Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

When I come out on the other side of the portal, Leticia is waiting to greet me with open arms and a huge smile.

Much to her surprise, she is met with my most vicious right hook I can muster to the face. I feel the satisfying crunch of the bones in her nose collapse under the weight of my punch. I watch her collapse to the floor. Blood pours from her broken nose onto the gray carpet. Around us, my sisters gasp in surprise at my actions.

“HOW DARE YOU CROSS ME?” my goddess voice booms, “YOU WILL PAY FOR KILLING MY BETA, LETICIA!”

“Kas, I'm sorry. I-” Leticia looks up at me, prepared to beg for mercy. She won't find any.

I grab the collar of her shirt and force her down by her neck, and kneel on her chest while I continue to pummel her traitorous face. I barely hear the rest of the Mavri Magea trying to stop me and pull me off her. The typhoon in my mind suddenly stops churning, giving me the ability to focus on Leticia.

Iclap my hand over her mouth, making my purple aura surround both of us and let the words tumble out of my mouth. I feel words of a spell that has never existed before float to the surface of my mind.

Lex rages at the loss of our Beta and I grit my teeth, continuing to use my goddess voice as I exact my revenge, “ Apéranti siopi [infinite silence].”

Her eyes turn wide as she looks at me.

She shakes her head and screams while she tries to push my hand away from her mouth. I feel the tingling heat of the spell working as her screams turn into a muffled whining. Tears pour from eyes as she understands her fate.

When I remove my hand, the area that once held her mouth is now a plane of smooth pale skin, as if a mouth never existed on her face at all. The blood from her broken nose has slowed toa dribble as her wolf heals her, but she will never heal from my spell. She can never reverse it and her life will never be the same. That's just fucking fine with me.

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I watch her for a moment as she grabs at her face, trying to grasp the reality of her situation. Before it can settle in, I drag her by the neck, down the hallway toward her room.

“I bind you, Leticia Latmus. In the names of our mother, Selene, Goddess of the Moon and Hecate, Goddess of Magic and Witchcraft, I bind you from using your given abilities or abilities you have gained over your lifetimes,” My voice booms as I! lug her down the hallway. She claws at my hand desperately, trying to escape, but it’s no use. I lock my grip and there is no way I'm letting go.

With each step I wrench more energy from her, making her muffled screams weaker as we get closer to her room, “I bind you to prevent you from performing magic for your benefit or the detriment of others. I remove the privileges bestowed upon you by our mother. I bind you, Leticia Latmus. As the Leader of the Mavri Magea, I punish you, to live the rest of this lifetime confined in a manner I see fit.”

When we reach her door, I pull Leticia up to look her in the eye. I have leached away any power she had moments before, rendering her as helpless as a lamb. She is so pale and weak that she can’t even grasp my hand against her throat. I launch her into the room, watching her roll across the floor before I let my telekinesis slam the door closed, trapping her inside. I run my hand across the edges and mutter an incantation, sealing it shut with her inside.

I storm back out into the living room where the rest of my sisters are cowering in fear, trying to get as far away from me as they can. I point Desiree out of the group.

“Get your ass out here, Desiree,” I snarl at her. She looks around, trying to finda way to escape, but she knows it's no use.

“Don’t say a word, Desiree,” I use her own ability against her, “For the rest of your lifetime, not a peep out of you.”

I watch her eyes get big as she opens her mouth and tries to speak, but no sound comes out. When she puts her hands up to her mouth in shock, I grab her wrist and drag her toward her bedroom. With each step, I pull more energy from her until she can barely walk. I swing her door open and push her in front of me. I kick the small of her back, pushing her into the room and seal her in as! did with Leticia.

When I get back out to the living room, my seven remaining sisters are in tears, terrified that they are the next victim of my wrath.

“I'm going to give you a choice. You can all either go willingly to your rooms, where I will seal you in until I'm ready to release you,” I cross my arms over my chest, letting my purple aura glow brightly, “Or Ican make you go to your rooms. You have five seconds to decide.”

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The women all scramble up from their spots and run toward their rooms. “EXCEPT for you,” I catch Thea by the elbow as she tries to get past me and clamp down on her.

“Kas, p-please, Tessa would have killed us all. I-I had to do it. I was trying to protect you,” she sniffles with tears running down her face. I can feel her shaking under my grip.

“I gave orders, Thea. I said no one uses their abilities unless I give the order,” I whisper in her ear, “You disobeyed me and now you will be punished for it.” I grab her other arm and look her square in the eyes and pull her energy in one large surge, causing her to fall to the ground. I grab her by the ankle and drag her down the hallway, tossing her limp body into her room like a rag doll.

I walk down the hallway, sealing doors, ignoring the cries from the occupants, and make my way to the living room.

“Time to get to work, Lex,” I put my hands on my hips and sigh at my wolf, “ I was hoping we could work with

Leticia on this, but that obviously isn't an option anymore.”

“What are we going to do about Lenora?” Lex asks. Her voice is mournful, thinking about our friend. “I hope one day I will be able to go back,” I shake my head, “But I have to finish this. Lenora will always hold a place in my heart. If things were different, I would be there for Bronx and Milo. I would be there to support my pack, but I can’t. Not anymore. I have to see this through.”

I feel like there should be tears for Lenora, but I don’t have any. The pain I know I should feel right now has been subdued by dark magic. It was the choice I made to protect myself. A choice that darkened my soul even more than it already was. Zeus was right the first time I met him. Not everyone will agree with my decisions, but I need to trust my instincts to do what's right.

I pick up the leather bag that contains the cursed silver shards and close my eyes. When I open them, the apartment has transformed the room into a laboratory. The cursed silver blade is in the middle of the table. I can practically feel it calling out to its missing pieces, begging to be reunited. I open up the binder full of notecards and pick upa pen to get to work.

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