Surprising me, it was Elder Farrar who answered. “He apologizes.” Golden eyebrows lifted to Elder Zeller. “Don’t you?”
Elder Zeller’s jaw clenched as he stared at Elder Farrar, some type of private communication being spoken with their eyes. Elder Zeller stated, “Yes, I apologize.” Dark eyes to me. “I do. I am only…” His Vampire growled quietly under his breath. “I’m frustrated we may have been duped. It’s possible I’m trying to find a way that we may not have all been complete fools.”
“I’m not lying.” My chin trembled for the barest moment before I could hide it. There was a very heavy beat of silence before I flicked a finger at Elder Farrar. I asked as calmly as I could, “Can you please run a hand over me to see what type of spells may have been placed on me, and kindly remove them?” If we were dealing with what I thought, there could be any number of spells on me to keep me from seeing clearly. It was a monstrous person we were dealing with, and a disgusting level scarcely anyone in the history of the world had sunk to.
Elder Farrar cleared his throat delicately. “Yes.” He moved forward, placing a hand on the back of my dipped head. He glowed a pure golden. I instantly heard a quick intake of air from him, and his voice was dreamy. “Protection, which I can’t remove. It’s too powerful.” Another intake of breath. “Oh God, Caro. I’m so sorry.”
I whispered on a shaky breath, “Just remove it.”
Kind, soft words. “I will.”
I jerked when I felt the touch of time and spells infuse my entire being, and the uncomfortable rush of a Mage’s power against mine choked me. I grabbed onto the couch for support.
He stated tenderly, “Sorry, just a moment more. It’s deeply embedded.” He paused with a slow exhale, then he cleared his throat. “There’s…” Another clearing of his throat and with tentative words. “Prepare yourself. It’s a spelled sexual experience.”
Oh my God. “Rip it the fuck out.”
He whispered compassionately, “It may be confusing for you. You’ll still remember what you thought happened, and also what really happened.”
“Tear the fucking blinders away, Elder Farrar.”
The next second, I jolted as time and spells suffused my entire being.
Elder Farrar was lucky he was through, taking his hand away, because as the memory, the real one, flooded my mind, I gagged, jerking off the couch.
I barely made it to a trash can before I spewed, crying silently. Disgust and fury and humiliation swirled in my stomach, making it clench over and over again.
I saw how my first time having sex with a man really happened.
Or, for that matter, didn’t actually happen.
King Collins had at one point moved, holding my hair back as I lost it. He was rubbing gently at my back, murmuring softly, even though there was a slight commotion with the others. Brann was shouting obscenities, and from the sound of it, they were having a hell of a time keeping him inside the room. At my last heave, I jerked back when King Zeller’s body blew through the room, smashing against a wall. I went perfectly still as a deep growl reverberated throughout the room.
Elder Farrar whispered, “I had to Brann. You need to calm down.”
Wiping my mouth as King Zeller muttered a curse and picked himself up from the floor, I turned my head slowly. My bloodshot eyes shot wide. “Oh…fuck.”
“I’m not sure if this is an improvement,” Elder Zeller hissed harshly next to Elder Farrar.
There was an enormous black wolf, at least the size of a regular tiger, growling furiously and baring his teeth at Elder Farrar and Elder Zeller. Expensive, ripped clothing dangled from his soft fur. He crouched into a pouncing stance.
“Brann…” I stated softly, staring at him in shock—and yeah, a little terror—but his growl cut off for a beat, amber eyes flicking to me. I grabbed King Collins’s hand, using him to stand to my feet, and very slowly with deliberately soft footsteps, I moved toward the gigantic wolf, arms outstretched in supplication, speaking in a soothing tone. “Elder Farrar’s right. You need to calm down.”
He huffed, sniffing in my direction before he swung his eyes back to the Elders, growling at them for a long moment. But a second later, a huge black cloud whooshed out around his four-legged form, only to fly back at him.
I jerked to a stop, my eyes growing large on my face before I quickly slapped a hand over them. Brann now stood on two very thick muscled legs. I twirled my back to him, mumbling a bit stupidly, “Naked Brann, naked Brann, naked Brann.”
“Don’t you ever do that to me again.” His voice roared, eliciting a squeak from me in his wrath.
“I had to,” Elder Farrar stated slowly. “You had just thrown King Zeller across the room.”
“He sucker punched me in the damn kidney,” Brann growled, still furious. “And besides, I didn’t hurt him.”