10. Bexley Blackforge

Chapter 10

Bexley Blackforge

The minute I crossed through the ward, my back was slammed back against it. Somehow it'd become as solid as cement in a fraction of a second.

Two hands grasped my shoulders, pushing as if they could shove me back through. An enraged sound came from my mother as we locked gazes, her next demand echoing through the darkened room. "What are you doing?!"

A horrified expression broke out onto her face as her touch suddenly disappeared, my mom moving away quickly as if burned. Her sudden departure caused me to stumble slightly before straightening myself up. Offering her a bewildered look, I put my hands out. "What do you mean ‘what am I doing'? I'm proving that I'm actually here!"

And here was very different than the other side. Despite the darkness and the shadows that moved like they were alive, I could make out faint shapes. Furniture, possibly. There was also the dripping sound of water somewhere in the background. One spot directly behind my mom was particularly dark, and I could feel magic radiating from that direction. It was faint, but I had a feeling that it was my dad…so why wasn't he out here with her?

"I hope this is a dream and that you aren't here! Are you out of your mind?"

Her words hit me like a slap. I winced, leaning against the ward and wrapping my arms around myself protectively. "What do you mean? Why wouldn't you want me here? I'm here to get you out."

I mean, why else had they continued to appear in my dreams? I had to assume it was because they were reaching out for help, because they wanted to get out …right? Or had my knowledge of them brought forth the dreams?

"There is no out! And if you're really here, now you're stuck too!"

Tears welled in my eyes. It felt like she was rejecting me. I understood rationally that she wasn't, but after finding out that they were still alive, after remembering my childhood…

This hadn't been how I had imagined our reunion.

I thought she'd want to see me again, this woman who gave birth to me. Who had loved me so much that she'd put an elaborate plan into motion to keep me safe from those in the realm who wanted to hurt me.

We were finally together, and instead of celebrating that…well, I had no idea what we were doing.

"At least we're together again." My voice was weak, dejected. But my words must have finally struck home because all the anger in her expression just…disappeared.

For a long moment, my mom went completely and utterly still, staring at me in shock. No…not staring, but truly looking —examining me head to toe. That was when I saw the change happen; when realization hit her. When her eyes began to fill with tears, her lips tightening as she tried to keep them from turning down.

This time when she slammed into me, it wasn't violent. It was a hug. Possibly the tightest hug I'd ever received, her frail arms so unyielding it was almost painful. Her body shook with sobs, and the sound of her cries echoing through the void of the chamber had tears streaming down my own cheeks.

So many emotions fought for dominance—happiness to be with her again, worry for her wellbeing, fear that I'd ruined our chances of escaping—but the relief that she'd remembered me, that she believed I was here to help her, and just that she was here, alive, and it wasn't some cruel joke…those were the feelings that won out. I was with my mom! My actual mom .

Our magics, though practically nonexistent behind the ward, reached out to one another and collided. A flash of light filled the space, surrounding us in flames. My eyes fluttered shut as memories began to play behind my eyelids, images flashing by in rapid succession. Not just my memories, though, but hers . Somehow I was experiencing, feeling, and seeing my mom's memories.

Of the day I was born and when she held me for the first time.

Of watching me walk towards my dad on unsteady legs.

Of when I shifted and flew for the first time.

Hot tears streamed down my cheeks as a part of myself, the one that harbored the little girl who was still wounded from being abandoned in an alley, was healed. I could feel her love for me. I could feel through her memories how much both of my parents loved me. While I had known for several days that they were possibly still alive, I don't think I'd truly believed that they were…or that if they were alive, they could want me after all of this time—at least not until now.

"Bexley." My mom pulled back, relief and joy clear on her face. "My goodness, you have grown up so much—you're beautiful, honey, and so powerful. I had no idea— no idea that those dreams would actually lead you here. I thought that I'd…well, I'd imagined so many times what you would be like as an adult, and I assumed it was a simple dream."

"I had no idea you were still alive until I found Rebecca."

"Found her?" she asked, looking alarmed.

"I have so much to tell you about what's happened," I said, squeezing her hands, "but I'm just so happy to be here with you."

"We'll have a lot of time to talk," she agreed softly, needing to convince herself as much as me. "I don't know how we'll manage to get out of here; I wish I hadn't forced your hand. Then you could have at least stayed on the other side."

"Please don't worry. I'm not here alone. My friends, Rebecca, and my mates?—"

"Mates?" Her gaze lit with warm excitement. "You mean Gage, Jagger, and Breaker are here? I'm so glad you were reunited with them, that Rebecca was able to eventually bring you back to them."

"That didn't happen…not exactly." I ran a hand through my hair as I shifted on my feet, not wanting her to be mad at Rebecca for not sticking to the plan. "As Rebecca was planning to leave with me, Clanguard's men attacked us. She put a memory spell on me and transported me to the middle of the city, as far away as possible. The Bronzehearts found me, and she managed to escape and hide in Natura."

My voice softened, thick with sadness as I finished my explanation. "I had no memories of my childhood; no knowledge of who I was. I thought the Bronzehearts had taken me in out of kindness, because the memory spell triggered immense pain when they tried to tell me anything else."

My mom was speechless, her face a mask of shock, so I continued, wanting to move past it. "It's okay, though—they took really good care of me. And when I turned eighteen and went to DIA, it all started coming back, and my mates were right there to help me process all of it."

Even I had to admit that was possibly shortening the story slightly, but I felt overwhelmed by the amount of information she needed to know paired with the intensity of emotions I felt. "But like you said, we have plenty of time. I can explain more later. To answer your question, though, yes, the three of them are here. How…how did you know they were my mates?"

Inhaling, she seemed to shake herself before offering a small shrug. "I suppose I didn't fully know, but it always seemed obvious to me. They were attached to you from the moment you met. The other moms and I always entertained the possibility…" She trailed off, caught in her thoughts, sadness filling her expression.

"They're all safe, I promise. I also promise that I'll explain how we got here once we escape. The others should be here soon, so we're going to need to leave fast. Where's Dad?" I'd been alert for any sign of his presence as I'd talked to Mom, but I never got anything more concrete than my initial feeling that he was here somewhere.

My mom tensed and squeezed her eyes shut, running a hand over her chest as if my question caused her physical pain. She looked towards what I could now see was a pitch-black hallway leading further back. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness the longer I stared into it, and that allowed me to see their meager belongings. Linan had given them absolutely nothing all of these years, and I hated him for it. I also couldn't for the life of me figure out how they'd survived in this place for so long…I mean, what had they even eaten? I would have to ask, but now wasn't the time.

"He's in the back, sleeping—well, unconscious. This sleep has lasted a lot longer than the others… I can still feel his dragon, though, and our mate bond. He's okay for now." The words she left unsaid spoke volumes—he may not be okay for much longer.

"I don't understand." I frowned as I stepped toward the dark hall, my mom right by my side. "Why is he in such worse shape than you?"

"He's been feeding me magic from the start," she said in long-suffering resignation. "Your dad wanted me to be as strong as possible in case he tried anything again. I told him to stop time and time again, but the man has always been stubborn."

I stopped hard. "In case who tried anything?" I already had an idea, but I needed confirmation.

"Linan," she bit out. "When he first took us captive, he tried to force me to mate with him, but your dad always protected me. I'm positive he has a witch on his side—although I've never seen them—who specializes in power drainage. That's where the wards come from—where most of Linan's power comes from. The witch drains the power from our dragons. And your father, even though he's nearly completely drained himself, is giving me magic. It's insane, but no matter how many times I implore him to stop, he won't."

"Linan is trying to mate me to his son," I said, and my mom's eyes flared. "I hate him."

"When we leave here, I will kill him," she vowed.

I squeezed her arm. "There may be a few people willing to fight you for the privilege." Like my mates. Although if anyone truly deserved the honor, it was her—he'd taken everything from her, and he was still threatening to do so now.

"Let's see your dad," she whispered, leading me forward.

"Has Linan been down here recently?" I asked. As we walked through the rough walls of the tunnel, I realized it was possible my parents had dug these tunnels on their own. Maybe the tunnel was their eventual escape plan.

"No, unless he visited and we weren't aware, which is unlikely. I haven't seen the bastard in five years or so."

"How have you survived? How'd you get food and water?"

"We didn't. I think he expected for us to starve and die. What he doesn't realize is that there are only a few ways to truly kill a dragon, and starvation isn't one of them. We aren't weak like the wolves. We aren't so easily disposed of." The venom in her voice eased as she added, "It's not helping your father's condition, though."

"The minute we get out, we'll get you anything and everything you need," I promised her. I did wonder what could kill a dragon considering he'd managed to slaughter those in the Flash clan, but that was a conversation for a different time.

Her eyes filled with warmth. "I don't need much, just your father and you. But I'm glad you were taken care of and that Celine found you. She was good to you?"

"Amazing, Mom. And when she told me about you two after the memory spell broke, she told me she never wanted to replace you but to do right by you."

My mom squeezed my hand, her eyes warming with affection. "That's sweet of her, and it doesn't surprise me. Celine was always thinking about others. With that being said, I understand if she feels more like a mother to you than I do."

"No. You're my mom. She's amazing, literally like a second mom. But once my memories of my childhood returned, I understood why I felt so much grief all these years. I didn't know why I was in mourning for two people who I thought had abandoned me, but now I realize it was because some part of me thought you were dead. The memory spell wiped everything , but even it couldn't wipe away my love."

My mom's words were soft as she squeezed my hand once more, "Your father and I have always loved you. Clanguard would have loved to erase our memories, erase the truth we knew, but he could never. Our love for you surpasses his power."

We stepped into a dimly lit room at the end of her statement, torches lining the walls. The cozy space was more like a bedroom, and my eyes widened at the large but thin frame laid out on the bed. My dad.

He was easily over 6'5", and I knew from my memories that he'd once been intimidating, the set of his shoulders wide and formidable, but his body was now a skeletal husk of its former self.

Grabbing his hand and wrapping it in both of mine to try and warm his cold fingers, I spoke in a soft voice. "Hey Dad. I don't know if you can hear me, but it's Bex. I'm here to rescue you and Mom. You're finally going to get out of here."

My mom sniffled behind me, wiping tears away with the back of her hand.

"When the others come and break the ward, the guys may need to carry him out," I warned her after evaluating his state. My brow dipped in thought. "There is one thing I still can't figure out—one thing that's bothering me."

"What's that?" she asked, adjusting one of the torches so I could see my dad's face better.

"Why would Linan put us down here?"

My mom stilled. "I'm not sure. I guess it doesn't make much sense, when you think about it."

"Maybe he wanted me to get in here and try to break you guys out. Didn't you say that Dad has been blocking him from getting to you from the start?"

"But then he'd have had to know that you had the ability to break out yourself and then us," she pointed out. "He hasn't come down here in nearly half a decade, so I'm not sure why he would choose to release us now—after all, he'd always been able to go in and out through the main door in those first three years. Honestly, I'm surprised they were able to capture the four of you in the first place, I doubt he would create an entire plan based around the ability to do that."

It did feel almost embarrassing that we'd been taken prisoner, but the way she said it was without judgment.

"We were coming back through a portal, completely caught us off guard. I mean, I'm glad it brought us down here, but we probably should've predicted that. I just don't understand why he'd risk putting us here without leaving any guards on the off chance we could break out."

"He probably didn't think anything of it," she murmured, shaking her head with an expression of disgust. "Clanguard's pride and ego are his downfall."

I looked back down at my dad in thought. "I'm going to give him a little bit of magic, enough to wake him up."

"You don't have to do that, Bexley."

"I do," I whispered. Even though my magic was nearly depleted, I could still attempt to do some good. Closing my eyes, I pushed magic towards him, my hand resting on top of his. Waves of heat broke off of me like flames, gently licking over his cold skin.

There was an immediate reaction when our magics connected. With my mom there had been so many memories and emotions, but with my dad it was different. It was possibly because of his state of mind, being so close to death, but only a singular memory came across. A powerful one that said everything in a singular second.

It was my dad holding me for the first time, one hand wrapped around me and the other holding my mom's hand. The medical center bustled around them, but a peaceful cloud of joy was wrapped around the three of us. I could feel everything he'd felt in that moment and everything he continued to feel. The intensity of his loyalty and love towards our family.

It was what he was still living for. That singular memory was keeping his foot in this world, instead of giving into the void. I sniffed, trying to not break out into fresh tears, as I opened my eyes to look down at my dad's face, feeling his fingers squeeze weakly around my own.

"Bexley." His whisper of my name was echoed by a clap of thunder as I heard the doors slam open.

My mates were here.