by Flynn Eire
“Holy fucking shit,” someone gasped, the voice muffled from the blockade I’d built.
Except I couldn’t hold it.
“El, wake up,” I begged. “El, you gotta wake up. I can’t hold it. Please, please wake up!”
But he didn’t.
People started trying to get at us, and I couldn’t hold it. I felt them yanking on the metal as if they were pulling at my brain. I watched blood drip from my nose as I kept fighting, as I had too many times before. But we weren’t as strong as we’d started, as when our gifts had arrived. The last several months, there hadn’t been much left to eat, and we’d kept giving our rations to the others.
So I couldn’t hold out.
“I’m sorry, El. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect us as you did,” I whispered and let go, more blood coming out my nose. I blinked at the sunlight as all the metal fell, and then the ground was coming for me fast.
“I got you,” the guy with the deep blue eyes whispered, the Wyrok. “You’re safe now.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I so wanted to believe him. But it was a lie. Even if we weren’t dead for what we knew, we’d never be safe .
Nightmares were like that. There was nowhere to run far enough from what was in a person’s head… And there were lots of true horrors in my head.
2
“I’m telling you something went horribly with all of this, and bits were glued together the wrong way to come to this conclusion,” Dimitri stated adamantly.
“The powerful young one with the magnetism gift said it perfectly to me,” a female warrior said firmly. “I would have believed the same until your mate decked the kid. I saw his death in your mate’s eyes. I will also say the kid didn’t lie about there being no other warriors, or at least from the Eastern Canada camp. I was just there, remember? Checking them out for months. They had none of their warriors on any such assignment.”
“In other words, we need to talk to Alexander,” Helios muttered, and I flinched when I saw him, their gazes settling on me at the same time. “I won’t use my gift on you, okay? Let’s just have a conversation.”
“No,” I croaked, my whole body hurting as my throat ached. “Where’s Ellison?”
“A few beds down,” Dimitri answered, nodding in the other direction. I turned my head with a lot of effort and saw he was lying down hooked into IVs. I jumped when I realized I had some too and went to rip them out. “Falcon, it’s just fluids and nutrients. You’re not in danger . I don’t know what’s going on, what the fuck happened, but Alexander would never kill you guys, okay? Please, please screw everyone else and tell me what’s going on!”
I blinked back tears and gave a slow nod. Dimitri had always been good to me. Fuck, he was the reason any of us made it through our transitions. He helped me sit up, handing me a cup of ice chips, and I ate a few as I took in the amount of people there, listening.
“Where is Alexander?” I asked, realizing he wasn’t there.
“He flipped shits,” Dimitri admitted, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen my mate like that, not in all the years I’ve known him. Way before we even mated. Something seriously went wrong, Falcon. Please tell me.”
I let out a slow breath and stared at the ice. “Lance, Mark, and Wally went to France. Nate didn’t go because he mated Matteo and all that happened with that. They stayed a while to help the situation. That was when the first attack at Quebec happened and those new warriors were sent to help. That’s what I knew. The reports were that the coven almost got wiped out.”
“Yeah, I remember that,” Matteo muttered, shooting Dimitri a scared look. “We didn’t want to send the brand new, just passed tests warriors, but I talked to the councilman from Eastern Canada’s council that asked us for help. He assured me they wouldn’t be at the front lines. That they’d keep people calm, help with legwork. No big.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “That was end of winter because France took a while. Fine, they went off, but it wasn’t enough. They needed more, so Ellison, Nate, and I were told we would finish our training with Eastern Canada warriors.”
“That’s what we were told too,” Dimitri assured me, but I wasn’t sure I was buying it anymore, especially when Matteo got a bit fidgety.
“Except Ellison went to talk to Alexander about it, not feeling it was right or something more was going on than maybe any of us were being told, and he overheard Alexander talking to Matteo that he didn’t want Nate going. Alexander said to send Mike instead because it would get that fucking douche and his son out of Alexander’s hair for good.”
“I didn’t mean dead ,” Alexander growled, and my gaze snapped to his, fear shooting through me at how pissed he was. “For the record, so it is clear to all here, I was offered that council seat. I did not take it. I did not think that life would suit me. It was then offered to the current councilman, and he has tried and tried for decades to do everything in his power so I was never offered another one. Disgrace my reputation, throw piles of shit on this camp—”
Dimitri’s eyes went wide. “I didn’t know he was Councilman Garrow’s son.”
“Because I hid it from people at Mike’s request,” Alexander said, his eyes locked with mine. “After speaking with the boy, I realized he was not his father and he used his mother’s maiden name here.” I nodded, Mike having told us that. “But then Garrow found out and accused me of everything from brainwashing the boy to—the list was endless. Mike started buying into that shit, and I wanted to wash my hands of them both. But I would never have killed him, no matter how big of an idiot he was turning into.”
“Except I heard you say we would make the whole thing work in the end,” Ellison accused, his eyes on Alexander when I looked at him. “Why are you in here too? You get clocked next?”
“No, I jumped in to try and stop it, found out there’s more Wyrok here, and tried to use my gift to protect us when I couldn’t get you to wake up,” I grumbled, sinking into the bed. “It didn’t work. We’re supposedly getting fluids and nutrients.”
“And I want to know why you need them,” Sam demanded, moving so we could both see him. “Why the fuck were you so far down on blood and just about everything I’m shocked you were walking?”
“We will get to that,” Alexander cut in, focused on Ellison. “I remember saying that. We had trouble believing they would complete your training as you needed. We thought three of you going, one a councilman’s son, would push them not to let a post-trans fall through the cracks. Where were the other warriors we sent?”
Ellison shrugged. “No idea. We landed at their camp, delivered over to help. A guy picks us up and hands us papers saying we’re warriors now. We argue, and he tells us to get in or we can walk to the Quebec coven. We got in. He dropped us off and told us our orders were to protect the coven and we reported to the coven leader now. And then he drove off and left us, telling them we were warriors.”
“I know a few died fighting,” I added. “I don’t know if others bailed or were transferred. No one would tell us much, and the coven didn’t know much really.”
“How could all these attacks keep happening at the same coven and no one knew?” Matteo asked, frowning.
“Don’t touch me,” Ellison hissed, and I glanced back at him. “You punched me yesterday.”
“You were being a dick,” Tadzio growled.
“You were a dick,” Ellison snapped. “Matteo saved Nate. I told you something was wrong and I didn’t want to go. I asked for help, and what did you do? You flew the fucking plane to bring us there and didn’t even check on the situation. You were so pissed I wouldn’t keep letting you bang me after you were an asshole to me that you left us there to die. You were the ride to hell, so go fuck yourself and your issues and your pride instead of doing what you should have.”
Tadzio opened his mouth a few times and then left without another word, not even looking at me.
He’d probably forgotten me already. Again.
“So you arrived and they n
amed you warriors,” Alexander muttered, glancing between us as he moved closer so we could all see each other. “What then?”
“Why do you care?” Ellison grumbled, turning on his side to face me. “Why are you talking about this with them?”
“Dimitri asked me, and we owe him at least that,” I answered firmly. I met his gaze and saw he agreed. We wouldn’t have survived any of it if Dimitri hadn’t trained us so much before we’d even transitioned. I looked back at the man in question and then closed my eyes, so, sooo tired. “The truth was the attack wasn’t as big as they said the first time. They got outliers. People were arguing about moving into the coven estate because some thought it was a trap.
“It would make them all at one place, one target, not hidden among humans. Others thought the estate would make for better fortification. They hadn’t all moved in by the time we got there. That’s when we learned the other warriors had died going for the nest or run off, some thought transferred. Mike called his dad, flipping shits about what Ellison thought he heard and what we really knew was going on.
“He said his dad would handle it. That it was all good.” I let out a shaky breath. “That night zakasacs attacked again, and the debate was over. The coven leader ordered everyone inside as help was coming or they were on their own outside. They all came in. Two days later, guards from our council came for Mike. That was it. That was the help. They came for him and said they had no other orders for the rest of us and we were to keep with the orders we had.”
“We called everyone we could,” Ellison rasped. “You never even called us back!”
“The number would have changed by then,” Rune told us, and I blinked at him. “You didn’t know? We systematically change numbers for main lines every three to six months in case anyone is ever listened in on. The number should have been disconnected.”
“It wasn’t,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes, trying to blink them away. Did we really never have to go through any of that? “Our paperwork was never put through as warriors, so we never got paychecks. I couldn’t keep my cellphone active because my parents washed their hands of me when I told them I got transferred to Canada. They told me they would only send the worst warriors there and they were ashamed of me.”
Ellison snorted. “Funny because your hippie parents are such shining examples.”
“Reformed hippies, remember?” I drawled.
“And I’m an orphan, so yeah, we were both easily expendable and wouldn’t have anyone to fight for us. I didn’t even have a cell phone. I used Falcon’s, but not everyone seemed to know that. Whatever.”
“So you all moved into the estate?” Dimitri pushed gently.
“When they realized help wasn’t coming, people started panicking. They used to be a huge coven since there wasn’t any US Big Brother shit in Canada. Even after those first attacks, taking out a few dozen here and there or whatever, there were still a thousand that came into the estate. The decision was made by the coven leader’s mate to go out and stockpile everything , that we could hold out until they could speak to someone and get real help.
“That was what we did. During the day for the next week, people loaded up that estate with everything we could need. I mean, canned goods lining hallways and all sorts of crazy survivalist shit. She had the real power and influence and assured us she could get us help, get someone real to handle it all.” I let out a shaky breath. “The next attack they got her. Leapt up through a two-story fucking window and slaughtered her for all of us to see.”
“What happened that night?” Dimitri asked quietly when I stopped talking.
“His gift came out because he was not three feet from her, her blood flying all over him,” Ellison answered for me. “We’d already been through enough trauma to get them early, right?”
“That or we’re learning some get them from stability too,” Rune told them, nodding when we both snorted. “It would seem yours was brought on by extreme situations and survival instincts. So you did something with the metal and helped?”
“Yeah, something like that,” I whispered, closing my eyes again.
“He slammed the zakasac back out the window using the metal in the huge oak table, blocking the open window with it,” Ellison explained with a sigh. “The problem was two of the coven went out with it since they were in the path. That was a pretty, pretty window, the others had bars and shit so they were all trying to come up in there. More would have if he hadn’t immediately closed it up.”
“Tell that to the two who were thrown out the window to the monsters like lunch,” I choked out, turning on my side and covering my face.
“You weren’t the only one who did harm when they meant to do good, Falcon,” he murmured, and I opened my eyes, seeing the pain in his gaze, not just the anger anymore. He looked away, and I apologized as I realized I’d spilled the rest of my ice on the floor.
“This gets a time out until I check them again,” Sam declared, taking in the way we were both crumbling into ourselves. “You know enough of who lied about what and to whom to start kicking ass because this was not what we were told about what was going on.”
“First tell them in a way they believe they are safe because their fear is overwhelming,” a warrior I didn’t know said firmly.
“ Neither of you are in danger,” Alexander declared, glancing between us and then focusing on Ellison. “And I’m sorry I slugged you. I—there is a limit to how many insults or accusations I will take without lashing out too. Things went horribly wrong, I won’t deny that, but you made some leaps on your own that were not true. I lashed out at that. Not what you know or went through. There is no conspiracy to cover up here . I will gut those on the other end, though.”
He turned and stormed out of the room, Dimitri giving a heavy sigh. “He was worried about you three. He never got good updates from anyone when he tried to find out more, but he was told it wasn’t his business anymore and personal files weren’t discussed with other camps.”
“Except we were always under you guys,” I grumbled. “It’s why we didn’t get paid or—who the fuck knows. Sounds like Mike’s dad found the perfect way to bury Alexander if he could lay the destruction of a whole coven at his feet.”
“Oh fuck ,” Dimitri worried and rushed off.
“Which means you both need to be under constant guard, as you are the only first-hand account we have to it all,” Helios said firmly.
“I’ll stay,” a voice said in the back. I looked around the female warrior I didn’t know and found the man with the deep blue eyes. “Falcon Byrd, really?”
“Hippie dippie parents,” I sighed. “Should the drunk molester be in charge of our safety or much of anything?”
“I didn’t molest you. I stole a kiss when you were being sassy. That’s a big difference.”
“You acted like you were going to make me give you a blow job,” I reminded him, much to the shock of those in the room.
Except he simply chuckled. “Not into force. No, not make. Might ask still. You’ve got spunk.”
“Oh god, here we go again,” someone drawled. “Fine, you guard them as Sam gets them to where they should be.”
Who were all these new people?
“Can I start getting names, or are we so unimportant besides now being witnesses to whatever conspiracy shit that we don’t get them?” Ellison bitched.
“He’s just snarly,” Mr. Blue eyes grumbled, still focused on me. “Gaius. I’m Gaius Quinn. That’s Proximo and Basilia. There are a bunch of Wyrok here, and we’re not all hard-asses like Helios.”
“I resent it even as I probably deserve it, but there’s nothing wrong with following rules, Gaius,” Helios drawled as he headed out with Rune. Whatever, I wanted them all gone and some time to settle with what we’d learned.
Sam gave us more blood, happy with whatever result he got from us. He gave us both high calorie and lots of everything diets for the next week at least. Fine by me, I was making up for over a year of neglect.
<
br /> Then we got front row seats for a strange interaction between Bowie, who was younger than us, and Gaius. Something was definitely there.
Except then Bowie called Sam his mate .
Yeah, I wasn’t the only one who thought something was up from the look Ellison gave me like maybe they were all nuts.
I napped for a bit, and then when I woke it was the guy who’d picked us up from the landing strip. He was staring at us funny and then shook his head.
“Sorry, my gift has started and I can’t—I can’t control it,” he apologized.
I instantly forgave him, no matter his gift. “Yeah, I get that.”
“I heard, which was why I thought I’d come see how you’re doing.” He stood and extended his hand. “London Aberdeen.” I shook his hand, and he did the same with Ellison who I saw was awake. He sucked in a harsh breath. “I won’t tell. I promise, but you should.”
“You know what others’ gifts are?” I surmised, my eyes going wide.
“No, I’m a bit more complicated,” he chuckled bitterly. “Let’s just say my training and first years as a warrior were especially traumatic too.”
“You have our sympathies,” Ellison murmured, studying the guy closely. I hated he spoke for me like that, like I was his little woman who couldn’t open her mouth bullshit. He used to do it more like a big brother, but then he’d long since stopped anything loving. “I’ve got my control handled or Alexander would have been toast.”
“I wish I had mine.”
“Constantly almost dying does wonders,” I drawled. “So you’re watching us?”
“No, Gaius had to handle something, and I was heading this way since I heard you didn’t get all your post-trans training and you’re on light duty.” He shrugged. “I’m the weapons master, and I’ve been working with Dimitri and Matteo on that part of training. If you want it, I’ll give it, and I can pass you on that portion.”