26. Blood Trail: Alex

CHAPTER 26

BLOOD TRAIL

ALEX

T he Shadowguard headquarters hummed with tension as Alex strode through the doors, the rest of the team filing in behind him. His mind was a storm of worry and rage, barely contained beneath a veneer of grim determination. Eryx was out there, in the hands of gods-knew-who, and every second felt like an eternity.

As they entered the main briefing room, a familiar figure was waiting for them. Lily stood by the central table, her posture rigid, her eyes scanning the group with barely concealed concern. Before Alex could open his mouth to brief her, Thor's booming voice cut through the tense atmosphere.

Alex stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention. "Lily, we need a secure location for a blood ritual, ASAP." He then looked at Fenrir looking like he barely took a scratch. "Fenrir, I want you to help Zac with the ritual since it is your blood."

Gabe, Lucas, Marcus, Olivia, and Emma were still looking at Fenrir. They exchanged wide-eyed glances and Alex could practically hear their thoughts racing.

Fenrir, for his part, seemed utterly unperturbed by the attention. The wolf-god's gaze was fixed on Zac, his expression unreadable. "The boy is capable," he rumbled, his voice like gravel over steel. "But the spell is not to be taken lightly. Are you certain he's ready for this?"

Alex turned to Zac, really looking at the kid for the first time since they'd returned to headquarters. What he saw made his chest tighten with a mixture of pride and concern.

Zac was trying his damnedest to look confident, his chin raised defiantly, his hands clenched at his sides to hide their trembling. But Alex could see the fear in his eyes, the uncertainty that lurked just beneath the surface bravado.

Fuck. Sometimes Alex forgot just how young Zac really was. The kid had been through more in his short life than most people faced in decades, and here they were, about to ask him to perform a ritual that could potentially fry his brain if it went wrong.

Moving closer to Zac, Alex softened his voice, pitching it low enough that only the teen could hear. "Hey, kid. Level with me here. Are you really okay with this? Because if you're not, we'll find another way. No one's going to think less of you."

For a moment, Zac's carefully constructed mask of confidence wavered. Alex could see the conflict playing out across the kid's face – the desire to help, warring with very real fear.

But then something shifted in Zac's eyes. A steely determination that Alex recognized all too well. It was the same look Eryx got when he was about to do something stupidly heroic.

"I need to do this," Zac said, his voice quiet but firm. "Eryx... he found me in that cell. Saved me when I thought I was beyond saving. I owe him this. I owe all of you this."

Alex felt a swell of emotion that he ruthlessly tamped down. Now wasn't the time for sentimentality. But damn if the kid didn't make him proud sometimes.

"Alright," Alex nodded, clapping Zac on the shoulder. "But you listen to Fenrir, got it? No cowboy shit. This isn't a game."

Zac managed a weak smile. "No cowboy shit. Got it, boss."

Alex nodded, feeling a mixture of pride and concern for the kid. But before he could dwell on it, Lily's voice cut through his thoughts.

"Follow me," she said, her tone brooking no argument. "I know just the place."

Alex's stomach did a little flip. He knew exactly what place she was talking about, and this was not how he'd planned on revealing it to the team. But desperate times and all that jazz.

As Lily led the way, Alex could feel the curious glances of his team boring into his back. He kept his face carefully neutral, but inside, he was bracing himself for the shitstorm that was about to hit.

They descended into the lower levels of the headquarters, past security checkpoints that even most of the team had never seen before. With each level they went down, the air grew cooler, heavy with the weight of old magic.

Finally, they reached a nondescript door at the end of a long corridor. Lily placed her hand on the center of the door, muttering an incantation under her breath. The door shimmered and vanished, revealing a room that practically hummed with power.

"What the fuck?" Gabe's voice was a mixture of awe and indignation as they all filed into the room.

Alex couldn't blame him. The place was impressive, even to someone who'd once ruled the Underworld. The walls were covered in intricate runes that pulsed with a soft, otherworldly light. At the center of the room stood a pedestal, and on it, an object that seemed to bend the very air around it.

The looks on his team's faces ranged from shock to hurt to outright anger. Alex sighed internally. This was going to be fun to explain.

"What is this place?" Lucas asked, his eyes darting around the room, no doubt trying to catalog every piece of tech and magic he could see.

Alex exchanged a glance with Lily before answering. "It's a room that replicates the power of a ley line. Using arcane magic infused in an artifact I liberated from the Underworld."

"Liberated," Lily muttered, rolling her eyes. "Is that what we're calling grand theft deity these days?"

"You're not helping," Alex growled at her before turning back to the team. "Look, we built this place for emergencies. Situations where we need a massive power boost but can't risk tapping into actual ley lines."

"And you didn't think to tell us about this because...?" Gabe's voice was sharp, hurt evident in his tone.

Alex felt a pang of guilt, quickly buried under a layer of practiced indifference. "Because the fewer people who knew about it, the safer it was. This kind of power in the wrong hands? It could level cities."

"So you didn't trust us," Emma said quietly, the disappointment in her voice cutting deeper than Alex would ever admit.

"It's not about trust," Lily cut in, her voice taking on that soothing, motherly tone that never failed to calm ruffled feathers. "It's about protection. Yours as much as ours. The fewer people who knew, the fewer targets there were if someone ever came looking."

Alex watched as Lily worked her magic – and he didn't mean the divine kind. She had a way of explaining things, of making people understand, that he'd always envied. Slowly, he could see the anger and hurt on his team's faces giving way to reluctant understanding.

"Okay," Marcus said slowly, "I get why you kept it secret. But why reveal it now?"

Alex gestured to the artifact on the pedestal. "Because this bad boy is our best shot at finding Eryx. It can amplify Zac's blood magic, give us the boost we need to punch through whatever's blocking our usual tracking methods."

"But?" Olivia prompted, clearly sensing there was more to it.

"But," Alex sighed, "it's got a hell of a recharge time. Once we use it, it'll be out of commission for a while. "

"How long is 'a while'?" Lucas asked, his analytical mind no doubt already running calculations.

Alex and Lily exchanged another glance. "We're not sure," Lily admitted. "It's never been fully discharged and tested before. Could be months. Could be years."

A heavy silence fell over the room as the implications sank in. They were about to use up their biggest trump card, with no guarantee of when – or if – they'd have it back.

"So," Zac's voice broke the silence, sounding smaller and younger than Alex had heard him in a long time. "No pressure or anything, right?"

Despite the gravity of the situation, Alex felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "No pressure at all, kid. Just the fate of our resident smart-ass demigod and possibly the world hanging in the balance. You know, Tuesday."

The weak attempt at humor seemed to break some of the tension in the room. Gabe even managed a snort of laughter, though it sounded a bit strained.

"Alright, people," Alex said, his voice taking on the commanding tone that had once cowed the denizens of the Underworld. "I know this is a lot to take in, and we'll have plenty of time for trust falls and group therapy later. But right now, we've got a job to do."

The room fell silent, a palpable tension settling over the group. Alex's eyes swept over his team, lingering on Zac and Fenrir. The unlikely pair stood at the center of attention, the weight of their task visible in the set of their shoulders.

"You two ready for this?" Alex asked, his gruff tone barely masking the concern underneath.

Zac nodded, his face a mask of determination that didn't quite hide the fear in his eyes. Fenrir, for his part, merely grunted an affirmative.

Thor stepped forward, his massive frame seeming to fill half the room. "Brynhildr," he called, his voice a low rumble of thunder. "The blood, if you please. "

The Valkyrie produced a small vial, its contents a deep, rich red that seemed to pulse with an inner light. As she handed it to Zac, Alex could have sworn he saw the kid's hands shake for just a moment before steadying.

Fenrir guided Zac to the center of the room, his movements surprisingly gentle for a being of such raw power. The space was stark, almost clinically bare – the perfect canvas for the arcane ritual they were about to perform.

"Remember, boy," Fenrir growled, his voice low enough that Alex had to strain to hear. "My strength is yours to draw upon. Scrying with a god's blood is no small feat. It could burn out a mortal in seconds if you're not careful."

Zac swallowed hard but nodded. "I've got this," he said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.

As Fenrir stepped back, maintaining a watchful distance, Alex felt his muscles tense. This was it. The moment of truth. Everything hinged on Zac's ability to channel powers far beyond mortal comprehension.

Zac closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, like a switch had been flipped, the air in the room became charged with energy. Alex felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, a familiar sensation from his days as ruler of the Underworld.

The power radiating from Zac was palpable, a physical force that seemed to press against Alex's skin. He could see the others reacting too – Gabe's eyes widening in surprise, Olivia unconsciously shifting into a defensive stance, Lucas furiously tapping at a device that was probably going haywire from the magical interference.

Alex watched, fascinated and more than a little unnerved, as Zac's eyes snapped open. Where there had been warm brown irises, now twin pools of blood-red gazed out at nothing and everything.

The vial in Zac's hand began to float, defying gravity as if it were the most natural thing in the world. With a soft 'pop', the stopper came free, and the blood within rose in a sinuous stream.

It was beautiful and terrifying, Alex thought. The blood danced around Zac like a living thing, responding to commands only the young hemomancer could hear. As it moved, Alex could feel the magic in the room intensifying, building towards some unknown crescendo.

Then, with a gesture that looked almost casual, Zac formed the blood into a perfect sphere and launched it skyward. The crimson orb hung in the air for a heartbeat, two, three...

And then it exploded in a blinding flash of red light.

Alex blinked spots from his vision, his heart racing. When he could see clearly again, his breath caught in his throat.

Zac was floating several feet off the ground, surrounded by a web of blood that pulsed and shifted like a living thing. But it was his voice that sent a chill down Alex's spine.

"I see them," Zac said, but it wasn't just Zac speaking. There was an otherworldly timbre to his words, a resonance that spoke of ancient power. Absalom's influence, Alex realized with a start.

"They are near," Zac/Absalom continued. "In this realm, but hidden. Shielded. A place where magic fears to tread, buried deep beneath the earth."

Alex's mind raced, trying to process the information. "Can you be more specific?" he pressed, frustration coloring his tone. "We need a location, kid."

But Zac didn't seem to hear him. The blood web around him pulsed once, twice, and then began to retract. With a grace that seemed at odds with the raw power he'd just displayed, Zac descended to the ground. The blood flowed back into the vial, which sealed itself with a soft 'click'.

For a moment, Zac stood perfectly still, his eyes slowly fading from blood-red back to their normal brown. Then, like a puppet with its strings cut, he began to crumple.

Fenrir was there in an instant, catching the boy before he could hit the ground. Alex felt his heart leap into his throat, a surge of protective instinct nearly overwhelming him.

"Zac!" he barked, striding forward. "You okay, kid?"

To his immense relief, Zac managed a weak smile. "I'm good," he mumbled, though he looked anything but. "Just... tired. Really, really tired."

Marcus stepped forward, his face a mask of concern. "I'll take him to Finn," he said, carefully taking Zac from Fenrir's arms. "Kid needs rest and probably about a gallon of orange juice."

As Marcus carried Zac out, Alex felt the adrenaline that had been coursing through him start to ebb, leaving behind a bone-deep weariness. They had information now, yes, but it was frustratingly vague. A hidden, warded place underground. Great. That only narrowed it down to about a million possible locations.

Alex scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling the rough stubble that had accumulated over the past sleepless hours. "Alright, people," he growled, his voice rough with fatigue and frustration. "Let's take this back to the briefing room. We need to start narrowing down our options."

The team filed out of the secret room, the air heavy with a mixture of hope and uncertainty. As they made their way back to more familiar territory, Alex could feel the weight of their expectations pressing down on him. They were looking to him for answers, for direction. And right now, he felt about as directionally capable as a drunk squirrel in a hurricane.

The briefing room, when they entered it, felt almost comically normal after the eldritch energies they'd just witnessed. The familiar smell of stale coffee and dry-erase markers was oddly comforting. Alex had just opened his mouth to start delegating tasks when Gabe's voice cut through the air like a knife.

"I know where they are." The witch breathed, his eyes wide with sudden realization.

Every head in the room swiveled towards Gabe. Alex felt his heart rate kick up a notch, hope and skepticism warring in his chest. "You sure about that?" he asked, his voice carefully neutral. "Because if you're wrong-"

"I'm not wrong," Gabe interrupted, an unusual edge of confidence in his voice. "It's the underground train station. In New York."

For a moment, there was dead silence in the room. Then, like a dam breaking, everyone started talking at once.

"The subway?" Olivia asked, incredulity clear in her tone. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"It makes sense," Lucas mused, his fingers already flying over his tablet. "The extensive network, the constant flow of people to mask any unusual activity..."

"But the wards," Emma interjected, her brow furrowed in concentration. "How could they operate in a place like that without detection?"

Alex held up a hand, silencing the chatter. "Gabe," he said, fixing the witch with an intense stare. "Explain. Now."

Gabe took a deep breath, visibly collecting his thoughts. "The New York subway system has always been heavily warded," he began. "It's a necessity, given the sheer amount of magical and mundane traffic that flows through it daily. But those wards aren't just for protection - they're also for concealment."

He started pacing as he spoke, his hands gesticulating wildly. "Think about it. A place where no magic can penetrate, buried deep underground, right in the heart of one of the busiest cities in the world. It's the perfect hiding spot. Hidden in plain sight, as it were."

Alex felt a chill run down his spine as the pieces fell into place. It was audacious, he had to give them that. Who would think to look for a secret divine hideout in the middle of New York's public transportation system?

"Fuck me," he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, so we've got a location. But how the hell do we mount a rescue in the middle of a crowded subway station without causing a panic? "

Lily stepped forward, her expression grim. "We don't," she said simply. "We evacuate the station."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Just like that? You think they are going to shut down a major transit hub because we ask nicely?"

A ghost of a smile flickered across Lily's face. "Who said anything about asking nicely? I'll contact the HIB. They can manufacture a crisis - gas leak, terrorist threat, whatever. The important thing is getting civilians out of the line of fire."

Alex nodded, feeling a surge of gratitude for Lily's practical approach. "Do it," he ordered. "And tell them to move fast. We don't know how much time Eryx has left."

As Lily pulled out her phone, already dialing, Alex turned to the rest of the team. "Alright, people. This is it. We've got a location and a plan. I need everyone geared up and ready to move in fifteen minutes."

He looked each of them in the eye, seeing determination, fear, and resolve reflected back at him. "I won't lie to you. This is going to be dangerous as fuck. We're talking about taking on gods in their own territory. If anyone wants to sit this one out, now's the time to speak up. No judgment, no hard feelings."

The silence that followed was answer enough. Alex felt a swell of pride in his chest. They were a motley crew, sure, but damn if they weren't the best team he could ask for.

"Right then," he growled, clapping his hands together. "Gear up. We move as soon as Lily gives us the green light."

As the team dispersed to prepare, Alex found himself alone for a moment. He closed his eyes, reaching out once more for that familiar presence, that warm spark that was Eryx. Still nothing. Just the aching void where their bond should be.

"Hang on, you stubborn bastard," he muttered, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "We're coming for you. Just hold on a little longer."