Free Darkness Unleashed by Belinda Boring Page B

always manage to dig just a little bit deeper inside to find whatever courage they need to take a stand. The most extraordinary power doesn’t lie in artifacts and acquired wealth and knowledge, it is found within the soul of the one who doesn’t accept defeat.
    The very gates of Hell could open and unleash all its darkness, yet a single solitary flame could set its foundations crumbling.
    Amber had forgotten this—her own ambition and thirst for vengeance blinding her to the many flaws in her plan. She’d assumed she could control Mason and make him her dancing puppet.
    Love was another mighty force that could motivate even the most hopeless of causes. If a man still held hope in his heart, he would continue fighting until his last dying breath.
    Amber might see anger and scorn in Mason’s eyes as he peered down, but I saw beyond that. I saw the indomitable spirit of my mate who would stop at nothing to reclaim me. My captor may think she could outlast him, but that was simply her foolish blindness feeding her arrogance.
    Mason would wait until the end of time. He would never stop. Even as they summoned Elynor, that steady blaze of certainty became a catalyst into a full-blown inferno within him.
    There was a reason why he was one of the youngest Alpha’s in the country—why he was so well respected and why many had no problem pledging their allegiance to him. He was the man who never knew when to quit.
    He was the man who saw in absolutes.
    And knowing this made it easier to wait in the background; because without a doubt, I knew I would be freed.
     
    ****
     
    Amber
     
    Twisting my wrists, there was very little give in the manacles that bound me. All I needed was a little leeway and I could at least have a fighting chance. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought Vivien would summon the dead. It was a variable I hadn’t factored into my plans, and one that would absolutely work.
    Magic was universal—whether it was used on earth or in the spirit world, a witch still held whatever powers she’d been born with and accumulated. I’d heard Helena talk about this Elynor, how she’d been a plaything of the Master and the reason why he’d yet to accomplish his goals.
    I hadn’t paid too much attention to the history lesson, my sole focus always remaining on Mason. I was to be brought back and serve as a spiritual anchor to Darcy’s body before the Master came to claim her.
    I never did understand why he couldn’t have just possessed her himself, but Helena had rambled off some detail about when a spirit dies they must be held in some kind of holding pen for a period of time before given the chance to return or reincarnate. Something about giving the person a chance to process the realization they’d died and adjust to their new reality before moving on.
    I’d been the perfect choice because I was already coming toward the end of my time; and frankly, I wasn’t looking forward to going to Hell or whatever eternal punishment I’d earned. I was eager to escape that nightmare, so when Helena summoned my spirit to her and offered the proposition, I didn’t even need to think about it.
    It brought me back to life and gave me one more chance at making Mason mine. When she added the reward for my obedience was the ability to bring him into submission, I couldn’t seal the pact fast enough.
    While this recent turn of events threw everything into a tailspin, something told me the Master would have a contingency plan up his sleeve. He was brilliant in his strategies, the way his mind was able to conceive the different possibilities, incredible. It was why I wanted to remain by his side once everything unfolded.
    His was a power I would always align myself with.
    The sky was the limit, my potential limitless.
    “ Are we ready?” Vivien asked, her irritating optimism grating on my last nerve. Gone was the disappointment at failing her ritual. There was a renewal of hope burning in her features, warning me to be