by Lan Chan
I heard the sound of urgent voices, but all I could focus on was the choking feeling of my soul trying to come apart from the fabric of the Ley dimension.
The last thing I saw before darkness rolled over me were Max’s frantic eyes as he called out my name.
26
I woke to the sound of hushed voices. Not so hushed when I regained consciousness and the argument the inner circle was having escalated into snaps and snarls. “Doesn’t matter what the outcome is,” I heard Anastasia grit out. “She shouldn’t have been allowed in there! She’s compromised us. Rotting us from the inside.”
Blinking, I found myself looking up at the ceiling of my room at the Thompsons’. Downstairs, the inner circle seemed to be having some kind of meeting. Or an argument in this case.
“She saved my daughter’s life,” came Amy’s unbending reply.
There was a moment of silence. “I understand that–” Anastasia began.
“No, you obviously don’t.”
My head was already pounding. The last thing I needed was to be bitched about while I was trying to get some rest.
“Shut up!” I screamed. It was actually quieter than the normal level of my voice, but their hearing caught it nonetheless. Stomping footsteps thudded up the staircase. To my dismay, the figure that popped his head into the room first wasn’t Max. It was Jeremiah. Not giving any thought to the fact that I was small and vulnerable, he crashed into the room and came straight for me.
I shrieked and tried to get away but found myself gripped in the smothering hug of a bear in human form. It was a miracle my innards didn’t burst from me. Max stalked up and grabbed Jeremiah’s shoulder. “She can’t breathe.”
Though he could tell that there was nothing sexual in it, Max’s nostrils flared at the fact that Jeremiah was touching me at all. Jeremiah released me, his dark eyes swimming.
“Thank you,” he said, bowing his head. “I don’t know what I would have done if we lost Lizzie.”
“How is she?” I whispered.
Unable to find his words all of a sudden, Jeremiah only nodded. He ran a big palm through his buzz-cut hair, tugging it as though in the throes of another nightmare. Max gripped his shoulder harder, his claws unsheathing a little. The shock brought Jeremiah back to the present.
“She’s recovering.”
“How did it even happen?”
“We were supposed to stay overnight in Rivia.” His hands threaded together, going white-knuckled within seconds. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen anything outside these fields. She wouldn’t leave Rosie at home. The alarm went off in the middle of the night. We went to her room to get her and saw...”
It was easy enough to piece the rest of it together. The malachim’s gift of invading minds would take time to penetrate the shifters’ natural shields. But Rosie was an animal of the earth dimension. She had probably gone mad instantly and attacked Lizzie, who was too young and probably too shocked to consider fighting off her beloved pet.
When I placed my hand on his arm, he didn’t flinch. “We gave her some more of that elixir you made,” he said.
That stopped me dead. “You went through my stuff?”
The pinch of my expression had him stalling. “Noah said it would be alright...”
“Noah is going to get his neck wrung.”
A chuckle from the doorway. Noah leaned against the doorjamb. “You always were possessive about your things.”
“Especially when people steal them!” I hissed.
“I stopped you from performing spells.”
“They were stuffed dolls,” I reminded him. “Not voodoo.”
“How was I supposed to know?”
Free of Jeremiah’s grip, I leaned back against the headboard and groaned. “Can you take your meeting somewhere else? I’ve had just about as much of shifters as I can take for a lifetime.”
When it was only Max left, I bundled up the blankets around me to create a barrier between us. When he sat down on the bed, the look in his eyes said he knew exactly what I was doing but he would let it slide on account of my vulnerability.
I sank my head onto my knees. “I don’t even know what to say.”
His face was granite. “There’s nothing to say.”
That was the truth. If I breathed a word of what I’d seen, the threat to the Reserve would be immense. With everything that was happening at the moment, if the other species truly knew how weak the alphas were, they would roll in here and take over. It might only be temporary, but the takeover would destroy the shifters’ confidence in themselves.
I opened my mouth but there were no words of comfort. I found myself inspecting the line of sculpted muscle where the sleeve of his T-shirt met his bicep. Thanks to Shayla, the Thompson boys weren’t as affected by the draining of the malachim. Both of them were still the picture of health. It also meant that the burden of protecting the Reserve would fall on them if they ever came to strife.
Max wasn’t a sit-back-and-wait kind of man. Like Charles, he never seemed to stop moving, the energy that made him who he was a constant motivator. But for the sake of the pack, he’d tied himself to a desk, to a position that he didn’t want.
After his ascension, Max had made plans to roam. To see the world that was supposed to open up for him once he graduated. Eventually, he would have taken his place amongst the elite guard. Dorian had already lined up a position for him with the Sentinels.
Now he was the unwilling pack alpha, the one forced to ask others to toe the line, even when he himself wanted to do the exact opposite.
“I’m sorry,” I found myself saying.
“Why are you apologising?” he swallowed. “This isn’t your fault.”
Did it matter? Fault wasn’t what made my heart break for him. “Max. I–”
He reached past me and slid his fingers around the nape of my neck. The movement was slow, deliberate, possessive. If I wanted to, I could have stopped it. What I wanted became a jumble as the pads of his fingers grazed the sensitive skin on my neck. My insides liquefied. That insidious voice in my mind screamed at me, only to be smothered by the mating link. Remembering to breathe became difficult as Max reached out to unwrap the sheets. The T-shirt I still wore was bunched up around my hips.
Heat trickled into my gut as his whole body seemed to tighten when his eyes lowered. Taking great care not to jostle me too much, Max curled his other arm around my waist, lifting me into his lap.
The awareness of him everywhere was stark. His scent wrapped around me, headier than the feel of his sturdy arm around my back. Though I could feel the pulse of his need against my hip, it was the look in his eyes that stripped me bare. That look that was so full of certainty and adoration that it was addicting. The look that told me without words or encouragement from the mating link that he loved me.
It was a splash of molten heat in my memory. One of him barricading me on all sides in the Run just before Lex and Diana had barged in on us.
“Do you understand what it means to be with an alpha?” he’d said against the pulse of my neck. “It means absolute and utter submission. Everywhere.” He’d planted the softest kiss on my skin to disarm any challenge I would have made. It gave life to the notion that he was very capable of winning submission with more than just violence. And if I gave in, it would be with sensual gratitude as I surrendered. At the time, I didn’t know which was more dangerous. Now, I had no more illusions.
“I could kill you for putting yourself in danger again,” he rasped in my ear.
“I seem to remember you being right there when it happened.”
He bit the soft lobe of my ear.
My back arched into him. “Max!”
The curve of his lip brushed my cheekbone when he smiled. A shiver ran down the length of my body when his hot breath bathed my skin. My hips moved involuntarily. Max groaned, his eyes turning gold in a single blink. The instant his lips pressed against mine, every inch of caution disintegrated. My mouth opened as I wrapped
my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss with a hot sweep of my tongue.
The growl began in his chest. It vibrated against me and poured into my mouth as his lips became more insistent. His palm gripped my hip hard enough to draw a gasp. The pressure eased, and I rocked on his lap answering his unspoken question — pleasure or pain?
Trailing a calloused finger along the hem of my panties, he hooked the edge of the material and—Cold. Biting cold that stole the warmth from Max’s body. His expressive eyes blank and unseeing. The brutal transition shocked me back from the brink.
“Sophie?”
A silvery, needle-thin spine shoved straight through his heart, ending his life.
If you accept the mating link, he will die.
“Sophie!”
Taking in a shuddering breath, I peeled open my eyes and leaned into the only lie I knew that would blunt the possessiveness in him. Placing my hand over his, I pried his fingers off me, allowing my teeth to grind just the slightest bit like part of me was still raw.
Just like that his focus shifted into protectiveness. “Where does it hurt?”
If only he knew.
Allowing my forehead to rest against his cheek, I said, “Forgot I was human for a second.”
Some inconsiderate person banged on the door. When the knob twisted without a response from either of us, I knew who it would be before Anastasia poked her head in. Max winched his arms around me, stopping me from sliding off him.
“Yolanda is up.” Huh. So she could tell what was important and what wasn’t.
That sentiment was exactly what shone in her eyes as she tossed me a haughty look over her shoulder as they left the room together. For a moment, I had forgotten what was important.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I lay back and forced myself to pull the Ley sight around me. Trepidation sank claws into me when I spotted the polluted thread of my soul tether. What the hell kind of nightmare was this?
I’d lived with Lex for too long not to understand what the soul tether was and how the Sisterhood used it to sever a human’s soul from their body. When I panned closer using the sight, I saw with clarity the reason why there were darker threads. Like the death of a nerve, as each strand of my soul was broken, it too died and discoloured. If I lost my soul, I would die. Simple as that.
Wracking my brain, I tried to come up with each instance in which my soul had been compromised. Last night it had been when I’d stabbed Durin in order to steal his essence. The time before it had been stealing the souls of the rats. One by one, I recounted each instance. All of them involved taking essence without consent.
I was a blood witch of the earth dimension. Everything that I was and that I did had consequences. For stealing life blood, part of my soul was also forfeited. So how was it that my great-grandfather was able to steal so many essences, to be able to perform all those atrocities? Why hadn’t he lost his soul and died?
The Book of Beasts was not specific about my great-grandfather’s crimes. It couldn’t be. He was a taboo subject in the Zambian compound. My parents never spoke about him either. As I lay there contemplating the alternatives, I realised that I was avoiding the one thing I knew was a sure bet. I had access to somebody who was a witness to the crimes. Noah was not happy with my line of questioning when I tracked him down on perimeter patrol. He didn’t even bother to evade the question.
“No,” he said. “Do you have any idea what you’re asking?”
“Of course I do.”
A scowl as he scanned the area for any signs of something out of place. Ever since the attack on the Reserve by Jacob Buchanan, the shifters had gotten even more paranoid. Rightly so. They now set all kinds of booby-traps that meant their sentries had to be more alert than ever. My presence was a distraction, but the thought of my soul eroding before I even had a chance to fulfil Lex’s last wish was anathema to me.
“Why would you even think to ask me that?” he said, crouching down to check tracks left behind by a cloven animal.
That was the difficulty. If I told him what was really happening, he would report it to Max and that would be the end of me using magic at all. Lying to him made me green for some reason. The guilt of what my great-grandfather had done picked at me constantly in his presence. As it no doubt picked at him when I was around. That we had come to an unsteady truce was a miracle in and of itself.
Without any other options, I chose to go with the explanation that they would believe the most. “I feel ill after using my blood alchemy like that,” I said. “So ill I haven’t been able to do much since. I don’t want that to happen again. What if I had been too drained to help Lizzie?” Letting my gaze lower to the ground, I tried to go for professional vulnerability. When all was said and done, my great-grandfather was one of the world’s most powerful low-magic users. That I constantly fell short of him had always been a relief. Until now.
He straightened, his expression hooded. “Did you ever think that there’s a reason for that? Evil should have safeguards.”
“What I do isn’t–”
He stared me down, daring me to challenge his assertion. “You haven’t given in to the evil. But if you keep going down this path...”
Frustrated that everyone seemed to think they knew what was best for me, I said, “Maybe I should get to decide my own path for once!”
His laugh was humourless. “You would think so, but you could have been anything, and you’re somehow still a blood witch trying to justify the dangerous alchemy that you possess. The stink of necromantic magic continues to cling to you despite how much time you’ve spent in the Reserve. Our races are incompatible. Who do you want to be, Sophie?” He grunted in disgust. “I have to go. I’m on duty.”
With that he turned in the direction of the savannah and disappeared too quickly for me to catch up.
Both of us were sullen when he arrived to escort me back to Bloodline a few days later. I’d spent a tense time worrying about how I would explain to Max that the kiss was a mistake, and my nerves were frayed. Thank goodness pack business seemed to be keeping him busy.
Seeing my distraction, Charles had snickered. “We had a major security breach and the alphas’ conditions have been exposed to an outsider,” he’d said. “He’ll be tied up for a while. You can stop jumping at shadows.”
The shadow that had descended on me was not that easily dispelled. That was nothing compared to the dark, thunder-laced clouds that literally gathered around Agatha when I informed her that I would no longer be able to attend her classes.
“What are you talking about?” she hissed. “You’re finally making progress.”
I’d made the decision this morning. My soul was too high a price to pay. How would I help Lex if I was dead? “I’m not willing to compromise myself for the sake of power.”
The infuriated look on her face made Noah step out in front of me. “We’re looking at a war that is about to tear this dimension apart and you’re worried about your integrity?” she seethed.
Behind her, Hugh was quiet. He sat on the lip of a desk, watching the interaction with mild interest. “Irrespective of my intentions, the stealing of blood and essence takes something from me.”
Agatha halted her slow advance towards me. “I’m not a high-magic user,” I said. “My reserve of energy is limited. I don’t want to hurt people just to be strong.” After what happened with Durin, I saw now that even if I was being coerced, it would still snap the soul tether.
“So, all that talk about doing what is necessary was just talk? You really are a complete waste of space. If you won’t do what’s required, then hand over Alessia’s blood.”
I backed up even though Noah was a barrier. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Does it appear as though I’m making a joke?”
As she stepped closer, the air about her rippled. The red cloak she wore over her detailed brocade dress billowed softly against an invisible wind. I tasted bitterness in the back of my throat as a haze of smoke descended on h
er. Noah began to growl softly. From where I stood, I saw the hairs on the back of his nick thicken and stand on end.
“You think you know about sacrifice?” Agatha spat. She made a gesture, as though peeling apart a magical curtain. I gasped at the sudden change in her appearance. Gone was her youthful projection and in its place was a crone. Her hands became knobbly at the joints, her skin stretched tight and blackened at the fingertips. She reminded me of what was happening to the alphas in the Cabin.
“You...” I spluttered.
“This is the price of magic,” she cackled. “This is what it means to wield the kind of power that will beat back the forces of Hell.” She stepped past Noah and he didn’t move a muscle. I glanced sideways at his broad back and realised he was trembling. She had him under some kind of immobilisation spell.
Before the malachim, before Raphael’s coma and the fall of the Reserve, her magic wouldn’t have been able to affect him so easily. Shifters had a certain amount of natural resistance to magic. But right at this moment, Noah was completely at her mercy. Even if I had thrown a protection circle around him, she was too strong not to be able to break it.
“Think about what you’re saying,” Agatha urged, her gnarled figure invading my personal space. “You want to abandon your course because it’s getting a little bit harder. Or is it that you don’t want to lose that pretty face of yours?”
Trapped in her mesmerising gaze, I blurted, “There has to be some other way.”
“Tell me what it is, then,” she said. “Because it sounds like you want the power without paying the price. And that’s not how the world works. You’re a blood witch. Blood is never clean.”
Her words ran through my head all afternoon. It ate at me until I was too distracted to help in the infirmary. “Perhaps you should have the day off,” Doctor Thorne announced after the third time I accidentally ran into something and dropped the contents of the glass I was holding.
Knowing that my mind had lapsed into obsession, I ignored Noah’s displeased glare and went to the library. “You may as well go home,” I told him. “I’m going to be here a while.”
