Chapter Twenty-One

"Hey, you guys are late," Kai instantly greets us as we walk through the door to see everyone just starting to sit down to eat, "we were hoping that means that you found something?"

"Here, take a seat and explain while you eat," Levi says as he gestures to the empty couch.

We all take seats as the guys who stayed at home to make something for lunch hand out big bowls of some red stew looking thing and something that looks like homemade bread, and I have to admit that I'm very impressed.

"Did you guys make the bread too?" Harry asks.

Kai nods and nudges Kysen, "Yeah, Kysen did. Apparently, he's a dab hand at baking."

"This is fucking awesome," Jax mutters as he takes a massive bite of the roll. "I'm never going back to normal bread again. Sorry dude, you're about to get really fucking busy."

Kysen chuckles, "No problem, I'll make you bread. I haven't had much time to make it recently since we've been so busy. It takes a while."

"Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks, dude."

"The Enforcers are here," Cole says, changing the subject as he smiles at Harry, "well, done, you got them here pretty fucking quickly."

"Yeah, once I started explaining, he was getting things organized before we even got off the stone," Harry replies.

"Well, at least that's something that's gone right," Erin mutters.

"So, what happened with you guys?" Levi asks, clearly not able to keep the question in any longer.

We spent the rest of lunch talking through what happened and what we found out.

"So, Asher and I need to get into the library then?" Erin asks, seeming more excited than nervous.

"Yeah, we should probably wait until tomorrow night though," I suggest, "the Enforcers have only just got here, so they're most likely going to be going over the scene for most of the night as well. It'll be difficult for us to get in there even using Erin's gift."

"Yeah, that makes sense. We'll do it tomorrow night then, and that will give us more of a chance to make sure that there is a safe way to get them in and out." Levi agrees.

"I kind of want to get it done now so that we can sort this quicker, but I get why we need to wait," Cole says, and everyone makes some sort of agreement with him.

"We could really do with Cain being back so that we can see what he knows and if anyone has given him information that they wouldn't give students," Kai suggests, sounding a bit frustrated by Cain's absence.

"Also, if Nyx has given him any information that she told him when he went home," Kysen adds.

"Yeah, I hadn't thought of that," Levi replies.

After we've eaten, everyone slowly starts to leave, and I spend the rest of the day with my head buried in some of the books that we do have in the room. I know that there isn't going to be anything that we need in them, but I simply can't sit around and do nothing. I'm fed up with it.

"It's more than that,"my inner voice mutters.

It"s enough to make me stop, and instead of carrying on furiously reading, I close my eyes and inhale deeply as I allow myself to focus on my magic. Just as I thought, it"s restless and tense. Something is coming, and I have no idea what it is, but it's enough to unnerve my magic. The Darkness is more extensive, so much bigger, and I realise that instead of being almost completely obscured by my magic, the Darkness is now pushing against those bounds, and my magic is going to become thin in places if I don't figure out what it is soon.

I don't have the time to do it now though. I need to focus on the Order and getting things back to normal here. Then, hopefully, there will be at least a small window of time where I can figure out what is going on with the Darkness before the Order of Kronos throws their next issue at us.

I just hope that I can hold out for that long and that the Darkness doesn't completely overwhelm my magic.

I know that it's not healthy, but I push it to the side, put a pin in it, and bury my head back into the books. I'm trying to do anything to keep my mind busy. My eyes catch on the word Kronos, and I lean in closer, reading the passage.

"Kronos is the master manipulator. He can manipulate time, objects, and perhaps the most dangerous perceptions. He revels in the hardships of wars and feeds on the sorrow and pain, adding to it whenever he can. His ultimate goal, and one that he is yet to achieve, is to rule over his own kingdom. As the youngest in his family, he does not gain access to the throne, and this has been a point of anger for him, and most scholars believe where his obsession started."

Huh, well, that gives me a little bit more insight into his past, but it doesn't let me know how to defeat him or give me any fundamental weaknesses that could help us defeat him. I even sound crazy to myself, saying that we need to defeat Kronos, who is a fucking God, but it's true. The only way that we can put an end to the Order and the amount of devastation that it causes is to end Kronos because by doing that, they lose their power.

However, I have no idea how to end a God, and I highly doubt that it will be easy. It's not like there is a book somewhere that tells you how to do it; I mean, if I were a God, I would make sure that such a book didn't exist; that's just asking for trouble.

A sudden pounding and forceful knock sounds on the door to our room, and I frown. That's weird; we never get visitors, and certainly not at this time in the evening when everyone else is at dinner. Unless the guys ordered some food to our room, but they never have before. Infinitely curious, I abandon the book and head out of the room, bumping into Kai and Jax in the hallway, who are coming out of their rooms too. They're obviously just as curious as I am.

"Any ideas who that is?" I ask them both.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," Jax says.

"Well, let"s go and find out," Kai adds as he swings an arm around my shoulders.

We make our way into the main room just in time to see Levi open the door. The sight beyond it has me confused; there are four enforcers with grave faces standing at the door. Jett and Asher are standing between two of them, almost like they're being guarded, while the others are standing behind them with varying looks of fear, anger, and upset. I instantly get a sinking feeling. I want to turn around, but it"s too late; they've already seen us.

"Can we help you?" Levi asks, his voice stiff and controlled.

I can feel his anger sparking through the Bond Lines at the sight of Jett and Asher being detained, but he's managing to hide it well.

"We're here to take Kai in for questioning in relation to the murder that has occurred in the library," the Enforcer at the front announces.

"On what grounds?" Maverick demands.

"Witnesses that saw Kai, Asher, and Jett enter the library at the supposed time of death," he replies.

"And that doesn't seem suspicious to you at all? That the only students to be accused or questioned are the Bond mates of the only Centres present at this school?" I question. There's no doubting the anger in my voice.

My Darkness spikes, thinning out the ring of magic that is surrounding it even more, and I clamp down it hard, not allowing even a whiff of it to escape.

"We did not say that they were the only students that were accused," he replies to me, although doubt has started to appear in all of their eyes.

"No, you did not, but I am not wrong, am I?" I challenge him.

It"s silent for a moment before one of the Enforcer's that's guarding Asher and Jett says, "No, you are not."

"Be that as it may, I'm afraid that it is our duty to bring them for questioning." The main Enforcer says.

"But," I start, and Erin pushes through them all, coming to stand by me.

"There's no point; we've tried everything, and it pretty much boils down to if we interfere or they refuse to go, then we all end up being taken in, questioned, and detained for a certain amount of time for interfering. It will be far quicker if they just go with them," Erin explains, although it"s done through her teeth, and her fingers are sparking with magic.

"She is right," the main enforcer agrees.

Kai's fingers gently turn my face toward him. He kisses me gently and says, "Don't worry, Beautiful, we'll be back before you know it."

My throat suddenly feels tight, so all I do is nod in reply, and he studies me closely before kissing me one last time and then turning toward the Enforcers. As they're leaving, Cole and the rest of his and Erin's Bonded come through the door, all of them looking worried as hell.

"One second," I hear one of them say, and he gains all of our attention again, "I listened in our classes and had a great great grandmother who was friends with Centres and wrote everything down," he starts to explain, before refocusing, "what I'm getting at is that we've set up a room here to make our inquiries and as such you will not be able to contact them for the duration of it using your Bond Lines the magic will be blocked. I didn't want you to think something nefarious had happened and come after us with all magic blazing."

That lead ball in my stomach gets heavier, but I nod.

"Understood, thank you for informing us," Levi replies.

"We'll let you know when we're out," Asher adds, looking at Cole. "I promise."

With that, they all walk down the hallway, and we watch them disappear.

"I don't like this," Harry mutters.

"Me neither. The Order may get their wish and get at least some of us stripped of power," Dash adds.

"What happens if they think that they've found something?" Erin asks, looking around at the group.

"Then they'll take them into custody until they can prove it either way," Kysen replies.

"Fuck," Cole curses.

"Don't worry, we won't let that happen," Levi says.

"We may not have a choice," Kysen replies, "they won't come back to tell us what's happened, they"ll simply take them into custody."

"Will we be able to contact them using the Bond Lines?" Jax asks.

Kysen shakes his head, "I highly doubt it. They know about the Bond Lines; they aren't going to risk us making a plan for their escape."

"Good point, so if we wanted to get them out, we'd have to do it the old-fashioned way," I muse, a plan beginning to form in my mind.

"Whoa, hold up," Levi says, interrupting my very violent thought process, "we don't know for certain that will happen, and more than that, they themselves were questioning the legitimacy of the accusation. We need to calm down and stay put for the moment. We'll give it a couple of hours and then we'll make a plan."

"Levi's right," Kysen agrees.

Everyone else nods in agreement, and when Levi looks at me with his eyebrow raised, I reluctantly nod my own agreement. I know he is right logically, but I don't like it, especially since none of us can actually communicate with each other.

"What do we do while we wait?" Hunter asks.

"Well, I know one thing: I'm staying here. I suddenly feel like we're vulnerable if we split up," Cole points out as he takes a seat.

"Yeah, me too," Erin agrees and then says quieter, "I really don't like this; my magic is on edge."

I breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that someone else's magic is playing up in this situation and not just mine. Although I highly doubt that she has an issue with the Darkness like I do.

"I agree; we can all stay here while we wait," Levi replies, and then adds, "We may need to move quickly if something does go wrong."

"I really fucking hope that nothing goes wrong," Kysen says. He's not sitting down like almost all of the rest of us but is instead pacing, giving away just how worried he is.

"I'm going to make some hot drinks," I say when the room stays silent for a while, everyone stuck in their own heads and worrying.

There's a slight murmur of agreement, but no one really says anything, and I'm grateful when the sound of the water boiling and the clinking of the cups fills the space.

Unfortunately, making drinks does not take nearly as much time as I was hoping it would and therefore, doesn't really provide me with much of a distraction. I could go back to reading, but I'm so worried about Kai, Asher, and Jett that I know I'll just end up reading the same sentence over and over again and not absorbing anything, so there really isn't much point.

Time drags on, and as it does, we each get more and more concerned that something might have gone wrong.

I'm just about to throw in the towel and suggest that we go and see them to ensure that they really are okay when my vision suddenly changes. I panic, thinking that something has happened to Kai, and this is the Bond's way of telling me. But as my vision clears, I realize that Ghost is sharing his sight with me.

This can't be good.

Sure enough, I watch through Ghost, a group of teachers that I barely recognize make their way into the building. They're walking with purpose, and when they head straight toward where we know the object is, it's clear that's what they're here for.

Fuck.

I carry on watching and become even more curious when they don't immediately pick it up and instead stand around talking like they have all the time in the world.

"They'll be occupied with some of their precious members being taken in for questioning," one of them says.

"Great, I hate moving this thing. It takes far too long and is far too," she pauses, "What's the word, oh yes, deadly."

"I know, but if he says he wants it moved then we move it," a third one replies.

"Where exactly are we moving it to this time?" yet another teacher asks.

"I think there are going to be more spells put on it to make it even more deadly, and then it's being put in the headmaster"s high security safe. There's no way that anyone can gain access to it, even if they knew that the little gem was in there." Someone says.

I think it"s interesting that none of them have questioned the reason that it"s so well protected or what it does. One thing is abundantly clear though: I cannot let them move the object; they've said to themselves how impossible it will be to get to it, and we can't risk it. We will never get the teachers out from under the Order and Kronos's control if they put the object in a place as guarded as they're suggesting.

I feel Knot enquiring whether I want her and Ghost to do something, but I shake my head before remembering that, of course, she can't see me and is asking me although she's looking at Ghost.

"No, it's okay. Tell her that we'll be right there, keep watch, and let me know if they manage to get it out of the wall. They made it sound like it was quite a process to get it out and move it, so hopefully, that will give us enough time to get there."

She nods her agreement, and then my vision is suddenly my own, and the whole room is staring at me curiously, like they know that something just happened. To be fair to them, they might. I have no idea what I look like when I see through Ghost's eyes. For all I know, I could start glowing or something.

"What happened?" Levi asks, "Are the guys okay?"

"I have no idea. That wasn't about them," I explain as I get up, "there are five teachers trying to move the green gemstone that's controlling them, but where they're moving to is going to make it absolutely impossible to get to it and break the spells."

"Okay, so we need to go and stop them then?" Erin grins, standing up and starting to stretch. She knows where this is going, and she wants to be involved. Like me, she needs to be doing something, especially when she's worried, and she is extremely worried about Jett and the others.

"Yes, but I don't think it will take too many of us, and I think it would be better if the majority of us stayed here in case the guys need us," I reply, checking that I've got all the weapons I need.

"Yes, I agree," Levi says and then looks around at all the eager faces in the room. I think all of them would like to be involved, if only to distract themselves from what's happening with the guys. Levi sighs, "Okay, Kysen and Jax, you go with Erin and Sage. Remember that you are not killing them, just rendering them useless so that they can't move the stone."

"I can help with that. I've got these," Kysen says as he pulls something that looks like rubber bands out of his pocket but bigger, "so you put these around their wrists, kind of like handcuffs, and then you say, magicae madefacit, that will dampen their magic so that they can't use it for a short period of time."