Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

LEVI

" T all, dark, and scary! Wake up!" someone shouts over me. I jackknife in my bed and launch a throwing knife I keep under my pillow at the noise. I see a very startled ghost looking between me and the knife embedded in the wall behind her. "Well, that was terrifying, but we need to go. Izzy needs Bishop!"

"What's the problem, ghost?" I get out of bed and hunt around for my clothes. I'm still confused by how the spirit is able to come and leave this plane at will. It must have something to do with her spending time around my very powerful mate. It baffles me how those mages are unaware of the staggering amount of power she possesses. I almost think she could take my brother in a power fight, which is unheard of.

"There's no time! The kid's dying. We need to get to Bishop, now." The ghost's eyes are frantic and pleading with me. It's clear the spirit cares deeply for my mate.

My blood runs cold when I process what she said. While I want to know what exactly is happening, I care about my mate's well-being more. "Then, hold on to me, ghost. We won't waste time with portaling."

When her spectral hand hesitantly touches my shoulder, I pull on the blood-red flames of magic in my chest. I transport both of us to Bishop St. James's room. The moonlight streaming in from one of his large windows gives me enough illumination to see the mage. He bolts up in bed much like I did, but he aims a gun at my head. Interesting. It seems the pretty boy mage has more to him than I first thought. A gun won't do anything to me if I did want to harm the mage, however.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Levi? It's two in the goddamn morning." The mage drops his hand holding the gun when he realizes it's me. He scrubs his hands over his face and seems like he could fall back asleep sitting up.

"The ghost says Izzy's in trouble and needs you." My voice remains steady, but the worry for my little raven is like acid crawling through my veins.

"Or Aiden and Rhys, but that's only as an absolute last choice. The kid doesn't want her family knowing what she does." I nod to show I heard the spirit.

"What type of trouble?" Bishop throws off the covers and rushes around his room to get dressed.

"I don't know. The ghost just said she's dying and needs you."

Bishop pales. "She's still healing them, isn't she, Aggie? Does Izzy need my magic because she overdid it tonight?"

"Yeah, she is. The kid never stopped, Bishop. She doesn't have enough magic to make it through tonight." The spirit's eyes soften in sympathy as she gazes at the mage.

I relay what she said to Bishop.

"Goddamn it, Izzy," Bishop rasps brokenly. He shoves one hand through his hair before seeming to shake himself. "She and I are having a talk once she's better, and she will get through this. There's no other option. We need to go get the wolves. Their touch can help her heal."

I dip my chin in acknowledgment. "Hold on to me, mage and ghost. I can get us there faster than using a portal." Once both the mage and spirit are holding on to my arms, I call on my magic again. As soon as I picture the alpha wolf, all three of us are standing in his room.

Unlike Bishop and me, he's not asleep. Instead, the wolf is bent over his desk, working on something. He turns to face us, not startled in the least to see the mage and me. "What is it this time, Bishop?"

"Izzy's hurt. She needs you, Archer, and Cain." The wolf's relaxed demeanor evaporates as Bishop talks.

He stands up and stalks over to us. As with most shifters, the wolf is wearing the bare minimum, with only a pair of faded jeans on. "What's going on?"

"I'll explain later, but we need to go. She likely doesn't have much time." The wolf's eyes flash amber at the threat to his mate. I'm mildly impressed the young alpha is able to keep his wolf from taking over. At his age, I had decidedly less control over myself. My brother loves to remind me what a menace I was, even though it was so long ago.

"Archer! Cain!" the wolf bellows. My ears ring from the sound. The wolf gives my brother's hounds a run for their money on sheer volume. I hear the thuds of footsteps rushing toward us before the other wolves come into view. While the youngest wolf is dressed similarly to his brother, the middle wolf is fully dressed in a suit.

"Fucking what, bro?" Archer leans against the doorframe, seeming fairly relaxed, at least compared to the mage, alpha, and me. While he tries to appear easygoing, I can spot a predator far too easily for him to fool me. It's the sharpness in his gaze and how he always scans rooms for threats that give him away.

"Izzy's injured." Both of the other wolves' eyes turn fully amber. Fur ripples up the youngest wolf's arms, but he's able to stop the shift a moment later. Good. We don't have time for wolf temper tantrums if what Bishop says is correct.

"If we're done stalling, everyone needs to hold on to me. I'll get us there faster," I explain for the third time. I could transport them there without touching them, but it can be draining. Since I don't know exactly what's wrong with my little raven, I don't want to waste any of my magic.

"Before we go, all of you need to prepare to see Izzy in rough shape," Bishop warns. "She'll have what looks like fatal injuries, but as long as I can give her enough magic, she won't die."

While the mage meant that to be reassuring, it's not. With how much power Izzy has, I'm doubtful the mage has enough to sustain her. I may find out tonight whether my mate can absorb my power or not. No one from this realm should be able to, but nothing about my mate's magic is normal.

When the wolves nod at the mage, he places his hand on my shoulder. The wolves and ghost follow suit. As soon as I think about my mate, the six of us are transported to a clearing in the forest that surrounds Hawthorne Grove.

With the moon shining brightly, I can see every heart-wrenching detail of my mate. She's writhing on the forest floor in only a bra and shorts. Although it's hard to tell exactly what she's wearing through the blood painting every inch of her paler-than-normal skin. My mate has ragged slashes marring most of her normally smooth skin. Her mouth is open, but only a hoarse whisper of a scream comes out.

As I'm taking in my mate, the mage rushes to her right side and grabs her bloody hand. Izzy's nails are ragged and broken, like she's been clawing at something. The mage's hands glow blue as he starts funneling his magic into her.

"What the fuck happened?" the alpha wolf demands as he falls to his knees on my mate's other side. He grabs her other hand, uncaring of the blood smearing on his hands and pants. The other two wolves move to the alpha's side and also place their hands on my mate's bare skin. Shifters of this realm can help their mates heal through physical touch.

Bishop clenches his jaw as he stares at my mate's face twisted in agony. He's reluctant to betray her secrets, which I can respect.

Izzy never told me not to divulge the fact she can see spirits, so I feel comfortable turning to the ghost. "What happened, ghost?"

"Ghost?" the youngest wolf echoes, but I don't pay attention to him.

"The kid can heal ghosts with soul wounds. By healing them, the ghosts can cross over. When the kid heals these wounds, she has to experience the same injury as some sort of consequence for it. Normally, the kid heals, at most, eight to ten ghosts a night and rests in between each one. Tonight, she healed twenty without any breaks. I tried to stop her, but I couldn't get through to her." The spirit's voice breaks, and a lone tear trails down her translucent cheek.

I repeat what she said word-for-word to the mage and wolves. While I'm repeating it, I come to a conclusion that shouldn't be so startling, given how much power she has. "Izzy isn't just a spirit mage. Healing ghosts isn't possible for spirit mages."

Spirit mages have an affinity for death, unlike the typical mage that has an affinity for a natural element. Their unique magic allows them to see ghosts and access the spirit plane. Spirit mages are often exceptionally powerful, which is probably why they were outlawed centuries ago. However, spirit mages cannot physically influence the dead, and no spirit mage I've ever met comes close to matching Izzy's power.

"Spirit mage?" the alpha wolf breathes. "Oh, fuck. No wonder she wouldn't tell us what she could do."

As Bishop's magic flows into my little raven, her cuts heal fully, only to split back open. It happens over and over and over. The youngest wolf looks a little green watching this happen. If I didn't have the extensive experience I do, I'd probably be a little sick seeing it, too.

"Your magic isn't working, Bishop!" The normally calm and collected suited wolf glares at the mage, and a low-pitched growl vibrates in his throat.

"It is working, Cain. Izzy's trying to heal the mortal wounds of twenty different people all at once. They all died from something similar, which is why her injuries keep healing and reforming. I don't know what drove her to think she could heal twenty fucking people, though." The mage continues to funnel his magic into my mate. He surprises me by not looking as drained as I thought he would. The mage has been hiding the extent of his true power, which is curious. Most mages love flashing their power.

"It was a group of young mages, including Amelia, who were killed at the council headquarters. She was trying to figure out what happened," the ghost tells me. I, again, pass on the spirit's message.

"Fuck. Izzy must've been devastated to have to heal Amelia. What the hell is going on at the council?" The mage mutters the last part to himself.

"If she's passed out from the cuts, why does she keep moving around?" The young wolf is staring at my mate with his brows furrowed, and his lips that are usually smiling are now downturned.

"She's not passed out, Arch. Whatever allows her to heal ghosts also ensures she stays awake while she experiences the same wounds. Izzy is lost to the pain right now but not unconscious." The mage gazes at my mate with sorrow and anguish swimming in his eyes.

I'm sure the same pain is reflected in my own eyes. I would rather spend a year being tortured in the pits than watch my mate go through this for even a minute.

Without knowing exactly what she is, there's nothing I can do to help. The helplessness causes my magic to roar in my chest, demanding we burn down this plane for hurting our mate. If I thought my mate would enjoy that, I'd do it in an instant. However, I doubt she would be pleased with me razing her home.

We watch my mate suffer for more than two hours. By the time her struggles cease, and the wounds no longer reopen, Izzy has lost her voice. She's been screaming silently for the last hour, which is somehow worse than the pitiful hoarse whimpers she was making.

The mage releases her hand and slumps over on the forest floor . He must've given my mate everything he had. I begrudgingly respect him more for sacrificing himself for her. Since his chest is still rising and falling steadily, I know that the mage will wake up eventually.

The wolves bounce their gazes between my mate and the mage. They look like they don't know who to be more worried about. "The mage will be fine, wolves. It also appears that little raven's done healing. Is there a place in this realm we can take her to recover?"

"We'll circle back around to your realm comment, demon eyes," the youngest wolf says, "but Bishop and sunshine can recover in our pack house. They'll be safe there."

With a nod, I bend down and gently pick up my mate. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the youngest wolf. "I'm far worse than a demon, pup. Can one of you grab the mage?"

"That's… not reassuring." He turns to watch his brother easily pick up the mage. While the mage is large for his species, the alpha is a fair amount bigger than him.

"It wasn't meant to be, wolf." I wait until all the wolves and the spirit place their hands on me before transporting us to the alpha wolf's bedroom.

Once we're in the pack keep, I pull on my magic to cleanse my mate of her blood, sweat, tears, and forest debris. She'll feel much better when she wakes up if she's clean. I stride over to lay my little raven gently in the wolf's bed. I place the blanket at the end of the bed over both my mate and the mage.

Then I settle in to wait for her to wake up.