Spellbound (Immortal Love Series Book 3) Read online

  SPELLBOUND

  the Immortal Love Series

  Book 3

  Anna Santos

  Copyright © 2016 Anna Santos

  All rights reserved.

  Inquiries about additional permissions should be directed to:[email protected]

  Cover Design by May Freighter

  Edited by Stacy Kennedy

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

  Warning: This book contains violent and sexual situations. Reader’s discretion is advised.

  ISBN: 1540565890

  ISBN-13: 978-1540565891

  CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

  Soul-Mate – Book 1

  The Witch and the Vampire King– Book 2

  Spellbound – Book 3

  Coming Soon:

  Shattered – Book 4 (2017)

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  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  SPELLBOUND

  Book 3 of The Immortal Love Series

  Jessica is on the run, but this time she’s evading her own mate so that she can secure their happily ever after.

  Ruthless and biased vampire Alaric put a bounty on Jessica’s head. She’s the only one who can break his curse—or so he thinks.

  The witch isn’t going to wait for him to make his move. She decides to take matters into her own hands and cooks up a plan to find his whereabouts and end his reign of terror. With the help of her friends, they embark on a dangerous mission to find and kill their ruthless enemy.

  Yet, despite the team’s good intentions, their plan can go seriously wrong and lives might be lost in the process.

  Chapter One—AND THE QUEST FOR THE TRUTH BEGINS

  Being part of a secret organization that chased and killed supernatural beings, who had the nasty habit of killing innocents for fun, gave me access to a lot of cool toys and secret safe houses. And the good thing about the safe houses was that they had places to keep special prisoners. I had a nice silver cell with matching silver cuffs for my guest. They would prevent her from using her hands and would keep her securely tied down, so I could begin the interrogation.

  I had left Giovanna in the lounge area, so I could wake Valentina from her defenseless, unconscious state. I didn't want her to watch what I was going to do. After all, the demoniac being was still Giovanna's mother, even if the girl seemed to be her complete opposite. It was odd that she could be Valentina's daughter. Besides, I didn't want her mom to find out the girl was helping me. Who knew what sordid things she could do to her after finding out?

  There were just two metal chairs and a table inside the interrogation cell. It looked like an average room in any normal Police Station. It even had an observation mirror, which others used to watch the interrogation. It also had a camera, which I had turned on because I wanted proof Valentina was a liar with a hidden agenda. I could be impulsive, but I was not stupid.

  And there I sat, staring at the unconscious Valentina. Even strapped to a chair with silver handcuffs and her makeup all smeared, she looked gorgeous. It was a guise to make men believe her lies. Being beautiful, I mean. They were suckers for a pretty face.

  All I needed to do was wear her out until she was vulnerable to my psychic powers. Also, smack her around a bit for being a damn slut and trying to kill me. Besides, she had the nerve to try to seduce my mate. That was a really bad move on her part. If she wanted to enrage me, she had succeeded. And now she was going to regret it.

  I cleared my throat while tapping my nails against the iron table, making an annoying noise. No luck. I was going to have to use extreme measures to wake her up. I smiled wickedly. I was going to enjoy that, a lot!

  "Wake the fuck up," I yelled, flicking my wrist. My kinetic powers threw a bucket of iced water in her face.

  Valentina coughed and moaned. Her eyelids fluttered before she opened her eyes. Then she seemed to realize where she was and who was in front of her because she tried to move her hands. Looking around, she became aware that she was handcuffed and caged inside a room with me.

  I flashed her a wide smile of amusement that made her become even paler.

  "Jessica? What’s going on? What do you think you are doing?" she asked, her voice laced with panic. "Turn me loose this instant!"

  "Yeah, that isn't going to happen. At least, not until you give me the answers I want." I leaned back in the chair and placed my hands on my thighs.

  I gazed at her, seemingly with patience, but really I was trying not to lose control and let my hands burn her, causing excruciating pain. The same pain I was feeling because I had to leave my mate and get answers on my own.

  Being away from Marcus hurt like hell. I had to cast a spell to prevent him from invading my mind and to stop me from wanting to go back to the safety of his arms. No way in hell was I going to let our bond allow him to find me and take me back home. I wanted, no I needed answers. I needed some time alone to think about everything that happened between us. I needed him to love me for who I was and not for who I had been. But I was no longer mad at him, I was just sad and feeling lonely.

  "Come on, Jessica. Do you really think you’re scaring me? You can’t hurt me. I was a witch like you. Your powers don’t affect me. Your fire won't kill me. Don't you know that?"

  "Of course I do.” No hint of rage in my voice, just a fake grin on my lips. I flipped my hair and leaned forward as I laced my fingers together. "I know all about that. Because, you see, I'm not a kid anymore. I know the full extent of my powers. And I know," I paused, getting up and walking to her, "that they may not burn you down to ashes, but they sure will hurt like hell." I sneered, putting my opened hand on her forehead and sending my flames through her body, blazing all the way down to her feet, causing her skin to turn bright red.

  Valentina screamed in pain, eyes wide open in shock. She thought I was bluffing, that would teach her a lesson. I was no longer a frightened child.

  Stopping the torture, I brushed my hands against my coat and cleared my throat before speaking again. "Now that we both know I'm not kidding. I would like to ask you some questions."

  I let her catch her breath because burning her meant I was burning the oxygen and preventing her from breathing. Vampires did breathe despite the myth to the contrary. I couldn’t burn her to ashes, but I could kill her temporarily for lack of oxygen. And I could also badly bruise her before the healing kicked in.

  She took a while to regain her ability to breathe and speak. Her blistered skin healed as she filled her lungs with fresh air.

  "Damn you, Isobel. I should have killed you when I found you!" she cursed, jerking with pain in the chair and trying to loosen her hands to attack me.

  I stepped back. "Then why didn't you?"

  "We were friends!" she claimed.

  I sneered before I sarcastically asked her, "That is why you tried to kill me yesterday? Because you are my friend?"

  "I didn't try to kill you," she answered as if she were the most innocent person on the face of the earth and had no idea why I was accusing her.

  "Of course you did! Don't p
lay innocent with me. I'm not vulnerable to your charms and I can see past your façade of appearing to be a helpless woman. You were the one who encouraged the rest of them to talk about my past life. You knew that Marcus and I were connected, that we were sharing our thoughts. You also knew what the amount of new memories would do to me. It would cause me to have seizures and that I could die."

  "I was not trying to kill you!" she denied promptly.

  "Yes, you were!"

  "I was not! I confess that I did do it on purpose, though."

  I glared at her, with furrowed eyebrows but at the same time pleased that she was admitting to it.

  "But I had no intentions of killing you. I just wanted your real self to surface. I wanted Isobel to come back so I could talk to her. She would be–easier to talk to. We are friends. I love Isobel. She would understand my plan to catch Alaric. You, on the other hand, are ruled by petty emotions."

  "What petty emotions?" I asked, outraged by her words. "And what do you mean with calling my real self? I'm the real one in this body. Not Isobel."

  She smiled at me with cold eyes that sent shivers of fear throughout my body.

  "Don't be silly, witch. You are just Isobel’s alter ego. You aren't the real owner of that body. You are just the personality that emerged after all the walls and enchantments I made to keep Isobel's memories in check. You are nothing, Jessica, and after Marcus turns you into a vampire, you will disappear for good, and Isobel will take her rightful place in that body."

  I stepped back until I sat in the chair before I lost the strength in my legs. It was getting harder to breathe. "You are lying," I whispered, barely capable of forming the words that came out of my mouth.

  "You know I'm not. If you think about it, what do you really remember from when you were a kid? Practically nothing, because it was Isobel with her memories that grew up in that body."

  "I remember my dad and I remember my mom. I remember living in Australia. I remember having friends and going to school, and the other kids mocking me and calling me vampire lover. I remember learning spells with my mom and going to the woods to learn the names of the animals and the plants with my dad. I existed before you took me away."

  "Those memories belong to Isobel. You remember them because I told you to. I made you, Jessie. But in the end, you are nothing but a silly girl who ran away because she wanted to see the world outside the walls of the convent. You are nothing but a slut, who sold her body in exchange for vampire blood," she claimed.

  I got up from my chair, stormed over to her, and slapped her across the face. "I ran away because you were keeping me away from my mate. You fucking whore!" I slapped her again. "Don't try to trick me! You closed me up in that bedroom, you would fill me up with pills so I would obey you. Do you really think that I bought what you said to Marcus? You had no intentions of giving me back to him."

  "Of course, I didn't," she declared, licking the corner of her mouth with her tongue while smiling wickedly. "If I had my way, he would never see you again. And you would never see him."

  I slapped her again, knowing that it was probably hurting me more than her because she was a damn vampire. I needed to change tactics before my hand got sore. "Just tell me why," I asked, sighing and stepping back. I pulled my chair and sat closer to her. Face to face.

  Arching an eyebrow, she asked, "Do you really want to know why?"

  "No, I just kidnapped you, restrained you, and I’m asking you all these questions because I'm bored," I replied to her with sarcasm.

  "You really surprised me there. I didn't think you had it on you."

  "You have no idea of what I'm capable of doing."

  " You’re right, I guess I don't. You are tougher than Isobel. She was a whining spoiled queen, always expecting someone else to do her dirty work. She had no idea how lucky she was for having a mate who loved her and protected her from everything and everyone."

  "You are wrong. She knew it."

  "No, she didn't. She treated Marcus like crap. She used their bond to make him do whatever she wanted. And no one could see past her manipulative ways. Even her brother loved her better than me. And I was his freaking mate!" She jerked as she tried to free herself.

  I arched an eyebrow, surprised by all the hate she had cooped up inside her soul. "So you were jealous of her?"

  "Not jealous. I was mad at her."

  "For what?" I asked, incapable of understanding her reasons. "You found your mate, he wanted you. You have been together for centuries, why hold the grudge?"

  "I was sent away from my mate because Isobel wanted me!" she yelled, trying to free herself again from the chains. I stared at her, not understanding her screams, but recognizing hurt and pain on her features. "I had found my mate. Francesco and I were happy. We were happy before she arrived and ruined everything!"

  "What did she do?" I asked, gasping for air, afraid that I had been the one to cause discord between the lovers.

  "It was a prohibited love, I knew that it was. I would be put to the fire if they found out that I was Francesco's mate, the next King in line. I was not the right race for him. His parents wouldn't allow it, the council would sentence me to death. But he loved me. I know he did. He never told a soul about me when he found out I was his. I was fifteen. I had come to pledge an oath to the King. And then I saw him. I saw the prince, next to his father. He was handsome, cold, and I had been taught to fear him and all his kind. And to never look a vampire in the eyes."

  "But you looked him in the eyes," I guessed, caught up in her story.

  "I did. And his cold face and lifeless stare changed. His eyes beamed with gold and my entire body shivered under his gaze. It was love at first sight and I had no idea that I was his mate. But he knew. He told me a week later, after stalking me like a shadow and making me–"

  "Did he force himself on you?"

  "No. Francesco didn't hurt me. At least not physically. But it was common for vampires to sleep with their servants. They would take witches as their lovers. And my mother always told me that my beauty would be my greatest weapon or my downfall. Besides, I was taught to obey my masters' orders. She had told me not to fight back if they tried to make use of me. I should obey their whims. I was the property of the royal family, so I had to understand that not only would they request my powers to help them with their enemies, but they would also want me in their beds. My mom was the king's mistress. It was expected that the king would–want me in his bed too."

  "That is disgusting."

  Shrugging, she declared, "That was the order of things. The hard truths of the time. I had been raised to accept it. Being chosen to share the king's bed was an honor. I was just relieved when it was not the king that wanted me to share his bed, but the prince. I didn't need to pretend with him. He pleased me a lot, he was kind and gentle to me. Being his mistress meant that no one else would touch me, no one else would force their way into my bed. I was happy, I loved him. I loved him so much that I would die for him. And I thought that he loved me too."

  "So what went wrong?" I asked, emotional by the sadness in her words. She was remembering happy days, but the amount of grief that tainted her voice was impossible to ignore.

  "Isobel, what else?" she asked, staring at me with murderous eyes that shifted from brown to dark.

  "What did she do?"

  "She came to visit us. She brought Eric to meet his family. He was a little baby. I fell in love with him. He was so cute and adorable. I was so in love at the time that I couldn't wait to be a mother. I wanted to give Francesco kids. I wanted to have a happy family just like his sister had. It didn't cross my mind that our love was forbidden, that we were never going to be accepted and that if people found out that I was Francesco's mate. I would be killed."

  "Did Isobel find out and tell her father?" I asked. It would have been cruel if that happened, but also explained all the hate she had for my former self.

  "No. She became interested in me since she was looking for a nanny for her son. She a
sked her father to give me to her," she said, coldly, staring me in the eyes as if I was the most despicable creature in the world. And I was feeling like I was since, apparently, I was the one who caused Valentina to be separated from Francesco.

  I reclined in my seat. "But she didn't know that you were her brother's mate, did she?"

  "No. But with her pleading eyes and being the King's favorite, she managed to convince him to send me away to her kingdom, away from my mate."

  "But why didn't Francesco prevent that from happening?"

  "Because he was a liar, a prick, and he was glad to get rid of me. You have no idea how much I begged him not to let me be sent away. I wanted to stay with him, but he said he couldn't go against his father's orders. He didn't even try to ask his sister to give up her idea of taking me away. He just stood there, doing nothing, seeing me leave, and letting me go. After all the love and the promises we had made each other, he simply rejected me and sent me away, where I couldn't shame him."

  "At least, you weren't killed," I mumbled, absorbing all the information.

  It was without a doubt a sad story. She had some reasons to be that bitter, but it had happened so very long ago. She was back with her mate, even if her story explained why she treated him so coldly. She hadn't forgiven him. He was paying for his sins. And that was why they were miserable together. And that was why Giovanna had such a strong animosity against her mother.

  "It felt worse than being killed," she responded with tears in her eyes, real tears that made me feel sorry for her.

  "That isn’t a valid reason for you to keep acting like a bitch. You have to move on and forgive your mate. And Isobel didn't treat you badly, did she?"

  "No, she didn't. She welcomed me into the family as if I were her daughter. Everybody accepted me into the family. And I loved Eric. He was my baby boy. I loved him as if I were his own mother. Despite the broken heart and the rejection, I managed to find a shred of happiness to hold on to."