The Tiger Prince's Witch
Chapter 57 - The Drink

"What? You already know the names of their tigers?" Lynn asked, looking between Anna and Jaz, who were nodding.

"Liana's tiger is Sabina," Anna said, and everyone looked at Jaz.

"Zack's tiger is Jai," she said, smiling at Micah.

"Did you talk to the tigers?" Kamryn asked in awe.

"Yes. Sabina told me her name and that she was here early due to the battle. Liana won't be able to shift, but her tiger will be with her." Anna glanced at everyone who was still staring in shock. It was unheard of for any shifter to have their animal before their fifth birthday.

"That's incredible. Now that you know their abilities, how can you use them to help with the battle or prepare for it?" Randal questioned, still unsure of what the significance of this was.

"Their abilities are the same as ours; only they have the abilities of both parents. So, in essence, they will enhance our powers. This is why we cannot win without the help of our cubs. We still have training to do, but I wanted to come up here and let you know what we found out." Anna was ready to get back to work. She stood up, and the other three did as well.

"What are you doing now?" Caprice asked.

"We have a pretty good handle on our powers, but we need to practice the hand-to-hand stuff. That's what we're going to do now. The more people we can take out without using magic, the better, so we don't use up all of our energy. Astaroth will be waiting to come out until he thinks we're tired. He knows it's his only chance to defeat us." Anna was confident they could win, but they had to be ready. She wanted to be honest with them, so they understood how important it was to train. She, Jaz, Kamryn, and Micah would have the most influence, but they couldn't fight everyone on their own.

"Alright, well, go ahead. We're going to join the others outside." Stanley said as everyone followed Anna out of the royal office.

When they returned to the basement, they began working on their hand-to-hand fighting. Being able to fly helped them to be faster on their feet, and it would give them an advantage over the army Astaroth would send. Kamryn and Micah showed the girls trick moves to get out of different holds and take down someone larger than they were. Anna and Jaz showed them how they could attack from above and sneak behind someone to take them by surprise. No matter what, they all agreed they would fight in pairs. It was imperative for them to stay together.

After a few hours, they stopped to eat a late lunch. The dining hall was empty, but someone came over to take their order. They ate quickly and then went back to training. No one noticed the person watching them from the shadows. This person had been able to hide their devious nature from Spirit Energy because of help from Astaroth. Now they needed to find something worthwhile to report.

Shila was getting increasingly anxious as the days passed in the hidden room. She knew it was important to stay there so as not to alert Santi that she and Gary were mates, but that didn't make it any easier. Gary stayed with her as much as possible, but he had Alpha duties to take care of on top of preparing for the upcoming battle.

She was pacing back and forth, becoming more and more irritated. Shila was beginning to sweat and feel like she was going to explode from being so hot. As she continued getting worked up, she heard her wolf Lea speak. *"You need to mindlink Gary now. You're going into heat."* Lea said anxiously. There were guards outside the doors, and she didn't want them catching wind of Shila's scent, or it could cause real trouble. *"What? Are you sure?"* Shila asked. That would explain why she was suddenly feeling antsy.

*"Yes, get Gary here now."*

*"Gary, I'm in heat."* Shila mindlinked him waiting anxiously for his reply.

*"I'm on my way. I'll get rid of the guards. Don't open the door until I mindlink you that I'm on the other side."* Gary took off running while mindlinking his beta that he would be indisposed for a few days. He then mindlinked the guards telling them to leave the door where Shila was and stand at the top of the steps. If anyone touched her, he would kill them.

When he got to the packhouse, he saw the two guards waiting where he told them to. He practically flew down the stairs to where Shila was.

*"I'm here; open the door."* He mindlinked her anxiously. He could already smell her scent, and it was getting him into a frenzy. When she opened the door, Shila was covered in a fine layer of sweat. He went inside, locking the door behind him.

"How are you feeling?" Gary asked cautiously. She was red and panting.

"I need you to get rid of this pain inside me." Shila pulled him to the bed, throwing off her clothes as she went. He quickly removed his, and they fell into the bed together. He forgot about training, the battle, and everything else. Right now, all he had on his mind was taking care of his mate.

Santi looked around his bedroom in confusion. He didn't completely understand what was going on. He kept going in and out of consciousness, forgetting what he was doing and was supposed to be doing.

He was having one of the moments when he was himself. They come less and less lately. Santi had his head in his hands as anxiety rushed through his body. When Melita told him what he had done to her one of the times that he couldn't remember, he felt sick. What happened that made him rape his own daughter? Remembering the look on her face made him feel nauseous again.

If he could, he would go back to when he was a teenager and was first approached by the old man who knew black magic. Santi had thought it would be fun to learn the magic, not realizing that the old man would ruin his life. He wondered what his life would have been like if he'd never encountered the old man.

Santi sat there for a few minutes, trying to put together the pieces that seemed missing. He knew he'd done some horrible things, but they felt like they'd happened in a dream. If only he could have more of these moments when he was himself without Astaroth's influence, he could try and get out of this mess. The demon had taken over his life, but he didn't know how it happened.

He thought about the interactions he could remember and the drink that Astaroth always gave him. Was there something in the drink? Santi couldn't even remember what was in the glass. He decided he would do his best not to drink anything he gave him. Maybe if he could keep his right mind, then he could make a plan without the influence of the demon. He had to be careful; everyone around him worked for Astaroth.

Santi thought about his brother Randal, which made him sink further into his seat. They had been close growing up, and he missed that. He didn't care about being king; that was Astaroth in his head. If it was possible to beat the demon and still come out alive, he would first repair his relationships with Randal and Melita. Now he just had to try to hide his true thoughts. He looked up when his door opened. Alice and Marcus stood there looking at him with their empty black eyes. "Astaroth needs to see you," Alice said in a hollow voice that gave him chills. He took a deep breath and stood up. This would be the first test to see if he could trick the demon. As he walked deep into the underground where Astaroth waited, he thought of how to pretend to drink the liquid without actually doing it. When they arrived at their destination, Alice and Marcus waited at the door while Santi went inside.

Santi shivered when Astaroth turned toward him, looking at him as though he could see into his soul. He refused to back down as the demon stayed still. When he moved toward him with a glass in his hand, he lifted it to Santi. "Drink this," He said in his voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Santi took the glass and looked at Astaroth, who was standing right in front of him. How could he get rid of the drink without him seeing it?