I hope so.
They moved on. Drake kept his senses on alert to detect any presence or surprise attacks and because he feared the mountain crumbling beneath them.
He avoided looking down whenever possible but Charlie seemed in awe of the view, peering over the edge.
“I wonder what fazing through a mountain feels like,” she mused.
“We’re not going to find out.” Drake gripped her hand tighter. “We can’t use our powers up here unless we have to – it’ll give away our presence. We need the element of surprise.”
They moved higher, the air growing thinner. Charlie kept pace with him, not complaining once.
We should go hiking and mountain climbing more often. Her thoughts echoed through his mind.
Strange, they only had a psychic link. It didn’t and shouldn’t allow them to hear each other’s thoughts – that didn’t come until the second stage of the bond. They either had to sleep together or admit they loved each other to do that for that to be complete.
Drake stopped, did that mean she loved him? He hadn’t thought that possible given how she’d resisted them having any sort of relationship. That had changed over the past few months but he’d never dared hope she’d love him back.
Charlie frowned. “What are you staring at, Vlad?”
He shook his head, smiled. “Nothing.”
“Oh yeah, your eyes are shifting between blue and black so you must be feeling some strong emotions.”
“Your eyes change too, little witch.” He stroked her cheek. “I thought how lovely you are.”
“Yeah right,” she scoffed.
“I’m being serious, Charlotte. You are beautiful; why don’t you see that about yourself?”
She shrugged. “I’m okay, I don’t care how I look most the time.” She moved past him as rocks gave way.
Drake grabbed hold of her, wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled her back. “Now you see why I hate mountains!”
“It’s just a few rocks, I would have been fine.”
Daft demon, she thought. He’s sweet though. I love it when he looks at me like that.
“Like what?” He blurted out without thinking.
Charlie frowned. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Never mind. Let’s keep moving. I want to reach the summit before nightfall.”
Charlie gripped his wrist. “Are you listening in on my thoughts?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t intentional.”
“You said we couldn’t do that.”
He shrugged. “Bonds can form naturally. Maybe it’s because I took your blood – I don’t know how it all works,” he told her. “Our relationship is nothing like I expected it to be.”
“I don’t mind if a true bond is forming, hell, I’d welcome it. Would you?” Charlie looked him straight in the eye.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because ever since you left I feel like you’re holding back. One minute you wanted to be with me, now you don’t.”
“That’s not true. The ascension—”
“The ascension didn’t matter as much when we were in Setara. We almost slept together, now you don’t want to. Why?” She folded her arms, raising her chin in her defiant way.
He couldn’t keep secrets, not from her. No matter how he tried. “I’m afraid,” he admitted. “Not of the bond but what might happen to you. I have a feeling I’m going to lose you and it won’t go away. If I lost you—” Drake shook his head. “I would lose my soul. You anchor me, you’re my heart.”
Charlie reached up and kissed him. “Like I said, you’re stuck with me. No one, nothing is going to part again – not even you.”
Chapter 14
Charlie loved the view as they reached the top of the mountain. Vast fields, houses and the entire city of Kyral were visible from the summit. “This is gorgeous,” she breathed, squeezing Drake’s hand. She felt him tense as he looked down, uneasiness running off him.
Drake wrapped his arms around her, hugging her from behind. “Daron, Arya and I climbed up here when we were children. My sister loved it too.”
“I’m sorry about your sister.” She kissed his cheek. “She’d be proud of what you’ve become now.” She smiled and returned the hug, glad for the warmth of his embrace. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you fall.”
He chuckled. “That makes me feel so much better, little witch.”
“What are we looking for?” She glanced around the vast sea of white, her breath coming out as cool mist. “Is there a village made of mist up here?”
“I wish, but no. I’m hoping I’ll sense something. An Akaran can sense all demons – just as they can sense me if I don’t cloak myself.”
They moved on, snow crunching underneath their feet.
“Can they sense you if you scan for them?”
He shook his head. “No, although it’s hard to tell. They’re an elusive bunch.”
Charlie felt him cast his senses out, scanning the area in front of them. Her senses tingled at the feel of something else. Light flashed, colour swam in front of her eyes as an opening to the spirit realm appeared. “Drake!” She grabbed his arm, pulling him away from it.
He blinked, surprised. “What?”
“Portal.” She motioned to it. “Weird, spirit portals are rare and someone must’ve left it open. Maybe I should—”
“No, no magic, remember?” Drake clutched her hand. “Let’s keep moving.”
He led her back up the steep track.
Something blurred out the corner of her eye. Goodridge and several demons blocked their path.
“Ah hell,” she muttered. So much for no magic.
Damn it! Drake cursed.
“Wow, you must really be getting desperate, Myles,” Charlie remarked.
“Hand over the Srimtar or all the mist walkers on this mountain will find out you’re here,” said Myles. “They won’t act kindly to the Akaran’s presence, believe me.”
“Not happening,” Drake replied, fire forming in his palm.
I thought you said no magic? Charlie tensed, scanning for any more oncoming demons.
I did, but the bastard almost killed you.
You can’t kill him, he’s too strong, we don’t know what he is.
Three more demons appeared behind them.
Can’t you command them not to attack? Charlie asked.
I could but I sense blocks in their minds. My power may not work.
We can’t blow our cover, let’s… Charlie ducked as an energy ball flew at her head.
“One way or another I will get what I came for.” Myles grinned.
She raised her hand, flinging one demon straight over the side of the mountain. Drake hurled fireballs, killing one and wounding another. Charlie blocked, kicked and knocked another to the ground. Myles stood there watching but didn’t move.
Bastard, he knows this will only slow us down. She resisted the urge to faze, afraid Myles would pull her back into the spirit realm. She needed to stay in the physical world. She dodged another fireball, kicked the demon’s legs out from under him and grabbed him by the throat. Her eyes bled to black as she unleashed her touch.
The demon laughed. “Your power won’t work on me, witch.”
Charlie felt the ground beneath her trembling as light shimmered around her. No! Her eyes fixed on Goodridge but he looked just as alarmed as she fell. Someone had opened a portal and it began to suck them in.
Drake! She reached up for him as he lay on the ground, held down by an invisible force.
Tendrils of energy seem to wrap around her, pulling her down.
Myles and his two remaining demons sank to their knees as a vortex began to form. “What’s happening?” one of the demons cried.
Charlie took a breath, body incorporeal as she broke free of the strange force. She grabbed hold of Drake and shimmered out.
Charlie and Drake fell onto the glassy floor of the spirit world room. They landed in a ta
ngle of limbs with her on top of him. “What the hell was that?” she asked.
Drake let out a low growl. “I sensed another presence. Someone tried to drag all of us into the spirit realm.” He scrambled up, pulling her to her feet. “Impossible. No one has control over this world.” He glanced around. “Except you.”
Charlie shook her head. “I can’t manipulate this world or open portals like that. I move in and out myself, but that was off the scale power. Weird, Myles looked just as surprised as we were.”
“Indeed.” Drake rubbed his chin. “If only I could have sensed more, I might have been able—”
“At least we’re safe here. No one can enter this place but me.”
Drake glanced around. “Did you create this place?”
She shook her head. “No, I just found it one day and it became my place. I come here when I need to single be alone,” she said. “I must’ve brought you here in dreams too. I’ve never shown it to anyone. It’s my secret place.” She walked over to the Srimtar that sat shimmering on the table. It flashed as she neared it but the invisible walled sheet set around it still held. “Phew, at least this safe. What about the mist walkers?”
“I doubt there’s much point in going back now. They will have scattered.”
“Do you think they could be the ones who open the vortex?”
“No, they’re masters of illusion. They have no power over realms.” Drake frowned. “I can’t sense time here.”
“That’s because time stops here – no idea how it works but time doesn’t affect it,” Charlie told him. “It keeps moving on the outside though. Back to Kyral then?”
“Not yet. Kaz and Nigel are keeping an eye on things. I hoped we’d have some time together before everything went to hell.”
Charlie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
***
Drake glanced around, keeping one arm wrapped around Charlie as they reappeared on the mountaintop. After spending a few hours in Charlie’s secret room, they decided to go back to the mountain. He needed to find out anything related to the mist walkers, even if it meant hunting around the mountain for the next few days. They could see in the dark, and had the faint glow stars twinkling above them. Still, the thought of wandering around in the dark made him even more uneasy.
“Do you think it’s worth coming back here? They must have all scattered by now,” Charlie remarked.
They moved through dense forest. Drake scanned every inch of the mountaintop. They had to be there somewhere.
“Maybe we should get some sleep. It’ll be dawn in a few hours.” Charlie pulled her jacket tighter, shivering.
He’d forgotten about the cold. Weather didn’t affect him as his body always stayed warm so he wrapped an arm around her. “There’s caves a few metres away, my siblings and I used to camp there. We can shelter inside.” Once inside the cave he started a fire and wrapped his jacket around her. “Get some sleep, I’ll keep watch.”
He cast a protective ward around them. Charlie snuggled against him as she slept. He couldn’t remember ever feeling so content as he brushed her hair off her face. “I love you, little witch.”
“Drakon…” a voice whispered.
His head shot up to see the glowing form of a girl with curly black hair and his gut twisted. “Arya? How—”
Arya held out her hand as she tried to reach for him, but a swirling mist whirled around her, making her form waver.
“No, Arya!” His hand met empty air when he tried to grab her. Then she vanished in a blur of light. “Come back!”
Something moved in the shadows, sending his senses reeling. Drake let go of Charlie, shot his feet, flames forming in his palm Hands grabbed him, wrenching his arms back as someone shoved him to the ground. A woman with long blonde hair, covered in blue markings appeared. “I wouldn’t bother fighting, Akaran. You’re no match for us.”
A man appeared and picked Charlie up, jabbing something in her neck. She slumped against him.
Drake snarled. “You!” He recognised Scott, Charlie’s former lover, in an instant. “You’re one of them!” The blue tribal markings showed Scott to be a mist walker too as he grinned.
“What did you do to her?” Drake pulled but the invisible bonds held him in place. “If you hurt her—”
“I’d never hurt her,” Scott snapped. “We came here to save her from you.”
Drake reached for the full depth of his power. He didn’t care if all Demonkind found out what he was, he wouldn’t let them take his mate. “She’s mine!”
The woman laughed. “Funny, it almost sounds like you care for her.”
Care? She was his life now. Power built up, his eyes turning to black, fangs extending. “If you take her from me, I’ll rip this world apart until I kill every last one of you.”
“You’re fighting a war you can’t win, Akaran, you and your brother have murdered enough of my kind,” the woman retorted.
“Can you blame me after you killed my family?”
“That wasn’t us. We don’t kill unless we have to.”
Drake gave a harsh laugh. “Why should I believe you?”
“You don’t have to believe anything,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Scott and Charlie vanished in a blur of light.
“No!” Drake roared. “Bring her back. Do you what you want to me, just let her go.” He called up the full force of his power and grabbed the woman by the throat as he broke free of his bonds. “Return her to me or I will kill you.”
“How do you think she’ll feel when she finds out you killed her mother?”
Drake’s eyes narrowed. “Impossible, her mother died in childbirth.”
Her lips curved. “I faked my death well. Now I have my daughter back and you’ll never see her again.”
Both the woman and the shadows vanished.
Drake let out a bellow of fury, the whole mountain trembled from the force. “If you want to war, I’ll give you one.”
Epilogue
Charlie’s head pounded as she woke. She had the sensation of being carried around, followed by a soul gripping pain that made her black out as she laid in what looked like a circle of light. She forced her eyes to open, ignoring the wave of nausea. “Drake?” she called.
She lay on a soft bed. Light poured in through the windows. With cream walls and at a flagstone floor, the room looked bare with only a chest of drawers, a table and wooden chair. It didn’t look like the room she’d shared with Drake at the castle.
“Drake, where are you?” Charlie reached out to him with her mind but felt nothing. Her heart skipped a beat. She sat up, the room around her started spinning as bile rose in her throat. Where the hell am I?
The door opened with a man walked in. He was skinny and blonde. It took her a moment to place him.
“Scott? Am I hallucinating now?” She hadn’t seen her ex-boyfriend since the night she told him she’d wanted to be with Drake and ended their relationship for good.
Scott gave her his goofy grin. “Hey, Char, how are you feeling?”
“Where am I?” she demanded. “How did I get here?”
“It’s okay, you’re safe now.” He squeezed her shoulder. “You’re in Alanon. We brought you here.”
“Who’s ‘we’? Where’s Drake?” The last thing she remembered she’d fallen asleep next to him in that cave. “Why can’t I sense him?” Her heart beat faster as her panic rose. She wanted nothing more than to get back to him.
“All that matters is you’re safe. Drake can’t hurt you anymore.” He tried to reach for her again, but Charlie shrugged him off.
“Drake would never hurt me, I’m his mate.” She shoved his hand away. “Tell me what’s going on right now.”
His smile faded. “I’m not the best person to answer your questions.”
“What does—”
The door opened as a beautiful blonde woman walked in. The stranger she’d seen in the mist.
“You need to tell me what the fuck you�
��ve done.” Charlie crossed her arms.
“Charlie, it’s a good to have you here with us.” The woman smiled. “I’ve longed for this day.”
Charlie glowered at Scott. “I want answers. Now! So cut the crap.”
“I’m Irina, I’m your mother and leader of the Illuminari,” Irina said. “Illuminari are sometimes called mist walkers.”
Charlie burst out laughing. “Okay, lady. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing but my mum died twenty-four years ago,” she said. “And you’re not her.”
“Helena was one of my many aliases. I know I look different – this is my true form but I am your mother, Charlotte,” Irina said. “I brought you here to save you. It’s a good thing the fake Akaran contacted us when he did.”
Fake Akaran? Daron, I should’ve known he had something to do with this. “From what?” she demanded, eyes flashing.
“From Drake,” Scott answered. “You were never his life mate. When you almost died six years ago he cast a spell that bound you to him. He knows what you are, now you can’t use—”
“This is some messed up shit!” Charlie raised her hands. “First you kidnap me, now my dead mother is supposedly alive. Is this some kind twisted plan to get me back?”
“Scott is telling the truth. The Akaran isn’t your mate, demons have no soul mate,” Irena told her. “Your powers have been growing, I knew it was time to begin your training myself.”
Okay, more lies. What do these idiots think they’re playing at? Charlie backed away. “Okay, enough already, I’m leaving.” She tried shimmer. Nothing happened. “What have you done to my powers?” She noticed a silver bracelet on her left wrist. She’d seen similar tech before. “You bound me? Are you serious?”
“It just a precaution – your powers are—” Irina said.
“You’re not my mother,” she snarled the woman. She turned to glare at Scott. “You bastard, if you cared about me you wouldn’t kidnap me and hold me prisoner.”
“You’re not a prisoner, Char. We saved you. Drake and his brother were going to use you to start a war,” Scott insisted.
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