Chapter Ten

Fire blazed soulmate!

Fire blazed soulmate!

Fire blazed soulmate!

Those were the words that reverberated in my head as I rummage through the school's library. The following morning after that night, I didn't find him in bed with me but the words never left my head. It had to mean something useful, something that would explain why I was so attracted to him. We returned home acting normal, he didn't know I knew he snuck into my room but that didn't matter anyways. From that morning on, Ace started acting differently, very different. He was clingy, very clingy. Touched me whenever he got the chance, like touch me in places friends should never touch each other. He would corner me every moment we were alone and kiss me until my lips were beyond swollen and breath coming out in short wheeze.

It wasn't like I hate it, it was the exact opposite but we unfortunately never went beyond kissing and fingering but that didn't help my life at all. I had been checking for weeks for what a fire blazed soulmate meant, but I couldn't find it. Our secret make out was getting too intense and the other night, he almost lost control and lured me into having sex with him. It was just too much! Every time he kissed me, the tattoos on my hands would burn and send different sensations through my body and recently, I was starting to feel his emotions, hear his thoughts.

It was freaking me out!

Oh, Elle and Dermot broke up at their anniversary over something neither party would spill. I didn't care much, I was more concerned about me and the boy luring me into madness.

'Fire Blaze Soulmate,' I murmured. 'Arch! How do I find it!' I screamed out in exasperation.

'Young lady, what are you looking for?' A gruff voice asked with concern. I spun on my heels, it was the librarian.

'Of course!' I exclaimed, hitting my head. 'Why didn't I think about it?!'

'Think about what, dear?'

'Ma'am, do you by any chance know what a Fire Blazed Soulmate is? It's really important I know.'

'Clean up the mess, then we'll talk.' I nodded and immediately started picking up all the books I threw on the floor and arranged them back into the shelves. I arranged the books alphabetically and cleaned the shelves too. I ran back to the counter when I was done, she was going through a book.

'Done!' I announced.

'So it seems,' she smiled. 'Now come over, dear, I don't have all day,' I quickly ran around the counter and joined her. She was a tall one eyed lamia with seven snake hair. 'First, why do you want to know about that?'

'I...'

'Let me see your hands,' I didn't protest. I gave her my hands, she took both in one of her large hand and poured a bowl of cold water on them. Steam rose out of my hands, from the tattoo to be precise. They glowed for a brief second before disappearing. 'Just like I thought, you are mated to one of those hot heads.'

'Mated? Like destined to be with them forever?'

'Yes. The tattoo simply means you are mated to a dragonoid. Dragonoids are one of the rare creatures of fire, born with limited access to heat; fire. Only their kings have the power to actually shift into a real dragon. I'm sure you know Ace is one of them; one of the strongest to say the least. They don't usually have mates, they simply fall in love and get married or just get married without love. But when the dragon of their fire marks a mate out for them...'

'Dragon?'

'Each of them has their own inner dragon, the one living inside them and connecting them to the eternal fire. Now, that dragon can sometimes pick a mate for them on very, as in extreme rare occasions. It barely happens but it does, especially to royal heirs and heiress whose hearts are as solid as lava rocks. Yours is a pool of gold, lava and red with a little speck of yellow...' She poured more water and scrutinize it again to make sure. 'The only stubborn royal with that mark is Ace. Is he your mate?' I sat down on the chair and swallowed.

'Does he know?'

'Where did you hear it from?'

'His mouth, when he thought I was asleep.'

'Then he very well knows what you are to him,' I bit my lip. 'The bond is unlike a werewolf's, it is stronger. A werewolf have the chance of rejection but a dragonoid don't. They are forced to love who they are mated to, forced to be faithful to them as long as both of them live. It is a love or die situation.' I raised my legs up and hugged my knees.

'What do I do now?'

'Have he been kissing you? Initiating any physical contact?'

'Yes, for two weeks now. A day without him getting into my personal space is like telling him to die.'

'Then you let it be and go with the flow until he is ready to let you know. Ace is obviously scared, afraid and trying to get use to his feelings. Give him time to get use to it all.'

'But he is stuck with me, right?' I asked with a smirk.

'Until death do you part,' I grinned and covered my mouth, giggling at the thought of having a rich hot guy remain with me. After years of feeling worthless and insecure, feeling like nothing good will ever come my way, fate gave me an amusing and caring guy to forever love me. I started laughing, it was fucking real!

Have you ever thought that he would never have looked at you if not for the mate bond?... My subconscious said. I frowned instantly.

'Ma'am...'

'Mrs Lincoln,'

'Can I ask you a question?' I asked sadly.

'Yes, what is it?'

'Would he have looked at me if the bond wasn't involved?'

'A Blazer is only mated to the one person he or she could fall in love with. Without the bond, Ace would have still loved you but along the way, his heart would harden again and that love would break. The bond acts as a way to keep that love forever.'

'Why?'

'Because a stone hearted dragonoid heir is a deadly one, one that can destroy life.'

'So, I'm the only one who he would be able to fall in love with, right?'

'What happens if he dies?'

'Depends on how strong your bond would become. If however you are to die under brutal experience, without him protecting you, I fear what will happen to him.' She explained.

'So, don't die, got it.' I smiled.

'Is there anything else you need to know?'

'What I am.'

'Pardon?'

I exhaled. 'I need to know who I am, what I am and what powers I process. I see trances, hear voices, what does that mean?'

'It clearly means... Well, it has two meanings. One, your powers are trying to reach out to you by manifesting in different ways. Two, someone of something, is trying to contact you, reach out to you. The next time you hear or see anything, when such a thing happens, take a deep breaths with eyes closed, relax and say "show yourself, I'm ready to listen." Then open your eyes. If you see nothing, then it's your powers, but if you do, then listen to what the spirit or spirits have to say.'

'They say I'm a witch, what sort of witch am I?'

'There is no better answer to that question than your reflection. Go to the hall of ancient artifacts and portrait, fifth floor. Find the diamond shaped mirror with blue sparkles and let your reflection show and tell you who you are.' She said. I smiled gratefully.

'Thank you so much, ma'am,'

'You're welcome, feel free to come back if you get nothing.'

'Thank you, Mrs Lincoln,'

'Always happy to help.' I smiled and ran out of the library to go find the hall. I took the skeleton lift to the fifth floor. I ran out of the lift and started heading to the artifact room I didn't know where it was.

'Hey! It's me again!' Someone squealed from my side. I jerked with a scream. 'Oops, sorry.' It was Leaf.

'Hi Leaf, what can I do you for?'

'So, I thought about what you said and I realised you were right and it's sad. Can you please be my friend? At least to teach me how to be more friendlier.' Like I was friendly myself. Technically, Ace was the one making friends for me.

'One more friend won't hurt I guess,' I said with a shrug. She shrieked and jumped on me. 'Easy.'

'Thank you, thank you, thank you so so so so so so much!'

'Okay, I get it.' I said gigglingly. She sighed and twirled on her left toes.

'So where are you off to?'

'I'm looking for the artifact room, know it?'

'Sure! I'll show you,' she took hold of my hands. 'Come on!' She squealed and dragged me along with her. 'So, you're a first year student, right?'

'We're in the same class.' I chuckled.

'Sorry, trying to start a conversation. I've repeated first year three times in a roll. One more fail and I will be kicked out of the school.'

'You are a dunce?' I asked. 'I'm sorry, that was outside of place.'

'Yup! My brain is all leaves and no cells,'

'Hmm, that's bad. Don't worry, I'm a dork, even though I don't fully understand a thing, I'll help you.'

'I'll love that,' she paused and glanced at me. I was looking at her the whole time. 'Are you dating Ace from final year?'

My heart skipped. I cleared my throat. 'Why do you ask?'

'He beat up a guy earlier, almost killed him.' I stopped walking and looked at her with mouth open.

'Why?'

'He overheard the dude trying to bet on you, who will woo and get you laid first. Ace beat the life out of him.'

'Is he a...?' I asked as I started walking again.

'Dhampir.'

'Ew.'

'So, are you guys dating because the words he screamed out were very weird for just friends.'

'Words like?'

'No one is allowed to touch her, she's mine!' Leaf yelled all of a sudden. I flinched and held my chest.

'He said that?'

'Yes, and also...'

'Don't yell.' I warned.

'He said something about every inch of your body belonging to him and screamed something about you being his mate...?'

'He must have said that to keep them away,' I said nonchalantly with a shrug.

'We are here, should I come with you?'

'No thanks, I need to do this on my own.'

'So, see you after school?' Leaf asked.

'Sure,' she shrieked and clapped her hands.

'Ooh, joy!' She's abnormally cute. I smiled and opened the door, shut the door behind me. I looked around and exhaled when I saw the mirror. It was the first thing I spotted when I came in.

I mustered my courage and dragged myself to it, to my dismay, I had no reflection. My heart sank into my stomach, did it mean I was dead? Was I a ghost?

'Mirror, please, who am I? What am I?' I fell on the floor and cried, when did I die? The mirror flashed with a bright yellow light, I stopped crying. A form appeared in the mirror, one that left me breathless; it was me.

My black hair flowed like the ocean in foggy shadow haze, it haze flowing to the floor, allover my body and around me. My eyes were blacker than a dog's guts, sore darkness. My supercilium thick and black just like my lips but was barely noticed because of my dancing hair. It was like a flowing black river. I had no feet, it was just like my hair from my knees downwards; black flowing haze. The girl in the mirror wore black diamonds all around her neck, pitch black diamond that matched her sleeveless gown with zigzagging neckline. Different dark faces hollered and hissed, most dwelling in the darkness of my hair which connected to my fog feet. My skin was so pale, I almost looked blue, like almost looked dead.

'What am I?' I whispered.

'What are you? Rinette, you are me as I am you.' Her voice was just like mine but deeper and had multiple echoes following it.

'And what are you?'

'Shadow witch, we are a shadow witch. Also known as the witches of Hades.'

'What does that mean?' I asked as I sat on the floor in a crisscross. 'Why don't I have a reflection all of a sudden? Is it the magic mirror?'

'A shadow witch have no reflection because shadows have no reflections. They can't be seen in mirrors and so can't you. This me you are seeing now is the you inside, what we are.'

'Now, what is a shadow witch?'

'Shadow witches are the darkness of the nights, children born to the moon goddess and Hades. They see things others can't see, they do things others can't do, they are like the bridges between the moon, the living and the dead.'

'Are we evil?'

'Shadow witches are created for purposes, they aren't born for no reason. You are the last one in existence.'

'That doesn't answer my question, would I be evil?'

'You become what you wish to be Marinette,' she said. 'What you choose to be is what you will be.'

'Why am I the last?'

'Shadow witches powers isn't passed down from mother to daughter, they are selected and born. That is the first reason. Two, just like every darkness, most of them easily turn evil, got blindfolded by greed, power and selfishness. They exploited their powers for their own selfish reasons, few were forced into using their abilities for others gain. People took advantage of their powers, use them as sacrifice to bring back their dead love ones for their soul could restore the dead. The evil ones were wiped out by who created them, it was best none exist. The chaos then was too much.' She explained.

'So, why am I here? For evil?'

'You are who you choose to be.'

'Any random person can easily kill me? How come? Fire? Light?'

'Pure light from the sun, but even under the sun, shadows still moves. The witches chose to die by command. You either fight or die. There is no lights without darkness.'

'My weaknesses sucks.'

'You are not weak Rinette, your human side makes you immune to almost all common weaknesses.'

'How do I learn to use my powers?' I asked eagerly.

'For now, it will come to you whenever you need it most,' she tilted her head. 'What you can do and how to do it will pop into your head when the time comes. Take care Marinette, this is all I can offer for now.' The mirror went blank, I had no reflection again.

One thing I was grateful for; I now knew what I was and who Ace was to me.