by Leia Stone
“I’m sorry,” Rage cut to Noble, who nodded.
Without waiting any longer for a reply that didn’t seem forthcoming, I turned my attention to the two other Midnight brothers, deciding to deal with Rage later. “Thank you, Justice and Noble … truly … for all you’ve done—” My voice cracked as gratitude welled within me, clogging my throat and blurring my vision. “I really appreciate … everything.” I blinked, and two fat tears spilled down my cheeks. After crossing the room to them, I forced a swallow. “I need … I need to release you now and draw blood.” I think. My mind went back to the moment my grandfather had released Reyna from her shield oath in an effort to save her life.
Both Noble and Justice held out their hands. Concentrating on my hand, I brought my wolf to the surface with little coaxing, as if she understood the grave importance of what we were doing. After my hand transformed into a wolf claw, I scratched Justice across the forearm with my nail, drawing blood.
“I hereby release you from your shield oath, Justice Midnight,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face.
Justice gasped, and at the same time, I felt something within me tear. Struggling to contain my emotions, I pulled my brother-in-law in for a hug and whispered my gratitude once more.
He pulled away with a strangled cry and then strode from the room, visibly upset.
I turned to Noble and then clasped his hand.
“It was my honor to serve as your shield, Nai,” he said as I turned his hand over.
It was impossible to see him through my tears, and I sucked in a ragged breath. After a quick stroke of my nail against his skin, crimson blood beaded up.
“I hereby release you from your shield oath, Noble Midnight,” I said.
Another shearing pain tore through my heart, and Noble whimpered.
I tried to pull him in for a hug, but he stepped back, clutching his chest.
“Nai…” he gasped, his expression twisted with pain. “That … hurt.”
All I could do was nod.
The pain was unlike anything I’d ever felt. Like part of me was now missing.
“I…” Noble sank into a chair, his breaths short and shallow.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, offering him a watery smile.
He merely nodded, a bobble of his head to indicate he’d heard.
I glanced at Rage, and a pit of dread opened in my stomach.
Then I looked to Noble. “I apologize for asking for anything else right now, but … may I have a moment alone with Rage?”
Noble nodded, giving me a quick hug, and crossed to the door silently.
Only when the latch had clicked shut did I dare to face my mate.
“Do you see what that did to them?” my mate asked, his voice strained. He crossed the distance between us and looked down on me, his expression an unvoiced plea. “You’ve solved the problem, Nai. You’ve provided the Midnight Pack two unbound alpha heirs.” He cupped my face, and the pads of his thumbs stroked my cheeks. “Do you really need to sever my shield bond with you? Do you really want me to feel that pain?”
What could I say to that?
He was right. I loved Rage so much, yet I didn’t want him to ever die to save me. “It would be best—”
Rage shook his head and then crouched to look me in the eyes. “Best for whom? Not for me, love.”
Fresh tears pricked my eyes. “Best for me. I can’t have you dying to protect me. I don’t want to live in a world where you don’t exist.”
He pulled me in for a hug and whispered into my hair: “Nai … There’s no one else I’d want to die protecting more than you.”
My heart couldn’t take this anymore; tears spilled over onto my cheeks. I lifted my chin and glared up at him. “Don’t say that. Don’t even think about it. If you die … I’ll come to the Realm of the Dead and drag your sorry butt back here and put your soul into the body of a hamster.”
Rage cocked his head to the side and then tsked in mock horror. “Then you’d be fated mates with a hamster. Think about that.”
I growled in frustration. “My point—”
“I know, Nai,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m not going to let you die. And I won’t die either. I promise. But I’m not willingly letting you break my shield oath to you.”
I sighed. Was there any point fighting this man? I could do it forcefully or sneakily, but I didn’t want to do that to our relationship. “Fine. For now,” I growled.
He smiled then lowered his head and brushed his lips to mine. He slid his hands down my back and cupped my butt, pulling me closer to him as he nipped at my lower lip.
The world fell away, and I opened to him.
Our tongues tangled—
And the door burst open, slamming against the stone wall.
I pulled away from Rage, only he didn’t bother to let go.
“Oh. My. Mage,” Kaja said, and my face went beet red. She rolled her eyes and then added, “Enough with the kissy-face already. We have plans to make and vamps to kill.”
Behind her, I spotted Reyna.
“Change of plans,” I told them both as I waved for Reyna to join us. “Apparently, I do need more than one or two shields because of how extra I am.”
Kaja snorted.
“What does that mean?” Reyna asked, stepping forward as she glared at me. “You don’t need us?”
“I still need you. I just need Rage and Honor too.” I explained how I’d released Justice and Noble, but I’d be keeping Rage and Honor as shields—at their request. Then Kaja stepped forward and took the shield oath, binding herself to me. ‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me,’ Kaja said as she nipped at my wrist.
I felt her merge with me, and suddenly, the hole Justice left was still there, but the pain was gone.
Reyna was next. ‘I am your shield. Any harm that comes to you will first pass through me.’ She drew blood from my wrist with her teeth, and then the discomfort that severing Noble’s bond had left was no longer there either.
I had four shields once more.
When we were done, Kaja bumped my shoulder. “So, what’s next?”
I looked to Rage, and he nodded.
“Now, we get ready for battle,” he said somberly, the tone in his voice fitting for the situation. No sane man delighted in war, but defending our freedom, land, and loved ones made it necessary.
Lucky for us, Jakko delivered. Both in the magic-canceling grenades as well as pulling in the lower mages from Mageville. While most of them weren’t trained in hand-to-hand combat, a large percentage of them—like 62.3%—had skills that could help: illusions and explosives were at the top of the list.
The biggest surprise of the day was when I discovered Julian refused to take Fiona as a shield.
“He said he didn’t deserve one,” she said, shaking her head. “At least, not yet.”
We were dressing in selkie armor when she dropped that bomb on us.
“I’m pretty sure none of us ‘deserve’ one,” I said. Let alone four. “What’s up with the yet part?”
Fiona strapped blades to her thighs. “For being a total asshat, he can sure grovel. He said that if he survived the battle tonight—if he redeemed himself—then he’d take a shield. I’ve gotta give the dude props. He wants to earn some respect.”
The fact that Julian was willing to risk his life was gutsy. But with two younger siblings trained to take over as the high mage master of water, he wasn’t the last of his kind, so I left it alone.
By the time we were all assembled in our teams, I was feeling pretty good. We set out in a fleet of boats and swimmers, heading toward the shore of Shifter Island to go to war. As we drew near, my insides twisted, and bile burned the back of my throat.
There, mounted on pikes on the beach of Shifter Island, were the heads of those who’d fallen to the blood mages.
Those mother-effers were going to pay.
Chapter Sixteen
The heads of our fallen people told
me two things. One, the blood mages were sending us a warning message of their brutality as if that were enough to intimidate us. For me, it only reinforced the need to act now. The second thing was that the bloodsuckers had taken over Shifter Island as well as High Mage Island. Which meant plan A.
I stared up into the darkening sky and waved to the hawk leader. He and another hawk each held powder grenades that Jakko had made. Hopefully, they’d flush out a large number of the blood mages before they dropped them.
The birds of prey melted into the darkness over the island.
Aerial assault inbound.
We waited for the screams that would no doubt come when the hawks attacked the blood mages, and each second felt like an eternity.
‘I’m going to take my team in,’ Rage told me. ‘We want to capitalize on the initial chaos.’
I nodded, but even knowing he was sticking to the plan, I couldn’t help the churning in my gut.
Rage and the wolves slipped from their boats and waded to shore. The packs shifted into animal form, but the alpha heirs remained human so they could use their elemental magic. As soon as they were ashore, the packs disappeared into the wooded areas surrounding the grounds of the castle and academy.
Next came the other shifters: bears, selkies, lions, foxes—every single shape-shifting animal had been called in to purge this evil from our island, and almost all of them had answered. They packed the beaches of Shifter Island all in their animal forms, and I took a moment to behold the sight. It looked like an African safari or a massive zoo escape. Bear stood next to lion, who had a raptor perched on his back. Then they, too, crept into the trees to await the signal.
Finally, the other high mages and I came ashore, bringing with us the lower level mages from Mageville, who’d been trained, and even many who hadn’t. That had been the biggest surprise to me, although in retrospect it probably shouldn’t have. The lower level mages had been oppressed for generations by the high mages. This was their chance to change the paradigm of power.
Over the course of mere minutes, our force slipped out of the numerous boats, canoes, floating pallets, and all of the other things we’d gathered to get our thousand-plus people across the water. The selkies even swam with shifters or mages on their backs. It was truly a joint effort to get to this moment. The mages and I slinked into the woods behind the shifters. The massive number of us filled the beach, so many that when I closed my eyes, it sounded like the trees were breathing.
No longer enemies, as shifters and mages combined to make one massive force, together we’d take back our land. I hoped our victory would bring unity to our people, peace that would be remembered for generations.
The first shrill scream from the hawk king echoed into the night and then another.
This was it.
‘I love you,’ Rage spoke into my mind.
‘I love you too. Don’t get killed,’ I reminded him. ‘Hamster king.’
‘You neither,’ he said.
We moved. All of us, as one, pushed through the trees with battle cries, howls and roars on our lips. We poured forth like a deadly wave of vengeance.
When I’d first been summoned to leave my life in Montana and come to Alpha Island, I’d hated the idea. I hadn’t wanted to be here, a place that symbolized the banishment of my pack and my family. This place had protected my enemies, and every day in school had been a reminder of the hierarchy of power—and the cruelty of petty jealousy. But now…
This was Shifter Island, a haven for all shifters who wanted to partake of the Island’s magic. And High Mage Island would become the same. I couldn’t imagine wanting to call any other place home.
Tonight, we’d not only fight for our future but also for the future of our families.
No one would take this island from us. Not while I was still breathing.
Magic flared under my skin as we broke into the open courtyard between Alpha Castle and Alpha Academy. Well over fifty blood mages were running in circles, covering their faces with their arms as the hawks attacked. The faint scent of the acrid powder Jakko had made still hung in the air. He’d given each person with magic a blossom that would render the powder harmless to us.
Good ol’ Jakko.
I spotted the hawk king by his beautiful rust and black coloring. A blood mage’s eyeball hung from his beak.
Go team.
My anxiety evaporated, and I grinned as magic flared within me.
“Fire!” I shouted the command, and a millisecond later, Rage, Justice, Mallory, and Xavier, the brown-haired high mage of fire, thrust their hands out toward the chaotic crowd of blood mages, and twenty-foot blowtorches erupted from their palms. The screams of the blood mages intensified as the four fire users made a square around the mages, blocking them in by the very flames that would kill them.
Putting my fingers between my lips, I whistled loudly—a call to my team. Time to get over to High Mage Island before they had too much time to prepare.
Half of each pack, as well as half of the mages, broke away from the group and raced for the library as we moved into our respective teams. As much as Rage and I didn’t want to separate, each team needed a strong leader, and we were the only two leaders of different races who could still communicate telepathically with each other. So the A-team would stay with Rage and battle on Shifter Island, and Team B—for badass—would follow me to fight on High Mage Island. We’d agreed to leave the portal door open so when Rage and his team had eradicated the threat here, he could meet us on the high mage side.
As I burst from the hall into the library, a blood mage leapt out from behind the desk where Mrs. Edi used to sit. The bloodsucker wore his black hair slicked back, and tattoos danced across his face. His eyes dilated as more people poured into the room behind me. He lunged forward, extending his arms as if to grab my neck.
Not today, Vamp.
I slid to his right and grabbed the shoulder of his black robe, bringing my knee up and ramming it into his crotch. He grunted, doubling over. Then, I pulled the blade from my thigh holster and dragged it across his neck.
Blood sprayed into the air, and he fell to his knees.
We’d learned one critical thing from the selkie king regarding our foe. A blood mage could be killed only by draining them of blood, starving them until their life force ran out—which could be years, decades, or maybe centuries—or beheading them. Since I didn’t have a spare hundred years on my hands, I was going with one of the other two options.
“I’ve got him!” Reyna called from behind me.
Holding his throat with wide, panicked eyes as the crimson life pulsed out of him, he watched as Reyna swung her samurai sword in an arc, the blade singing, and with a wet thwack, separated his head from his neck. It bounced off the floor, his body slumped forward, and his blood spilled out in a bright red puddle beneath him.
Gross.
“Open the portal,” Reyna urged me. “We’re waiting on one of you high mages.”
After stepping around the dead mage, I raced down an aisle of the library. Kaja and Reyna flanked me, and we scanned the room for foes. Noble and Honor brought up the rear of Team B, and I could feel the group funneling into the large space.
As shifters and mages, we moved silently, stalking toward the back of the room, to the cracked onyx door. Behind that barrier was where it all went to hell before. High Mage Island was likely their stronghold, which was why Team Badass was so large.
We could do this. We have to. I sucked in a deep breath and then reached out to pull the door open.
Mother Mage, give us the strength to kick their asses.
I yanked on the door handle…
And nearly pulled my arm out of its own socket. Pain sliced up my shoulder blade before being absorbed by my shields.
“Damn,” Reyna muttered, shooting me a frown as she rubbed her shoulder. “Are you trying to dismember me?”
I pulled again, but nothing. The door was … stuck. I yanked again and again, but the door stayed
closed—like super-glued shut. Sariah had tried to seal it, and that hadn’t worked; the blood mages had busted through as we were leaving. Which meant … they’d recently sealed it, maybe even just now from the other side. My mind spun with anxiety.
Reyna raised her eyebrows. “What happened?”
I gulped and then shook my head with sickening certainty. “They closed the portal—or locked it.” Or something.
Blood mages: 1.
Nai: 0.
I didn’t even know how to close down a portal, my lessons had been so limited.
“Let me try.” Carson moved his way through the crowd and reached out to pull on the handle.
Nothing.
Sariah moved to my side. We’d left Donovan back with Annette, but Sariah had insisted on coming to fight. She looked at me now with compassion in her gaze as her lips flattened. “Nai, you know what needs to be done.”
I gulped. I’d made small portals—but only for short distances and only for me and Honor. This … this would have to be huge. But if I couldn’t make a portal, we weren’t going to get our home back. Everything hinged on this.
No pressure.
I nodded. “Everyone step back. I’m going to make a new portal.” I hope.
The collective gasp from the crowd behind me didn’t help my nerves. I did my best to ignore them as Reyna, Kaja, and Noble had everyone take several giant steps back.
This was the culmination of hours of hard work with my mother and Gramps, and I wanted to make them proud. In the past, with Grandpa, I’d pulled my body through a portal to skip through space. But my mother’s lessons made me think of something totally different.
Closing my eyes, I breathed in and out deeply. Then my spirit slipped from my body with ease. No one else could see the separation, of course, and spirit-me spun and glanced over the curious faces of the people behind me: Reyna with her brows drawn, a crease between them; Noble leaning forward, expression full of light and hope; Kaja, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips and her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Turning away from them, I stepped into the door and passed through the black stone with ease. I peered down the hallway, spotting a few passing blurs deeper in the library, but no one was here, guarding the door or even looking this way.