47. Raiden

47

RAIDEN

R age boils through my veins as I stare after Beau. I'm on my feet without even realizing as his words wash over me.

Vampires.

Fucking vampires.

Not just normal vampires. No. The damn frenzied kind.

Beau's right, this is The Council's doing, but what twists my stomach the most is the fact that I know my mother is behind this. My father too? I'm not entirely sure, but one thing is for certain, I no longer wish to bask in the superiority that comes with being a Holloway.

It's a label that feels more like a curse than a blessing. I stepped through the doors of this academy on opening day thinking I was the shit simply because I was a vampire with a feared name. Now, it leaves me embarrassed more than anything else.

Everything I thought I ever knew means nothing. The only truth I've ever felt is in the grasps of my brothers and the presence of my Troublemaker.

Adrianna's chair scrapes across the floor as she rises from her seat, pulling me from my thoughts as Brody does the same. Kryll was already standing, but he's waiting for her next move before he makes his own.

She was our central point before The Council conjured their magic and fated us together for all of eternity, but now, it just shines even brighter.

Wherever she goes, we'll follow.

Her gaze darts from Beau's retreating form to the three of us around the table before she takes in the fact that none of the other students seem fazed by what's happening around them. A soft curse under her breath and a tight smile our way, and she's off.

We're a step behind her.

As our feet pound across the floor, I feel the tingles of the fated mates magic at my core. Even with Brody's guidance on how to try to keep it at bay, it still makes its presence known. My steps falter as I take a moment to think, and instead of doubling down on the threads of magic threatening to unleash and connect us all on a deeper level, I succumb to it.

My eyelids flicker as I sway on the spot.

I feel Adrianna first, her determination and strength flooding my thoughts, while Kryll vibrates through me with a darkness I can only relate to a dragon. He's dedicated to his woman, ready to attack or defend at any given moment, and it almost leaves me afraid that I don't love her enough.

Clearing my throat, I force my eyes open as I hurry to catch up, only to find Brody staring at me expectantly. Our connection is vibrant as he gives me a knowing look, confirming that he's letting the magic run through him freely too.

He falls into step with me without a word as we follow Adrianna and Kryll through the doors and down the corridor. If Beau knows we're following him, he doesn't acknowledge it. A knot twists in my stomach, a feral connection that I know only leads to one person.

Cassian.

Before I can think better of it, I tug as hard as I can, silently pleading for him to get his ass here, but there's no knowing if he senses me or not as we reel to a halt by the academy doors.

The screams are louder, the terror even more deafening as I peer through the stained glass the best I can to catch a glimpse of what is happening on the other side.

Even through the stained and mottled glass, blood splatter is visible as the carnage unravels.

"How many are there?" Kryll asks, looking to his brother, who shrugs in response.

"They're not birthday presents wrapped all pristine for me to count, Kryll. What do you want me to say? Thirty-six?"

Kryll shakes his head in irritation as he turns his back on his brother. "Fuck off, asshole. I'm trying to gauge what we're up against and you're being a dick. Next thing you'll want is for me to pat you on the back for counting them all yourself," he snaps back, but there's no time for this.

I can see it in Adrianna's eyes. She wants to get out there and help. She doesn't want to have to deal with this shit.

"Up against? You're up against nothing," Beau bites back, snapping everyone's attention to him.

"We're not doing this again, Tora," Adrianna grinds out, using his last name instead of his first. "You didn't stop us the last time we saw frenzied vampires on official academy time, and you won't stop us now," she adds before reaching for the door.

I sense his shift as he tries to stop her, but no one gets in the way of my woman and what she wants. I cut the distance in a single breath, shouldering him to the side as Adrianna continues, and the door swings open a moment later.

Just as she did that night in the middle of the City of Harrows, she charges at the enemy, ready to lay down her life in the line of duty for her kingdom. And just like last time, I'm right with her. Alongside Brody and Kryll. Aware of the missing puzzle piece, I tug on the connection I feel with Cassian again, hoping for the best before I enter the battle.

I lunge for the closest vampire, their beady eyes wild with need. They're so jacked up on the taste of blood, which drips down from their chin, that they don't even see me coming. His neck snaps like a twig in my hands and his limbs crumple to the ground a second later as a shimmering light dances in the night sky.

The first time I saw it, I was startled, distracted, and almost blinded, but now, I see its purpose and appreciate its glow. With my guard down, I also feel the connection with her magic as it projects into the night sky, coating one civilian after another.

I watch in awe as Adrianna stands center stage, light pouring off her like a fountain as it drapes over the innocent, allowing me to highlight the vampires in the darkness. Scrambling over lifeless bodies that we didn't get a chance to save, I track my next target.

The frenzied vampire is a woman with blood-stained hair and pitch-black eyes. Her back is hunched, her fingers curled at her sides as she desperately seeks her next prey. She reaches her hand into the light, eager to sink her teeth into her next piece of flesh, but instead, a blood-curdling scream parts her lips as she whips her arm back, sans any fingers attached to her hand.

She's too busy staring down at the burnt flesh to see me coming and I make quick work of dispatching her, watching her crumple at my feet. Satisfied, I peer into the darkness, ready to attack again, when a flash of fire burns in the distance. It takes a moment to spot where it's coming from, and I relax when I see it's Kryll decimating more of the frenzied fuckers on the other side of the light.

With the sound of Brody's chants echoing in my ears and my mates holding their own, I fall into a rhythm, slaying one vampire after another until no more remain.

A cocky grin tips the corner of my mouth as I wipe my hands. Adrianna must sense the same accomplishment because a moment later, the bright light dims and the civilians are no longer under her immediate protection.

Murmurs vibrate through the crowd, thanks and relief washing over them. Each one offers a glance of some kind in Adrianna's direction, but she doesn't seem to notice it as she squints at something in the distance.

"What's wrong?" I ask, sidling up to her side a moment later, and her frown only deepens.

"What's that?" She points in the distance, but all I can see is empty academy grounds. I shrug, certain she's seeing things, but then a roar from above makes me still. Kryll's wings swoop through the air as he circles the sky ahead before he heads back in our direction.

I feel it then, his emotions through our connection, and I curse. "You feel it too?" Adrianna asks, squeezing my arm in a mixture of comfort and concern, and I grunt.

"I have my walls down. He's alert, panicked, and?—"

"Warning us," she finishes, eyes scanning the sky for Kryll's next move.

"Vampires. More vampires," Brody states, rushing to Adrianna's other side, and I curse. More? Of course there are more. That's all we need right now. "What do we do?" he asks, eyes fixed on Adrianna, but it's a pointless question when we all already know the answer.

Pressing my lips to her temple, I breathe her in for a split second before I face Brody. "We do what we always do: we fight."

Eager to get this over with sooner rather than later, I charge toward the stampede of vampires that rushes toward us. Light shines behind me, and I know Adrianna's magic is taking on a mind of its own again.

My eyes narrow as I charge toward the carnage, my vampire speed unmatched by those stumbling toward us. I take out the first six before they even realize I exist, while Kryll sets them alight from the back of the group.

Excitement buzzes through me, confirming that I'm slightly unhinged with every one of them that hits the ground. Instead of hiding from my delight, I relish in the feeling, taking out four from the next row before I'm stopped in my tracks.

"Really, Son? Do you want it to end like this?" My mother cocks a brow at me, her hair perfectly in place, her outfit as pristine as ever, as she wanders among the frenzied.

"Why are you here? Why are you doing this?" I snarl, fury boiling beneath the surface as I face the woman who has provided me with nothing but pain and anguish. Even that's a stretch. I've never been high on her list of priorities, not even when she was elected to be a professor at the academy. Now, I see that move for what it was; her weaseling her way into the folds of the new times. She thought she would be able to stay one step ahead of the academy if she was among it.

Now, she's the outsider she's always been, and I'm no longer at her side.

"Did you really think The Council would concede so easily? How foolish," she sneers, her eyes narrowing to slits as though she's inconvenienced with having to explain herself to me.

It's in that moment, in that single look, that I don't need an explanation from her. I don't need anything. I have everything I'll ever need already.

I could have nothing and it would still be more than what I need from her.

There isn't a nurturing bone in her body. Not one. She's all about herself. Always.

"You're the foolish one, Mother. For thinking you would still be relevant after all these years. You're no longer good for our kingdom, you're worthless to our people, and you don't deserve the power that's been so freely handed to you. Now, if you don't mind, I have an academy to protect," I state, taking a backward step as I offer her a small salute.

My dismissal does nothing but piss her off more and her hands ball into fists at her sides, but that's no longer my problem. Turning my back on her, I set my sights on the closest frenzied vampire, but before I can take a single step, fingers coil in my hair, wrenching my head back as whispers echo in my ear.

"You always were a worthless offspring. I sent you to the academy in hopes you would prove yourself to me, but I should have known you would fail. Worthless, unloved, and alone. That's what you always have been and what you always will be. Now, say goodbye to this little life you think you've created for yourself because I'm going to burn it all to the ground. Starting with you." Her threat coils around my body as her hands reach for my neck, ready to treat me exactly as I've been treating the frenzied.

My anger sees no limits as I reach for her wrists, but she's one step ahead, moving before I can. My throat clogs with the tightness of her grip, threatening to snap in the next moment, but before the world goes black at the snap of my neck, a growl rumbles through the air and her hold on me is gone.

I fall freely, my back colliding with the ground a moment later as my fingers curl into the strands of grass. It takes a minute for me to catch my breath, panting with every second as I confirm that I'm not fucking dead. At my mother's hands, no less.

Pushing up, I quickly topple back over when four paws and a set of snarling teeth leap over me, tackling my mother to the ground beside me. Twisting my head, I watch, completely enthralled as my mother is chewed up and spit out effortlessly.

Piercing hazel eyes meet mine in the darkness and the connection in my core flares to life.

Cassian.

Not just him, but all of the wolves.

I sit in awe, watching as countless frenzied vampires, along with their foolish leader, fall to the claws of the Kenner wolves and Kryll's flames, until a sense of calmness washes over the campus.

Rising from the ashes of night, with a wolf firmly at my side, I head for the glowing beacon, guiding me home.

I'm alert, I'm prepared, I'm determined. Because although the chaos may be gone, it's only temporary, and it's about time we brought it to an end for good.