sporadic emotions…it all lined up with what these women were also going through as they acclimated.
    “Stay with her for as long as she needs, Bale,” I directed as I looked over his shoulder at the dispersing crowd. At least a dozen Immortals had watched Willow do her work. “Make sure she’s okay and then find me so we can begin our work breaking the binds.” He nodded and followed the women toward the barn. As I watched their progress, I realized the area where Willow had allowed Mother’s spell to release was now a charred hole in Derreck’s deck. That was what she’d placed inside her son.
    Only my mother would believe there was a lesson to be learned from that.
    With Baleon busy and Aidan gone, I was free to roam the area. Since Amelia and I had been at Cresthaven, I hadn’t had a free moment when I wasn’t shadowed by Bale, Amelia, or my mother’s Hunters. It was freeing to have my thoughts and actions to myself, even for just a few minutes.
    I thought about heading into the house to check on Amelia, but was afraid I’d run into Bethany since I’d seen her going that way only minutes before. My pride still stung from Cora’s admission, but she wasn’t wrong. Bethany was the only person who had ever known me as simply me. I missed her strange southern language, her silly analogies, and her laugh. There was a light inside her nothing could put out and it shined so brightly, I was drawn to her in ways I knew I shouldn’t be. But, what’s done was done, and her feelings were clear.
    I didn’t need magic to feel the anger and hurt she felt while near me. What she would never understand was I was only trying to keep her off my mother’s radar. Had my mother realized Bethany meant anything at all to me, she surely would have taken action against her. I couldn’t handle the possibility.
    Rather than coming up against the storm of fury that was Bethany, I walked toward the barn. Aidan had given me the job of collecting the abilities of those around us, and he was right. We needed to understand who and what we were working with. What he didn’t understand was not everyone wanted to disclose their individual abilities. Those were often a best-kept secret until the battles were fought and the element of surprise was yours.
    I stepped into the dimly lit barn and allowed my eyes to adjust. There were people loitering in various groups, but all their chatter stopped when I entered. Trying to stay casual, I approached the first group. A young man and two women stood together. I stretched out my hand and introduced myself, as if I hadn’t just been made a spectacle of and they didn’t obviously know my name and title.
    “Hello, I’m Micah. It’s nice to meet you all.” I spoke as they shook my hand, each of them seeming intrigued, yet hesitant. I looked toward the women as I continued, “I want to apologize for all you’ve been through. I know simple words are not enough, but the actions of my mother are not mine, and I had no idea what was happening beneath the stones of my own home. The barriers in place kept me from feeling any of you or realizing what you were going through. Please know I will do everything in my power to right this wrong and you should never hesitate to come to