12. SEVEN

SEVEN

Kian

Graysonformedoutof black goo directly behind Wren, where she stood next to Rowan’s desk. His hands snatched at her waist and yanked her into his chest, earning a small yelp from my mate before she flickered incorporeal and attempted to pull away, but Grayson’s hold on her didn’t falter. His fingers still dug into her flesh, visible by how her shirt rode up when he grabbed her.

Every part of her he touched refused to go incorporeal.

Dark magic buzzed around him, and his aura flickered black and red as chaos exploded in Rowan’s office.

Damien let loose a feral growl as Rowan roared and semi-shifted in the office, pushing the majority of us back, causing more damage than anyone else.

Shade rushed toward Wren but was knocked away by Grayson’s goo. The thick black substance covered my familiar, even against the purple lightning that struck around him.

“It doesn’t matter how much you try. With dark magic inside of me, nobody can stop me.” Grayson’s disembodied cackle echoed through the room as black goo submerged both he and Wren before they disappeared into the ground.

Pain and despair thickened the air around us as we fell into carnage without our mate.

A sharp, painful gasp rattled my lungs as I flew upright in bed with my hand flat against my forehead, and I tumbled into another vision.

Grayson threw Wren into a thick pile of snow and stepped over her.

“Where did you take me?” She pushed against the snow and snapped her head up, staring at her rejected mate with a hatred burning in her eyes that I had never seen before.

“Blezen, my dear mate. But you’re not here for the dragons, so don’t worry. I’ve grown tired of playing along with Roak. No, you are here for me, Wren, and once I embed myself inside of you, we will create a new race of beings who can wield dark magic.” His milky eyes blackened as he smirked down at her.

“That will never happen,” she spat.

He chuckled, crouching down beside her and gripping her forearm.

Her form flickered from incorporeal to corporeal, yet where he touched her power wouldn’t work. “How are you doing that?”

“I’ve mastered dark magic. Something you will learn how to do very soon.” He held up his other hand before his index finger shifted into a black blade that dripped goo.

Her eyes widened, and she jerked back. “They’ll come for me! Even if you do whatever sick thing you’re planning on doing, they’ll come for me.”

The black goo in his irises swirled. “I plan on it. You will need to break your bonds so I’m your only mate, after all.”

“I’ll kill you myself before that happens,” she hissed like a cornered viper.

Amusement took over his expression as he sliced that finger down her forearm, the skin slashed open as blood poured down her arm, dripping from her elbow into the snow.

He turned it over and dripped the black goo into the wound quicker than my vision could keep up.

Blackness flickered through her form until her eyes turned as black as Grayson’s. She blinked up at Grayson and tilted her head.

“This power…” she uttered, her tone void of emotion.

A vicious smile spread across his lips, showing off his rotten teeth. “It’s fate, Wren.”

Bile crept up my throat as I kicked the covers off and struggled to crawl over Damien to get to the floor. My body slammed into the ground with a loud thud, causing everybody else to jolt up in bed, including Wren.

“What is it?” Rowan barked, and the sound pierced my brain painfully.

Damien gripped my arm and pulled me back to my feet, his eyes flashing silver as the pain faded. “What was the vision, necromancer?”

Nightshade scurried into Wren’s lap before nuzzling against her chest with tears rolling down his face. ‘It was awful. I saw it too.’

“Shade, what’s wrong? What was the vision Kian had?” Wren scooped him up and cradled my familiar to her chest tightly.

“Grayson got you,” I croaked, tears filling my eyes. I blinked furiously to stop them from falling. “Grayson can touch her when she’s incorporeal now.”

“What?” Rowan’s scales formed over his arms.

“Like how?” she asked, fear leaking through the bond.

“The dark magic has gotten stronger, and he’s learning to control it,” I explained, my throat hoarse. “He plans to infect you with dark magic and start a new race. A new species of supernaturals who wield dark magic.”

“But I would never go along with that.” She continued petting Nightshade, who kept nuzzling against her with tears rolling down his little cheeks.

“In my vision, he fully infected you with dark magic, and your emotions disappeared completely. Sweetheart, it took away who you are. You would’ve gone along with it.”

“My little bird would never fucking go along with it, even if she was infected.” Damien snarled, moving away from me.

My migraine came back tenfold, and I clutched my head tightly. “I’m just telling you what I saw,” I gritted out.

“Damien, please help him,” Wren murmured, her pain flickering through the bond.

The pain stabbed at my brain, radiating through it. “I’m not trying to hurt anyone. I just want you to know what I saw.”

“We know that,” Lachlan said.

“Do you know when this vision takes place?” Alister asked, getting up and running a hand through his hair.

“And do you know how to prevent it?” Rhett asked, dropping a kiss to Wren’s shoulder.

“It’s going to happen once we go in there.” I pointed toward the door to the office and winced.

“Fuck,” Damien muttered before the pain dissipated again. “Now, tell us how to stop him from getting her.”

“My vision didn’t give me multiple outcomes this time,” I muttered bitterly. “And I hate that. I’m sorry. I wish I could be of more help, but my visions aren’t always a cure-all.”

“You just saved our mate from walking into that office and getting taken with no warning, so I think you’ve done a lot,” Lachlan said, flattening his lips into a thin line.

“Why don’t we let him think he has the upper hand,” Wren suggested, and our gazes snapped to her. “I mean, I can ask him to replace the bond so we can stop fighting. Replacing the bond is how we can kill him, right?”

My heart squeezed in my chest as I stared at her unwavering form as she continued running her hands over Nightshade. Her strength and her resolve made me so proud. “That is how we could kill him, yes.”

“Then that’s what we’re gonna fucking do,” Damien snapped.

“If that’s what we have to do, that’s fine.” Alister nodded.

Rhett sighed. “We’ll be right here in the same room with you.”

“Are you sure, Kit?” Thorn’s gaze held worry as he pushed out of the bed.

She nodded. “Grayson has to go.”

“Can you see if it’s going to work?” Rowan asked.

I closed my eyes, magic thrumming through me as I forced a vision.

Five different outcomes flashed through my mind. Two of them were undesirable.

“Three outcomes work with Grayson’s death, but two don’t. In one of them, Wren gets fully infected, and she becomes just like him.” My voice cracked as pain ricocheted through my chest. “The other, she gets semi-infected by dark magic, but he leaves her with us. It’s not a lot of dark magic, but it’s enough to alter her personality—there’s a way to purge it from her if we can kill him, though.”

“Three out of five sounds good to me,” Wren mumbled, closing her eyes as she took a deep breath.

“That’s not acceptable,” Thorn stated, staring at her with a pained expression as his ice magic swirled around him.

“Then we need a new plan,” Lachlan shouted, throwing his hands in the air before raking them through his hair.

“We don’t have time for that,” Rowan growled, black smoke pluming from his nostrils.

“I smell sulfur,” Damien hissed.

“Sweet ruby, we’re going to be right there with you.” Alister’s fangs cut his lip as he bit into it.

“It’ll be fine, baby. I know even if you ended up infected, you’ll come back to us,” Rhett told her.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Kit?” Thorn’s voice wobbled.

“I’ll fight him, little bird. I’ll find some fucking way to stop him for good.” Damien’s shadows whipped around the room.

“We will all fight him if you don’t want to reinstate the bond.” Rowan’s scales came and went as his anger simmered.

“I can do it. You have to trust me enough to do this. Grayson needs to be dealt with once and for all.” Her gaze hardened as she swept it over us all, landing on me.

“We know you can, sweetheart, but we love you. You can’t blame us for worrying about our mate. I will lead the ritual, and all of us will add our magical energy to do it.”

She nodded, letting out a sigh as her shoulder sagged. “Let’s end it now.”

I was thankful for my power of visions. If I hadn’t had the visions, she would’ve had the worst case scenario with no fighting chance, but I couldn’t wait until all of our threats were neutralized. I loved Wren with everything I had.

Nothing and no one stood a chance against the eight of us together.