Callan’s face softened just a fraction before he turned back to the computer.
“I don’t know,” He answered, continuing with his mission to restart everything, “V can you look through the drawers, there should be a magical trigger to override the system and lock down the building in there somewhere.”
“Got it,” Valeria answered, starting to jerk open drawers touching everything she came into contact with and hoping one of them was the magical trigger. She only stopped when she realized she had no idea what she was looking for, “What does this thing look like?”
“It’s in one of those drawers with a silver circle around the knob, you’ll know the trigger when you see it, it’s literally a big red button,” Callan explained, and Valeria let out as a sign as she moved to the drawers at the next desk.
“Found it,” She said with a triumphant grin and pulled open the drawer to reveal a big red button exactly as the wolf had described. Before she could press it, she heard a thump as if someone had fallen to the ground.
“What the-” Callan cut off suddenly, and Valeria turned to see a silver arrow embedded into his chest, she watched as blood seeped through his white shirt and his blue eyes were wide with shock and pain.
“Callan!” Valeria cried out in horror as she watched the wolf clutched his bleeding chest, his face twisting with agony.
“Bitch,” He spat out before tugging the silver arrow from his chest and tossing it to the side. The wolf growled and began approaching their attacker.
“Neferna?” Valeria gasped, her gaze finally falling on the merperson, the beast Valeria had always known to be in a wheelchair was standing not nine feet away with a bow and arrow in her hands. At her feet was her unconscious sister, she’d knocked Emalia out. The merperson paid her no mind as she rapidly started shooting silver arrows straight at him, he snarled as he advanced towards her and Valeria could see he was beginning to shift. Callan blocked the majority of the arrows, but many of them had found their way into his chest, leaving droplets of blood on the ground. That didn’t stop him as he advanced when he got within two feet of her, Neferna dropped her weapon, and the air began to vibrate as the merperson’s hands began to glow green.
Callan’s eyes went wide before he turned to Valeria, “Run, V!”
Valeria was frozen in her place as she watched water materialize from the air and encase Callan’s head in a sphere of water. The wolf was growling and trying to swing his claws at her, but the water kept him back, Neferna was grinning now as she manipulated the water magic. He was drowning. Callan was clawing at his face trying push to the water away. With every swipe, the wolf became more frantic, and that was when Valeria remembered that Callan’s worst fear was to drown.
“Stop it!’ Valeria shouted, rushing towards Callan and trying to hit the water, but it was useless. She didn’t know what to do, she knew nothing about water magic, and now the water was starting to freeze. Valeria was screaming as the water froze around Callan, she stepped back in shock as his body twitched and shuddered before dropping. Breaking the sphere of ice as his head hit the ground.
“Callan!” Valeria dropped to her knees beside the wolf, his eyes were wide open and his mouth agape with blood trickling down the side of his mouth. She needed to do CPR but she couldn’t with the arrows in the way, but if she took out the arrows, then he would bleed out. With every second, Callan’s chances shrunk and Valeria had to do something. Making a decision, Valeria tore the arrows from his abdomen and started compressions on his chest, “Come on, Callan. Please.”
She could hear the cracking of his ribs as they snapped under the weight of her compressions, Emalia had always told her if you break the bones, you’re doing it correctly. Valeria needed Emalia to wake up, she needed her help, but her shouting did nothing to stir her unconscious sister.
“He’s dead, fledgling,” Neferna laughed, moving to stand over her with an awful smile.
“Callan, come on. You gotta wake up,” Valeria said, tears slipping down her cheeks as she pressed on, but her hands were covered in blood now, the water around him becoming more blood than water.
“Your determination is admirable but check his pulse. He’s a goner,” The merperson said cruelly, and Valeria did, she felt nothing, “Oh your poor sister. What will you tell her?”
She couldn’t believe that this was happening. She let out a choked sob and tried to compose herself as she gazed at Callan’s dead eyes. Her sister’s mate was dead. Valeria looked down at her hands, resting on top of the wolfs chest, she felt the blood start to seep into her skin. In this moment, she realized what she had to do. If Valeria was going to survive this, she needed to fight her way out and to do that was with blood armor. The blood gift her mother gave her wasn’t enough blood to completely shield her body, but if she absorbed Callan’s blood, then it would. All Valeria needed to do was buy enough time to absorb it all. She didn’t know if she could use her blood weapon yet, but she would have to try. Not only did her life depend on this working, but so did her sister’s.
“Who were you expecting, Kamilah? You honestly thought the puppet orchestrated all this?” Neferna laughed leaning casually against the door frame, “She was a tool for our king, and once she served her purpose, she was disposed of.”
“But Edith saw-”
“That elf saw what we wanted her to see. Visions can easily be manipulated by magic. Don’t you know that, foolish fledgling?” Neferna taunted, pulling out a dagger from her belt. Valeria looked over at her sister who wasn’t moving, her sister lay right next to the merperson’s feet, and she knew she had to tread carefully.
“My sister, she’s not...” She trailed off, unable to even finish the sentence. Valeria didn’t think she could handle another member of her family being dead right now.
“No, I’m not here to kill the Grey wolf,” The merperson said, taking a threatening step towards her, “I’m not even here for you. My king demands the Six dead.”
“You manipulated me,” Valeria whispered anger rising in her gut, “You used me to get to Callan.”
“Oh not just Callan, don’t you think Mommy dearest will be wondering where you are?”
“No, leave my mom alone you psycho,” She spat out her hands balling into fists in Callan’s shirt, willing the blood to absorb faster.
Neferna smirked at her before leaning down and plucking Callan’s arm from the blood pool around his body. Valeria felt the grief of losing her brother in law, she wanted to slap the merperson’s hand away but knew she wouldn’t be of any help to her sister if she died too and if she pulled away now, the absorption could take longer. The merperson pulled Callan’s black communicator from his wrist and typed out a message before hitting send.
“And now we wait for the Necromancer to join us,” Neferna said rising up and pointing the knife in the direction of her sister who lay dormant on the ground, “Take the blood wolf’s communicator as well, tie her up and shove her into the closet, we can’t have her waking up and tipping anyone off.”
Valeria looked at the knife and back at her sister before nodding. She had enough of Callan’s blood to protect herself and make a blood weapon, with the mixture of Callan’s blood and her mothers, her current was humming with power. The safest place for her sister would be locked in a closet. Valeria did as she was told, grabbing the rope from the supply closet and tying Emalia’s hands together. She couldn’t help but feel responsible for this whole thing. If she had just come clean in the beginning, maybe none of this would have ever happened. Maybe they would have already caught the Demon King or Mia’s killer. Perhaps then, Callan wouldn’t be dead. Maybe Emalia would not be left without a mate and a husband. None of that matter now, she needed to get them out of this situation, she needed to take down Neferna. Valeria needed to catch the merperson by surprise, she would put Emalia in the closet and then lung at her.
“Put her in there,” Neferna ordered, pointing to the closet nestled between the stairs of Xander’s loft and the beginning of
the agent’s offices. Valeria had never noticed the closet before as she dragged her sister into it, being as gentle as she could. She let out a gasp as her foot hit Will’s hand. The sorcerer for Team A was tied up and knocked out the same way Emalia was. That explained where Will was, at least he was alive. Valeria eased Emalia against the wall before backing out of the closet and closing the door. She could not help but look over at her fallen brother in law, her eyes flickered to the golden band around his finger, and a wave of sorrow washed over her. This was supposed to be a happy day for him, not the day he lost his life. She could only imagine what Emalia would feel when she woke to find her mate dead. She shook her head to clear it, she needed to gather her strength and get them to safety.
Valeria took a calming breath, following her current and summoning her blood armor to the surface as she charged at Neferna. The blood weapon she had been failing to conjure for so long finally hardened in her hands as she raised it to stab the merperson. Valeria was much faster than the merperson and managed to stab her arm before water swirled around her own, breaking it with a sickening crunch. She screamed out in pain as the water tossed her into the wall, her head smacking against it. The weapon she’d worked so hard to form, seeped back into her tissues.
“Good for you,” Neferna laughed, her fingers touching the wound Valeria had inflicted on her, “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Why are you doing this?” Valeria asked, glaring up at the merperson and gingerly pulling herself into a sitting position. Her body was aching, and her arm was definitely broken, and she could taste her own blood, “Why would you help out the Demon King? He’s a murderer.”
“Who would you rather I tie my allegiance to? The Merqueen? The queen who doesn’t give a damn about her subjects on land? Or how about High King Riley? The shell of a wolf who can’t move on without his dead bastard son?” Neferna scoffed, “No. I would rather align myself with a king that is going to win this. He will take this world and start it anew. Wash away the border of species.”
“You would have everyone become a demon?” Valeria asked in shock, “That would be chaos.”
“Are we not all creatures of chaos? Do not tell me that you haven’t enjoyed the excitement that all this brings to you. You wanted adventure, fledgling and now you’ve got it.”
“You’re going to burn in the Destroyer’s domain, demon,” Valeria spat out, the blood from mouth hitting Neferna’s face, “My mom is going to kill you just like all the other demons she has fought. What makes you think you’re so special to be able to kill the Necromancer? You only got Callan because of surprise, but if you think I am going to give up so easily, you’re wrong.”
“Actually I am not a demon,” Neferna said, ignoring Valeria’s words as she brushed Valeria’s blood from her cheek with a disgusted face, “I’m a halfling. During the Demon War, I was bitten during an attack on my village, but I never turned all the way. I told everyone that I simply got lucky to not have been bitten and turned like the rest of my village. The Six failed us, so they have to die. They aren’t heroes, they are the true creatures of destruction.”
Listening to Neferna talk, Valeria realized she really was just a fledgling. There was no version of this story where she saved the day. Neferna was going to win, and there was nothing Valeria could to do about it but sit here and be the bait. She tried to attack her and failed, she wasn’t strong enough. All she could do was beg for her mother’s life and hope the halfling had a change of heart.
“They can’t save everyone, and they didn’t start that war. Nobody did, they didn’t know what was going to happen. How could they? The Six did everything they possibly could, they saved Beastmora, and I’m sorry that your family died but please don’t hurt mine anymore. You’ve already killed my brother, please don’t take my mom from me too.”
Neferna stared at her for a long moment before she let out a sick and manic laugh that turned Valeria’s stomach, “Pathetic. I expected more from the Necromancer’s child. After your attempt to incapacitate me, I thought you were past pleading for lives. Such a disappointment to me, I expected more of a fight.”
All Valeria could do was sit there and hold back her tears. There was nothing she could do. Her plan had failed, the vampire was no match for the halfling and now could barely move without pain shooting through her. Callan was right, she wasn’t a warrior. She wasn’t marked for greatness by the Creator, like her Mom, or her brother in law or her Uncle. She was just Valeria. As soon as the self-doubt began to set in, she remembered what her mother told her, ‘I want you to be Valeria, my daughter that is strong and unique in her own way. You have your own strengths, you just have to use them.’
Valeria refused to give up, she couldn’t take Neferna down through fighting her or pleading with her. There was only one thing Valeria could do now to save her mother. She glanced over at the control room, she had to get the building on lockdown. If her mother couldn’t get in the building, then Neferna couldn’t hurt her, but she had to be fast. Valeria leaned back against the wall and calculated how far it was to the door, about twelve and a half feet to the button. With a steadying breath, Valeria stood up straight and made a run for the button.
* * *
Chapter Seventeen
Interlude: Under Fire
Xander glanced at the clock six times, he wanted to head home and go back to bed. He had woken up early for this meeting, every phase they had a captains meeting, and every phase it was snooze worthy. Xander wished they had done it somewhere else. It seemed the air vents weren’t working correctly, it was muggy inside. The topic of tonight’s meeting was the explosion and increasing security in the city, which was important but all the phoenix wanted to do was crawl back into bed with Ivan and run his fingers through his daughter’s hair. He wondered what they were doing right now. Ivan was probably doing yoga in the garden while Nova played in the dirt. His little hatchling loved the soil, much to Ivan’s chagrin but Xander thought she was adorable. Unfortunately, that would also mean he would have to give her a bath so that she didn’t track dirt into the house and the Creator knew, getting Nova into the tub was like going to war. Xander was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of his name being called, and he shook his head.
“Sir?” Xander cleared his throat, blinking back into reality where the other captains had turned their attention to him.
“Dreaming there, Captain Brantley?” Fang asked an amused glint in his eyes, and Xander smiled sheepishly.
“Early evening, Chief,” Xander responded, and the dark-skinned vampire nodded in understanding.
“I do not miss having fledglings that is for sure. How is your Nova?” Fang inquired, leaning back in his chair to look at Xander with an easy smile on his face and the rest of the Captains seemed to perk up. It wasn’t uncommon for the captains meeting to derail slightly for more amusing subjects since all of them were friends. Most of the Captains here had fought in both the Fae and the Demon War. He knew Fang had even been apart of the Grey Rebellion, on the Grey’s side that is, so Xander trusted him more than the other in the room.
“A handful but not as much as a handful as her Papa,” Xander chuckled, earning laughter from his fellow captains and he rubbed his chest, the air was damp which always made phoenixes cough or get sick. Rain must be coming, or maybe there was a leak in the building.
“Ah, yes. Your criminal, is he well?” Fang jested.
Xander let out a loud laugh, “Don’t let him hear you say that he’ll scream about how reformed he is.”
“I hope he is. Otherwise, Second Lieutenant Clarie wouldn’t be doing his job,” Captain Shiro teased, she was an elf that captains Team C. She had fought in the Demon War and helped with rebuilding afterward, he had a lot of respect for her, “How much longer is on his house arrest?”
“About a century,” Xander answered, smiling softly at the mention of his mate before it was ruined when Desdemona decided to open her mouth.
“When does Second Lieutenant Clai
re ever do his job?” Captain Desdemona scoffed, Xander felt anger shoot through his veins and his hair set ablaze. How dare she even mention his name after the shit she pulled? The room was silent for a second, and Xander knew he needed to cap his anger before it got out of control.
“Callan is ten times the wolf you will ever be,” Xander bit out before snapping his mouth shut, he needed to calm down and take deep breaths. He can’t get into another fight with Team B’s Captain over Callan but damn did she make it hard to play nice. He was a professional, dammit. Xander tried to think of the breathing exercises he practiced with Ivan every moonrise.
“Captain Desdemona, you’d do well to be silent. As I was saying, Captain Brantley, you were there at the time of the attack?” Chief Fang asked, looking towards him and Xander nodded, “What do you believe was the biggest security issue?”
“Well Chief, the ability to create a portal in the middle of the Kalissa palace was the issue. Personal portals have not been regulated since it is a main mode of transportation for sorcerers, but maybe they should be. A personal portal was opened in the Kalissa Palace and poured demons and halflings inside,” Xander responded, leaning back against his seat as other captains shifted in their seats, murmuring amongst themselves.
“That is a species specific law! That is directly targeting sorcerers,” A sorcerer exclaimed, Xander recognized her as captain of team F.
“No phoenixes use fire portals, and merpeople use water portals,” Xander interjected, “It would regulate them too.”
“Alright,” Fang said, looking over at Xander, “How would you propose we regulate the portal usage?”
“I think we should have designated spots that personal portals are allowed. There is no reason why a beast should be able to portal into the Kalissa palace or City Hall,” Xander explained, having to pause to clear his throat which felt thick. He could feel the telltale signs of his body weakening, “Whoever created the portal had to do it from inside the courtyard, if we put portal regulators inside the city just like the ones in the GSI buildings, then it would be a lot safer.”
Beastmora- The Golden Six Page 24