Page 5 of Fortune Fae Academy
But why Gina? Why give the Elders what they wanted?
The collar was first in Roderik’s possession?Seifiek asked in my mind, startling me.
While it had always been technically possible for Seif to talk to me inside my mind since we’d mate-bonded, I’d never heard his voice so strongly. Something had definitely changed between all of us.
Yes,I confirmed, looking over Amell’s shoulder and into Seif’s intense eyes.
His jaw flexed.Then he probably did something to it. If he can control Gina, he can control not only the Elders but us as well.
I turned my attention back to Amell. While he couldn’t hear us, he read the Web enough to know we were talking.
He wanted us to talk and come up with a plan. That would better solidify the future and give him a chance to read it.
Shit. We need to do better than this.
“Done?” he asked with a sly smirk.
I nodded.
“Hmm,” he said, then released the thread he’d been holding, allowing me to take a deep breath. He resumed his pacing until he reached my side and invaded my personal space. “You see, Roderik is not the only one who has a use for your talents. If you’re going to be stubborn about staying alive, then you might as well do something for me.” He leaned in, making my skin burn with the aura of his power. “I have a proposition for you, one that could change the course of your life forever.”
My eyes narrowed as I took a step back, circling him until I stood shoulder to shoulder with Seif. “I’m not interested in anything you have to offer.”
“Oh?” he asked. “Not even a chance to make Etu lose interest in your Omega?”
Seif and I shared a look.
Amell chuckled. “I have long forgotten what it’s like to be so young. You must be infatuated with the girl. But I assure you, Etu’s interest in her can be redirected. He’s obsessed with the Shard she carries.”
The Elder painted another rune in the air until the Web shimmered, folding in on itself until it displayed a magical sphere with a vision inside.
One of my Omega on the floor, retching up blood.
“This is a new timeline I’ve recently discovered. One where you help me extract the Shard.” He circled the sphere and gently brushed his hand through the image of Gina’s silky hair.
The vision shimmered as Gina coughed and shoved her fingers into her mouth. Blood gushed as she pulled out something sharp and jagged.
It looked like glass… if glass had been molten and forged by silver, then placed into the center of the sun to burn for a thousand lifetimes.
“What is that?” Seif asked, taking a step toward the gruesome image.
Amell’s catlike pupils dilated, turning his eyes black. “It’s a very special Artifact and the source of your Omega’s power. Once extracted, I could place the Shard into any Omega I wish. Etu would quickly lose interest in your female.”
“Another Omega?” I asked with a raised brow. Did he really expect me to sacrifice some other poor Omega to Gina’s fate?
“Yes,” he said as if that was of no consequence. “There aren’t many Omegas who could withstand the Shard’s power, but you’ll leave that to me.”
There was only one Omega I could think of who would survive the implantation of an ancient Artifact like that.
Sibyl.
She didn’t deserve this, but maybe that was why she had been working behind the scenes to alter the future. Why she had been so interested in helping me.
Maybe that was why she didn’t support the pure timeline. Because it ended up with her being mate-bonded to a creature like Etu.
“You said the Artifact, thisShard,was the source of Gina’s power,” Seif countered.
Amell tilted his head. “Yes. But she doesn’t want power, does she? She just wants a life with her Betas and to be left alone.”
