The Delta's Daughter Chapter 351

JONDA

I'm losing my mind. I can feel the control over my thoughts slipping away little by little.

I try to fight it but all that brings is pain. Sharp, hot, fiery pain that shoots through my body every time I try to remember who I am.

If I can just hold on to… me.

"Sit Jonda." He says to me.

I do as I'm told. I look down at myself as I take a seat. Food lines the table but I'm not hungry. I feel sick. When did I change into this white dress? It's not something I would wear.

My arms are bare. Tendrils of black vein like vines climb my arms. I can feel them moving, caressing the muscles beneath my skin. If I fight his commands, they will burn.

"Let me go please," I say quietly not daring to look at my captor. I mean this physically and mentally. I want him to let go of whatever control he has over me.

"I can't do that." He sighs. "You are my bargaining chip. Your life for the boy."

What boy? I want to ask. He keeps telling me that he wants the child back and that he will exchange my life for his. I don't know who he is talking about.

"If your mate truly loves and values you, he will bring me the boy." He points at me with his steak knife "And you will live." He lowers the knife and starts cutting into his steak. "I have no desire to kill you, Jonda. However, I could use another breeder, you would conceive promising changelings. Or if all else fails, I could turn you."

"Turn me to what?" I dare to ask and look up only to meet his menacing gaze. His eyes lock on mine and because of the power he holds over me, I am forced to look away.

"A crawler." He states as if it should be common knowledge. "Now eat."

"Yes master," I say, because if I don't address him correctly the pain will come.

"I like you, Jonda." He talks between mouthfuls. I pick up my own fork and stab a green bean. For a brief second, the idea of stabbing him in his eye with the fork crosses my mind. But the burning sensation begins to flare, and my arms start to itch. As soon as I dismiss the idea the burning stops. "Under different circumstances, we could have been friends. Maybe more than friends."

I silently gag. This man is older than me, though he doesn't look it. His long hair braided back is pulled tight and his eyes are dark, almost black. Not a wrinkle in sight but his mannerisms and the way he talks lead me to believe he is much older.

He hasn't touched me in that way, thankfully. But the implications that he could are there.

They call him Master as he has made me call him. Others have whispered in the night that he is the Shadow Witch. I hear the others speak but I cannot. I have been forbidden to speak to anyone but him.

His hold over me is strong and I don't think I can fight it any longer. Each day I grow more tired and the fight to survive dwindles with each passing hour.

He wants to trade me for a child, he says the Beta is my mate but that's not true. I remember this, I know this. I hope I am not traded I will endure this torture, this control if it saves the life of a child.

Jonda. That's my name. I must remember who I am. I am the daughter of Teal MacTire, Sister to Alpha John MacTire…

"You are cursed, and you belong to me." I look back up at my master who smiles wickedly at me. He can hear my thoughts. "Yes, I can."

"How?"

"Blood magic." He lifts his glass of wine in the motion of toasting. I don't see anything to celebrate. "I am more than what I was, a blood alchemist. I am more than a man. My magic has no boundaries and Aodh will walk this realm again."

Aodh, the god of the underworld.

"Yes, my child, he will rise and claim his bride. And for my part, I will rule this realm as his second in command. It will be the end of shifters; a new race will grow and thrive under our command."

The door to the dining room opens and in walks blue eyes, Milo is his name. He seems kind.

"Master, she has arrived." He says with a bow towards the master.

"Show her in." master wipes his mouth with his napkin, blue eyes leaves, and comes back with a female in tow only a few moments later.

Master stands with outstretched arms and the female walks to him, letting him hug her. I see her smile at the gesture. But the master's face is impassive as if the formality is a chore.

The girl's hair is dark, just past her shoulders and when she lets go of Master, it's only then she notices me. Her yellow eyes open wide with recognition, and I hold back the gasp when I notice her pupils are the shape of crescent moons.

"Do you know who she is?" Master asks the young woman, who stays silent, eyes still trained on me. "Petra, I asked if you know her." His voice was harsh, and it jostled the girl from her stupor.

"Not personally Father, but I know who she is." He nods as if he expected nothing less.

Petra, how do I know that name? Where have I heard that name?

My heart rate picks up when I search my memories for the name and the face. It's hard to remember but it comes to me. I thought she was younger. Much younger.

"I hope you bring me good news." Master sits again, leaning back in his chair as he gestures for the young girl to sit with us.

"Eat Jonda." He commands and I do. "Faster." He orders. And I do. Involuntarily I began to shovel food into my mouth, not stopping to chew. He didn't tell me to chew.

"I do father, I hope you are pleased?"

*****

PETRA

"Speak freely child, do not mind the subject. She can not tell anyone."

I look at Jonda. I know who she is, I had never met her in person, but I knew she was the chosen mate of the New Moon Royal Beta.

Beta Mike, I had met, several times. He was tall and handsome, fierce but kind. When I first met him, I secretly had a crush on him. That was until he killed my mother. In all fairness he didn't know it was my mother, nor did my mother recognize me disguised as the ten-year-old child. Finn had kept me separated from Orion and Shayna to protect me and I had loved him for that. If my mother had heard my name and recognized it, she never let on.

Either that or she ignored me for my own safety because father always said if Orion found out what I was he would kill me just like he tried to kill him.

My mother had me at a young age, I grew up living between MacTire and the compound in Lewe. What I was, was kept a secret from King Orion and Silas. When I was fourteen my mother hid me within the walls of MacTire one night and told me to follow the tunnel and not stop until I reached the ocean. The same night Orion and Silas tried to kill my Father. I thought they had succeeded. That was a little over five years ago.

Father said they tried to kill him that night, that they threatened Mother and me. I lived in the wilds for almost a year until my father finally tracked me down and found me. That's when my training began. Then my father sent me back to MacTire.

Except he had changed, no longer the father I remember. He was different not just in appearance. He wasn't the father I knew before. The one that would tuck me in and tell me stories, the one that would cuddle me and tell me he loves me. He was more powerful with magic that turned darker and stronger.

My father had originally sent me back to MacTire to search for the earth stone. He said I would easily recognize it because I came from magic. For more than a year I have searched for the stone with no luck.

I knew the castle like the back of my hand yet still I had found no magical stone. I was doubting it even existed or at least, it was no longer within the walls of MacTire.

It was there, under disguise, I first came across Queen Lamia, over three years ago now. She had been captured by the rogue king, Silas, who wanted to breed her. They tortured her, raped her, and did unspeakable things resulting in her losing a child. When she was sedated, I cut her open removing the deceased embryo and delivering it to my father under his orders. At the time, I didn't know what I was doing. Or what my father wanted with the embryo.

I wish I had never told him about her. Lamia didn't deserve any of this. She was good and kind, fierce and protective. None of them deserved my betrayal and lies.

I turned my attention back to my father. "They know who you are, they have pieced it together father. They held a meeting two days ago with all the kingdoms."

"What else?" He asks me leaning forward, placing his elbows on the table, staring at me. Waiting.

"The counselor they call Abner Brooks has the folder you want in his possession. And… and a stone sits within the kingdom of Cambiador." I tell him honestly because there is no use in trying to lie to him. He will know. He always does.

He leans back and strokes his chin with his long boney fingers. "What of the child?" He asks slowly.

I close my eyes for a brief second, steadying my nerves. I don't want to tell him, but I have to. "The child is in New Moon under the protection of King Kellen and Queen Lamia."

"So, the chosen one knows." It's a statement.

I nod, gulping down the guilt I feel for betraying Queen Lamia as well as Travis and Hunji. I had grown to love them and in return, they had loved the ten-year-old girl they had brought into their home.

When Father sent me to infiltrate their circle, I had no idea I would come to love the very people I was lying to.

Father had decimated a small Clan of bears in his search for the stones, his beasts tore them to shreds and his subjects strung up children and feasted on their flesh and blood.

Orion was already rising with the use of Crawlers, so it was easy to blame the attack on them and make it look like they had slaughtered the Clan. When in actual fact it was Senko, my father.

I didn't know better, or at least that was my excuse for turning a blind eye to the carnage my father created.

He was all I had left now that my mother was dead.

For several years he trained me to become the perfect spy.

"You have done well Petra." I smile at his praise as these moments are few and far between. I know he loves me in his own way, he has told me. Even if he doesn't show it very much, I aim to please hoping that he will be the loving father I desperately crave, a reason I cling to the crumbs of affection he throws my way every now and then.

"What now father?"

"Now, dear daughter, we make our first play." I have no idea what that means, what he means but I feel a little excited. Maybe the excitement is out of hope that all this will be over soon that his mission will be complete and then we can have peace. Just him and I like it was in the beginning.

"Come now Petra, I must treat you before you leave." He stands and holds his hand out to me like I was a small child.

My shoulders stiffen, and my body ever so slightly trembles with fear. I hate this part about my visit, but it was necessary. Father said if he didn't drain my blood every now and then I would get sick and could die. It was a condition due to the nature of what I was.

I take his hand and he leads me to a small room where he has me lying down on the cot bed. "It will only hurt for a few minutes." He tells me, "You should be used to this by now Petra."

I should be, but I wasn't.

He sticks me with several needles. One in each arm, one in each thigh, and the final one in my neck. He switches the machine on that will draw the blood from my veins then he holds my hands and begins to chant. It takes a few moments before I feel it. The sensation of having an entity ripped from my body as if my life force was being drained like he was separating my soul. It wasn't the needles that hurt - it was whatever he did to me with his chanting, the same foreign words I have heard for years, a spell of some sort.

It feels like hours, yet it only lasts no more than ten minutes. When he is finally finished, he removes the needles and helps me to sit up. The effects of the treatment leave me dizzy and weak. Father offers me a sugary treat and a drink.

"Eat this and you will feel better for the journey back to MacTire. Continue your search and keep your eyes and ears open."

"Yes Father," I reply.

It takes me another thirty minutes before I feel like I can walk out of here and shift. MacTire is only a few hours from here if I shift into my raven form and fly. Hopefully, no one has noticed me missing. I had gotten away with living this double life for over a year now, but I couldn't determine how much longer luck would be on my side.