Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
T he acrid scent hit Kaine’s nose like a physical blow—burnt metal twisted with winter frost, sharp enough to make his bear’s hackles rise. His massive paws moved silently across the underground passage’s worn stone floor, each step placed with deliberate care despite his bulk. The academy’s ancient tunnels pressed close around them, centuries of magical residue coating the walls in a faint, phosphorescent sheen.
Burke’s bear form padded beside him, their shoulders nearly brushing in the narrow space. His second’s presence steadied him, their years of working together evident in how they moved in perfect sync. A draft whispered through the passage, carrying another familiar scent—Xabir.
“ South tunnel ,” Burke’s thoughts touched his through their pack bond. “ He’s caught the trail too .”
The three passages converged ahead near the artifact vault, its ornate doors rising two stories high. Usually, the protection runes carved into the ancient wood pulsed with steady golden light. Tonight, something was wrong. Darkness writhed across the surface like living entities, distorting the runes’ power. The sight made Kaine’s bear stir uneasily, primal instincts screaming danger.
A soft scraping sound echoed from within. Kaine’s ears swiveled forward, catching the crystalline chime of something moving with deliberate purpose among the shelves. He met Burke’s dark eyes, seeing his own tension mirrored there. Xabir’s wolf form slipped from the shadows to join them, his silver-gray fur nearly invisible in the dim light.
“Now,” Kaine rumbled, the word barely a breath.
They exploded into motion. Kaine and Burke surged through the doorway like a tide of muscle and fury, their combined mass filling the space. Xabir darted between them, wolf-swift, targeting the shadows’ vulnerable flanks. The crystalline figures turned—too smoothly, too coordinated. Their faceted forms caught and fractured the vault’s dim light, throwing kaleidoscope patterns across the ancient stones.
One creature lunged for a shelf of protection amulets. Rage roared through Kaine’s blood. These artifacts were under his security team’s protection—part of the academy’s heritage. His bear’s fury erupted in a thunderous roar that shook dust from the vaulted ceiling. He swung a massive paw, expecting the shadow to dissolve like smoke.
Instead, it partially solidified. The impact jarred up his arm as crystalline edges absorbed the blow, reforming almost instantly. These weren’t like the formless things they’d fought before. These learned. Adapted. Evolved.
He slammed both paws into a cluster of shadows, scattering them momentarily before they reformed in new configurations.
Xabir’s wolf form wove through the chaos like liquid silver, snapping and clawing wherever he spotted weakness.
That’s when Kaine noticed the artifacts. The shadows were draining their energy.
A sickening crack split the air. Kaine spun toward the sound, his enhanced vision catching the moment in horrifying detail. One shadow had wrapped itself around a centuries- old protection amulet, its crystalline form pulsing with stolen energy. The artifact’s golden glow flickered once, twice—then shattered. The shards scattered across the floor like deadly stars, each piece trailing tendrils of malevolent power.
Where the fragments landed, nearby relics began to change. Their magical signatures warped, ancient protections twisting into something wrong. The toxin spread like poison through water, leaving dull gray husks in its wake.
“Contain it!” Kaine commanded, his voice roughened by his bear form. They scrambled to create barriers, using everything at hand. Burke overturned massive display cases while Xabir darted between shelves, knocking specific artifacts out of the corruption’s path. Kaine placed himself directly in front of their most powerful relics, using his own body as a shield against the creeping darkness.
The remaining shadows retreated like oil through water, flowing into cracks in the ancient stone. The three shifters held position, muscles coiled tightly, waiting to ensure the threat had truly passed. Only then did another scent drift down from above.
Vail.
The scent hit him like a physical blow. His bear surged forward, every instinct screaming to check on her, to ensure she was safe. But he trusted her strength.
As they examined the destruction, a pattern emerged in the scattered crystal shards. Someone had been methodically collecting them after each attack. Recent scuff marks showed where pieces had been carefully gathered, leaving deliberate gaps in the destruction.
“Smart money’s on Ledger,” Xabir growled, his wolf form bristling as he sniffed the scattered fragments. “These marks are fresh—he’s been down here between attacks, harvesting corrupted artifacts.”
A haunting howl echoed through the passages, the sound bouncing off stone until it seemed to come from everywhere at once. Xabir’s ears shot forward. “That’s Reed—warning signal.”