Bound by Spells (Bound Series Book 2) by Stormy Smith

means they are reporting sightings of AniMages and if they aren’t being careful, it could mean even more are in the area. It’s been years since they’ve allowed themselves to be seen and my mother thought she had all but wiped them out. Now, they are becoming more blatant and allowing the other races to know they’ve outsmarted her. My mother will have none of that.”
    Micah started pushing his food around on his plate. All I could do was wonder whether these were the “others” Rynna mentioned.
    “I’m not hungry either,” I announced, acknowledging sitting here was the last place either of us wanted to be right now. “I’ll just go to bed. It’s been a long day.”
    He looked relieved. “Very good, Baleon will escort you. I have some things to attend to. I'll see you in the morning, Amelia. With my mother gone, there’s time for us to work on your preparation.”
    I wanted to ask for what, but I didn’t think I could take the answer, so I nodded and followed Baleon from the dining room. Finally, I was alone in my giant suite of rooms. I knew Bale was on the other side of my door, but I wasn’t entirely certain whether he was keeping other people out or me in.
    Right now, I was so exhausted, I didn’t care. I stepped into the shower, hoping to rinse some of the journey and madness of the day away, but as soon as I was under the warm spray, emotions started building. The realities of where I was and what the Queen wanted. That I wasn’t safe and had no idea whether Rynna would actually be able to get to me. And I had no clue what had happened to my brother, my father, or Bethany once they left Esmerelda’s. Or Aidan when I walked away. The questions surrounding him were the worst. I had left him alone, like so many other people in his life, and worse, I left him to manage a power he knew nothing about. I didn’t entirely know what he was either, but I could have helped.
    I had to stop the building ache in my chest, so I pushed him out of my mind and looked down at the cuff clasped around my forearm instead. How exactly was this cuff supposed to help me communicate with my Keeper power? It was another question without an answer.
    Once dry and dressed, I sat back into the pillows, closed my eyes, and wrapped my left hand around the cuff. The metal grew warm under my fingertips as I muttered to myself, “What do I do?” over and over again. It had worked when I wanted my power to come back, so why not give it a shot?
    I suddenly found myself in the confines of my own mind, standing in front of a door—the door. The one that opened into the room the cuff kept the Keeper bound to. I could feel her, pacing in frustration. I could feel the emotion bleeding around the doorframe. Rage. Envy. Anger. It was as if an animal were prowling the room instead of the woman I personified her as in my mind. 
    I stood there, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. My curiosity got the better of me, so I cautiously reached out and cracked the door open just an inch. Instantly, she was there, overwhelming the sliver of space and making me feel claustrophobic, caught within the swirl of emotions she radiated. Instinct took over and without understanding why, I further pulled the door open and shoved my arm between it and the frame. The silver cuff glowed white as it made contact with her form.
    The dark void that had always represented the Keeper power sprang apart, color bursting throughout the room. I had to shield my eyes at first, but eventually could make out different figures—not people, more like the auras of what used to be people. I had to assume they were the Elders who made up the Keeper power because they were all a varying shade of violet. One was surrounded in an electric blue haze, one with red, one with green bolts of light bursting through it, and another was filled with what looked like an orange electricity storm. They stayed back from me, but I could feel the relief they projected at being