by Rain Oxford
Darwin rejoined us and listened intently without making a joke. “Sounds like a hard life.”
She nodded. “I don’t miss anything about Syndrial. However, I wanted a child. Then, three years later, John returned. He said we should try again. He also gave me the money to buy my own clinic. We talked about it a lot and I learned that he had never lost track of me. He even had people spying on me.”
“That’s not a good thing,” Henry said.
She shrugged. “I liked it. I must have a thing for powerful bad guys with a strong protective instinct.”
“Did you know Henry was a world-renowned thief?” Darwin asked. “He also turns into a massive jaguar with saber teeth who would kill anyone that threatens his son.”
“No, I didn’t know that,” she said, turning to him.
“I’m not proud of it. I did what I had to do to survive,” Henry said.
“So did I, but I wasn’t good at it by any means.”
“I take it the second time was the charm?” I asked.
She nodded. “John wanted to try spells and fertility treatments, but it wasn’t necessary. I guess my body adapted to Earth, because after a couple of weeks, I got pregnant.”
* * *
I decided to use my ring in case we were still under threat. I knew very little about Logan Wayne and didn’t want to bet our lives on his magic herb sacks. As soon as we returned to our room to get our bags, I sat on the bed and put on my ring, focusing on us.
I was immediately thrown into a vision, but it wasn’t like the previous one. I wasn’t in it, for one thing. Instead, I saw Darwin strapped to a stone wall with metal buckles. He was dirty and sweaty, but he didn’t look like he was being tortured or hurt. He looked like a prisoner.
Before I could delve into his mind to see what had caused him to get there, my vision changed. I suddenly saw through Rocky’s eyes, except it was in the future. It didn’t feel far off, though.
I saw the school in ruins again. The buildings were even worse. The only light inside them was fire. People screamed.
* * *
I pulled myself out of the vision and mentally connected to Rocky. She felt my urgency and let me in. This time, I saw through her eyes in the present. I saw that the buildings had been damaged by another storm, but there was no fire or deaths.
“You are running out of time,” Rocky warned me. “The elementals are getting truly vicious. The students and staff have lost all control of their magic and are as much a danger to each other as the elementals.”
Rocky was more of a shower than a talker, but I was grateful she didn’t show me what she was referring to. I understood. “How long before there’s nothing left to save?”
“Sundown, if they are fortunate.”
I pulled myself back into my own mind and saw Rita pressed against the far wall. “Your eyes turned white. I thought a god possessed you.”
“We’re out of time.”
“We’re still days away from the school,” Darwin said.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have a choice. It’s either the shadow pass or an airplane.”
“Plane,” Henry voted.
“I agree, plane,” Rita said. “The shadow pass sounds like scary shit.”
“I’d rather be sick for a few weeks than dead,” Darwin agreed.
“We need a backup plan in case Veronica is still tracking us,” I said. “I don’t think she can stop us from using the shadow pass. Ascelin said he had a way to get us through it without the innocent getting killed. Henry, you and Darwin get us plane tickets and a rental for when we get there. We need to be at the school before nightfall. Rita, you and Ahz will come with me to get the spell from Ascelin, just in case.”
They all nodded in agreement and split up. Henry and Darwin took the truck since the shop was within walking distance. Ahz didn’t pitch a fit, fortunately. He was slow and wobbly, unwilling to look anyone in the eye as they passed, yet he wouldn’t let his mother take his hand. Knowing that he felt people’s emotions and thoughts when he touched them or met their eye, I figured he had enough on his plate. I wondered if this was his way of being alone when he wanted space.
We reached the shop and I was relieved that it was open. Ascelin, however, wasn’t there. In a hurry, I knocked on the back door. There was no answer. I opened the door, surprised that it wasn’t locked, and even more surprised by what I saw.
The “back room” was an empty closet, no more than four-by-four. The walls were black stone. I closed it. “This was the door Rory went through yesterday.” Rita shrugged and finally spotted a service bell on the counter. She slapped it, but instead of the standard bell sound, it made the caw of a large crow. Rita ducked on instinct. Behind me, the door opened.
Ascelin was standing there with an old treasure chest in his arms. Behind him was a huge room of crates, cabinets, barrels, bookshelves, and a fucking coffin. My natural response was a human one; I reached out to take the chest. “Let me help with that.”
“Thank you.” He released it and I almost dropped it. It was close to two hundred pounds. “I don’t want to turn out like my brother after all.”
I had no idea what he meant by that. “Someday, I want to hear more about you and Hunt. Like why you have different last names and dislike each other, and why you don’t like magic.” It didn’t escape my notice that their daughters had similar shortened names. Remington sounded more regal and Aurora sounded more fairytale, though. “Right now, I need to know that spell to get an innocent person through the shadow pass unharmed.”
“It masks the scent of innocence, but if you speak, the mahorela will still be drawn to you.”
“We’ll be careful. We just need it as a backup plan.”
Ascelin got a sheet of paper and a quill pen out from under the counter and drew some sigils on the paper. Although modern wizardry used sigils in a few spells, demon magic seemed to use it constantly. When he was finished, he grabbed a paintbrush and a small jar.
“To protect someone, you need to paint these on them in dragon’s blood.”
“Like the incense?”
“Like the blood of a dragon,” he corrected. “Don’t tell me you don’t believe in dragons.”
“I couldn’t say that; I was trained in fire magic by a dragoness who could shift into a person.” Strangely, Rita didn’t look surprised at all.
“I will demonstrate on Asgard,” Ascelin said, approaching the child. Rita stepped in front of him.
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
All his other spells hurt pretty badly, including the ghost tattoo. Although Hunt would never hurt a child, I didn’t know if Ascelin would.
“It’s a little warm, but nothing compared to a mahorela bite.” She relented and stepped aside.
Instead of explaining it to Ahz, Ascelin showed him the symbols and the paintbrush. His wandering gaze actually stopped on the spell for a moment before he took off his shirt (with his mother’s help) and stared up at the ceiling. Ascelin considered him for a moment. Ahz was swaying and wobbling as usual, which would make it impossible to paint on him. Ascelin snapped his fingers like he was trying to get a dog’s attention. It worked; Ahz met his eyes for a couple of seconds.
Then, as if they had just had an entire conversation, he walked over to the chair, sat in it, and tried to be still as his gaze wandered around the shelves. Ascelin didn’t waste time; he quickly copied the symbols onto Ahz’s chest and arms.
When he was done, I said, “Do Rita, too.”
He scoffed. “She has killed more people than you have.”
I looked at her and she shrugged. “Life on Syndrial is hard. Death is the end of hardship. If we feel like we have fulfilled our duties and the gods will let us join them, we welcome it. Some of us end up with lives that are too frayed and the only way out is to start over in the next life.”
“You believe in reincarnation?”
She nodded. “But Ahz wasn’t born under our gods and I was a Voska. Neither of us would be welc
omed by them, so we are better off living this life for as long as possible.”
I didn’t know how much of her beliefs were based on her world’s magic and how much was based on religion. Either way, I was curious. Dothra was all about darkness and power-stealing. “I’d like to hear more about it on the plane, but we need to get going.”
Ascelin rolled the spell up like a scroll, slipped it into a plastic tube, and gave it to me. He also handed me the bottle of blood and paint brush. By then, the sigils on Ahz were dry and he put his shirt on. I asked if it was okay.
“Dragon’s blood won’t flake off like regular dried blood; you have to wash it off with pure rainwater as it falls from the night’s sky.”
“Good to know.”
“Anyone who has studied dragons would know that.”
Before we could leave, Henry and Darwin arrived. Ascelin muttered about too many people being in his shop and left through the back door.
“The airport is too small,” Darwin said. “We can’t get a flight out until tomorrow. We have to drive two cities over, where there’s an airport that can get us there before nightfall. We have to go now, though. The last flight until eight leaves in an hour and they’re an hour out.”
“Of course it is.” We hauled ass and were on the road less than five minutes later. Henry drove too fast, but not dangerously so. There was only one road that led to one highway, so there weren’t any shortcuts. Unfortunately, at the edge of town, a dozen people were blocking the highway on-ramp. We stopped and got out.
They looked like a gang by the unwelcoming demeanor and solid stance, as if they knew we wouldn’t get past them. They were all men except for one woman in the middle, who was tall with short black hair, furious amber eyes, and a deep scar over her left eyebrow.
My intuition alerted me of danger. They were wolf shifters, but the feral nature I sensed told me there was something different about them. Can shifters get rabies?
“We have to get to---” Darwin started
“You’re not going anywhere,” the woman interrupted.
“I’m Darwin Mason of the Mason pack, and I have permission to be here.”
“You did not have permission to kill two of my men!” she growled.
“What are you talking about? We haven’t killed anyone today.”
“I’m talking about Reese and Riley, who you killed!” That cleared up who they were. Most of them were larger than the average member of Darwin’s pack. Ace was the first female alpha I’d met, but my intuition told me not to underestimate her.
“They’re dead?” Darwin asked.
“You know they are! I sent them to check you out, not to threaten you. They had a family! Their mother is devastated!”
“They left us yesterday alive and well,” Henry said. “They dropped me off outside of White Hills and were heading to you the last I saw them.”
“We found them outside White Hills this morning, torn apart by a wolf! Darwin Mason is the only outsider in our territory.”
“I was deathly sick yesterday.” Everyone looked at him and he shrugged. “I got better. There are other wolf shifters in White Hills. One of them must have attacked your men to defend the town.”
She snarled. “That’s not possible.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s not, because you can’t call a hunt on White Hills. You would be up against all of the paranormals there. Instead, you call a hunt on me because I’m alone.”
“Excuse me?” I asked.
Darwin shrugged. “White Hills is a full pack of many paranormals.”
“Nevertheless, you have no proof Darwin killed your wolves. You can’t possibly have proof, because he didn’t do it. And therefore, he’s innocent until proven guilty.”
“That’s not our law. He’s guilty until proven otherwise. He’s coming with us,” Ace insisted.
“No, he’s not,” I said. I unleashed my magic and easily took over their minds.
Well, not easily. Their wolf brains fought my control and a couple of them shifted. Paranormals were more difficult to control than humans, but it wasn’t impossible. I learned to control animals before people, so their wolves soon relented.
I could have made them calm or even sleep. However, I wasn’t feeling generous. “Get out of the way.” They obeyed.
“Devon, you shouldn’t---”
“Get in the truck,” I interrupted, not using my magic on him. Darwin rolled his eyes and did as I ordered anyway. “I bet you don’t boss Remington around like that.”
“I still have skin, don’t I?”
We took off again and Henry drove even faster. As Henry pulled into the parking lot of the airport an hour later, however, I knew we were too late. “Maybe the flight was delayed,” Rita suggested, opening her door.
My intuition flared. “Close the door!” She did. A second later, I saw wolves on the edge of the airport grounds. Ace’s pack had either followed us, or they had pack members waiting here. Either way, they had us cornered. I could have taken over their minds, but we were too late to get a flight anyway.
“We’re less than an hour from Darwin’s territory,” Henry said, putting the truck in drive. “We can find another airport.”
He was right. I wouldn’t risk Darwin, and my vision had me taking extra precaution. Although the wolves disappeared from our sight, I had no doubt they would follow.
Henry didn’t speed much because if we got pulled over, we were easy pickings for the wolves, assuming they didn’t mind killing humans.
* * *
Unfortunately, they were prepared to go further than we had thought. The highway at the state line should have been crowded with humans in cars. However, there was no human in sight. Instead, there was a spike strip across the road and a line of Ace’s pack. On the other side of the invisible line was Darwin’s father and a dozen members of his pack.
We got out of the car and I drew my gun.
“You came onto our lands and murdered two of us. You will pay with your life,” Ace declared.
“My son has never killed anyone in his life,” Maseré argued.
“If I had, it would solve our problems,” Darwin said.
“I can paint the sigils on you in the car,” Henry said.
“No. You need space and darkness for it.”
“With enough speed, we can run them over and reach your territory,” Henry suggested.
“Do that,” Maseré said.
“I don’t want to kill them,” Darwin argued.
“I will drive. It will destroy the tires, but we’ll be on safe ground.”
“Or, I could simply make them move,” I said.
“You can,” Ace admitted. “Whatever dark magic you have is powerful, but can you keep it up forever? I promise that if Darwin makes it to his pack, we will call a hunt on the entire pack.”
Darwin’s eyes widened. “I didn’t kill anyone, though.”
“We outnumber you ten to one,” Maseré warned her.
“You have no idea what we’re capable of,” Ace replied. “I have never had a problem with you or anyone in your pack, but your son killed two of ours in our territory.”
“I didn’t kill them!”
I felt Rocky’s presence in my mind. “You must act now if you wish to save the mortals.”
“We’re on our way.” I pulled myself away. “We’re out of time. Rita, drive Darwin over the line. Henry, take Ahz and me through the shadow pass.”
“I’m not leaving my son,” Rita argued.
“You won’t have to,” Darwin said. “I’ll give myself up.”
“No!” Maseré growled. “We can crush them easily.”
“Dad, you don’t know who you’re up against. Alpha Ace and her pack are more than they seem.” He turned to Ace. “In exchange for my surrender, you have to promise not to kill me without a thorough investigation and concrete proof of my wrongdoing.”
She snarled. “Why should I make promises to---”
“Your pack could kill mine
, but Devon could stop you long enough for me to kill you, which would be my first and last kill.”
Ace hesitated, considering it.
I gestured with my gun. “I’m also packing silver bullets.”
She nodded. “Fine. You will survive until we can prove that you killed them.”
I invaded her mind just to read it. She would uphold her word, but she wasn’t happy. She truly believed Darwin killed two men that she loved like her own sons. This was an act of desperation and emotional agony. She felt betrayed by this outsider and responsible for the deaths because she let Darwin in.
I knew that guilt.
“This must be one of Veronica’s ploys. Take her out and they’ll see reason,” Darwin said.
“Don’t do this, monkey,” Maseré begged.
“I have to. They’re a threat to the pack.”
“I would die for our pack— our family. But to protect you and your mother, I would burn the world.”
“Don’t get sappy or nothin’. I love you, too.”
“It’s dangerous,” Henry said.
“Don’t ruin my chance to be a hero with facts. You two do dangerous shit all the time, and I’m expected to read books and crack jokes. Go save the school. I’m not going to let them hurt my pack.”
Henry, Rita, Ahz, and I gathered together at a safe distance from them. We didn’t want Darwin to get sucked into the shadow pass without protection.
“We’ll come back for you,” I said as darkness enclosed us.
* * *
We made it through the shadow pass easily, but the silence when we appeared outside the school was depressing. I felt like I had failed Darwin. Vincent and Rocky were there. Rocky vanished. “Where is Darwin?” Vincent asked.
“We’ll go back for him,” Henry said.
Ahz ignored us and approached the ward. He pressed his hands against it like it was a wall and focused. Inside, the storms were insane, and I saw something burning through thick sheets of rain. Charred rocks littered the ground.
