Page 13 of Unshaken

“She really is that powerful. Why would they give up someone with such a strong bloodline? You would think she would be first in line there,” I ponder out loud as I walk across the room.

“There is more to the story, I guarantee you that,” Bodin says behind me. “The board were split down the middle; she’s already creating too many enemies, and she doesn’t even know to expect it. She needs to be warned,” he growls, directing it to my mother, who scoffs. She knows more than she is letting on, she always does.

“Enough. I am not going to have this discussion. I will meet Miss Jones on my own terms. I am sure I will be seeing her soon. For now, let’s see if she can make it through the night. If she survives, well, then I will be open to giving her a heads up.” My mother claps her hands in front of her, the finality of her words has Professor Bodin clenching his teeth so tight he might break his jaw.

“And if she kills someone?” he asks. I can feel the anger pouring off him.

“Then she is only doing what any other student here has to do to make it through the night. Only the strong get through to the end here at HellNight, Lyrik. You know this. What makes her any different?” She shrugs and opens up her laptop, in essence dismissing us both.

“Well, I guess I have myself a mystery to solve,” I say to my mother, who doesn’t even spare me a glance when the door to her office flies open.

Ty and Trys stroll in with the biggest smiles on their faces, and it’s so out of character for the two of them that immediately I think the worst.

“Who did you kill?” I ask, turning to see my mother has finally cast her eyes on all three of us.

“Rodyn, you wound me. I am more inclined to have the dead running rampant in the courtyard than actually kill someone. Trys does the killing.” He points to Trys over his shoulder who in turn clutches his Anchor key in his hand in mock shock. “Wait, it’s the other way around brother.” Trys laughs. Holy crap, something is definitely wrong.

“No one died this time.” Trys sighs. I roll my eyes. You wouldn’t think that the three of us shared a womb. Ty and Trys are lunatics, and it doesn’t help that they were two of the strongest Necromancers at HellNight Academy. Chaos follows them wherever they go. I am no better, but I hide my crazy well enough. Even now, my darkness is begging to be unleashed, aching to be set free. My dark powers clawed at my insides from the moment I saw her in the courtyard.

My mother is to blame for all of this. We are her dark blessings, as she loves to tell us. Let’s just say she didn’t pray to God in order to conceive the three of us. As far as we know our father was a sperm donor, that’s a lie of course, but I have a feeling there is more to the story that she’s never told us. She struck a deal to give birth to three strong Warlocks and raised us to be monsters. We all have Demonic power, therefore we know our father is a demon.

“You three really need to get your shit together,” Professor Bodin says to my brothers and I with a stern look on his face. “Lucretia, I will leave you to your band of psychos. I really hope you know what you are doing in regards to Miss Jones.” Professor Bodin charges out of the room only to stop at the door.

“My classes will be cancelled this week. I have business to attend,” he calls back to my mother, and she barely nods in response. He sneers; his fangs are the only indication that he’s upset as he slams the door behind himself.

“Mother, does any of your staff actually like you or are they all secretly planning your death?” Trys asks as he walks further into the room and falls into a leather armchair right in front of her desk. She looks up with a frown, then sighs loudly, as if our very existence bothers her.

“Rodyn was already in here uninvited. What do you need Ty and Trys? I’ve got enough on my plate at the moment, so spit it out now and then leave.” She looks down at the paperwork on her desk, flicking her hand at Trys to explain their sudden intrusion.

“We just wanted you to know that we know we found our mate, our bond, our Tether,” Ty says as he leans against one of the large wooden bookshelves that line the walls of her office. My mother looks up at his words, then looks at Trys who has a dumb lovestruck look on his face.

“What girl has bewitched you now? I’ve told you to stop playing with the girls of this Academy like toys. You’ve already broken too many.” She scoffs and walks around to the front of her desk and leans against it. “Rodyn. What is going on?” She asks me. Of course, she asks me. I am not my brothers’ keeper, but she holds me responsible for them all the same. She is responsible for the broken, tortured souls in this room, not me.

I remain bored by this conversation, and completely unaffected by Ty and Trys’s revelation. This is what they do. The poor girls are usually sent back to their covens, broken, and not just in heart but mind. “I’m sorry, mother, I don’t know who they are stalking at the moment.” I shrug.

“Her name means, who is like God. She is, and will be, mine. We are already hers,” Trys says as he stretches his legs out in front of him, crossing his ankles like what he is saying is a regular everyday occurrence.

“What are you talking about?” My mother asks the two of them, by the look on her face she seems almost worried, which only intrigues me. Nothing unsettles her, I relish the moment when something does.

“Micah. We just met her in the woods. I felt it. Right here.” Ty points at his chest, no humor in his expression. “The moment I saw her, I felt an ache in my chest pulling me closer. She’s our—”

“She’s nothing to you!” Mother yells alarmingly. “The two of you don’t know what you speak of.”

“No, well, I felt it too, and so did she. We saw what it did to her Anchor Key. It lit up like a firecracker. This is rare, mother, but it is happening, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Trys says menacingly. Again, this is not normal behavior for either of them, and I need to understand what is happening, fast.

“Then I forbid it! That is not why she’s here!” My mother slams her hand down on her desk.

“Well, she definitely won’t be your cannon fodder now.” Ty tilts his head, his white eye boring into our mother as he walks over to her slowly. “You think we are naïve to the fact that you bring these random Witches and Warlocks in from covens that wouldn’t normally allow their people to come here. Oh, we get it. But not her!” He shouts the last part, only for my mother to snap her fingers, and bring Ty to his knees. Ty grabs at his throat but does nothing else as she cuts off his oxygen. His eyes remain on her defiantly. They’ve played this game so many times before.

“You know,” she says, leaning forward threateningly before continuing, “you three need to learn your place. Maybe I have been too lenient and let you run a bit wild. I never thought I would see the day when my babies would yell at their mother. Do you want to hurt me, Ty?” She walks over to my brother, his face is drained of color, but he refuses to struggle under her hold. She snaps her finger toward Trys, and he is frozen in his seat. “If you even think of moving, Trystan, you will regret it.” She stops right in front of Ty and leans down until they are eye to eye.

“Like I said, you will stay away from Micah Jones. You both will obey me, or else.” She releases him.

He takes one deep breath before he speaks again. “We are her Soul Tethers, mother. You can’t keep us away, even if you tried,” he says, standing up in one swift motion that forces her to step back.

“What do you mean, she’s your Soul Tether?” I ask, finally speaking after watching my mother’s display of dominance. If I tried to stop her, we would all have been on the floor clinging to life, so I had to let it play out, and I hate it.

“We are her Soul Tethers, brother, and if I wager a bet, you are too,” Trys says as he stands, hands clenched at his sides, popping his knuckles as he tries to hide his anger at our mother.

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