by CJ Cooke
“Perhaps,” he shrugged. “So, I’m guessing you’re not quite human then,” he said, changing the subject.
“Nah, who wants to be human when you can be something more interesting?”
He laughed like I’d hoped he would, and I decided that I’d visit him everyday to try and help him get through this.
“Not a vampire though by the smell of you,” he added, looking thoughtful.
“Dude, it’s just weird to smell people and comment on it,” I told him, wrinkling my nose. I hated it when people said stuff like that. “I’m a hybrid.” I shrugged as I spoke. I’d never been ashamed of what I was, but for some reason, talking about it now felt strange.
“And that’s a bad thing?” he asked kindly.
“Apparently. Our world doesn’t really accept things like that. My mother was a witch, and my father was a shifter. Both sides have killed each other for years. I’m not supposed to exist,” I shrugged again.
“Calli, you’re a product of the love of two people. Nothing could ever be wrong about that.”
And they had loved each other. They’d set aside everything they knew so they could be together. You could see the love in their eyes every time they looked at each other. They were happy; we were all happy. And someone stole them from me.
“They were murdered,” I said out loud for the first time since I’d learned the truth. So much had been happening that I’d pushed it aside, tried not to think about it.
“Do you know who?” James asked quietly.
I shook my head as a sense of determination filled me. “No, but I will find out.”
My wolf perked up at the promise, and my magic crashed against my senses like a storm waiting to be set free. It was getting stronger. I needed it to be as strong as I could get. Whoever had stolen them from me was a threat to my family, to my pack. They’d suffer for what they’d done. I’d make sure of it.
“Just remember, Calli, if you keep snuffing out the lights, eventually you end up in the dark.”
“You don’t think they deserve to die for what they’ve done?” I almost snarled, feeling the anger pressing against my mind.
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m not talking about their light. I’m talking about yours. Don’t let them take more from you than they already have. Taking a life changes you.”
What he was saying made sense, but I wasn’t sure it changed anything.
I found Grey, Hunter and Cassia in the library, flicking through a stack of books Davion had identified as the vampire texts.
“How’s James doing?” Grey asked, looking up from his book when I entered.
“I’m not sure. He seems okay, but he doesn’t remember much from before he was turned. Once the memories start coming back, well, I suspect that will be the hardest part. He doesn’t remember Mary,” I added quietly on the end.
“Maybe we should ask Davion more about it,” Grey said thoughtfully. “I’m reluctant to get involved, but James was a friend of the pack, and Mary deserves to know her husband isn’t entirely dead.” He cringed as he said it because the implication was there. In a way, James was dead, or at least the James she’d known.
“Where is Davion anyway?”
“He’s gone to meet with his supplier. He should be back soon.”
Supplier. I shuddered at the thought. It was a necessary evil, though, I suppose. They had to eat. At least this way, no one was harmed. Well, we hoped they weren’t anyway.
“Calli, come sit down,” Grey said gently.
He may as well have said, ‘sit your ass down while I deliver this piece of devastating news’ because we all knew that was the implication.
“We found something, and I have a theory,” Cassia said, her eyes flicked to Grey uncertainly, and I realised I’d missed something, a conversation I hadn’t been a part of but was very much the subject of.
“Okay, lay it on me. It can’t be that bad. It’s not like I’m going to die, so just put it out there, rip off the band-aid.”
I was trying to make light of the situation, but seeing the colour drain from Cassia’s face and hearing the snarl that ripped from Grey’s throat, I realised it was completely the wrong move to make.
“Or maybe I am going to die,” I realised, sitting back in the chair and looking at the three of them in front of me.
Cassia looked like she wanted to throw up, Hunter couldn’t even bring himself to lift his eyes from the table, but Grey looked like he was about to tear apart the world.
“No, you are not going to die,” Grey said firmly, causing Cassia to sigh quietly. So this was the conversation I’d missed out on.
“Just tell me everything, and we’ll work it out together,” I told Grey gently, reaching for his hand and threading our fingers together. “That’s what we do, right? We work it out together.”
“We found the information embarrassingly easily in the vampire authored texts,” Grey started pulling one of the books off the stack in front of him and flipped it open to show me. “The wraith is indeed linked to its shadow demons, and it draws its energy from them. That’s what allows it to remain on this plane for as long as it has. Usually, they only have one to two and aren’t able to stay here for prolonged periods of time.”
“So why has this one been able to gather so many?”
“Shadow demons are created through traumatic deaths,” Cassia said quietly. “The witches may as well have created a little shadow demon factory with what they were doing there.”
“These are all the missing shifters? All those who had their lives…”
“Yes, or at least that’s what we assume,” Cassia told me.
“So, we were right that if we take out the shadow demons, we weaken the wraith?”
“Yes, we’d need to take out a significant portion though to weaken it enough so that it wouldn’t be able to sustain itself on our plane.”
“Which, if Davion is right, is over twenty,” I sighed.
It had been hard enough dealing with one, and we’d nearly lost Holly in the process. We still could, she hadn’t awoken from the transition yet, and none of us knew why.
“I also have a theory on your magic,” Cassia said, her eyes flicking to Grey again.
“Why do you keep doing that?” I asked suspiciously, moving my finger between the two of them. “Why do you keep looking at him like that?”
Cassia’s eyes widened in alarm, and Grey at least had the decency to look embarrassed to be caught out.
“Because we didn’t want her to tell you the truth until we found another way,” Hunter said, finally looking up from the table.
“Just say it,” I said quietly. I couldn’t take the anticipation anymore.
“The difference in your magic, I think that somehow, in your need to protect Jacob, you tapped into a form of soul magic,” Cassia said quietly. “It’s a very rare form of light magic. Think of it as a way to supercharge your magic… by sacrificing a piece of yourself to it.”
“How much of myself?” I asked, not wanting to hear the answer but also needing to at the same time.
“Enough that doing it twenty times would make it unlikely you’d survive,” Cassia told me.
I actually appreciated the way she told me straight. There was no dancing around the facts, no trying to soften the blow or hide things from me.
“But we will find another way,” Grey said firmly. “You aren’t sacrificing yourself this way. It’s not… it’s not fair.”
“Come on,” Hunter said, standing from the table and holding a hand out to Cassia. “Let’s sort some drinks for everyone.”
Cassia nodded and went with him, leaving the room as Hunter gently closed the door behind them.
Grey quickly stood and scooped me up from where I was sitting, carrying us over to the sofa where he sat down with me cradled in his lap. He clung to me tightly, crushing me against his chest. It wasn’t uncomfortable. If anything, it was comforting to know there was someone in my life that cared that much about me.
�
��It’s not fair,” he murmured, his face pressed tight against mine. “We only just found you. We shouldn’t have to risk losing you. Not again, not so soon after last time. Calli, I… I know this is selfish, but I can’t cope thinking there’s a chance I wouldn’t have you in my life. I need you.”
I wrapped my arms around him and returned his embrace just as fiercely.
“I’m not leaving you, not for anything,” I promised him, even if I had no right to. “We’ll find a way. A way we can all be safe and be together. It can’t end this way, not for either of us. I won’t let them take you from me, and I won’t let them tear me apart.”
Grey didn’t say anything. It was like he was convinced he’d lost me already. It was probably because he knew if it came down to him or me, well, all of them or me, I’d do what needed to be done. I’d do anything to keep them safe.
I didn’t know how long we sat there, just holding each other, until Davion’s voice broke through the silence.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I need to speak with you both.”
I hadn’t even heard the door open, let alone him entering the room.
Grey sighed against my neck, and when he looked up, you’d never have known how upset he was on the inside. He was the picture of alpha confidence. I didn’t like it. I preferred the vulnerable Grey who wasn’t afraid to express his emotions. There was no strength in hiding behind a lie.
“There’s a situation which needs your attention,” Davion clarified his voice wavering with something that sounded almost like fear.
All the breath rushed out of me. What the hell now?
I looked up at Davion, almost begging him for some reassurance, but he only shrugged and gave me a wry smile. “Yeah, it’s pretty fucking bad. I’ve got nothing for you, little wolf.”
I reluctantly climbed off Grey’s lap, and Davion led us outside.
“What’s out here that needs… oh, fuck my life!” Grey swore as we all stood and stared down the driveway.
At the very end of the driveway, where the wards lay, two shadow demons were hovering around the boundary line, testing the ward and seemingly examining it.
“Why aren’t they coming any closer?” Davion asked nervously.
“We have no idea. We think they can’t get past the wards Calli set up around the house. That’s where the border lies,” Grey told him.
Davion looked at me curiously. I could’ve sworn we’d been through this already, so I had no idea why this was surprising to him now.
“How long have they been there?” he asked Davion.
“One of them followed me back from the city. I thought I’d lost it, but it appeared as I was turning into the driveway. When I passed through your apparent wards, it stopped, and that second one came out of the tree line to join it.”
As we stood watching them reaching out and running shadowy fingers over the wards, another two came out of the treeline huddling around them.
“Jesus fuck!” Hunter swore. “How many of them are here?”
“Can they get through?” I blurted out, turning to Cassia and completely ignoring Hunter’s question. That was a nightmare we simply didn’t need to know about right now.
“Eventually. If I’m honest, I don’t know what’s stopping them from getting through now,” she shrugged.
“Wait, no, this is a good thing though surely,” Hunter blurted out. “If there’s only four of them, Calli can take out these four without having to risk herself taking out the whole lot of them.”
He turned to look at me, his eyes wide with panic, and I knew it was only because Cassia was at risk from these things. It would be her they were coming for, as well as Grey, Nash, and the baby. Fuck, even Holly could be in danger now.
“No,” Grey growled out. “We don’t risk Calli. She’s done enough.”
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Davion murmured. “But Grey is right. What is the point in sacrificing one if the goal is for us to make it out of this with our souls intact.”
That was more accurate than he realised. Yeah, I’d like to get out of this with my soul still intact.
“Nothing can be done until nightfall in any event.” Cassia ran a hand comfortingly up Hunter’s arm.
“I wasn’t suggesting…” he murmured.
“We know. We still have today. Let’s see if we can find another solution,” I suggested, even though, deep down I knew there wasn’t going to be one. That just wasn’t the way our lives seemed to work at the moment.
54
Grey
Launching the book I’d been reading for the last hour across the room, a vicious growl tore from me. This was useless. None of these books knew of a way to kill the shadow demons. No one else in the library even batted an eyelid at my childish behaviour. I suppose the grunts and growls that had been escalating over the last couple of hours were evidence of what was about to happen.
We only had another hour until nightfall, and then we were out of time. The more time that passed, the more desperate I was becoming. I wasn’t going to lose my mate this way. I wouldn’t sit trapped inside these wards waiting for these shadow demons to rip through my pack. It couldn’t end this way.
Nash ran into the library, his pale face broadcasting the news none of us wanted to hear.
“There has to be at least fifteen of them now,” he panted.
The shadow demons had been arriving all day, their numbers gradually growing as time went by. It was like they were taunting us, the way they strode around the end of the driveway, reaching out and caressing the wards like they were trying to reach out for my mate.
“It’s time we faced the facts,” Calli whispered.
She was always so brave, so ready to throw herself in the line of fire for those around her. For once, she needed to let someone else do that for her for a change. Except, there wasn’t anyone else this time. Calli was the only one who could cast this spell. Without her, so many of us were going to die. But I could never accept losing her. I could never stand by while my mate sacrificed herself for us, for me.
“Tanner,” I growled. “Gather the pack. It’s time we made a plan.”
Calli nodded, her eyes drifting to the window as she stared at the dimming light outside. We didn’t know how long the wards would hold, but we couldn’t afford for them to fail in the daylight when Calli wouldn’t be able to access the moonlight funnel.
Tanner stood from his seat and gave me an uncertain look. He’d be feeling it just as badly as I was. Well, maybe not. At least he didn’t have to live with the guilt she’d die to save him. He wasn’t shadow touched, and they weren’t coming for him.
“I’ll gather anyone from the clan who might be able to fight,” Davion murmured before he got up and left.
The rest of those gathered drifted out with various excuses saying they’d meet us in the dining room where we’d gathered before. River was the only one who stayed behind. He looked distraught, and I couldn’t blame him. Deep down, though, surely he knew I wasn’t going to let this happen.
“Before nightfall, you will take the pups through the woods and take shelter behind the second set of wards at your old house,” I told Calli firmly, as my alpha power rolled through the room as it escaped my grasp.
Calli whipped around to face me, outrage on her face. “I absolutely will not!” she scoffed.
“River will accompany you. He returns first unless one of us comes to get you.” I wasn’t taking any argument from her. Even if we had to drag her there kicking and screaming, I’d make sure she was safe.
“You cannot expect me to hide behind the other wards, waiting to find out if you’ve all died,” Calli shouted.
“And what would you do instead?” I knew my voice was hard and filled with anger, but she needed to accept the truth. “Throw yourself in their path, sacrifice yourself? And what if you aren’t strong enough, Calli? What if you can’t take out enough to send that wraith back to wherever it came from? Would you leave the pups with no one? Would you
sacrifice yourself for nothing only to have them find all of us dead at your side?”
“Why are you shouting at me?” Calli asked, suddenly deflating on the spot. “Why are you taking this out on me? I never thought you’d be the one to doubt me, Grey. That after everything, you’d be the one to think I wasn’t capable of keeping you all safe.”
It hadn’t been the answer I’d expected. I’d expected her to shout, to rage, to stamp her foot and refuse to go. I didn’t expect her sadness. It couldn’t end like this. I couldn’t fail her this way.
“Calli, please, can’t you see that I can’t lose you.” If upsetting her didn’t work, then I was happy to resort to begging. I’d do whatever it took.
“But it’s perfectly acceptable for me to lose you?”
“You will have River, Tanner and Maverick still.”
“If we had time, I’d slap you silly, Grey Thornton. You’re too focused on losing me and not thinking of your pack,” she accused. It stung, more than I cared to admit.
“Okay, I think we’re all losing sight of the objective here,” River said calmly, effectively stepping between us.
“And what exactly are we supposed to be focusing on?” I snapped.
“The wards have not failed us, and they’re standing strong. We need to assess how many shadow demons Calli can take out safely and thin their numbers as much as we can tonight,” River told us, giving us the obvious solution.
“And if the wards should fail tomorrow in the daytime?” I asked. “You have no way of knowing how long they will hold firm.”
“No, I don’t. But if you’re fully prepared to be torn to shreds tonight, then you can at least wait until tomorrow. If the wards don’t fail, Calli can repeat the process and thin more of the demons. We just need the wards to hold for a few days. There’s no reason to believe they won’t,” River said calmly again.
He had a point. It was the best plan we had.
“How many can you take out, safely?” I added, asking Calli the crucial question, which I already knew she didn’t have the answer to. “And this part of you that you lose, how do you know if you’ll ever get it back?”
