25. Kye

Chapter 25

Kye

T he witches disappear almost simultaneously with the other female, who I assume is Revna. As soon as they vanish, the invisible force holding me down lifts off my back, and I surge to my feet. My heart is in my throat, icy claws clutching around it as I move around everyone in my path. I don't give a fuck that I'm naked. My only thought is reaching Apryle.

Even from here, I can see the river of blood staining the white stone beneath her arm. The way her arms are pulled over her head and secured means she has no way to stem the bleeding, and the bond between us that had been muted is thrumming through my mind again. I can sense her fading, her consciousness slipping away, and bile climbs up my throat.

As I reach the edge of the table she's lying on, I suck in a breath through my teeth at how pale her skin is. Her head is tipped to the side, her dark lashes stark against her ghastly pallor. I grab her face in one hand, turning her toward me.

"Apryle." She doesn't stir, her eyes remaining resolutely shut. "Come on, sweetheart, open those eyes for me."

I try to reach her through the bond, but it's like trying to grab steam. I can sense she's there, but I can't reach her or touch her. My pulse is thundering in my ears as I let go of her face, trying not to focus on how her head rolls to the side bonelessly, and grab the ropes binding her, tearing them apart with my bare hands so I can lower her arms.

She's wearing those stupid fucking bracelets that stop her power, and they are slippery with her blood, but they are not important right now. Stopping the bleeding is all I need to focus on. I wrap my hands around the wound on her arm. It's such a long, jagged injury that I can only cover part of it, and the blood keeps pumping out of the exposed cut.

Shit. I need Halle. Desperately, my gaze bounces around the crowd. Most of Erik's people fled the moment Revna appeared, leaving only his fanatics followers behind. I don't see Halle, but some of our group move closer to us, taking down any enemy that tries to get close. My heart thumps as I realize they're creating a shield of protection around me and Apryle.

Certain we're safe for now, I give my mate my attention, brushing her hair off her face.

"Stay with me, please." I don't care that I'm begging. I don't care how broken I sound either. If she dies, I'm going with her. There is no world that makes sense to me without her in it.

Apryle and I might have gotten off to a rocky start, but she is the other half of my soul. I don't know how to exist with her gone. Her blood bubbles between my fingers, and I let out a growl as my wolf lifts his muzzle to howl.

"Fuck." I glance up as Dove steps up on the other side of the stone table. Her legs are bare, and she's wearing her jacket zipped up, probably the only thing she had time to remove before the shift happened. Everyone shifted. Even those who were said to be latent.

I wanna ask questions, find out more, but not now. My only priority is Apryle. Dove's hands join mine, and I smell the burned scent of her magic as she tries to help my mate.

After a moment, she releases me and lets out a frustrated sound. "I can't heal her. I don't know how. We need Halle."

"I'm here!" I twist to glance over my shoulder as Halle rushes up to us.

Like Dove, Halle is wearing an oversized hoodie that I'm sure belongs to Cade. Her pants and shoes are gone. There is also a cut to her head that is bleeding profusely, staining the side of her face bright red, but she still places her hands over Apryle's arm, sucking in a deep breath as she closes her eyes. Again, I smell the magic as it leaves her body to infuse my mate's.

I've been scared on a number of occasions, including when we were taken by Revna's little cult, but even that pales in comparison to how I feel right now. Healing can only do so much, and if the body is broken beyond repair…

Dove, as if sensing where my thoughts have gone, reaches over the table to grab my hand. No one has ever tried to comfort me before except for Apryle, so it has me lifting my eyes to her, confused. Her smile is soft, reassuring.

"She'll be okay. Halle brought me back when I was dead, and Apryle is still breathing."

I have no idea what that means, but my attention is shattered as Apryle sucks in a huge breath, like her lungs have been starved this entire time. Her eyes pop open, and her awareness floods my mind. The wound on her arm is gone, leaving unblemished skin where it was, but the blood still stains every inch of her on the stone where her arm had been.

I don't care about that. I don't care about anything but her. My wolf calms as I grab her face, kissing every inch of her mouth. Her hands wrap around mine as she kisses me back, her lips soft and responsive. After thinking I would never kiss her again, feeling her still here with me is overwhelming.

I bend over her so I can press my forehead to hers, still gripping her face, afraid to let go of her in case she disappears.

"I thought I lost you."

"I'm pretty tough to kill," she quips, and despite everything, I bark out a laugh.

"Don't ever do that to me again."

"I had no choice in the matter." She tries to sit up, and despite the healing, she is still weak, so I place my hands on her back to support her trembling frame.

Her eyes bounce between Halle and Dove. "You're bleeding."

Halle's fingers touch her forehead, coming away stained. "I'm fine. Head wounds are messy. Are you okay?"

Apryle nods, glancing around as I do the same. I follow her line of sight, seeing Wyatt, Jackson, Cade and Roux surrounding us to fight against the last of our enemies. Bodies are strewn across the ground, blood staining the grass around them. They risked everything for us and my own throat feels tight.

I'm distracted as power cracks all around us. I pull Apryle against me, protecting Halle and Dove as I seek out the cause of it.

The white-haired man, who has been a nightmare of so many hybrids for millennia, is the one who looks terrified for once. He is on his knees, Sawyer standing behind him, Callum with a gun pressed against his temple and his power swirling around him. Beck, Talia, Ayden, and Archie surround him, also pointing weapons in his direction.

The wolves in our group—both full blooded and tau—are in various stages of undress, though clothes are being passed around as the last of our enemies are dispatched. I guess the rest must have run.

Cowards.

Hester stands in front of the white-haired man, hitting him with waves of power, each one making him writhe in agony. "Stop!" he rasps between the convulsions.

"No," she grinds out, hitting him again.

"As much as I want this asshole dead," Sawyer says, "can we at least make him pay for his crimes before you turn his mind into soup?"

Hester tenses her fingers, as if she's going to strike, but Jackson flings himself in front of the guy, making Dove suck in a breath. She moves toward him, but Apryle stops her. "She won't hurt Jackson."

"I hope you're right."

"You can't kill him," Jackson says. "He may know about my pup."

Hester's chest heaves as she slowly lowers her hands. Her eyes are wild, unhinged even. Her lips pull into a snarl as she glares at her brother. He laughs, a dark macabre sound. "What are you going to do, Hessie? Use your magic on me?" He snorts. "No, you won't do that, will you? You could never use it against your little brother. All these years gone by and you're still a weak bitch."

She flinches as if he's struck her and I split my gaze between what's happening and the girls as they try to free Apryle from the cuffs that stop her magic.

Callum presses the barrel of his gun harder against his temple. "There's only one weak bitch I can see, and it's you, you fucking asshole."

"All those lives lost or destroyed, and for what?" Beck demands.

Erik's mouth pulls into a sneer. "You should never have existed in the first place. You all are disgusting manipulations against nature."

"And what are you, Erik?" Hester asks, her voice no longer small or afraid.

His eyes lift to hers. "What are you doing, Hessie? Do you really think you can beat me? All these years running and hiding, and you stand in front of me as if you've won."

She doesn't seem to think she's won anything. "You're the one who was abandoned. Where are your followers now, brother ?" she sneers the word. "I don't know why I spent so many years afraid of you. Look at you. You're pathetic and you're nothing without your soldiers."

"You think I need them?"

"I think you've always needed others to do your dirty work."

The darkness that flickers in his expression is sinister. "Unlike you and Freya? These abominations you've collected over the years to fight against me don't care about you, Hessie. The first chance they got they left you alone in the sanctuary you built to protect them. Some fucking gratitude, right?"

"I didn't need gratitude. That's not why I did it?—"

"Face it, you're nothing to them. Poor little Hester. Always trying to fight the good fight and failing. Tell me, where is our sister? Did she abandon you too?"

She flinches. "No?—"

"Did she get sick of you and realize how worthless you truly are? You are as you have always been—alone, with no friends, no twin, no mother—no one."

"But she's not alone," Roux says, stepping around him to go to her side. "She's never been alone." Her hand slips into Hester's. The two females smile at each other, relief evident in Hester's face.

"Exactly," Halle yells. "Hester's part of our coven. Hurt her and we'll fuck you up."

He laughs. "You think I'm scared of your half-breed witches?"

"No," Hester says, her voice stronger, "but I think you're scared of my mother."

He blanches. "You should be scared of her too. Your mother is going to scourge the entire earth, including all your little tau brats."

She shakes her head. "My mother won't hurt her children. You, on the other hand, are fucked."

"Who would have thought that torturing and tormenting a witch with some serious anger issues and then trapping her in literal hell might lead to problems down the line?" Sawyer quips.

Erik glares at him. "We're all going to die, you dumb fucking dog."

"Maybe, but I figure you're going to go before the rest of us, and I can live with that."

"She's free, and I did that." Apryle's whisper brings my attention to her. Halle and Dove exchange sympathetic glances.

"None of this is your fault, Apryle," I tell her in a stern voice.

"He's right," Halle says. "How were you supposed to know you had the blood of the original spellcasters?"

Apryle clings to me, her fingers digging into the backs of my biceps. "I should have listened to Hester. I should have run."

"And what would that have achieved?" Dove demands. "They got to you, surrounded by an army. You think you would have stood a better chance out there on your own?"

"She wouldn't have been on her own," I growl.

"The point is," Dove says, "they would have found you. And the outcome would have been the same." No, it would've been worse. Without Halle to heal her, without the people who defended them in order for her to be healed, she would have died.

I glance around at the faces that defended us, a sense of belonging washing through me. They were always Apryle's friends, but in this moment I realize they're mine too.

Our pack.

Cade and Jackson rush over to us, no longer in their wolf forms, and although they are both topless, they have on sweatpants. A pair is thrust at me, and I release Apryle grudgingly to pull them on, while Cade and Jackson go to their mates. Dove isn't hurt, but Jackson pulls her into his chest anyway while Cade holds back Halle's hair to examine the wound, his eyes flashing anger.

"I'm good," she assures him, "although I think I'm going to have a hell of a headache in the morning."

I slip my hands around Apryle's elbows, helping her slide off the stone. Her legs are a little wobbly, but other than that, she seems good.

I want to drag her back to the main hall, grab Savannah, and run, but that is not an option. It has never been one.

We surround Erik, though I keep my mate close in case this asshole has a trick up his sleeve. Looking at him all I see is weakness. Hester was right. He is nothing without his followers.

"What happens now?" Apryle asks, fear dancing in her eyes. I wish I could take it from her, but there's nothing I can say to remedy this situation.

Revna is free, and judging from what we know about her life, I don't think she's going to just forgive and forget what was done to her. She was betrayed by most of the people in her life and hurt by the man she loved, the father of her children.

"My mother will need time to rebuild her strength before she attacks. I suggest we use that time to create another sanctuary and hide," Hester says, her gaze never leaving her brother's.

I can only imagine the satisfaction she must feel seeing him on his knees, guns pointing at his head, while Beck puts him in chains. The others are already seeing to the wounded and gathering up the tau under the control of the Order. I don't know if we will ever be able to fix them and what has been done to them in this bastard's facilities, but we have to try.

"Yeah, because that worked out so well last time," Sawyer says. "And I don't know if you noticed, but your mother isn't some kid doing card tricks. She has real magic, and she also has her trusty sidekicks, the four witches of Eastwick who put us all down on the ground without even breaking a sweat."

"Then what do you propose we do, Sawyer? We can't fight everyone."

"A truce," Erik says.

"Shut up," Hester, Sawyer, Cade, and Halle all say at the same time.

"I mean plenty of offense when I say this," Jackson speaks. "I wouldn't trust you if you were the last person on this planet. Not with my life, not with my mate's life, and not with my friends'."

Wyatt and a couple of others from Callum's group wander over. "A bunch of hunters got away. We tracked them as far as we could, but figured we had the real prize back here." His gaze moves to Erik. "You're about to have a very bad day."

"I'll go first." Roux steps up to him, and then, to my astonishment, pulls her fist back and slams it into his jaw. His head snaps to the side with enough force for blood to spray out of his mouth. "That's for ruining everything," she snarls in his face, shaking her hand out as she winces.

Her mate wraps his arms around her, her back to his chest. "You have no idea how turned on I am right now."

"We all shifted," this comes from Talia. "Every single one of us. I'm latent. I've never shifted in my entire life. It nearly killed me at my first moon ceremony when I tried and failed."

"My wolf has always been kind of in the background," Apryle muses, "but now she feels closer to the surface than ever before. But I didn't shift. How come everyone else shifted but not me?"

"Because you were involved in the blood magic they were performing." This answer comes from Hester and has me tucking Apryle tighter against my side. "All the magic that runs through us comes from my mother. It's how we shift, it's how we find the power inside us, it's how we recognize our mates. Over time, that magic has dimmed; the more it was watered down over the years, the less potent it became."

"The moment she was released, that power was renewed in all of you," Erik spits the words like poison. "And she is going to use every single one of you as her personal army."

"As long as she's fighting you, count me in," Jackson says.

Erik slides his gaze toward him, an ugly darkness spreading over his face. "Revna doesn't care about any of you. She never did. All she wanted was to punish my father for rejecting her. She could never handle that he didn't want her as much as she wanted him. She punished him, making it so that no one else would ever be able to hurt that way again. Does that sound like the actions of a good person?"

"That's why we have fated mates," Halle muses. "If you're drawn to each other by a force out of your control, then you can never be hurt." She glances at Cade, and I know what she's thinking because the same thought is running through my head. Are any of our pairings real?

Cade collars her nape, pulling her into him. "This is real. I don't give a shit what magic made it or what circumstances led to it. What I feel for you is real." He presses their joined hands against his heart. "I love you, and not because of magic, Halle. I love you because you fill the darkness inside me with light."

Tears prick her eyes, and I feel a lump in the back of my own throat. So much of our lives is nothing more than a manipulation of magic and power, and while I already knew on some level that everything we are is because of the magic that beats inside us, I had no idea it ran this deep.

"I guess it explains rejected mates." This comes from Roux. "Revna hated Torsten for rejecting her, and so she made it so any fated mate who rejected the other would wither away and die. She made it so that there was literally no choice but to stay in our pairings."

"It doesn't matter why we are the way we are," Dove says. "We love our mates, and that is what counts."

Dove is right, but my stomach still knots. That is what's important, but there is also a slither of doubt inside me that tells me Apryle would not have chosen me willingly.

Get that thought right out of your head, she says in my mind. I might have been hesitant about mating in the first place, but that wasn't because of you. That was because of hangups from my past. I would have fallen for you anyway, Kyson. You're the part of me that was missing, and I don't care how that came about or the reason for it. I'm never letting you go.

My heart soars—something I didn't think it was capable of doing, and yet it's been happening since Apryle and I mated.

I'm never letting you go either. Every breath I have in my body is for you.

I sense her amusement through the bond.

I didn't know you had it in you to be sweet, but I like it.

The fact she likes it makes me want to do it more.

"So what's the plan now?" Wyatt asks.

"I don't know," Sawyer answers. "I've always been partial to a little torture myself. I'm pretty sure good old Erik here will be squealing like a pig within thirty seconds."

Cade huffs a breath at his brother. "I don't usually agree with the things that come out of his mouth, but for once we're on the same page."

Halle glares at the man. "Oh, we're going to torture him. He knows where my mother is. He knows where all the others that he has been keeping in his creepy little science experiment, forcing them to breed with each other, are too. And he's going to tell us every sordid little detail."

"Including where the children are," Dove adds.

Erik snorts. "I'm not afraid of a little pain."

Dove crouches down in front of him, grabbing his chin in her fingers and dragging his attention to her. "Oh, it's not going to be just a little. You see, freeing Revna made me feel pretty strong. My powers are heightened in a way they never have been, and I intend to use them on you. Congratulations, you get to be test subject number one."