by Rain Oxford
Then Heather pulled the dagger out and as quickly as the pain began, it stopped. I realized as it faded that my hand had also been stinging. I studied my palm to find that the symbol in my skin was gone. “That’s it? No goat sacrificing or making catcalls at virgins?”
She frowned. “No. I guess we could do that if you want, but I don’t know where to find a virgin and I don’t think April is going to be happy about us taking one of her goats. When do I ‘sacrifice’ the memories?”
“It wasn’t immediate for me, Vincent, or Hunt. I can’t say I have a clue when it’ll happen.”
“Is my father back yet? I want him to be the one to show me how to use the shadow pass.”
I had been worried she was going to hate him for not being there when she grew up. She had seemed pretty upset when I left for Henry, but a lot could happen in two weeks. Then a thought occurred to me. “Did you ever see your mother in Dothra?” I asked.
She looked at me and hesitated. “I… have no clue. I don’t remember her face. I don’t remember seeing her when I was a child. I don’t even remember if she was a good mother.”
“I guess your sacrifice was your memories after all. Do you regret it?”
“I can’t regret losing someone I don’t remember.”
“Then we should probably go find out if your father is back.”
* * *
He was. I opened my door at the exact moment that Langril and Vincent appeared, soaked, panting, and bleeding. “What happened?”
“There was… trouble,” Vincent panted.
“Fortunately, I was there to handle it,” Langril said. There was a chunk of flesh missing from his arm. “First, the vampires who ran the prison attacked the instant you two disappeared. Then the blood in the water attracted what appeared to be a mosasaurus. And, by the way, that mosasaurus was in the caves underneath the university, so we had to get all the water and monsters back through the door in order to close it.”
“Was the door big enough?”
“Barely. We had to squeeze it through,” Vincent said.
Langril hugged his daughter, and although she hugged him back, she grimaced at the state of his clothes. “What did you do? You seem different,” he said. She held up her hand to show him the mark on her palm and his eyes widened. He glanced at me, as if he wasn’t sure I was still there.
“I made a deal with Heather to make me---”
“What?!” Vincent asked, horrified.
“It was that or get trapped in Hell for the rest of my life.”
“What?” Scott asked, confused.
“Kitten, why don’t you go play with Jason and Jamie?” Henry said.
“But I want to hear what happened.”
“I will tell you when you’re older.”
So Scott left and since Henry had caught Darwin up on what he knew while I was making my deal with Heather, I filled in the rest of it. “It was a very long day,” I finally said. Everyone nodded and there was a heavy silence. “Who’s up for going to bed and dealing with the shadow walkers in the morning?”
“It’s three in the afternoon,” Darwin interjected.
“Right. Who’s up for going to bed and dealing with the shadow walkers sometime next month?”
Langril, Vincent, and Henry agreed with me completely and after the longest, hottest shower of my life, I went to bed. My mattress felt like warm clouds.
* * *
The next morning, I was eating breakfast in my usual seat in the dining room. There were about forty people in the room, thirty of which were wizards, a dozen animal familiars, five kids, and a griffin. Although Darwin was supposed to be watching the kids, Jason, Jameson, and Scott were goofing off by the buffet and Darwin was nowhere to be seen.
As I ate, I observed the wizards and other paranormals around me. Many of them were older than the university, but I overheard a few reminiscing about their time as students here. I wondered whether or not I was going to stick around in the paranormal world after I finished my last semester. If I didn’t, there really wasn’t much point in returning. I could return to my normal, mundane life where I only got shot at by humans and people didn’t disguise themselves as other people in order to take over the world.
A small explosion flooded the room with cherry-red light and I looked up in time to see catnip shower the dining room and Jason, Jameson, and Scott running from the scene. The only two cat shifters in the room shifted, and four wizards had feline familiars that got in on the action.
I smirked and sipped my coffee. No way was I leaving the paranormal community. This is home.
* * *
After breakfast, I went to Hunt’s office. When Hunt told me to come in, I saw him and Vincent sitting in the chairs by the fireplace, alone. “Sorry for interrupting. I can come back later.”
“No, we just finished with the personal talk and were about to begin the awkward silence part,” Vincent said.
“Okay. I think we need to all be on the same page about our move against the shadow man and his followers. Our biggest advantage is going to be that a large percentage of the shadow walkers will return to Langril’s side and help destroy the others.”
“And you’re sure we can trust him?” Vincent asked.
“Vincent and I have known him a lot longer than you and we know he does not have a loyal or honest bone in his body,” Hunt warned.
“He does now, and that bone’s name is Henry. Henry is his familiar.” They glanced at each other worriedly. “Don’t worry; Henry is loyal and honest enough for the both of them and he’ll set Langril right when it comes to that. I have a long and complicated plan that relies on a lot of different factors aligning perfectly.”
“Sounds about normal,” Vincent said.
The first part of my plan was to summon Felicity and have her announce to the other shadow walkers and soul guards that their true master had returned. However, when Langril joined us in Hunt’s office, he explained that it wouldn’t be necessary; there was already a gathering of them around the school grounds.
After Hunt found out that Krechea had gotten into his school disguised as his friend and that two more shadow walkers had made it inside, he redoubled the wards until they were so powerful that nobody could even cross the barrier. The exception was using the shadow pass, since only the four of us and whoever we chose could use it.
Hunt was a bit perturbed that Heather was now part of the exclusive four instead of me, for the simple fact that it was now Langril and Heather against him and Vincent. I found it amusing.
Henry and Flagstone arrived as I was explaining the second part of my plan, which was to defeat Krechea before Astrid destroyed the tower from her side. The problem was that I had no idea how. Krechea wasn’t immortal, but even with everyone we had on our side, it was going to be nearly impossible. The truth was, we really needed the tower to be destroyed on any world. Unfortunately, that meant death to whoever did it… except for Astrid or me. While either of us could do it, it would mean being stranded there forever. I wanted Langril to go and get her, but we couldn’t risk a paradox.
Langril scoffed. “You silly humans. You have such a funny misunderstanding of time and magic.”
“I will stab you in the throat,” Hunt threatened.
Henry growled.
“Not in front of the kids,” Langril said easily. “And you’re not that big.”
Hunt reached into his robe for something, probably a dagger, but Flagstone grabbed his arm to stop him. Vincent rubbed his forehead and sighed.
“All I am saying is that there really isn’t a reason to wait. I can go get Astrid any time I choose from her perspective. I can leave right now or in two months and be there one minute after you left her. No paradox.”
“That leaves us with the issue of destroying the Shadow Master without forcing him into the abyss.”
“What makes him so hard to defeat?” I asked.
Vincent and Hunt both looked at Langril. “He’s like a flea. He’s nearly undetectab
le until he’s sucking your blood. He doesn’t have the greatest offensive magic, but he has impeccable defensive magic. Plus, with his blood control, he controls hundreds of shadow walkers. Not that many made it out of Dothra with him, but he is still capable.”
“Plus, there’s the whole thing about the shadow walkers possessing people,” I said.
“Have you seen anyone get possessed?”
I thought about it. “Felicity possessed me to give me the list of who was going to be attacked by the shadow walkers and when.”
He looked surprised. “And you had the mental capacity to understand the blood command? I’m impressed.”
“It was actually Darwin who understood it.”
“I did always like the little fae. The point is, you gave yourself to her willingly, right?”
“Reluctantly willing, yes.”
“But you have not seen the shadow walkers possess anyone against the human’s will?”
“No. Is that weird?”
“No. I think it’s because humans are so different. The shadow walkers could possess bodies, golems, and such, but none of my followers have ever managed it. I don’t think his have either. I think human souls are too strong, or possibly incompatible.”
“You are constantly criticizing us for being human,” Vincent said.
“I criticize your behavior. You have so much more power than Dothra, but you don’t have a clue how to use it.”
“And you do?” I asked. “Your world is burned out. It can’t have started out that way. I bet Dothra was like Earth until your kind sucked the life out of it.”
“The difference between us is not our worlds. Souls are power sources. That is how we create magic, yet you humans use them to control the elementals instead. While we have to steal power to become stronger, your magic is nurtured.”
“Well, it’s really good to know that they probably can’t take over the body of a living person without the permission. Let’s go gather the shadow walkers and have them take down the others. Once they’re gone, Langril, you go save Astrid and bring her back. We’ll worry about destroying the shadow man afterward.”
When we drove up to the edge of the campus grounds, I was surprised. I figured it would take time for them to realize Langril was back. We got out and all eyes focused on him. There were twenty-one of Langril’s followers standing outside the school grounds, including Cathus and Felicity.
“Are these all soul guards or are some of them the shadow man’s followers? Because I don’t recognize anyone but Cathus and Felicity,” I said quietly to Langril. Felicity refused to meet my eyes.
“They are all active or “finished” soul guards who didn’t want him ruining the lives they worked so hard for. Many of his followers would gladly choose to follow me over him, but he has control over them the same way he did over Astrid.”
“So you have to give them your blood?”
“That should weaken his control enough for them to choose their own side. The problem is that takes time and I don’t have an endless supply of blood. It took years to break his hold over Astrid, although that was because Ceyax kept feeding her Kea’s blood.”
“Did you really reject him because he wasn’t powerful enough?”
“It was a dark time.”
“So you have returned to defeat the shadow master?” Cathus asked.
“Of course,” Langril said. “Felicity, I’m surprised to see you here. If I recall, you were one of the vermin babies I let live. You were my one act of compassion during that raid. See, there’s always a chance that two vermin could make a decently powerful baby.”
“You’re not helping,” Vincent told him.
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“What are our orders?” one of the demons asked.
“How do we defeat the Shadow Master?” another asked.
“We’ll do that ourselves. Your job is to destroy his followers.”
A couple of them glanced at each other. “But most of them would follow you if you would break the Shadow Master’s control over them.”
“I don’t care. Kill them.”
“Hang on,” I argued. “If you truly think one of them would turn to Langril, bring them to me. I’ll break it, you just have to hold them still and corporeal.”
“I still have the cuffs you used on Felicity,” Vincent said.
The soul guards all looked at Langril for direction. After considering it for a moment, he nodded. “So be it. If you are certain they would follow me, capture them and take them to Devon. Kill the others.”
“How can we bring them to Devon when we cannot reach him?”
I considered returning to my apartment, but that would make me useless in helping to defeat Krechea. I closed my eyes and focused on my familiar’s presence. When I opened my eyes, she was right in front of me. “I need you to stand guard here. The soul guards will bring some of the shadow man’s followers. When they do, please let me know instantly, before they escape.”
She nodded. “I will detain them.”
“Perfect.” All we had left was to figure out how to defeat an almost undefeatable enemy without sacrificing Astrid.
Chapter 17
When the six of us returned to Hunt’s office to come up with a plan, I suggested we involve a few more people. Darwin, though not much for planning, was brilliant. Heather had just as much at stake as I did, if not more. Remington, despite Hunt’s and Flagstone’s objections, was more likely to get herself in trouble or kidnapped if they didn’t let her in on the planning. With that decided, Henry left to get Darwin and my sword, Vincent left to get Remington, and Langril left to get his daughter.
Hunt pulled out a silver tray from his desk. When he set it down on the coffee table, I gaped, because it now had eight cups, a teapot, and several little cups of stuff. I got myself a cup before he insisted. “Not going the liquor route this time?” I asked.
Hunt smirked. “Waste my good stuff on Keigan? Not a chance. He pretends he is Asian instead of from the good old country.” I laughed, knowing Langril preferred green tea to black tea.
Henry and Darwin arrived and both took a cup. “Did you get any new books?” Darwin asked Hunt, handing me my sword. It was in its harness, so I strapped the belt around my waist.
“A few,” Hunt said with obvious humor. “Go on.”
Darwin jumped up with excitement, spilling his tea, and then ran off to the headmaster’s small study.”
“When his father first brought him to my school, I thought there was no way he was Maseré’s and Anya’s boy. He looks like Anya, but there was always something so wounded about him.”
“Darwin said they went here.”
“They did, but they missed each other. Maseré attended the first year I opened. He was a brat even then. He was twenty-one, thought he owned the world, and challenged Rosin to no end. I still don’t know why Rosin didn’t kick him out.”
“I could see that the alpha in him needed to be encouraged, not beaten down. The world needs more wolves who can defend their packs like him,” the shifter explained.
Hunt shrugged dismissively. “Anyway, I tried to have the university run on a five-year course instead of a five-semester one.”
Flagstone scoffed. “That was a huge mistake. It is the only way to go on the children’s school, but the adults have lives to get back to. He ended up losing half the students by the end of the first year. Then he switched it to five semesters and everyone who survived the first year was credited for two semesters. Maseré was one of those we lost.”
“His father died and he had to run his pack. Ten years later, he was having a terrible time of it and actually ran away when he found out that his father had been killed by his uncle and that he was betrothed to his uncle’s mistress. We took him in again and he tried so hard to listen to Rosin. He spent so many years fighting the natural instincts of his wolf before he realized he had what he needed all along. The day he left the school, he returned to his pack, killed his uncle, and became
the greatest alpha of the lands.”
“How did he come to be an environmentalist?”
“In his mid-thirties, he did a lot of self-discovery while whipping his pack into shape. They had become quite corrupt in the ten years after his father’s murder. That was why they thought they could control him rather than the other way around. He killed most of the pack, in fact. He ended up going to a human university and got into marine biology. He was extremely bright— not as intelligent as Darwin, but much more intuitive when it came to people. Everything he did financially ended up being the right thing at the right time, and his research papers were award-winning.”
“So he wasn’t born into money?”
“No. He earned every penny. No one was surprised when he gave the majority of it to charities. Anyway, back to your original question… Anya was a sweetheart, despite belonging to the most powerful and feral fae tribe in North America. She was the youngest of three girls, and they were all supposed to be given up as a peace offering. The oldest was supposed to be ‘presented’ to the university, the second was supposed to be offered to a wolf-shifter, and Anya was supposed to be offered to another tribe. The tribe leader, however, fell in love with the oldest girl and sent Anya to the university.”
“When he brought the ten-year-old in, sat her down in that chair, and said that she was ours to do with what we wanted, Logan was ready to burn their entire tribe,” Flagstone said. “She was like an abused little pup. She couldn’t even speak.”
“They did not allow females to speak in their tribe. We accepted her, though, and sent her to the children’s school. The tribe leader then took the oldest sister and left the tribe. Leadership was fought over so terribly that it split into three tribes. One of the tribes requested to take Anya back and we refused, since we were her guardians. However, when she graduated, she wanted to go back. She did not like society and thought she belonged in the forest with her people.”
