Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

IZZY

C ain covers his face with his hands and groans. When he drops his arms, his eyes reluctantly meet mine. "I am so sorry about Prue, angel."

"It's not your fault, quiet boy. Your sister's lucky I didn't have any rusty silverware to stab her with, though." I'm not sure whether I'm joking or not. Good thing Prue ran off or we'd find out. Cain smiles at my disgruntled tone, and I give him a small one back.

"Like you're one to judge, Izzy. If anyone knows a thing or two about annoying little sisters, it's you." Aiden grins at me from the other side of Levi. I resist the urge to chuck my napkin at him. Instead, I roll my eyes at my currently least favorite brother.

With Prue gone, everyone returns to their food. When we're all done eating, the wolves, Bishop, and my brothers come over to our side of the table. Everyone breaks into groups and talks for a little while.

When it's time for my family to go, my dad shakes hands with each of my mates. My mom gives them all a motherly hug. Rhys does the bro hug with Bishop, and Aiden fist-bumps each of them.

My dad and brothers each hug me tight before it's my mom's turn. While she's squeezing me, my mom whispers, "I love you, Izzy. We all do. I know I can't stop you from healing spirits. But please be careful. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, baby." Mom's voice breaks, and I hold her a little tighter.

Eventually, she pulls away and gives me a watery smile. Dad wraps his arms around Mom and kisses the top of her head before they go through a portal with my brothers. Aggie gives me a wave before disappearing to wherever she goes when she's not bugging me.

Now that my family is gone, it's just my mates and me. All of my mates are staring at me, and none of them says anything. Like the awkward person I am, I shift from foot to foot and avoid eye contact with any of them.

Levi is the one to finally break the silence. "Will you take a walk outside with me, little raven?"

"Yep!" I say way too quickly and a little too loudly. I'm just stoked to have an out from the awkwardness.

Bishop chuckles at me. I narrow my eyes at him. Rather than be intimidated, he widens his grin. Levi grabs my hand and tugs me after him before I have time to flip off Bishop. There's always later, though.

Levi leads me out of the grand dining room, down a white wood-paneled hallway. At the end of the hallway is an unassuming dark wood door. When Levi pushes through it, we walk out into an absolutely gorgeous backyard. Lush grass surrounds a gray brick paver patio. Trees and shrubs line the patio on the sides. In front of it is a dense forest, full of stunning yellow, red, and orange leafed trees.

We head over to a gray stone wall at the edge of the patio. I chance a look behind me and almost swallow my tongue. Holy fuck. That's a gargantuan house. Pack houses tend to be large because they need to house the entire pack in an emergency. With the Nightshade Pack having almost a thousand shifters, that's a lot of wolves to lodge.

I probably should have expected the sprawling U-shaped house to be this big. Even though it's large, the red brick exterior with white trim, matching shutters, and a gray roof is elegant. The dormers that pop up every five feet or so add interest to the long roof line. Green ivy creeps up the house in several places, breaking up the brick.

When I turn back around, I see Levi sitting on the low wall. He pulls me until I'm between his legs with my back to his front. Levi wraps his arms loosely around me and settles his hands on my stomach. "How are you doing, little raven?"

"I'm fine," I respond automatically. I never want Bishop or my family to worry about me, so my default setting is insisting that I'm all good.

Am I fine?

I really don't know at this point. Too much has happened for my exhausted brain to process right now. So, it's future Izzy's problem to deal with.

Levi hums, like he doesn't believe me, but doesn't push. "How long have you been able to heal ghosts?"

"Since I got my magic." That was not a fun discovery. Little me was freaked out by the gory ghosts that wandered into my room at all hours of the night. Only healing them ever made them go away, so that's when I found out I could do that.

Luckily, Aggie found me within six months of me developing my magic. She was able to keep the spirits at bay better than I did.

"How old were you when you got it?"

"Seven." When Levi doesn't say anything, I get defensive. "I know I'm weird, okay? I don't need any comments about it. I'd change it if I could, trust me."

The only time I've ever prayed to any being that would listen is when I found out what would happen to my family if anyone discovered my magic. I've spent so long wishing, praying, and hoping for my magic to disappear.

It never works.

"That's not what I was going to say, little raven," Levi tells me sternly. He flattens his palms on my stomach and presses me tightly against him as reassurance. I feel something hard nudge my back, but I'm distracted by what Levi says next. "I was just pondering what you are because it's clear you're not just a spirit mage. I wondered if your magic could've come from my realm."

"What do you mean, I'm not a spirit mage? I'm a mage and can see ghosts. Ergo, I'm a spirit mage." It would sure make my life easier if I weren't, but no other mage type can see ghosts.

"I didn't say you weren't a spirit mage. I said you're not just a spirit mage. You know healing ghosts isn't a typical spirit mage power. And I'm betting you have other abilities that aren't typical for spirit mages too." With my back against Levi's front, I can feel his deep voice rumbling through me. It makes me shiver a little.

I really don't need him knowing the full extent of my magic. I'm already enough of an abomination as it is. In an attempt to redirect the conversation, I ask, "What is your realm?"

"That's… difficult to explain."

"Can you tell me what you are, then?" I know he's not a mage, but he hasn't told me what he is yet. I'm dying of curiosity.

"I'd need to show you, and we don't have space for that here."

I huff at his evasive answer. "What about how old you are?"

"I'm far older than you can comprehend, little raven."

"So, you're hundreds of years old?" I guess.

Levi chuckles. "No. Much older."

My eyes widen. Supernaturals typically live hundreds of years. It's longer than humans but apparently shorter than Levi's lifespan. "Thousands? Millions?"

"Mm, getting closer."

"Billions?" I squeak.

"Somewhere around there."

My jaw drops, and my poor little mind can't quite comprehend that one of my mates is billions of years old. "Holy shit. Do you remember the beginning of the universe?"

Levi barks out a laugh. "I'm not quite that old, little raven. I know the same thing you do about the beginning of the universes. Something caused magic to explode into all the universes. Everything in each universe is just a remnant of this explosion."

"There's more than one universe?"

"Of course. There are many other universes out there, like mine."

"You're super casual about dropping that bomb, screech owl. Most people on Earth don't know that there are other populated universes."

"That's awfully self-centered of you Earth dwellers."

I snort. "That about sums up most people's attitudes here. Do you remember the Earth forming?"

Levi tilts his head in thought. "I'm not sure. I've seen many planets form in my lifetime. Earth may or may not have been one of them. All of the ones that can support life form basically the same way. Balls of pure magic attract rocks and other debris. The weight of these rocks eventually causes the whole mass to heat up, forming a molten surface that cools over time.

"Then the tectonic plates shift and change the crust until the magic at the core starts seeping to the surface. This magic escaping is what allows all life to begin, like the microbes, plants, animals, and eventually people on this planet."

"I did pay attention in mage geology class, demon boy." I may not be as old as him, but I'm not completely clueless. "I even know that, when anything dies, the magic that sustained it returns to the core."

Levi misses my teasing tone and continues on with his history lesson. It's cute how excited he is to discuss all of this. "Exactly. Earth, however, is unique in the number of creatures with the bare minimum magic. Humans and their technology have altered magic availability in a way I've never seen before."

Before five or six thousand years ago, all people had magic. They were all mages, shifters, fae, vampires, and others. Once people started messing with technology to master nature and wage war on others, their access to magic declined.

This magical decay created the magicless humans that dominate the planet today. While most of them don't know about magic or how it powers the world, some do. Those who know, like the Knights of Aeneas, are obsessed with finding a way to have magic again. They also want to drain anyone who does have magic, so we try to avoid those crazies.

I didn't know that the gradual decrease of magic was an Earth specific thing, though. "That doesn't sound good."

"It probably doesn't bode well for the future of humanity, but it likely won't affect the planet itself in the long term." Levi is tracing patterns on my stomach with one of his fingers. I can't decide if I like it or if it tickles.

It's crazy that he can talk about the extinction of everyone here so casually. Then again, he's lived far longer than I can really understand. One planet's worth of creatures being wiped out probably isn't a big deal to him. I'm sure he's seen far worse.

That does beg the question, though. Why is he here?

"Why'd you come to Earth, screech owl?"

Levi blows out a breath that ruffles the top of my hair. "I came to check in on someone for my brother's wife, but I had trouble locating her."

I try to tamp down my jealousy that Levi was looking for another girl. Since he was on an errand for his sister-in-law, he's probably related to whoever he's searching for. No need to hunt the random lady down and kill her. Yet. "Oh. Did you find her?"

"No. I'm still searching."

"Is that why you work for the university?"

"No."

Getting Levi to answer questions is like pulling teeth. I huff in frustration. "Why, then?"

Levi sighs. "As soon as I came to this realm, I realized my mate was here. I found a position at HGU to get to know you while keeping an eye on you."

My eyes widen in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you really have been receptive to it?"

I shake my head instead of saying anything because we both know the answer. If I knew he was my mate, I'd have dropped his class and avoided him at all costs. Even though he's right, I still don't like being lied to for an entire semester.

Before I can grouse about him lying to me, I realize something else. Levi was probably pretty disappointed to find out his mate was posing as a magicless loser. "I'm sure I wasn't what you imagined your mate would be," I say in a light tone to try to mask how much it hurts. He was probably majorly let down to get stuck with me, of all people.

"No, you weren't." My stomach drops, and my eyes burn. "You're so much better than I ever could've imagined."

My throat constricts, and I fight to stuff all my sappy emotions down. He can't honestly mean that. Levi is probably just being sweet because that's what mates do. They lie and say they're happy to have you. Even when they'd be better off if they never met you.

"But I'm just a twenty-one-year-old bumbling her way through life." I am so not suited to be the mate to a dude from another universe. Hell, I'm not even suited to being an alpha mate, if we're being real here.

What the fuck was the universe thinking when it chose my mates?

It wasn't, obviously. Or the universe was high. Or wasted. Or having a midlife crisis.

"We're all bumbling our way through life. That never changes, even when you're as old as I am. But you, little raven, are wise beyond your years. You're also kind, empathetic, fiercely protective of your loved ones, have a great sense of humor, and a strength that's far beyond anyone I've ever met."

Levi hears my quiet sniffles at his sweet words and turns me around to face him. His forehead wrinkles in concern as he takes in my drawn expression. After cupping my face with both hands, Levi swipes his thumbs comfortingly over my cheeks.

I lean into his touch while keeping my eyes locked on his. He leans down slightly, and my gaze flicks to his lips. My lids start drifting closed as I lift up to press my lips to his. Before I reach him, a loud bang sounds from behind Levi, startling both of us.