by Stone, Leia
My throat pinched, and I tried to swallow down my emotions. I don’t think Donovan understood that he’d saved my life. “That’s right, buddy, and I appreciate you so much. Maybe you should get a couple chocolate cupcakes as a thank you.”
His eyes snapped to mine then, and he grinned wickedly. “Chocolate is a good idea!”
I looked to Sariah, who was smiling. “Is that okay?” I asked her, and she nodded.
“I’ll have Annette start on them while you have a lesson with your grandfather,” my aunt replied. “I’m off to work.”
As Gramps and I left the room, I overheard Donovan telling his mom that he should help me more often.
Things could’ve ended a lot worse today. I was grateful for my cousin’s help.
Chapter Eleven
Reyna showed up with the antidote for the magic-canceling powder less than an hour later. She helped my grandfather change into swim shorts, and we all headed to the spirit pool room where I lifted him into the steaming pool before scurrying off to change.
For the next several hours, Grandpa walked me through creating a real portal. He said that the spirit pool would help boost his energy to keep him awake for the lesson. I started small, a portal from the spirit pools to the kitchen where Donovan was eating a yummy cupcake. Then to Grandpa’s room. Then the study. Rather than having my body walk through the portal to join my spirit on the other side, I had my spirit jump back into my body before it closed. I could open them easily enough, but keeping them open was the hard part. Gramps barely used any magic helping me, but it still tired him. A lot. By lunchtime, I was ravenous, and Gramps was exhausted.
“You should practice a few more times before you go to Shifter Island for the rest of the day,” Grandpa said, followed by a yawn. “It will be easier if you’re touching Honor when you have him accompany your body through a portal somewhere. Eventually, you won’t need to do that, but until you’ve had a lot of practice, it’s less strenuous.” He yawned again.
“Like the one to Montana?” I asked, drying off behind the screened area.
“Yes. And the library one from Shifter Island to High Mage Island,” he said, his voice trembling. “The key is always something permanent that ties the two realms together, like a set of stones carved from the same rock…” He paused to catch his breath and then gave me a rueful smile. “I’m sorry. I need to stop for the day. Maybe tomorrow, we can discuss creating permanent portals, and you could visit your mom or Than for more help. I’m sorry I’m not as much of a teacher as I wanted to be.” He yawned and my heart pinched.
“No worries, Grandpa. You’ve been great,” I said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before Reyna helped him shuffle out of the room. Damn! He was getting so much weaker. It made me wonder how much time we had left together. Days?
We parted in the hallway, and then I ducked into the kitchen, followed by Honor, who’d waited outside the spirit pool room to keep guard. Between the two of us, we ate all of the rest of the Danish pastries as well as a couple of burgers Annette made for lunch and three cupcakes.
With Honor at my side, we practiced portals within Grandpa’s house. Finally, I decided to open a portal to Shifter Island and forgo the library. I wanted to be fully ready in the event the high mages tried to lock me out.
Honor looked up at me, his hazel eyes wide. ‘You sure you wanna do this?’
I grinned. ‘Scared I’ll slice us in half?’ I asked, running my fingers through his hair. Gramps had said it was important to touch him as we went through. At least, until I got used to creating portals and holding them open.
‘Sort of,’ he responded. ‘Well, yeah.’
I just chuckled and allowed my mind to relax. I was in my bedroom in Spirit Castle, but I envisioned the dark wood and black bedding of Rage’s four-poster bed. The silky sheets we’d made love on and the way he smelled. My soul slipped free of my body easily. I flew across my room and toward my wall, envisioning my mate’s room, and the moment my soul passed through the wall, I stood in Rage’s bedroom, listening to the shower run in the bathroom.
Yes!
Step one complete.
Controlling my breathing, I looked down at my hands in my human form back at High Mage Island. Here goes nothing. Opening my hands slowly, I thought of the space between my spirit-self and my physical-self. It was wide and yet not so. I felt the air around me charge with energy and then … a basketball-sized hole appeared before me. Spirit-me peeked through at physical-me, and both of me grinned.
Gotcha.
Pulling my arms farther apart increased the size of the hole until it was at least seven feet in diameter. I looked down at Honor, who looked up at me.
‘You sure this is safe?’ he asked
‘Totally,’ I assured him. Well, maybe 87.4% sure. I mean it had to be safe, right? I’d been practicing here all day, no problem. But this would be the first time we went into another realm through a portal I’d created.
I dug my fingers into his fur with one hand and kept the portal open with my other. Nervousness clenched in my belly as we stepped forward, and as soon as my physical body joined my soul, the portal snapped shut behind me with a hiss, my stomach flipped, and I glanced down at Honor.
‘Still in one piece?’ I asked.
Honor let his tongue loll out of his mouth as he grinned up at me.
“Not everyone can say their mate opens a portal into their bedroom at night,” Rage called from the doorway, his voice low and husky. “I like it, Crescent.”
I spun with a Cheshire-Cat-sized grin.
“Well, it’s faster than the library portal, and it gives us control—instead of the high mages. So you’d better get used to it,” I told him as my gaze dipped to the towel around his waist.
He nodded, and his gaze heated. “I’m sure I will.”
He strode over and wrapped his arms around me.
‘That is my cue to leave,’ Honor said, slipping out the door.
My gaze returned to Rage.
He was watching me with an unreadable expression. After a deep breath, he spoke: “I’m so sorry that the first time we fought like that … you got attacked and needed me. I feel … awful.”
I reached up and ran my fingers through his silky black hair. “The attack wasn’t your fault. Plus, you got to me in time … so all’s well that ends well, right?”
He nodded and led us to the bed. For several minutes, I sat beside him, and then we just talked. About our fight, my attack, the portals, seeing Kaja, blood mages, everything. Both of us had a lot going on, and we recognized the importance of working together as we were stronger that way. Then, I learned why there was so much talk about make-up sex.
After we’d thoroughly made up, multiple times, we curled up close and drifted into a peaceful slumber.
* * *
Bam! Bam! Bam!
A loud pounding at the door startled us awake, and Rage leapt out of bed with a growl.
“What?” he snarled.
Note to self: Rage doesn’t do well with disturbed sleep. I sat up, the grogginess bleeding from my limbs and my mind.
“There’s been an attack,” Noble said, his voice filled with anguish. “Rage … Nai … you need to hear this.”
We both dressed quickly and then followed Noble down the hall to a room near the throne room.
Inside, Sara, Sadie, Mallory, and several other members of Daybreak Clan stood huddled together. Some were crying and others staring with wide-eyed expressions of shock. Sara stepped forward as soon as Rage and I entered the room. She had her arm cradled to her chest; blood stained her tattered clothing.
“Your Majesty,” she said, bowing her head, her voice strained. “The blood mages…” Her voice cracked, and when she looked up, her cheeks were streaked with tears. “…attacked. We tried to fight them off, but our numbers were … overwhelmed.”
Wait. What?
Attacked here?
“How many?” Rage growled, his entire body stiffening.
&nb
sp; Sara shook her head, and fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.
“More than we could count. Dad and Lizbeth … are gone.” Sadie’s voice cracked, but she forced a swallow. “We lost most of our clan, trying to fight them. Even the hawks helped.”
It hit me then that Sara was the one speaking … because John was dead.
“Oh, Sara.” I stepped forward and grasped her hands, giving them a squeeze. “I’m so sorry.”
She nodded, wiping at her eyes, and a tall young man in his early twenties stepped up. “I’ll take over alpha duties until we can sort out who will be in charge from now on,” he told Rage.
“Thank you, Nick.” Rage nodded to him.
My heart thundered against my ribs.
“What did they want?” I asked. “The blood mages … what did they want?”
Sara wiped the tears from her face and swallowed hard. “I don’t know. They disappeared through the tree portal to High Mage Island.”
No!
No, no, no!
“Nai!” Rage yelled, but I was already moving … racing out the door.
I needed to get back there.
I needed to check on my family.
I should’ve never left them.
Oh, Mother Mage, I prayed. Please let them be okay!
My mind was a scattered mess, my thoughts too jumbled to concentrate enough to create a portal. So I ran.
Out of the castle and across the quad.
I raced all the way to the library where I blasted the giant wooden double doors open with my air element.
The wood splintered inward, and I strode through the rubble to the black onyx door.
Then, I pushed it open…
And was greeted by the screams of pandemonium.
Oh, Mother Mage, give me strength.
I advanced down the corridor and froze as dozens … no, a hundred advanced mages blasted their magic at an innumerable host of blood mages. Behind the mage citizens of High Mage Island were a wall of men and women with black hair and pale skin. Swirling tattoos like I’d seen on Surlama, danced across their faces and arms.
This was a war.
While I’d slept in my mate’s bed, the blood mages had declared war.
How were there this many of them?
My mind couldn’t fathom what was happening, and I stood there in shock.
I spotted Snade with his hands extended, fire blasting out from his palms, igniting several blood mages’ robes. Heath and his earth element heir, Carson, flung stones and made the ground shake, all in an attempt to slow the tide of monsters rushing the library. A giant crack ripped through the library floor, and books shook from their shelves.
The women and young children of High Mage Island poured toward me, to the narrow corridor of escape through the Alpha Academy library. I pushed through the tide to get to the fight—to get to my family—but I was careful to leave the portal door open so that they could escape.
My mind reeled with what I was seeing. The way Kian had first spoken to the other high mages about the blood mages, it almost made it sound like they were on the same side. But this was definitely not that. This was a full-on attack against both the shifters and the mages.
I darted toward the door marked with spirit, ready to run to Grandpa’s office, when Sariah, Donovan, and Annette stepped through. Relief slammed into me at the sight of them. My eyes darted past them, looking for more people.
“Where’s Grandpa?” I shouted at them as I raced toward them. Reyna was missing too.
My voice was lost in the screams and panic around us.
I crashed into Sariah, scanning her for any injuries. Her eyes were wide, and I noticed blood on her hands.
“Where’s Grandpa?” I bellowed. She shook her head and looked back at the door in shock. “They … killed the dogs,” she mumbled. “Drained them.”
My stomach fell to my feet.
“Go,” I shouted, pointing toward the portal to Shifter Island, where a river of mages flowed toward their only escape. Some of the high mages were holding the blood mages back at the entrance to the library to buy everyone time to leave. “I’ll get Gramps and Reyna and meet you at Alpha Academy in a minute.”
She looked too shocked to move, so I pushed her, Donovan, and Annette in the general direction they needed to go. “GO!”
“Nai!” Rage bellowed from behind me, but I couldn’t wait for him. Not when seconds could mean life or death for my grandfather.
‘Get Sariah and Donovan to safety!’ I told him without looking back. ‘Please!’
‘I can’t reach you! This is insanity.’ Rage sounded as in shock as I felt.
‘I’m fine. Just, please, get my family onto Shifter Island.’
His response was merely a growl. There was too much chaos for anything else.
I dodged past a few panicked mages, ducking below a fireball, and then a stream of water, but as I reached for the handle to the door to spirit, something—someone—crashed into me from the side, and together, we fell. I caught a glimpse of dark hair and ivory skin, but as we tumbled to the ground, the muscle memory of training with my father all of those years in Montana took over. I used the blood mage’s momentum to launch him over me, and I rolled to the side and jumped up, running through the spirit door.
On the other side of the door, I spotted Reyna struggling under the weight of my grandfather.
“What the hell, Nai?” she yelled. “You need to get to safety!”
I rolled my eyes and ran forward to help her. After ducking under Grandpa’s other arm, we lifted him off the ground. His hand was shaking when he reached out to hand me a familiar black pouch.
The soul stones. My soul stone. I couldn’t believe I’d almost left them here to be found by blood mages! I prayed that wasn’t the reason he was late to escape.
Thank you, I mouthed to him and shoved them in my pocket.
Reyna and I tightened our grip on Gramps and ran. By the time we re-entered the library, the scene had changed. We’d been gone mere seconds, and now, dozens of bodies littered the floor, black robes on the blood mages, and an array of brown, red, orange, blue, green, yellow, and purple on the advanced mages and high mage heirs. My insides twisted as I surveyed the corpses. There were more dead high mages than blood mages. And some of the high mage heirs looked like they’d been bled dry, their bodies only husks. I scanned the room, seeing the horde of blood mages converging on the few remaining high mages. The ratio was beyond disproportionate…
They needed to run or they would die! I glanced back at the hallway leading to Shifter Island to see it clogged full of people still.
No way…
Understanding dawned on me with sickening certainty. Those high mages were serving as a distraction. Willing to risk their lives to provide their loved ones time to escape to Shifter Island. No matter the cost.
Almost as if to reinforce my thought, I saw a dozen blood mages gang up on Snade while fire continued shooting from his hands. With his loud bellow, flames arched through the tall room, landing indiscriminately on books and tables.
No.
Not like this.
I might not like most of these bastards … but not like this.
And I still needed to get Gramps out of here!
Reyna and I darted through the aisles toward the hallway leading to the portal door. There was a huge traffic jam. I could see several people crowding to get away and others pushing to move forward. Rage was in the middle, some unconscious person draped over his shoulder as he barked orders at people to stay calm and walk slowly.
Panic thrummed through me when I spotted Sariah, Annette, and Donovan still on this side of the portal. The two women were struggling to get Donovan to move, but my cousin was standing in the middle of the hallway, yelling incomprehensibly, shaking and probably terrified.
Several blood mages zoomed in front of us then, and glided into the crowded hallway, cutting off my view of my cousin and aunt as they closed in on my family.
My mouth dried, and my heart stopped.
Over my dead body.
“I’ll be right back. Hide here.” I all but dropped Gramps’ arm; he sagged into Reyna as they tucked into a little alcove that held a giant potted plant. Reyna nodded, dragging her and Gramps behind the plant, and then I was off.
“Hey!” I shouted at the blood mages as anger and fear coursed through me. “Hey, you dirty bloodsucking vamp assholes!”
They didn’t even turn, instead moving in on the innocent people in the hallway trying to flee, my family and mate included.
Someone screamed, either Sariah or Annette, and I lost it. Magic filled my body, in that moment, like a live wire and I threw it—all of it—directly at the blood mages’ backs. A blast of blue light seared through the hallway, blinding me. I blinked, and the blood mages were down. Legit … all of them on the floor—their inert pale bodies now unnaturally still.
Did I … do that?
Sariah and Donovan remained in the hallway, my aunt draped over her son in protection. I was happy to see Rage had gotten the rest of the people to safety in the Alpha Academy library.
‘What the hell was that?’ Rage asked as he peered into the hallway at me. ‘You okay?’
Seeing that he was coming for my aunt and Donovan, I nodded.
‘I’m totally fine.’ Well, maybe not totally, but … considering. ‘Get them out, Rage.’
‘On it, love,’ he responded. ‘You get out too.’
I raced back to Reyna and Grandpa and found them hiding in the little alcove.
The three remaining high mages, Heath, Orion, and Snade, were doing a decent job of holding the line so we could all escape, but that wasn’t going to last forever. Not with ratios of ten to one. We needed to get out. Pronto. And where the hell was Kian? That coward probably was the first one out.
A bludgeoning headache throbbed at the base of my neck. After forming portals all day and now whatever that death blast was—I was spent.
I ducked back under Gramps’ arm, and Reyna and I hauled him out from behind the plant and closer toward safety.