25. TWENTY

TWENTY

Alister

"Wherehaveyoubeen?” My throat tightened as I narrowed my gaze at my mother. Granted, I was relieved that nothing happened to her, but I couldn’t stop myself from being pissed off that she’d disappeared. I surely didn’t appreciate the pattern she was creating.

The hot breeze provided some relief from the sweltering sun, but the frustration of it all still sizzled with my magical energy.

She stood next to the dragon statue, her long hair blowing in the wind as she tucked it behind her ear. “Alister, I’m sorry, I wanted to be the one to tell you about your grandfather.”

“The warlock is actually a necromancer, and he is my great great grandfather. Fantastic,” I bit out through clenched teeth.

“He built the relic, and when he did, he lost his soul and his power. Without his soul, he couldn’t die. He stayed in his old age and was trapped to do the bidding of whoever had the relic, which was the dragons for a little while. And then once the dragons lost it, and the relic was in human territory, he started working with the humans. Not because he wanted to. Everything he’s done is so he can get his soul back. He wants to just pass on to the afterlife at this point.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us?” I flicked my tongue over my fangs and sighed.

“You know the zombie that they found on campus?” she asked, frowning.

“How could he do that without his powers?”

“He’s taken the DNA of another necromancer and imbued a gun to use the power of necromancy,” she explained, and I shook my head. The man was no better than a human. “I’ve been keeping in contact with him all this time. He’s the one who has been teaching me and your aunt to conceal and locate the relic with our magic. I’m sorry that I kept it from you, but he’s not evil. He’s not working with the humans because he wants to. He’s working with the humans because he’s trying to find a way to release his soul,” she repeated in defense of him again.

“Everything he’s done to release his soul has been evil.” My fists clenched as anger waged a war inside of me.

“But his actions don’t make him evil. When he realized that my son could possibly destroy the relic, he reached out to you.” She took a step forward.

“What do you mean he reached out to me?”

“The call you got to tell you the relic was in the dig site.”

My finger twitched, and irritation flared within me. “Okay.”

“All of the human specimens are reanimated. To start, the human is killed. He’s told me the process, and I’m here to warn you about it. That’s where I’ve been. I’ve been meeting up with him.” She frowned, reaching her hand up, but I stepped back before she could touch my shoulder.

“You should have told us. Nobody trusts you anymore. Trust is essential in war, Mom.”

“I know… Fates, Alister, I’m so sorry.”

I sucked in a deep breath and shook my head. “So what? They kill humans and then what?”

“They add technology to their bodies, and then they’re reanimated… He has found a way for human specimens to use technology. But the most important thing about them is that they—”

A brutal shriek pierced the air, and we whirled around toward the center of campus to see a student being ripped apart by a human specimen. It was brutal. Snapping of bone and tearing of tissue rang out in the silence.

Then panic ensued within the campus grounds, and another student, a witch, threw her arm out toward the specimen, and magic exploded towards it before dissipating as soon as it reached it.

“He told me that they had finished, but I didn’t know that they would use them to attack so early,” she murmured, and I sent her a sharp glare before sprinting toward the witch with vampire speed, who the specimen had set his sights on next.

“Alister! No! Don’t go near it without a weapon!” Mom screeched, but I couldn’t pay her any mind. Not when students were at risk of being torn apart.

I made it in between them and focused on my power before realizing that my ability didn’t work on artificial blood. I went to rush it, but my speed was nothing.

My gaze widened. Supernatural abilities were not working at all against it.

I heard the screams of my mother before the specimen held up his hand to me with a little hole in his palm.

“Vampire. Strengths: speed and strength—now void. Weakness: blood loss—about to be activated,” it stated.

A bullet shot from its hand faster than I could dodge without my magical energy working through me, and it tore through my stomach.

I turned toward the student behind me. “Get out of here,” I gritted my teeth, pushing my hand into the open wound as blood soaked through my fingers and dripped down to the ground.

Shifting back to the specimen as my gaze blurred, my mother raised a large rock over her head as she snuck up behind the specimen.

The familiar tingle of healing did not come, instead, a sharp aching pain erupted from my stomach. I dropped to my knees at the same moment my mother crushed the specimen in the head with the rock.

The crunch of its skull sounded as it went down. She stood above it and beat the head into mush before dropping onto her knees next to me. She pushed her hands over mine to keep pressure on the wound. “The human specimens have been injected with that horrible crystal tourmalyke that has been altered, and the magic of supernaturals just won’t work with them. Keep applying pressure. There are no specimens within the general vicinity so your healing should kick in soon. I’ll help kill them.” She squeezed my shoulder before getting up and rushing over to help the rest of the staff that had fanned out on campus.

Rowan swung a long sword, slicing the heads off of a couple while Rhett went hand-to-hand with them before Rowan came and sliced their heads off.

Panic hit our bonds as Wren and Damien stepped out from the shadows next to me.

“Alister!” Wren dropped beside me on her knees, digging around in her bag before pulling out a healing salve and scooping a generous amount up with her fingers and moved my hand off my wound before smearing it over and inside of it. She did the same for where it tore out the back of me.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she made sure my wound was smothered in her salve.

The pain was excruciating until Damien looked down at me, and his eyes flashed silver.

“Fuck that really hurt, huh?”

“Just shot in the fucking stomach,” I muttered bitterly as Rowan and Rhett came up to us with my mother in tow. “But thanks.”

“We have a lot of questions for you.” Rowan snarled at my mother before inhaling Wren’s scent as he stood behind her.

“I’m happy to answer them. But right now, they need to rest.” She gestured to Wren and me.

My brows furrowed before I glanced down and noticed a blue glow coming from her hands as she poured her magical energy into the salve.

My sweet ruby.

The warm tingle of healing spread around my wound, and my breathing was ragged.

Rowan placed his hand on Wren’s shoulder. “That’s enough, fledgling. He’s healing now. You did great.”

The glow of her hands faded as they dropped from the wound, and she swayed. Rowan’s grip on her shoulder tightened to help her stay upright.

She had given me a good amount of magical energy to start healing, and my body was finally accepting it.

“How are we supposed to fight specimens with repressed supernatural abilities?” Rhett growled.

“We need to create a ward that counteracts the effects of the crystal’s power.” My mother patted my back before straightening. “I’ll be happy to share my knowledge with the academy witch so we can figure something permanent out, but I have somewhere I need to go first.”

“Fine, but be quick.” Rowan’s growl rumbled in his chest.

“Unfortunately, dealing with the warlock is never quick.”

“If you do not return within a month, we will assume that you’re not on our side.”

“Understood, Barrington.” She shifted her gaze from him to Wren. “Take care of my son.”

“He’s my mate. I’ll always care for him,” Wren snapped, turning toward Damien. “Can you take us to his room? He’ll heal better with the crystals.”

His shadows began to curl around us as Rowan helped her to her feet and into Damien’s arms. “What happened at the facility?”

“Later,” Damien growled, and Rowan nodded before pressing a kiss to her forehead and stepping back.

“We’ll talk later, baby,” Rhett murmured.

“Damien, get them settled and come back,” Rowan clipped, worry filling his eyes as he stared at us.

The shadows spread over us, and we were suddenly in my room.

My magical energy was drained, but every time it would fill it up, it healed me the best it could. It was a disastrous cycle.

I hobbled to the bed and collapsed on it as Damien laid Wren beside me.

“You need to fill your magic reserves so you heal faster,” Damien barked.

“I don’t think I have it in me to bite.” I groaned as I flipped over and drifted my gazes from Damien to Wren. “Besides, Wren used enough of her magical energy. I shouldn’t feed on her.”

Wren rolled her eyes. “Damien, can you cut my wrist?”

“Wait,” I protested, but Damien’s shadow tendril wrapped around her wrist before the sweet smell of her blood permeated the air, and Damien’s eyes lit up a lighter silver as he fed from us both.

“Now, little bird, before you heal.” The shadows slipped from her wrist, and she placed it over my lips.

The sweetness dripped past my lips, and I moaned as I opened my mouth and rolled my tongue over the cut that was now healing on her wrist.

My magical energy filled slightly more from her blood but drained as my wound started to close up. I bit into her wrist, and her blood flowed down my throat as I greedily sucked it down.

A moan slipped past her lips, and Damien groaned. “I love it when you make those sounds.”

“I can’t help it,” she said in a breathy tone. “His venom feels so good.” She fell back against Damien as I released her wrist, and it dropped beside her.

“Are you feeling better?” she slurred.

I slipped my hand over my stomach to feel the closed wound. Tenderness spread around it, but it had healed mostly.

Pushing up into a sitting position, I stared at her. Her eyes rolled back in her head as Damien laid her down between us. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take so much, sweet ruby.”

A beautiful smile spread across her pink lips. “Take as much as you need. That goes for both of you. My blood or my pain. I will give you my soul if you ask me to.”

The gemstones around us lit up with a strong glow.

The three of us expelled our magical energy, and it swirled together around us.

“You already have my soul,” Damien murmured, stroking her head.

“And you have mine,” I added, moving my hand to her stomach and feeling her breaths slow as she fell asleep.

Damien tugged the covers up over her, and the way he looked at her was so apologetic.

“You didn’t find her father, did you?”

“No. Apparently, another human faction rescued him, but it’s a human faction that apparently desires equality with supernaturals.” Damien let out a bitter laugh, my eyebrows knitted together.

“Why have we never heard of them before then?”

“Beats me. Any more information on your mother? Weird that she was here when they attacked.”

“Yeah, she told me a lot, and it doesn’t make her sound very… trustworthy,” I admitted with a ragged sigh. “I don’t think she’s working against us, but I think she’s going about everything wrong.”

“She is your mother.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t believe it if my mother was suspected.”

“Thanks, Damien.”

His gaze dipped to Wren’s chest, and mine followed. “You stole all her bras, didn’t you?”

“Absolutely I did.” He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. Of course he did. “How are we going to find her father now?”

“The shifter that was being held captive said that he would be looking for her. Guess it’s just a waiting game right now.” His fingers twitched, almost like he was holding himself back from groping our mate, which he probably was.

“I hope he finds us soon.” My heart swelled as the glow of the gems in my room brightened.

I loved her more than any gem that could exist. We had to make Kalista peaceful, if only for her sake.