Breaking the Leach

Misty could see the mana flowing into the hall. She felt other pockets where other inhibitors lay nearby. She kept directing the flow first into the stone embedded in the ceiling, and then into the other stones nearby. The inhibitors were nearing their max. Misty looked at her ropes.

"Burn." The strands of rope began to grow hot against her skin. Before long, a flame erupted, and she was able to rip the rope apart. Then she did the same for her ankles. She rubbed her wrists and stood in the darkness. Misty looked over to the other prisoner. He was stunned.

"There is no way." His rough voice couldn't hide his shock. He pulled a necklace from the inside of his clothing and held it up. "Do you think that you can torch this too?" A stone hung from the necklace. The mana around the stone looked twisted and sharp. She could tell that whatever the stone was, it was meant to make the person wearing it unable to wield mana.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I've been stuck wearing it since they brought me."

"Let me see what I can do." She looked at the stone. Knowledge started flowing into her. It was a mana leech. Like the inhibitor, it pulled in the mana of the person who was wearing it, but this stone was connected to the life of the person it was with. The stone made the person wither in pain every time they attempted to use their mana. The longer it was on, the more the life of the person was drained. Even Misty felt horrified, realizing that whoever put this around the man's neck was a monster. Removing it would be nearly impossible.

Misty went to the bars and used a bit of mana to twist the metal aside and walked to the man in the other cell. She grasped his hands and, for a moment, could feel the trembling in his body from the effort of standing. She also sensed a wild desire that almost knocked her over. This man was one of the people that she was supposed to meet with. She met his eyes through the bars.

"Step back for a moment." He pulled his hands away from the cell door, and she wrenched the bars back. She walked into the cell and grabbed the necklace.

"You should be careful." He tried to pull her hand away from the necklace, but she kept her grip tight.

"I can remove it."

"How?"

"I know we just met, but will you trust me?" The man looked at her with a wide-eyed stare. He nodded.

"Then lean down, I can't reach that high." He leaned down, and Misty tightened her grip on the necklace. At the same time, she pulled him down to her. He stumbled, and Misty felt her back against the rock wall. She looked up at him. His lips were close, and she felt desire build within her.

"What are..."

"I have to kiss you to remove it." His eyes widened in shock. "Will you let me?" The shock was replaced with disbelief and confusion.

"How will that help?"

"I can sense it. I can destroy the necklace, but it will take a mate contract. Are you alright with that?"

"Why would you do that? You don't even know me?"

"It is the only way. That is a mana leech. The person who put it on you ensured that no one could take it off by using a contract to bind it to you. Only a more powerful contract can break the link."

"There is no way for you to know if we can even make a contract."

"Only one way to find out. You don't have to, but I am willing to try."

"But Jay is your mate!"

Misty pulled her dress aside to reveal the lotus mate mark. "I am not very familiar with this world, and I am not sure how I am going to handle having more than one mate, but this mark tells me that it is possible." He looked at the mark and then at the necklace in her hands.

"I'm Kason." He lifted his eyes to meet hers. Misty could see the suppressed hope lurking in the depths. She smiled at him.

"I am glad to meet you," she said before pulling him into kiss. When she activated the mate contract with Jay, she didn't know what she was doing. This time, with Kason, she could feel their energy meeting at their lips. It felt as if an electric current were passing between them. Misty offered her energy to Kason, and she could feel the gentle pull to his heart. It was as if he were opening up to her and inviting her in.

She felt the necklace in her hand begin to heat up. She grimaced in pain as the leech tried to impede the mate contract. It felt as if the welcoming path to Kason's heart was being barred by a path of thorns, but Misty pushed on. Kason deepened the kiss, and Misty was swept away with desire even as the leech caused her pain.

She felt a sudden burning on her chest, and the stone on the necklace shattered. Kason pulled back, breathless at the heat of their kiss. He held his hand to his chest. Misty looked down at her mate mark and could see the outline of a blue wolf in one of the petals right next to the petal with Jay's jaguar.

"You are a wolf." She touched the wolf image on her chest, and Kason shivered.

"Yes, but as much as I want to continue this, I think we have a few other things to deal with." During their kiss, Misty had somehow pushed him up to the wall, and her back was to the hall. Kason was looking over her shoulder, and Misty realized that they weren't alone. She spun around, and the jailer from before was standing in the entrance of the cell. She was about to use her magic when he stepped aside, revealing the red robes of the temple.