3. ~Alena~

3

~Alena~

He’d hurt them.

He’d hurt my men.

Constantine Vale had risen and already visited pain and misery upon us.

And I’d made him pay.

For hurting them.

For thinking he could come at us.

For returning to the land of the living when he should have stayed gone in Spiritus.

I hadn’t dealt out enough pain and punishment as far as I was concerned.

I’d thought I’d been averse to people being hurt, especially at my hands. I thought I’d hated it and always would, no matter what.

But that nightmare of a being had flown in the face of that in a big way.

I’d wanted to keep hurting him.

I’d wanted to hear his screams.

I’d wanted him to fucking fall at my hands.

I ran my fingers over the beautiful crystal necklace with the multicolored gems that the guys had given me, as I looked over the text message exchange between me and Talon from earlier.

I’d fallen asleep from exhaustion for a couple of hours after my mom had teleported me and Xavier to my childhood home right after the fight and when I’d woken up she’d left me a note saying that she’d be back as soon as she could, but she had to deal with the mess that was Constantine Vale’s resurrection, as well as try to find out what was ailing Xavier, who still hadn’t woken up yet. I was to stay put here until she returned because she wanted to have words with me.

Alena: I’m okay. Exhaustion got the best of me for a bit, but I’m right as rain now, as they say. Xavier is still unconscious. Don’t know what’s keeping him that way, or what Constantine did to him, but the greatest magical minds in the world are looking into it. We’ll figure it out. Talon, I know you’re well, but how about our Dark Prince? Is he awake yet? What about that bolt of black magic that he took?

Talon: Thank fuck you’re okay. That’s really worrying about X. But you’re right, he’s in the best hands imaginable.

Alena: How about Orpheus?

Talon: He just needs rest to get rid of the rest of the black magic infection. Hasn’t been easy to get him to do that, but thankfully he’s asleep again right now.

Alena: Thank goodness. I’m so glad you’re both okay.

Talon: Really miss you and X. When you coming back? What’s the deal there? When X wakes up?

Alena: Yeah, once they determine what’s wrong with him.

Talon: That could be a while. Can you come back, or at least pop back? Where’s Elliot?

Alena: Haven’t seen Elliot because my mom says he’s in recovery from his battle earlier with the acolytes, but he’s here staying and recuperating in our home so my mom’s ward can protect him while he’s incapacitated.

Talon: All right, I hear you. You should stay with X until Elliot’s conscious and able to. Don’t leave him there alone.

Alena: I promise I won’t.

Talon: There’s our girl.

Alena: Got to protect my men.

Talon: Your men, huh? Loving that.

Alena: Me too. XOXO.

Talon: Shit, worst patient known to man is waking up. I’ll TTYL, firecracker, okay?

Alena: Promise.

I smiled at the messages, then stowed my phone in the back pocket of my wide leg jeans, and looked out at Xavier lying prone in the bed in one of the many spare rooms in my childhood home, my mom’s palatial estate. Only the best for her.

I caught myself there. That was a bit bitter. I guess I was a little hurt that she’d just taken off so quickly after pulling me out of there.

She’d barely checked that I was okay physically and she hadn’t at all paid any mind to my mental state, which hadn’t been—and wasn’t—the best, honestly.

And taking me away from my men like that, and a place that I’d found stability in of Electi Academy against what I’d asked her to do, that hadn’t been the greatest either.

I’d only gone along with it and hadn’t put up more of a fight because of the state of Xavier.

Just… being split up right now wasn’t good for any of us. We’d become a unit, a close-knit one at that and we’d just endured that nightmare together, we needed to stay together and handle it as a foursome. But that had been taken away from us.

I knew it wasn’t for my safety because my mom had put up a ward that matched the one around the house at the Academy too. I hadn’t mentioned my reason for wanting to stay being mostly about the guys, but I had a feeling that she already knew, and that had something to do with why she’d gone this way. She wanted me away from them. Well, Talon and Orpheus. Xavier was different in her mind because of Elliot Sabre, and because Xavier had no ill will toward her and she’d never had any issues with him. In fact, he was a big supporter—mostly in secret when it came to Orpheus and Talon—of her policies, especially the one regarding putting Constantine down without killing him.

I knew my mom had an emergency on her hands right now and I also knew that she was all about work, even without an urgent situation in play.

But this time it bothered me more than it ever had before.

Maybe it had something to do with the guys rubbing off on me, their animosity toward her. Or maybe it had opened my eyes in a way that I hadn’t allowed before, a way I’d been closed to before when I’d been running from all of this, this whole world.

There was also the fact that the four of us had battled Constantine. We had intel. Valuable intel. Especially with the things he’d said to us. Fucked-up things. So why hadn’t it been one of my mom’s first priorities to debrief us? Or me, at the very least?

Something was definitely off.

I had a stake in this now.

My men had a stake in it.

And we’d basically been cast aside.

Memories of what Orpheus had shown me during the Cataclysm when my mom had confronted Saryan Hart played on my mind.

It must have been how he’d felt.

All this time, in fact.

Cast aside.

Ignored.

Treated like less than.

He’d tried to change that and now he’d been taken and he was suffering for it.

When my mom returned, I’d push it with her regarding their investigation into his kidnapping. I wanted to also make sure that her personal sentiment toward him wasn’t slowing down the progress they could be making. Even with the Constantine situation now in play, there were enough resources available to Exemplar to handle both. Especially seeing as though Constantine had confirmed that Saryan was in his custody.

That was another thing that my mom could’ve learned from me via a debriefing, or if she’d given me the chance to open my fucking mouth before she’d taken off.

Seriously.

I shook my head to myself, then sidled closer to Xavier.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you well enough, sweet thing,” I said, gently rubbing his tattooed arm. “At first, I froze up. I know, it’s awful considering how bad things were with that monster attacking. And if I hadn’t, maybe you’d be okay. Please come back to me, to us. We all need you. More than you know. I miss you. So much.”

“Miss Rose.”

I spun at the sound of the voice and choked when I saw Elliot Sabre there in the doorway.

My stunned reaction wasn’t just the fact that he was there and had clearly overheard my words, but the state of him too.

Especially compared to what the world was used to from him, it was a lot to take in.

His hair that I remembered being a lot like Xavier’s was just tufts now, most of his scalp visible. One of his eyes wasn’t fully formed either, it was half a crater and half what it should be.

He was in a wheelchair, the rest of his body hidden under thick blankets.

Except his hands that were operating the chair.

I started as I took in the sight of them. They were more bone than flesh, and bloodied, flesh and fluids dripping from them.

“I know it’s quite a sight and I apologize.”

My gaze flicked to his face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Don’t concern yourself with that. Besides, I will be healed within a few days.”

“You? A few days? I don’t understand.” His power was so great that it was known that he could heal from any injury within seconds.

“Hellfire,” he told me.

“Oh my God. How are you even—”

“Still alive? Your mother arrived in time to mitigate the damage before it became too late. She healed what she could, rebuilt my… skeleton… shall we say. But the rest needs time, unfortunately.”

“I’m so sorry. That’s horrific.”

“I appreciate it, but it matters not. I will heal. What concerns me is my son.”

“What’s wrong with him? Do you know? My mom didn’t. She went off to investigate and deal with the Constantine situation with Exemplar.”

“Her meeting with the great and experienced minds of our members is the best option at current with me being unable to perform magic.”

“Otherwise you could figure it out?”

“He’s my son. I could use our familial bond to draw on in order to assist.”

I looked out at Xavier sleeping. “Is he comfortable at least?”

“He is. He won’t feel any pain or discomfort now.” He smiled kindly. “He’ll wake up soon enough and tell you that himself.”

“Good,” I breathed. “I need him to.”

His smile widened. “You’re in love with my son.”

“He means a lot to me,” was all I allowed myself to admit.

Especially when I hadn’t admitted more to Xavier yet.

The first time I did, I certainly didn’t want it to be to his father. Xavier was a romantic, it would be important to him that things like that were done properly and not just blurted out.

“I’m glad to hear it. He’s always desired a connection like that.”

He moved further into the room and took me in. “You seem different.”

“Well, I haven’t seen you for several years.”

“Not your appearance. More like your energy. It’s… shifted.”

“I’m using my magic again.”

“Yes, I’m aware. It’s your confidence and conviction, however. That’s the difference,” he realized aloud. “Very good. Your mom will be pleased.”

“She didn’t seem that way earlier.”

“Abigail gets tunnel vision during emergency situations, she shuts down. It’s how she’s taken to handling things over the last few years, ever since the Cataclysm.”

It was more than that.

But there was no point claiming that to Elliot. He was too tight with my mom to say anything that would put her in a bad light, or to even see her that way himself.

A groan coming from the bed brought our brief conversation to a halt, and I darted over there right as Xavier opened his eyes, another groan leaving him.

“Hey, sweet thing,” I said, reaching out as I eased onto the edge of the bed beside him and stroked his hair softly. “You’re okay. The battle’s over now. You’re safe.”

“Alena,” he murmured, smiling out at me. “You’re here.” He tried to look me over in his discombobulated, just-woken-up state. “You’re not hurt?”

“No. I’m absolutely fine. I promise. The boys are good too, just resting up. Everything is okay.”

He blew out breath of relief. “Thank hell.”

And then he started looking around. “Where are we? Not at the Academy or—” He stopped when his gaze landed on his father.

“Dad.” His initial happiness at seeing him melted away all too quickly and was replaced by extreme worry and shock. “Fuck, what happened to you? Are you—how—the Hellborn? Did it—Dad, oh my God, I—”

“I am fine,” Elliot said, rolling over to the other side of the bed. He instinctively reached out to take his hand, then pulled back.

But it was too late. Xavier saw what I had earlier. “Fuck. That’s—”

“Temporary, son. All just temporary. I’ll be back to myself within a couple of days.”

“You swear it to me?”

“I do.”

Xavier scrubbed his hand over his face, emotion taking him over.

I took his hand and kissed his knuckles.

“It’s all my fault,” he uttered in pained words that cut into me and Elliot. “If I’d just told you sooner about everything, especially the Hellborn being in the picture—”

“You are not responsible for any of this,” Elliot told him fiercely. “Absolutely not. The responsibility is upon Constantine and his acolytes. The responsibility also falls to me and Exemplar to keep the supernatural world safe and we failed at that, not you. You’re in college doing what you need to, what I need you to do. That’s all there is to it.”

I smiled out at Elliot. He was really sweet with his son. I could feel the love coming off him. Deep, unconditional love.

Xavier sat up and kissed my hand back.

Then he reached his free one out to his dad. “Let me try to heal you with my magic. It might make a difference with our familial blood connection.”

“You may. A little. When I tell you to stop, you must, though. Are we clear? Otherwise you could exhaust yourself and drain yourself, and you’re already sick.”

“Sick?” He frowned in thought for a few moments. “Yes, the burning around my throat where Constantine touched me that then spread.”

“Burning?” Elliot asked, and I saw some realization there in his eyes. “What sort of burning?”

“I don’t know, like if I’d swallowed holy water, I guess.”

Elliot’s eyes widened.

Something occurred to me and I eased down the blankets to reveal Xavier’s chest.

“It’s not there,” I realized aloud.

The tree of life tattoo with the deep indigo sun behind it that had been imbued with Elliot Sabre’s magic.

Elliot and I exchanged a look.

Before we could voice what we’d realized, Xavier was already flipping his palm down to call his magic to heal his dad.

And nothing happened.

He stared down at his hand. “Wait… I… I…” He looked at his dad, fear and pain all over him. “Dad, I can’t feel my magic. Anywhere.”

Emotion welled in Elliot’s good eye. “I know.”

“I can’t… he’s… he’s taken it from me… now I’m just… I’m just a monster.”

He broke down then, pulling his hand from mine and burying his face in his palms as he sobbed in utter anguish.

I looked out at Elliot and I saw it was breaking a piece of him, just like it was to me.