Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
SYRENA
I stare down at my prince. The Wystans are my own family since my parents were killed when I was young. The king and queen protected me and raised me with their children. Declan is my prince, just like Ash is my king.
Even if they can all be pains in the ass.
“This might be beyond my magic to heal, at least not quickly.” The amount of damage done to Declan is severe and it’s been going on for a long time. I can feel the magic that used to imprison him. It’s ancient and powerful. “We need to try to contact Ellie, find out exactly what spells she broke, and how. If he’s not able to heal his dragon, if he hasn’t been able to for months, we don’t know what other damages has been done.”
Pru types on her tablet as she takes more readings on his physical condition. She shakes her head. “His blood pressure is too high. His heart is racing. I’m going to examine his blood work and see if I can find anything else. He’s got a lot of scarring too. I don’t think he’s been able to heal properly probably the entire time he’s been missing. He’d been injured that night he was taken from Las Vegas.”
I sigh and sit down feeling exhausted from using my powers. “I can try to get Tabitha to talk again. Maybe she knows what’s going on with him. Or maybe she knows why Grey would possibly take Brianna.”
“Try everything. You didn’t see him, Sy.” Malcolm frowns at me, and I want to shake the young dragon.
Even if I haven’t physically seen his shifted form, I know the damage. Ash made sure of it, and my spells and tests confirmed it. He hasn’t been in connection with his dragon for so long, the beast kept completely separate, and it’s kept him from properly healing. I hope he’ll return to his full strength now, but without being able to make sure the spells broke correctly, that the fae friend didn’t do unintentional damage, there’s no way to tell but to give him time.
Time I’m afraid we don’t have.
I’ve seen my share of dragons succumbing to the craze, and those were ones who lost hope, or lost their mate after years and years together. If we can’t get Brianna back, and soon, I’m afraid we’re going to lose Declan faster than he’s losing his dragon.
“Mal, call Enzo, Arthur, any other fae we have contact with. Find out if they know Ellie and if they can give us contact info or if they can contact her for us.” I look at Declan, sleeping now, and I can see the strain pulling at the corners of his eyes and the drawn down expression of his mouth, the sunken way his chest seems to sit. He’s made a good show so far of being fine, of coming out of his captivity more or less unscathed, but sleeping, it’s obvious that he’s been hiding pain and injury. He’s been hiding things that I don’t even know for sure if he remembers.
I worry Krystana is in a similar situation, but she’s been able to contact us and promises that she’s doing well. I guess I’ll take her word for it for now.
I have to hope that we can somehow find all the places shifters are being held and break them free before they end up lost to the spells, lost to the pain, or worse. And if there are any other dragons being held, we must find them before they give up completely and let the craze take over. I doubt even the strongest blood magic in all the worlds could stop a dragon lost to the craze from breaking free and wreaking havoc.
“Malcolm and I will send out word to everyone we know. We’ll find Ellie.” Ash’s jaw tightens as he digs out his phone.
In the time since our home was invaded and his parents were killed, Ash has aged. He’s carrying burdens I don’t think any dragon king has had to bear, maybe ever. Finley, too, has matured, has stepped up in her role as his mate, as our de-facto queen, even if most of the dragons we know refuse to accept the claim, and certainly refuse to accept him as king with a human, former or not, at his side.
There’s so much to do and so little time. Stopping Grey is just the top of a very long list.
We need to learn from the Obsidian Queen, and we need to find a better way to do things. We need our society to return to some level of normalcy, and we need to get back to a place where dragons can thrive.
Even if it’s only just enough that I can stop portalling all over this damned country, this world, long enough to fully regain my powers.
“Malcolm, can you stay with him? If he wakes, call me immediately.”
“Of course.” He tugs the chair from the corner of the room over to next to the bed, and props his motorcycle boots up onto the end of the bed next to Declan’s.
Pru sets her tablet down and steps up to Declan’s side. “I’ll keep an eye on him too, and I can administer more sleeping potion whenever we need to. I don’t know what else we can do to help him, other than keep him comfortable and hope that he can eventually heal on his own. I don’t know that there’s even a magical surgical option to fix his wings though, and if there is, he’d have to remain a dragon long enough for it to work.”
“We’ll figure it out somehow. He’s strong.” I sigh again, the exhaustion of magic use and stress wearing on me. “We have to find Brianna, though, and bring her home quickly. He certainly won’t be able to heal himself completely without his mate.”
There aren’t enough Wystans in or near Miami to get all the various tasks I need completed, and not enough magic or help in the world for us to just end the threat so that we can move on.
But that’s not going to stop me from doing everything I can.
Even if it means trying to get a broken witch to re-embrace her magic for the side of right.
Before I get out of the hospital, though, Pru stops me. “That dragon in there isn’t the only one who needs rest, Syrena.”
I roll my eyes, even though that simple action makes my eyeballs ache. Maybe I do need rest, but how can I stop working, stop helping my clan, the Wystans, when there’s so much happening, so much fighting on so many fronts? It’s not like there are a lot of clan witches to begin with and not all of them are on our side.
“I’m not saying run off to Bermuda and work on your tan or make friends with the local sharks. I’m just saying, maybe we need to have a girls’ night soon, pop open a bottle of wine or three, and we’ll just decompress. We’ll talk about anything that doesn’t have to do with dragons, vampires, or magic, or anything else but our favorite episodes of Sex in the City .” She gives me a playful nudge. “You need time off.”
I give her a weak smile and nod. “We all do. But unless things have drastically changed in the last few minutes, we still have a psychotic vampire with his minions out there trying to take down everyone I’ve ever loved, and enslave any and every human they can get their hands on.” I run my hands over my face, feeling the weight of everything, feeling the stress of having to save yet another Wystan brother from himself. “When I get the chance to breathe, when I get the chance to sit, we should definitely have a girls’ night. And if I can get Krystana to come home, and Tabitha decides to forgive herself for the bullshit that bloodsucking monster put her through, I’ll even bring them along. We can all sit around and drink and talk about whether or not you and Gavin are ever going to take the plunge and have a kid of your own.”
Pru’s glare sparks a bit of laughter.
“Okay, okay. I get it. That was a low blow.” I shake my head still smiling a little. “I see how you look at the Wystan babies. And the Carmine babies. You and Gavin have plenty of time.”
Pru gives me a chuckle that is completely devoid of humor. “Maybe we’ll talk about it when we get a chance to breathe, a chance to sit. Or are you the only one who’s allowed to martyr herself to save the world?”
“I’m not…” I shake my head and move to sit in one of the waiting room chairs.
Pru follows and sits right next to me.
“Okay, maybe I am. But what else am I supposed to do? With only three clan witches trying to take on a whole lot of ancient magic and a vampire who has been planning for the better part of a century or millennium for all I know, we’re unmatched. And unless I can break Tabitha out of this mood she’s in, I don’t have anyone waiting in the wings to take over if I take a nap. Penelope’s got more than enough on her plate, without taking my clan’s problems on too. I have a human who’s pregnant with a dragon’s baby, without wearing his claim, without a dragon of her own. And I’ll be as positive as I can be with her, with Declan, but Gods, Pru, I don’t know what’s happening there. I don’t know if she’s going to be okay, and now that she’s not here, nowhere to be found, and we can’t monitor her, I really don’t know how to help her or Declan. I don’t know how to help Declan’s dragon, and I don’t know how we’re ever going to take down Grey when he’s always two steps ahead of us. I need to get Tabitha to talk to me, to show me what spells she’s cast, what spells Grey might still have up his sleeve, and it feels next to impossible to even get her to look at me.”
Pru squeezes my hand. “There it is. It’s about damn time you let it out.” She let out a breath of relief. “We’re going to figure this out. And we’re going to figure out how to handle the counsel, and the fact that there’s a new clan who doesn’t have a witch. But not if you keep burning yourself out every couple of days. Go home, get some sleep, and try again tomorrow.”
“How can I? I feel it, Pru. There’s a change in magic. It’s affecting all of us. It’s changing all of us. Even if we do manage to find out how to stop Grey, to get the counsel to recognize the value of human mates, and bring the Obsidians back into the fold, magic isn’t going to go back to working the way it always has. Something has been irrevocably changed.” I shake my head. “I don’t know how long I’m even going to be able to help combat it all. I can’t stop fighting, until I can’t fight anymore.”
Pru’s lips curve into half a smile and she squeezes my hand again. “There you are. I was starting to wonder if I was going to have to find us another badass witch to keep all these dragons sane.”
I roll my eyes at her, even though her words make me want to smile. “Okay, I’m going to talk to Tabitha. I need her help, and one way or another I’m going to get Declan through this mess, get him healed up, and then I’m going to find his mate, get her through this pregnancy, and someday soon, I’m making the Wystans put me up in an all-inclusive suite on a beach far from where any fucking vampires can find me.”
“Make them spend a chunk of their vast wealth to put you into one of those expensive overwater bungalows for at least a month.”
“Two. Maybe three. With massages and spa treatments every day.”
Pru laughs and stands up. “I’ve got to get back to rounds. Call me if you need any help with Tabitha.”
“Wouldn’t even if I thought you could.” I wink at her as I pick up my purse and stride out into the night, head held high, heels clicking across the tile floor.
The fact that Tabitha’s five-star room has all the amenities it could possibly have doesn’t negate the fact I’ve spelled her into it, or the fact I’ve done everything I can to make sure she can’t use any magic while she’s inside the space.
And every time I see her in there, I feel like shit.
How is locking her in there any better than what happened to Declan and Ewan? What damage am I doing to her, what scars aren’t healing, because of the prison I’ve built? She was under Grey’s thrall. Nothing she did was of her own volition. She doesn’t deserve to be a prisoner again.
“Are you going to come in, or are you just going to linger in the doorway?” Tabitha’s voice filters in from the bedroom, and even though I can’t see her, I’m sure her face is scowling.
With a sigh, I walk in, carrying a bag of supplies I hope will brighten her spirits. Or at least help her feel more like herself again.
The vibrant, sassy witch I once knew well looks like a shell of the same woman, with hollow eyes and not a stitch of makeup on her face. She’s lost a good deal of weight. I don’t think Grey actively made sure she ate while he was ordering her around. Her appetite hasn’t seemed to get back to normal either. She hardly eats when we bring her food three times a day.
“You’ve looked better, Tabitha.” I drop my bag on her bed and sit next to her. “Any chance you’re feeling up to talking yet?”
She rolls her eyes at me. “Any chance you’re feeling up to letting me fucking die?” When I don’t give into her dramatic answer, she inches away from me. “You act like there’s any coming back from this.”
“You can. You just have to be willing to try, Tab.” I reach over and squeeze her hand. “The things you did weren’t your fault.”
She gives me a look of disdain. “I’d love to believe that, but I don’t know any more what ideas were mine, and what came from Grey. I don’t know what spells were mine. I don’t know what Opals I directly killed, or allowed to be killed. I remember every life I took. Whether or not it was under someone else’s control, I fucking remember it.” She shakes her head, her eyes looking like a combination of near tears and bottomless rage. “I can’t stop seeing it. Those spells were cast with my hands, my voice, my fucking magic. People were slain because of me. People were enslaved, tortured, put into fighting pits. Some poor woman is going to have her body ripped apart because Grey wants a dragon baby, but he’s not going to wait around nine months for it to happen. He’s going to keep killing, keep torturing, keep ruining people’s lives. And I fucking helped. So just let me die. Or execute me.” She gets up, running her hands through her hair and revealing a few bald spots. Spots where it looks like she’s pulled her own hair out.
“Oh goddesses, Tabitha.” I don’t know what to say to help her through this. There is nothing. She’s going to have to work through it to get to the other side, if she can.
She sits back down again. “You don’t know what it’s like. I close my eyes, and I see it. I try to stay awake, I keep my eyes open, and the ghosts still don’t leave me alone. Haunted doesn’t begin to describe how I feel, and I’m fucking tired of it, Syrena.”
I get up and pull her into my arms, hugging her tightly. “It won’t be like this forever, Tabitha. We’ll get you through this, and we’ll bring him down. But until we can, I need your help. I need to know what spells you’ve done.” I swallow hard. “And I need to know what you mean by Grey won’t wait nine months for a baby to be born.”
Tabitha pulls back from me, her hollowed eyes sparking with fear, something different than the hatred and disgust for her on existence. “What’s happened?”
“Declan’s unclaimed mate is pregnant, and we think Grey took her,” I say gently.
Tabitha’s eyes fill with tears that don’t spill over until she finally blinks. “He’s really going to do it.”
“What is it that he’s going to do?” I ask, sure I don’t really want to know and knowing whatever it is, it’s going to send Declan spiraling.