Intertwined: her three mates

12. Blood Spell

3rd Person POV

Lea wakes up and her eyes scan the unfamiliar room. It is a spacious, all-white bedroom. She glances down and notices that she’s lying on a huge fluffy bed, covered by a comforter. Then she looks to her other side and sees a woman with bright hazel eyes and a small smile sitting on a chair in front of the bed.

“Where am I?” Lea asks, worriedly.

“You are fine and safe. Don’t worry, Little One. You were brought to see your mom, but you fell asleep, so we brought you to this room.”

“Who are you?” she asks with wide eyes. Lea knows that something feels wrong. 

“I’m Sarah,” the hazel-eyed woman says. 

“When is my mom coming?” Lea asks. 

“Soon, she’s just finishing a meeting?” Sarah's answer sounded more like a question. 

“Where is Liv? I want to see her.” 

“Hum... she’s out. She went out,” Sarah says, stammering a bit. 

Finally, Lea notices the presence of a built and very tall man in the corner of the room, standing against the wall. He looks still as a statue, gazing at her with his forest green eyes, which are glowing. 

She looks at Sarah and asks in a whisper, “Who is he?” 

Sarah chuckles softly at the girls' change of demeanor. “He’s only a friend of mine.”

“What’s his name?” the little girl asks in an even lower whisper.  

“Richard,” she says. 

Lea nods her head, acknowledging Sarah’s answer, and looks at the man from the corner of her eye. Something about him makes her worried and at ease at the same time. She shakes her head at the feeling. 

“Do you want to watch TV?” Sarah asks after thinking about a way to distract her little guest. 

Lea nods at her. 

After some time, Richard leaves the room. He feels bad about stalking a little girl. He’s not a creep and he doesn’t want her to think so. He wants her near him, to trust him. He instinctively needs to protect her, to make sure she’s safe and that no one in this world will separate them. Then when she comes of age, he wants her to love him in an absolute way, as he will love her. 

Sarah hesitated a bit about taking part in Lea's abduction, but she would do anything for Richard. She knew how much he needed to see Lea. She and Richard are more than close friends, they are like siblings. Sarah was to be the mate of his brother, but they never had a chance to complete their mating. Richard’s brother died long ago in the interspecies war, killed by vampires. They ambushed him, further worsening the long-lasting feud. 

  ~ * ~

 * (At Avalon's castle) *

“Soon Mel is going to arrive here enraged, asking what we did to her baby girl... She may even start throwing things at me,” Avalon says, chuckling. 

“She wouldn’t!” Galvin says. 

“Oh yes, she would.” Linus, Avalon's third in command, chimes in, grinning. Galvin narrows his eyes at him. 

Maximus hides his chuckle. He is always in awe of his mate. He asks Elric through their mind link, "What did the three of you do to Liv?"

Elric answers, "You don’t want to know. But Liv is fine, there is nothing to worry about. You should be worried about the three of us instead."

Maximus laughs through the link. His daughter is feisty. 

“Are you pursuing her, Galvin? I thought she had a mate.” Elric asks knowingly. 

“Well, where is her mate? I have never seen him. He was just good for bedding her and abandoning her with two children.” Galvin says bitterly. 

Maximus needs to control himself. His hands are clenched so tightly that his knuckles turn white. He is exploding with anger at Galvin's words and his audacity to pursue his mate, but he can't show it. He can't compromise his long-kept secret.  

“So, yes, I am indeed pursuing her. Alas, she doesn’t make it easy. But that only makes the game even more exciting.” he says, rubbing his hands. 

Maximus holds himself back from lunging at the guy and beating him to a pulp. How dare he speak like this about his mate? How dare he even think about pursuing her? 

“The way you are going on, you will end up being the one she throws things at,” Linus says, laughing. 

As if on cue, Mel enters the room gracefully. She can’t identify Maximus as her mate and smell his citrus scent since he is using some Fae herbs to suppress it. The herbs conceal his scent, the tingles and sparks at skin contact, and even recognition through eye contact. 

“Princess Mel! So if we say your name three times in the wind you appear?” Linus asks, grinning.

“Who told you that you are funny?” she asks casually with a smile, making his eyes go wide with surprise at her atypical antics. Maybe Liv is rubbing off on me, Mel thinks, also a bit surprised with herself. 

Mel motions to take a seat among the wizards. Galvin pats the seat next to him, but she goes to the other side, making space for herself between Avalon and Linus. Maximus smiles to himself at that. 

She looks around the room and her sapphire-blue eyes meet amber ones. She looks at the ridiculously handsome man that she had seen days before at the party. She shifts her gaze away, trying not to stare. 

Oh Mel, get a grip! You’re a mated woman! she scolds herself. As her eyes leave his gaze, he smiles to himself again. 

It is the first time that he has locked eyes with her gorgeous ones. The thought brings him a feeling of nostalgia and longing. Those are the only eyes he wanted to see, but the only ones that he couldn’t. 

“So, Mel, how can we appease your wild daughter?” Avalon asks.  

“Just give her twenty kilograms of raw meat a day...” Liv's three mates widen their eyes and Mel chuckles. 

“The way you’re talking about her makes her seem like a wild lion. She’s just a teenager.” Mel smiles to herself. Liv is definitely rubbing off on her with her snarky sense of humor.  

“Sugar is a wild kitten,” Laius mutters. 

Mel rolls her eyes at his comment, but she politely makes her reaction not perceptible to anyone in the room. “I see you’re all unmated,” she says, looking around the room, and her eyes briefly meet Maximus' amber ones once again. “Just be patient, and let the mate-pull work its magic.”

“It’s hard to find mates nowadays, it’s good to consider other options,” Galvin says, looking at Mel intently. However, Mel ignores him. 

“So, it’s just a matter of time?” Elric asks, placing his hand under his chin thoughtfully. 

"Time and proximity. Every relationship needs time and contact to develop, it works in the same way between mates, even though the mate bond draws the mates to each other. Just spend some time with her. Make her trust you, feel comfortable around you," Mel adds.  

"She feels very comfortable around us, judging by the way she curses us," Avalon utters. 

"She curses everyone, don’t feel special." Astoria chimes in. 

Mel chuckles lightly, covering her lips with her hand in a delicate motion. 

At that moment, Maximus starts hearing Lea’s voice in his mind. 

"Does it ever get better? Her cursing, her—" Elric starts, looking at Mel. 

“I need to excuse myself, my child is calling me,” Maximus says in a low voice without thinking. He starts to stand up slowly, still talking to Lea in his mind and looking at Mel from the corner of his eyes. 

Mel looks at him briefly and nods in acknowledgment. The others nod too. She looks back at Elric and answers him. 

“I hope so.” Mel smiles. “It seems you are all scared of a teenag—” 

She is interrupted by a sharp pain in her chest. She bends in pain, whispering and bringing her hands to her chest. Maximus strides in her direction without thinking twice, as everything in him is urging him to tend to his mate. 

Elric stands up fast and holds Maximus' arm as he mind-links with him, “Stay low. I’ll check on her.” 

Maximus growls through the mind-link but obliges. He is supposed to be the one to tend to his mate, to check on her and make sure she’s well. 

Elric makes his way to Mel, and Avalon and Galvin do the same. 

“It’s Lea... something is happening to her,” Mel says, breathing hard. 

"You bound yourself to her in a Blood Spell?" Avalon asks, a bit surprised.  

Mel nods weakly and the Wizard King exhales sharply, wondering why such a smart and powerful enchantress would cast something as risky and unpredictable as a blood spell. 

Mircella, a succubus lady that is part of Laius' entourage, asks, "What’s a blood spell?" 

"It’s a spell that connects someone to their loved ones, especially to their close kin. Hence, blood spell. If they are in danger the spellcaster feels a sharp pain, which is proportional to the danger. It’s a way to warn the caster about their loved one’s situation. It’s an unstable spell and can go wrong in so many ways," Laius explains.  

Maximus' heart pounds fast in his chest. He’s on edge, worried sick about his mate and his child. 

"Let’s go to Liv. As far as I know, Lea was with her." Avalon says. 

Galvin is about to scoop Mel up into his arms when Elric notices that Maximus is on the verge of losing control and that seeing Galvin holding his woman will be the last straw. So, he intervenes, pushing Galvin away as he says, “I can carry her. After all, she’s the mother of my mate.” 

"I don’t follow that logic," Galvin mutters as a frown forms on his face.  

Elric ignores him, taking Mel in his arms and carrying her. 

Maximus lets out the breath he didn’t know he was holding. 

After asking Avalon where Liv’s room is, Elric starts walking in that direction, as the rest follow closely behind him. 

Mel calls Lea’s name in a series of low pained whispers, as she drifts in and out of consciousness.