Free Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians by Elle Casey

Maggie or hold over her nappy old head to get her to do a scrying?
    "He swore he'd reveal the arrangement she had with someone named Céline."
    The blood began pounding in my ears.   I could hear the rushing noise as my pulse pushed it through my veins double-time.   "Céline, the silver elf?" I asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.
    "I think so.   She's on the council, right?"
    I nodded, my body numb, my fingertips and toes tingling.   I'd never heard of any deal between Céline and Maggie, but if it was something that Ben could hold over the witch's head and threaten her with, it had to be one hell of a nasty secret.
    "What was it? The arrangement?"
    "I'm not sure," she said, looking down at her hands as she picked at her cuticles.
    "Bullshit.   Tell me now, Samantha, or I'll start yelling that you're casting spells up here."
    She smiled bitterly.   "They won't believe you.   I have no power here.   They took it from me at the entrance."
    "How'd they do that?" I asked.
    "I have no idea.   I cast one last spell, and all hell broke loose."
    "And whose idea was that brilliant maneuver?"   I knew the answer already, but I just had to hear it.
    "Ben's."
    I rolled my eyes, but before I could say anything, Samantha cut me off.
    "Yeah, I know it was stupid, but I didn't know what else to do.   What am I going to say to him?"
    "How about no?   Or go fuck yourself?   Those would have worked for me."
    "Well, I'm not you," she said softly, "and he's Ben."
    "Yeah, so what?   You're Samantha, kickass witch, fated Fate whatever the hell that means."
    "Don't say that," she said, sounding almost desperate now.
    "Say what?"
    "That I'm fated to be a Fate.   I don't want that!"   She looked seriously freaked out now.
    I frowned at her strong reaction.   "Why?   What the hell is it, anyway?"
    "You don't know?"
    "Would I ask if I did?"   I shook my head at her denseness, which was so not like her.   Usually she was just a short, sweet, cut through the bullcrap kind of girl.   Now she wanted to practically girl-talk.   It was crazy.
    "Well, how did you know about being a Fate if you don't know what it is?"
    "A pixie told me.   So what is it?"
    "It's a witch who messes with people's lives.   I'm not interested."
    I laughed bitterly.   "You could have fooled me.   You've already messed up mine enough, and I don't see you apologizing for any of it."
    Her nostrils flared and her lips thinned.   She stared at me for a full ten, silent seconds before she finally cleared her throat and said, "Jayne, I'm sorry.   For everything."
    Truth.   The word came to me like a bolt of lightning out of the blue.   A sizzle of The Green came with it, making me feel instantly lighter.   What the hell?
    A gasp escaped Samantha's lips.   "Jayne!   You're touching your elements right now!"
    I shrugged.   "Yeah.   So?"
    "So, you have your powers in here!"
    I thought about it for a second, not sure how that was going to help us.   "Okay ..."
    "Ben doesn't.   His were taken too."
    I turned my head to look over at him.   He was staring holes into my head.   I quickly whipped back to face Samantha.   "He saw me."
    She looked down at the floor of the cage.   "Don't look at him anymore.   He'll know we're talking about him."
    "So what?   I couldn't give two shits about what he thinks.   He's dog meat when I get out of here and get my hands on him."
    Samantha reached out as if to touch me, but then pulled her hand back quickly when she saw my death stare aimed in her direction.   "Don't.   Please just ... don't."
    I shook my head in disgust.   "You are so pitiful.   Even after all the crap he's made you do and all the bullshit lies, you still love him, don't you?"
    She shook her head vehemently.   "No, it's not that.   I might have thought I liked him before, but I just don't want you to bring that kind of bad karma down on yourself.   I've seen what it can do."   She fixed me with such an intense stare, I thought she was