64. Jax

64

Jax

Lunessa's fury was so real that for a moment, I thought it was fueled by magic. When she'd shimmied out of her underwear in the shower, my eyes instantly closed.

She turned off her recorder and laughed awkwardly. "What did you say?"

"What?"

A beat, and then she shouted. "Are you fucking kidding me? You are such an asshole!" She stormed out of the shower, and I quickly shucked off my boxers.

"Baby, wait…"

"Don't you baby me! You called me Cindy! Are you not over her?"

"It was an accident…"

"Accident, my ass." Still soaking wet, she pulled on a dress and glared at me. "You talk a big game about this wolf mating, but I can't feel it, can I? How do I even know that it's me? Sounds a whole helluva lot like it was her. Were you with her the night they took me?"

"Shit, no, of course not! I…I mean, I was, but it wasn't like that!"

Her scream pierced my ears, and she picked up the lamp and threw it at my head. Then, she wrenched open the door and stormed out.

I heard the poor guard's mumbles and pleads for her to stop. I stuck my head out the door. "Lulu, wait. You've got it all wrong!"

"Do not follow me!"

I ducked back in the door. Her plan wasn't a stealthy one. Everyone in the bunker would have heard her scream, but all eyes would be on her and none on me. Quickly, I wrapped a towel around my waist. There was nothing that we would need from this room, but I wished at least to have a chance to grab some clothes and my wolf pack.

Time was of the essence, especially if I was going to get Lunessa out of here alive. I wasn't about to fucking sacrifice anyone. People threw that damn word around too easily here.

The corridors were empty as I tiptoed down the hall. Lunessa had led the guards in the opposite direction, and the place was mostly empty. I had no blueprints, but I figured the lower level would be roughly the same. Down the stairs and several right turns later, I realized that no one was down there.

Not a single person. No guard. No members. No cameras.

Only one reason why there would be no cameras down here. The magic interfered with the tech. Lunessa was right. There was something powerful guarding it. Unfortunately, there were multiple rooms down here, and I couldn't just start opening doors. If they were all spelled and I didn't open the right one, we'd be fucked.

The doors didn't have any numbers, but there were images etched on to them.

Not images, I realized with closer inspection. Runes.

"Thurisaz," Lunessa said suddenly, two doors down from me. "The Thorn of Awakening. Violence and chaos. All in the name of protection. Destruction to anything that stands in their path."

She ran her hands over the symbol and looked over at me. "It's here. I will get to you as quickly as I can, but I don't think it will be pleasant."

I swallowed hard. "And the chances that it kills me right away?"

"Unlikely. They'd want you alive to interrogate and torture you. Your best chance is if I lower our shields. Are you ready?"

She'd already lowered some of hers if she'd just popped down here. The guards would be here soon. I nodded. At once, it felt a layer off me, and I could breathe. My power expanded with my inhalation, and I gripped the doorknob tightly and swung it open.

Pain wrapped around me in an instant, paralyzing me. Stiffening, I fell forward, smashing my face into the floor, but it was nothing compared to the searing sensations racing through me. My blood was boiling, and for a second, I thought my heart was going to explode.

Then, the pain was gone. Lunessa's hands were clenched in fists as she lifted them up in the air, incanting as she pulled the webs of the spell off me. "Hurry," she croaked. "Find the spell."

Easier said than done. The room was massive and crammed with books. While she dealt with the security system, I started running my hands on the titles. "None of it's in fucking English," I growled.

"It's Fae." A light turned on in the corner, and Saris smiled at us softly from her chair. "All of this literature was written thousands of years ago, in the language of magic."

Immediately, I positioned myself in front of Lunessa. "How are you doing back there?"

"Almost there," she panted.

I stared at Saris. "Can you read the language of magic?"

Slowly, she stood, and I tensed, but she didn't appear to have any magic. Nor was she screaming in alarm. "I'm a scholar. Multiple degrees in ancient dead languages. I'd never even felt challenged until I was invited here. Years, and I've barely made a dent in the translation. I doubt I'll live long enough to unlock all of its secrets."

It didn't matter. The spell had to be written in a language that modern witches and Maeve could understand. "Are you going to help me?"

She cocked her head, but Lunessa's scream drew my attention away. I didn't even hear or smell the attack. One minute, she was undoing the magic, and the next, she was on the floor, with Henry's hands pointed at her.

I shifted immediately and attacked. Bullets tore into me, but they weren't fast enough to stop me. Soon, eight dead wolves were at my feet. When I turned on Henry, he was working his way through another spell.

Before he could get there, Lunessa jerked and flung her hands out. Henry's eyes widened in shock, and he fell forward, just as I had.

Panting, I shifted back and pulled her up. "Are you all right?"

"I am now that I'm not trying to dispel that stupid trap. Good thing he came along. The wolf is coming."

"The wolf is here," Broderick snarled as he filled the doorway. Footsteps pounded behind him.

Too many.

Lunessa flung him forward and swiveled her fingers, shutting the door behind him. "Sealed, so our only way out is me. I guess I can't die yet."

Broderick roared and turned to me. "You've been hiding your power. Clever. I knew I wanted you on my side."

"She was never Emerson's," I told him. "And I will never be on your side."

Broderick chuckled darkly. "So the ternary has a protector. Two, apparently. A mate and a sister?"

"Friend," Lunessa said. "Give us the spell, and we'll let you live."

Broderick shook his head. "No. I'm willing to die for my cause."

"You'll die for nothing. Maeve Frost is the villain, and she has the spell. I need to know what she knows so I can protect Andrea."

"There is no protecting her. There is no protecting us. And if you're on her side, then you're also the villain." He lunged at me.

I was bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. My insides still quivered from that damn spell. But Broderick didn't stand a chance. We didn't even shift. Three minutes into his wild fight, and I had him in a headlock. Blood poured out of his mouth, and most of the bookshelves which held the ancient tests were broken.

"Doesn't matter," he said tiredly. "Kill me. I always knew we would be the ones to stop her."

"What do you mean?"

"There was only one hope, and it wasn't us. Irony is, it's you."

"You're lying. I would never hurt her. Not even to save the goddamn world."

His body slackened. "You've already done it. The son…will kill the mother."

I broke his neck.

"Goddamnit, what did you do that for?" Lunessa shrieked. "He knew something of the prophecy."

"So will we, once we get what he came for." Furious, I dropped the body and turned. Before I could shout in warning, Henry rose from his paralyzed step. He flung something at Lunessa.

One minute Saris was hiding in the corner, forgotten in the haze of the fight, and the next she was between Henry and Lunessa. Energy blew around her as she closed her eyes, and she pulled out a gun, turned, and shot the witch.

I froze as she looked down at him. "You were such a lousy boyfriend," she said mildly.

"You absorbed a spell," Lunessa whispered. "You're a null, but that's not possible. I did a ton of magic in here."

Saris gently lowered the gun and raised her hands in surrender. "The purer forms of null magic work a little bit differently."

"You're a witch? Are you cloaking your magic?"

"No, and no." She smiled. "But I can see through your glamour. Lunessa, Maiden to the Crone. Jax Bishop, light of the darkness. I've been waiting for you."

"Who the fuck are you?" I demanded.

"You don't have as much time as you think. The books you want are packed in that satchel there, and there's a spell that will take you directly home, although it's going to require your blood to power it. I will clean it before I leave."

Lunessa shook her head. "I don't know you, and I'm not leaving my blood here."

"You don't have a choice. They're already setting the explosives. Your magic has sealed the door but not the wall or ceiling. I swear to clean it, but in the end, it doesn't matter. There won't be anyone left to analyze it."

I gaped at her. "How are you getting out of here?"

She just smiled. "Ten seconds. Nine. Eight."

"Shit." Rushing forward, I grabbed the pack. "Lunessa?"

Scowling, she picked up the piece of paper on top. Then, pulling out a small blade, she sliced her palm and whispered the words.

I stared at the woman, the seemingly human woman. I replayed her words in my head.

"The purer forms of null magic work a little bit differently."

The truth hit hard, and once I saw her for what she was, I couldn't stop seeing her. She fucking glowed.

Fae.

And then the room exploded.