by Maya Daniels
“Like super hunters?” I can barely hear from the buzzing in my ears, but hanging on his arm to stay standing, Zoltan’s words come loud and clear.
“Like perfect hunters.”
Chapter 19
“Easy there.” Reaching for the agitated Tenebris, I yank my hand back when he snaps his jaws an inch from my fingers. “Are you sure I’m the one that can calm him down? He doesn’t seem particularly happy to have me near him.”
“I’m sure.” Fenrir doesn’t look like he is sure at all, which makes my heart somersault in my chest. “Something in the blood made him wilder than he already was. He tore into the first bags when we opened the cabinets.”
Now that he mentions it, I can see a few blood bags missing from the lower shelves through the open glass doors. The panther’s ears are pinned back, and his chest lowers to the floor, his piercing gaze locked on me and those fangs the size of my forearm bared in a warning. I gulp down my fear and decide a different approach is needed if we ever want to leave this place. Either not in one piece, or not with the feline.
“Stop that you stupid cat!” Lifting to my full height, I bark at him. “You think any of us like this? Get yourself together so we can find out what’s going on. Do it now, Tenebris!”
His eyes narrow on my face, so I return the hostile glare with one of my own. Knowing full well he can sense my fear, I mentally nudge the entity inside me and ask for help. I haven’t done this consciously until now, so I’m shocked when it eagerly answers, uncoiling the power in my chest with a flourish. My view shifts and colors burst to life, everything around me becoming clearer and more beautiful.
“Oh, shit.” Astara breathes, moving slightly away from where Tenebris and I are facing off.
The creature inside me preens at having its ego stroked with the fact she recognizes the superiority. It’s a ridiculous feeling to have, but it fills every inch of my body as I watch Tenebris arch his back, bristling. There is also a horrifying sound coming from behind me and it’s raising the hairs on my neck, but I don’t look away from the intent emerald gaze of the panther. It takes a few long moments before my power wafts out of me in waves, slapping Tenebris in the face each time the heat bursts around us. With a very pitiful sound, the panther ducks his head, lowers his eyes, and slinks closer, nudging it under my hand.
I wrestle the magic into submission with great effort, the beads of sweat trickling down my spine and making me tremble like a leaf. Blowing out a breath, my shoulders sag and I sink my fingers in the silky fur on Tenebris’s head and neck, the large feline wrapping around me so close he almost pushes me on the ground. That’s when I notice his body is shivering as well.
“It’s okay.” Blood is rushing through my ears, tightening my hold on the coarse hairs. “It’ll be okay.” Whispering reassurances more to myself than the feline shifter, I look around us and my heart does a painful jerk in my chest.
Zoltan is crouched behind me, fangs bared and eyes glowing as bright as two suns on his handsome face. He’s more terrifying than handsome at the moment, but there is nothing that isn’t breathtaking about the male. Every muscle in his body is coiled and ready to spring into action. I guess the sound that raised the hairs on my neck came from him. It’s a good thing I didn’t see him like that because I have a bad feeling the entity inside me would’ve loved the challenge this particular predator represents.
“Sorry.” I snicker like an idiot, well aware it’s my power blasting him that brings his instincts to the surface. “I couldn’t think of another way to calm the cat down.”
“I must say, Franky, that your methods, although effective, will make us start attacking each other if you don’t give us a warning.” It’s strange to hear the strain in Daren’s voice, and I notice the sparks of tiny flames dancing around his fingertips.
“I need a moment.” Zoltan’s voice is so deep it sends a thrill rushing through every inch of my body.
“Can’t you try and purge whatever poison they gave my brother like you did with Astara?” Allowing the vampire time to bring himself under control, I give him my back.
Daren’s eyes bulge out, as if my gaze should be on Zoltan’s in case he is ready to attack again. But I trust him, and that surprises me since he did almost choke me to death earlier this evening.
“I can try but I didn’t sense it in him like I did with her.” The mage flicks his eyes between me and Zoltan, unwilling to look away from the fang-baring vampire as easily as I do. “I healed Fenrir and Tenebris as well, so I’m not at my full strength.” He rubs his face, fatigue lining his features. “I’ll feel better if Aspen checks him out.”
“You know Aspen?” The mention of the redhead medic that verbally slapped Leo and Fenrir makes me wonder just how much Daren is in the know about the comings and goings in the Academy. “Let me guess, another relative of yours? It seems to me your bloodline is as neck deep in this clusterfuck as mine.”
“No.” Color creeps into his cheeks, and my eyebrows crawl up to my hairline. “Just an acquaintance. She is one of the best medics I know.” He hurries to assure me like I would doubt her ability just because they may have tangled under the sheets.
“What are we going to do with all this?” Now that there is no one to kill and nothing to help wake my brother up, I want to be out of here as soon as possible.
“Destroy it,” Fenrir says with so much passion packed in his voice I have to do a double take.
“You sure you are well?” The fact that he doesn’t react in any way at the mention of me having a brother is not lost on me, but I have no energy left to dwell on it.
On anything really.
“I’m as good as I can be given everything that’s happened.” The Fae’s shoulders snap back, and he stands taller under my scrutiny. “Let’s take everyone out and set this place ablaze.” An eager glint enters his gaze.
“I’ll get Sophia and your brother.” Leo is already jogging out of the room. “Meet you outside.” He disappears through the doors before I can stop him.
“We need some of the blood to take with us.” Astara is looking much better; the color has returned in her face although she still seems unsteady on her feet.
“You’ll be able to destroy this place and open a portal?” Watching Astara fill her arms with bags, I can’t help but ask the mage if he is up to the task. “You look like you can barely stand on your feet.”
“I’ll do it.” Cracking his neck, he shakes his hands off, still eyeing Zoltan warily. “Only one portal though, so we all go together.”
“I’m ready.” Astara comes back.
She has pulled her shirt up, making a pouch from it on her belly and filled it with blood bags to bursting. The liquid sloshes around the plastic holding it with each step she takes, and I can’t take my eyes off it. Just how messed up are these people to go to such lengths? There can’t be that many half bloods for all the blood they have stored in this place. And is this the only building filled with it or are there others. If so, how many more.
My headache returns with a vengeance.
“Let us go.” Zoltan wraps an arm around my shoulders, tucking me under his arm.
“Better?” I turn to him, seeing his jaw clenched and a muscle jumping in it.
“Well enough.” He looks down at me, his gaze dancing all over my face. “I didn’t expect you to control your powers so well. It took me by surprise.”
“I’ve never tried it like this before.” Gnawing on my lip, I see his eyes zero in on it. “It comes easily when it wants to answer. I’m not sure I can do it anytime I want … yet.”
“We’ll figure it out, just like everything else.” With one glance at Tene,bris he moves me towards the doors.
The panther doesn’t leave my side, making it difficult to walk without bouncing between him and Zoltan’s body. My skin is pebbled from the sloshing sound the bags make behind me, so I grind my teeth and keep my eyes in front of me. I don’t even want to look at the hallways we are passing. Without the adre
naline rush or the fear for our lives, everything looks tainted and disgusting. It’s sterile and white, just like the uniforms the hunters prefer. Void of anything.
Void of life.
“Just a minute longer,” Zoltan grumbles under his breath when I shiver in his arms.
I see Leo standing at the bent-and-twisted front gates of this facility, my mother clutching the rail on the bed where my brother is still lying unconscious. The thought of a sibling has never occurred to me. Worrying about my own life had been enough for me, and I’m not sure I would’ve been able to fear for another person on top of that. But I’d be lying to myself if I said that knowing about him hasn’t already taken roots in my heart. He might be a stranger to me, but already my protective instincts are burning in my chest. I want to kill anyone that hurt him.
“We need to move a ways out so I can burn it down.” Daren doesn’t slow down when we reach my mother and the Alpha. “We didn’t search good enough, and there might be all sorts of things inside it.”
“Shouldn’t we look to see if we can find anything useful?” I ask Fenrir because he is being unusually quiet. I’m not sure it’s from the injury, either. The Fae heals faster than anyone I know, apart from Zoltan.
“We have enough.” He looks my way then winces, grabbing his ribs again. “As soon as we get back, I’m dispatching teams to search all other addresses we found around the perimeter of the base Roberti had. If there is anything useful, we will find it. There is nothing we need from this one.”
I skid to a stop when he says that, ducking under Zoltan’s arm. “I’ll be right back.”
Not waiting to hear if they are okay with me going back, I bolt inside the building. My boots are thumping a staccato on the tiled floors through the hallways, sliding on the pools of blood spilled all over the place. Jumping over bodies and body parts where Tenebris must’ve been having a blast playing with the hunters, I run for all I’m worth.
I miss the correct hallway twice before I finally reach the familiar door. With my heart in my throat, I push my way inside the room where Alexius had me tied up, my eyes zeroing in on his headless body immediately. Not wanting to waste time, I find his head tossed in the far-left corner and, snatching it up by the hair, I swallow the bile burning my throat. Turning around, I shriek and drop the head with a wet plop at my feet.
Tenebris is standing at the open door watching me with a glittering gaze. I didn’t hear him follow me and he scared the shit out of me, his black coat standing out stark among all the white around us. Pushing the hair off my face, I bend down and grab the head again. The panther looks smug at my reaction and snorts. At least he is not trying to bite my head off right now. Speaking of heads, I’m ignoring the one dangling from my hand as I push past Tenebris. He sniffs at it, growling unhappily even though he follows next to me as we make our way out.
Zoltan meets us just as we turn the first corner. The vampire followed as well and my stupid heart melts knowing he didn’t want me alone in this damn place. I lift the head like an offering in his face.
“Will this work for the oath?” The thought hits me when Fenrir said there was nothing we can use. “The Board should be pleased I’m bringing them the head of the traitor, right?”
“No.” His lips press in a thin line. “But no harm in trying.” He spins on his heel, falling in step with me. “I still don’t think you should take the oath. If you have made up your mind to go with it, I can be persuasive to make it enough.”
“I knew there was a reason to keep you around.” As soon as I say it, I wince remembering the argument we had. “Too soon?”
“A little.” Chuckling, he bumps his shoulder into mine. “There is a long conversation you and I are going to have. Let us deal with this first.”
The expressions on the faces of Astara and Fenrir may be comical if not for the head I’m holding like a plastic bag as it brushes against my thigh. The Fae grins at me but there is no humor in it. Just some gleeful satisfaction of seeing the one that betrayed them pay for his actions. Astara, on the other hand, is undecided if she wants to be impressed or disgusted. She settles on firm determination and gives me a nod that I return. By the time we are done with Roberti, I’m not sure our friendships and the way we see each other will ever be the same.
“Half way down the block should suffice.” Daren walks through the gates with the rest of us behind him.
“Francesca?” my mother calls my name to get my attention, but I can’t deal with whatever she has to say to me right now. All I can do is walk while pretending I’m not swinging a head like some headless horseman through the streets of the human realm.
“This should be enough.” Daren stops, turning to face the facility while glowing like a beacon of hope with lights blazing.
It’s a good thing it’s not fully morning yet. Dark clouds are stuffing the sky above our heads like cotton balls pushed together. Pale grayish rays are forcing their way through and piercing the gloomy weather, but the light isn’t enough to be harmful to my eyes. A crack of lightning sounds far ahead, the ozone in the air burning my nose hairs with each breath I take.
“Is this you?” I flick a glance at the mage.
“No, it’s the weather.” Frustration tightens his face as he lifts his hands in front of him.
We all watch in fascination when that burning lava magic swirls between his palms. It grows larger with each blink, twisting and turning like a bag full of snakes. The heat from it is searing my skin so instinctively I move away from it, bumping into Zoltan who is back to being my shadow. The thought warms the chill that is occupying my chest. Muttering something in a language I don’t understand, Daren flings his hands in front of him and sends the magic at the facility with incredible speed. The bubbling lava bathes everything red as it sails down the street, disappearing through the destroyed gates. Silence follows, but it only lasts a split second even though it feels like an eternity while we all hold our breaths.
A blast that shoves me back a few steps is followed by an inferno reaching for the gray clouds. I shield my face with my arm, the fires spreading around the large building and blistering my skin like I’m standing next to the sun. The others are shouting something, and Zoltan curls around me like a protective bubble, but I can’t look away from the sight in front of me. Just how powerful is Daren? I never stopped long enough to ask that question.
“Shit.” Astara’s voice comes so close to my ear I can feel her breath on my skin. She must’ve covered me on the other side opposite her brother. “Open the portal, Daren,” she shouts, the squishy bags of blood wobbling between us.
“I’m trying,” Daren barks, his voice strained now more than ever. “Fuck! I’m trying.” The last word is pushed out through grated teeth.
“Let us move closer.” Zoltan nudges the four of us, Tenebris twisted between all our legs where the mage is standing with the bed, my mother and Fenrir at his back.
We waddle to join them, and I watch the portal start sparkling, spitting bursts of light like fireworks amid the inferno its facing. It’s slow moving, every second a painful reminder that if he doesn’t open it fast, we will burn to crisp along with the cursed facility. Disgusting or not, I shove the head between our bodies to protect the identity, at least enough to satisfy the old jerks when I throw it at their faces. Imagining the looks they’ll wear makes it easier to deal with my skin melting off my bones.
The portal bursts open.
“Go, go, go,” Leo chants, the gateway stretching like a bubble, reflecting the fires that are trying to reach the sky.
Fenrir grabs my mother with one hand and the bed with my brother with the other, yanking them hard enough that the muscles on his back are jumping from the strain. With a pained shout, all three of them disappear, my heart twisting from knowing the Fae is suffering to protect my family. Zoltan gives us a hard push and my stomach drops to my feet when I lose the ground. We all sail through the air before hitting the center of the portal. At the last moment my arm snaps o
ut, taking hold of Daren’s shirt and yanking him with us.
“Thank fu …” My sigh is cut off by barked commands, snarls, and furious growling.
“Perfect timing, Ms. Drake.” Silas sneers.
I blink fast until I can clearly see his ugly mug.
The head drops from my numb fingers.
Chapter 20
We are all in the dining hall that has been emptied to wait for our arrival. At least that’s my guess as to why it’s empty. All the tables, chairs, and furniture are pushed to the sides, making it look abandoned and hollow. Zoltan is sprawled at my feet, Alexius’s head perched next to his face like a lover. Astara is suspended in the air, held up by an invisible force with the blood bags still twitching on the floor under her where she dropped them. My head jerks to the side seeing Leo, Daren, and Fenrir also unconscious, and my blood curdles in my veins, numbing me. Tenebris is motionless on his side, but at least his eyes are open and burning with rage.
The Board is standing around us looking smug as shit about incapacitating the three males and the shifter who would’ve ripped their heads off if they were still standing, the old mage twirling the magic he used on them between his hands. I love that they still underestimate a female. My mother’s gasps are like daggers in my brain.
I grin like a fiend at them.
“Look at you three,” I chirp cheerfully. “A welcoming committee. I must say it suits you.”
“You must give the oath, Ms. Drake.” Daren’s father looks down his nose at me. “We can’t wait for you to explore the realms first. The safety of the Academy and Sienna is first and foremost.”
“Explore?” Deadpanning, I glare at them. “I brought you a gift.” Kicking the head with my toes, I watch it roll until it stops at their feet. “That ought to be considered a present from my vacations.”
