10. ~Alena~

10

~Alena~

“This wasn’t what I meant, darling princess.”

I jolted at the sound of that smooth voice, my eyes snapping open to find myself in a comfy armchair, a cozy blanket draped over me.

I was dressed in what I had been earlier before I’d inexplicably fallen asleep while working on an assignment for my Matter Manipulation class. A pair of gray lounge pants and matching tank.

It was business as usual at Electi Academy despite the high-level Onyx Alert that had gone out a couple of days ago.

But it wasn’t business as usual for me.

At least not when it came to the guys.

First, with Xavier not here and having broken up with me, then with Orpheus and Talon pissing me off, I’d been keeping to myself, just going to classes, then holing up in my chambers in between and afterward, just keeping my head down and trying to focus. I had checked in with Orpheus regarding the progress made on locating his father and I’d also contacted my mom about it. There still hadn’t been any news so far. And my mom was now dealing with the attacks all over the supernatural world.

I looked out at the man responsible for it all.

He wasn’t dressed down in a relaxed state like I was, nor was he half-naked this time.

And I hated that I felt a sliver of disappointment at that.

Instead, he was in his battle garb, the way I’d first known him and seen him that night three years ago.

His black wavy hair cascaded down his cloak. Haunting cloudy eyes met mine and he scrubbed his hand over his chiseled jaw with a couple of days’ worth of facial hair plaguing it as he regarded me. He was in all black, a leather open-collared shirt and a pair of tough leather pants.

“Wasn’t what you meant?” I asked, dazedly, the effect of the dreamscape getting to me more than it even had last time.

“I asked you to step outside of your mother’s ward. While you did technically do so, you merely teleported to the one surrounding Electi Academy instead.”

“It’s where I belong. And I needed to see my men.”

Thinking he’d react angrily and be highly displeased with me, I was surprised when he came to me and perched on the arm of the chair, sinking his fingers into my hair and stroking softly instead. “You belong in a place that doesn’t understand you or your power, surrounded by those who fear it, in fact? To your men who possess that same ignorance?

“The Academy is just being careful. And my men aren’t ignorant or—”

“So Orpheus isn’t afraid of the discovery that you can destroy dark magic?”

I hesitated, then looked up at him, his eyes kind and understanding. “Maybe, he was,” I found myself admitting.

A part of me knew I shouldn’t reveal anything.

A part of me also knew I should stop him from touching me, especially so intimately as he stroked my hair like we were lovers.

But the other part, a part I didn’t recognize, but which was taking the wheel somehow, enjoyed it and wanted more.

“Aren’t you?” I asked him, worried about his response and not wanting to earn his displeasure.

What was happening? Why was I thinking along these lines? How was—

He tipped my chin, my thoughts fading like they’d never been.

“You were saying, my princess?”

“I…” I struggled to find my train of thought again.

He brushed his lips over mine, making my eyes flutter closed briefly.

When I opened them, his almost-white orbs that I remembered finding creepy, but now found enchanting, bored into mine. “Focus on me,” he spoke in a soothing tone.

A different train of thought took me over, some sort of twisted version of the previous as I asked him worriedly, “Aren’t you afraid of what I can do? Using it against you was when it first came into being, when I first realized I could do it.”

“As it should have been.”

I frowned. “I don’t understand… you wanted me to use it on you?”

“I wanted you to realize your true potential. Well, to begin to.”

“My true potential? As an extinguisher of dark magic?”

He ran his fingers through my hair again, regarding me with so much awe. “Your potential to become the most powerful being on earth. It is a power that will eclipse us all. Elliot Sabre. Me. Even your mother. You’re special. Incredibly so. I felt it from you that night you inadvertently put yourself in my path when you tried to save two of my enemies.”

“Two of your enemies… you murdered them… Talon’s parents… you burned them alive and—”

“I had no choice.”

I jerked away from him, then batted his hand away, pushing against the opposite side of the chair from him. “What? You had no choice in murdering two innocent beings?”

He rose from it and I tensed.

Until he flicked his fingers and magically removed his shirt.

And there over his ripped chest were horrific burns and lash scars all over.

He turned and the same plagued his back.

“I didn’t see these last time, in the snow place.”

“I was glamouring them so as not to shock you. You were already on edge with it being our first real conversation and point of connecting.”

He put his clothes back on magically, then turned to face me. “The two of them came for me with phoenix fire and whips coated in holy water. I’d come to speak with you , and I was a little distracted at the prospect, which they took full advantage of. They ambushed me. I couldn’t fight them off with my regular dark magic after taking so much damage so quickly, so out of desperation I employed black magic.”

“You didn’t need to kill them.”

He was there in a burst of vampire speed, slapping his hands down on either arm of the chair and leaning in. “So young and still learning, darling princess. They weren’t merely detractors, they’d made themselves into my enemies. They wouldn’t have stopped coming. I was prey to them and something they could use to bargain their way into obtaining a seat at the table of Exemplar— their chief goal. I’m seen as an irredeemable monster to beings like them, so they treat me like an animal, just like they proved with the whips and fire.”

I started shaking my head and he leaned in closer, brushing his lips over mine, before whispering at the corner of my mouth, “Don’t concern yourself with that instance, sweet Nephilim. It matters not in the grand scheme of things.”

“I can’t just—”

His eyes bored into mine and I saw flickers of black in them before they disappeared like they’d never been, and his words consumed me wholly instead, “You’ve made your peace with it. You understand why I had to act as such and you recognize how awfully I was treated—like nothing more than a beast.”

“Because of that you lost three years of your life.”

“I did, yes. But not just because of that.”

“Because of my mom?”

“Because I was waiting for you.”

“You were?”

“My acolytes had discovered the location of the Hellborn just months after I was trapped by Sabre and your mother. But I’d given instructions for them not to wake me until you were ready for me.”

“Ready for you?”

“I waited for you to be primed to receive me. Unfortunately, your mother chose to let you go, to allow you to waste away your abilities, and even encouraged it. It wasn’t until the situation became unmanageable that you returned to the path you should have been on in the first place.”

“You scared me. That night in the forest, your comment about magical corruption in my power.”

“It wasn’t meant to scare you. It was intended as impetus for you to grow into your power, to explore it further. Alas, it didn’t pan out that way because of your mother.”

“My mom didn’t—”

“She fed into your fears, supporting your decision to live as human and to forgo your magical heritage. Because after what they term the Cataclysm , she lost her passion for her work in Exemplar and became disillusioned with it. She no longer wanted that life for you, for you to become her heir to it all. So she used your fears to push you out.”

His words resounded through my mind, echoing all around, infusing me, their truth undeniable. “You’re right.”

“All manipulation, darling princess. Half-truths, omissions, even lies. Your own mother even instructed the educators at Electi Academy to hold back with you and not to push you at all, to leave it all up to you. She’d been hoping that your fear would win out and your time at the Academy would merely serve to contain your power so there were no more dangerous bursts that she had to cover up. And, amusingly, on the flip side, the Dark Fae Prince manipulated you from the very beginning. He didn’t target you merely because of what your mother did to his father. He’s far too calculated to be that shortsighted. He wanted you to come into your true power, to grow stronger. All for Obsidian, so he’d have somebody at his side who could stand on his level for when the time came to attack me.”

“Oh my God,” I breathed, struggling to absorb his revelations.

The depth of the manipulation that had been levied upon me, twisting me up, changing my life path, and generally fucking with me.

“Nothing… nothing is real,” I murmured, overcome in a way I normally wouldn’t be.

But here, in this place, the way I felt here, I was like a lost little lamb in the realm of the big, bad wolf.

That thought had me jumping up from the armchair and spinning around to face him.

He eyed me steadily, seeming not the least bit surprised or worried about my reaction.

“You’re doing something to me. I don’t feel like myself.”

“This is merely part of a transition period, the uncertainty that comes with moving from what all these imbeciles made you into, to the true version of you.”

“Transition period,” I uttered aloud, mulling it over. “I don’t… I don’t know.”

He came to me. “And you won’t. Not until you stop fighting the falsity they’ve created in you, not until you finally let go of your fears concerning your power.” He was so close, his minty scent enveloping me, the heat coming off him.

But he didn’t touch me.

Not sexually this time.

It had been tender gestures through and through—holding my chin, stroking my hair.

And it had felt… safe.

Nice, even.

Comforting.

Reassuring, really.

At a time when I seemed to need it the most because of this… transition period.

“It is not a crime to possess great power, Alena. It’s not something to be ashamed of. It should be recognized, applauded and absolutely celebrated in every way possible.” He smiled kindly. “You. Are. Extraordinary.”

I stared up at him. “You’re helping me.”

“Of course I am.”

“After I hurt you?”

“You were misguided. All the manipulation I just revealed to you, remember?”

“Yeah… I… I remember.”

“And what do you think about that?”

“I think… I know … you’re right. You want to help me.”

He leaned in, his hot breath at my ear. “Good little princess. Very good.”

“Is this what happened to you? They were so afraid of your power?”

“Indeed. They spread falsities concerning me. Now the supernatural world believes me to be evil incarnate. They fear and despise me in equal measure.”

“Except for your acolytes.”

“The enlightened ones whom stand apart from the rest.”

“I’m sorry.” I reached out and cupped his cheek. “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“You can make it up to me.”

“How?” I asked, finding myself really eager to do just that.

“Come to me. In the waking world.”

“Okay. I will.”

He laid his hand on mine over his cheek. “You’re more agreeable in your subconscious, darling princess. Once you wake, however, more will be needed to ensure you do just that and actually follow my instructions this time.”

“More? I don’t understand.”

He stepped back, then held out his hand to me. “Come with me.”

“Where? I like this place. It’s warm and cozy. Comforting.”

“As I intended. We’ll come back here soon. For now, I have something to show you.”

I grasped his hand and in the next moment, a crimson cloud of teleportation enveloped us.

As we rematerialized, surprisingly, I found myself looking at my family home.

We were just beyond the ward facing the patio area.

“That wasn’t just teleportation,” Constantine told me. “We moved between planes. We’re currently straddling the line between subconscious and conscious. We can observe the waking world, yet we cannot currently interact. Nor can anyone who we come upon in this state see us, nor even sense us.”

“I didn’t know this was possible.”

“A little black magic can make much possible. It can bend natural laws.”

“It’s blasphemy.”

“That’s a very simple way of looking at things. Very black and white.” He stroked my fingers in his. “You are above such things. Don’t be afraid to be, Alena.”

“Okay. I’ll try harder.”

“That’s all I ask.”

I squeezed his hand. “Thank you for understanding.”

“I’d do nothing less for you.”

I smiled up at him. “So, why are we here?”

“You require a jolt of intense emotion to carry my instructions through to your consciousness once you leave this plane. This will suffice.”

“What will?” I asked, scanning the immediate area.

“Listen,” he said, and pointed to the top floor of the mansion, the room where Xavier was staying.

I felt a brush of his magic and then my auditory faculties were enhanced and roaring and slamming reached me.

“Xavier,” I breathed.

“He is in deep distress. With you now departed from the vicinity, they’ve lifted the ward they’d put in place to protect you from his nastier urges. I believe we’re about to see what a mistake that was.”

Commotion sounded and then I caught sight of Xavier bolting through the living room and headed for the patio doors.

He burst through them, the impact blowing them to smithereens, glass shattering all over the place and over him.

He didn’t pay it any mind, even as shards cut into him, all over his chest too in his shirtless state.

I choked out a gasp as he stood there with his arms outstretched.

In broad daylight.

A vampire standing there with the sun bearing down on them.

Without his magic and the failsafe that Elliot Sabre had employed, he couldn’t walk in the sun freely.

He started to burn.

“No!” I cried, making a move to go to him.

Constantine’s hand locked around my wrist, holding me back.

“We can’t impact this plane, remember?”

“I can’t just let him burn himself alive.”

“Free will, Alena.”

“No!” I screamed, watching helplessly as every visible inch of Xavier’s skin turned red, then began to move to black, before flames erupted all over him.

A burst of speed caught my eye and I saw Professor Wilhelm speeding through the living room. He hurriedly snatched a throw off the couch, then barreled out onto the patio and threw it over Xavier as he hauled him back inside with another burst of speed, taking him down to the floor and putting out the flames all over.

“Oh my God,” I breathed. “Too close. Way too close.”

“He is not taking well to life without his magic. In fact, it is clear he is utterly devoid of hope, his will to live gone. He’ll try again and perhaps next time there won’t be anyone within range to stop him. They can’t lock him up forever. That is no life either.”

“You did this,” I uttered, brokenly as I saw Xavier crying on the ground, screaming at Professor Wilhelm for stopping him from taking his own life.

“I did and I can also undo it.”

“If I come to you when I wake up?”

“You will come to me and prove your loyalty, then I will restore what I took from him. As you can see, time is of the essence.”

“Prove my loyalty, how?”

“You will see once you come to me.” He reached out and tipped my chin up. “Your misplaced deep affection for him will ensure you remember the urgency of this when you wake.”

“Misplaced?”

He smiled. “Soon it will pass. Soon your affection will only be for me.”

“Constantine, I don’t—”

“Shh. Time to wake up, Alena.”

In the very next moment, everything slipped away, blackness engulfing me.

My eyes snapped open and I bolted up from my desk where I’d been sprawled out before sleep had taken me out of nowhere, when I hadn’t even been tired.

What the hell had happened and—

An awful sensation rolled through me.

It started to come back to me, but just in pieces.

One part that stood out was seeing Xavier trying to commit suicide.

Then… then… Constantine making me a deal.

He’d promised to return Xavier’s magic to him, so long as I went to him.

I had the power to save him.

It wasn’t even a choice to me.

I could never allow somebody to suffer if I had the means to do something to stop it, especially someone who I cared for so fucking much.

I peered out my window at the white film there that was surrounding the entire campus of Electi Academy—my mother’s ward.

A ward I had the ability to breach.

Only me.

I considered going to Orpheus, or even my mom and Elliot Sabre to tell them about Constantine’s deal.

But that already hadn’t gone down well with either Orpheus or my mom.

They just hadn’t wanted to entertain it at all.

They’d just tried to shut me down completely.

No more.

As fucked-up as it was, at least Constantine recognized my power and valued it.

He put the choice in my hands.

Unlike the rest of them with all their manipulation and control.

Xavier needed me and that was that.

I knew what I needed to do.

In the next moment, I teleported out, breaching the ward and rematerializing just outside it.

A rush of movement drew my attention a moment before strong arms wrapped around me, hold me tightly.

Constantine’s voice sounded at my ear, “Very good girl.”

And then he spirited me away with his vampire speed.