20. Aeron
Aeron
The screams were worse than the explosions.
I stood frozen at the edge of the collapsing wards, Quill pressed against my side, and watched as the undead poured through the gaps like a tide of rotting flesh.
They moved with an intelligence that made my dragon blood run cold.
This wasn’t the mindless hunger typical of resurrected corpses looking to consume life.
Someone was directing them, controlling them with precision and purpose.
“We need to move,” I said, but my voice sounded distant even to my own ears. The mate bond was going absolutely feral, every instinct screaming at me to shift, to fight, to tear apart anything that threatened my Quill. But that would only get us both killed.
Around us, students were stumbling out of their dorms in confusion and panic despite the warnings to stay inside.
They’d seen the wards crumble through their windows.
Widdershins was fully exposed now and open to anyone who wanted to enter.
And, if I needed further proof that the wards were truly gone, I could see phone screens lighting up across campus as students called out to their parents in panic.
“Come on, Red,” I said, pulling him away from the chaos. “Let’s go!”
“Shouldn’t we tell your grandfather?” Quill asked, still not moving. “If the security team is overrun, he might not know yet.”
“We can teleport to the estate as soon as we’re away from here,” I shouted back. “Please Red, we need to go!”
But the moment I turned back toward the woods, I saw the figures shambling toward us.
They were even more disgusting up close, their movements so unnatural that it made my stomach turn.
As much as I wanted to shift into my dragon form and burn them all to ash, I knew I was still far too young to be breathing fire.
The only thing I had on my side in that form was size, and that wouldn’t be enough against their numbers.
I grabbed Quill’s wrist and pulled harder, not bothering to wait for his agreement as I turned us back toward campus.
We needed distance between us and the undead.
Now. Behind us, I could hear the wet sounds of corpses shambling across the manicured campus lawns, could smell the stench of death and decay growing stronger with each passing second.
The student center loomed ahead, its heavy doors still unlocked.
I yanked Quill toward it, my half-shifted form giving me the strength to move faster than any human should be able to.
A group of terrified freshmen were huddled near the entrance, but they scattered when they saw us coming, mistaking my partially transformed state for another threat.
“In here!” I called to Quill, pulling him through the doors and slamming them shut behind us.
The locks wouldn’t hold for long, but they might buy us enough time to figure out our next move. I pressed my back against the glass, trying to catch my breath while keeping my eyes on the undead that were beginning to circle the building like predators.
“Can we teleport from inside here?” Quill asked, his voice shaking but focused. “Even with the wards down?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, hating the admission.
“Teleportation requires anchors. The estate grounds have them, but I’ve never tried to jump without a circle set up on my side too.
” I turned to look at him, and even in the chaos, even with undead running toward us, all I could focus on was the fear in his eyes. “It might not work.”
“So we’re stuck,” he said flatly.
“Not necessarily.” I pulled out my phone, the one I’d taken into town with us, with shaking fingers, trying to call my grandfather. The signal was there, at least. That was something. But when I hit dial, nothing happened. The call wouldn’t go through. “Damn it. No fucking service.”
Another crash against the doors. The undead were testing them now, their rotting hands leaving smears of decay across the glass. I watched in horror as they began to pile up, using their own bodies as a battering ram.
“There’s a back exit,” Quill said, already taking a few steps back. “We could make a run for it—”
The moment he said it, there was a bright flash of green magic outside the doors.
All at once the dead stopped ramming and turned their attention on something else.
The scent of magic filled the air, raw and powerful.
It was distinctly fae with that undertone of too-sweet flowers that fae magic always had.
There were shouts and yells and the sound of dead bodies being torn apart.
And then, for one brief moment, everything was silent.
I held my breath, waiting for the chaos to erupt once more.
Instead, I saw a figure appear beyond the door, silhouetted against the night.
The doors creaked once and burst open. Behind them was the last person I ever expected to see.
“Lysander,” I breathed, recognizing that long blonde hair and those mischievous green eyes immediately.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demanded, though relief flooded through me at the sight of him.
Lysander stood in the doorway covered in black ichor, his fae magic still crackling around his fingertips in that distinctive green glow.
Behind him, the scattered remains of at least a dozen undead were strewn across the campus lawn.
“Saving your ass, apparently,” Lysander said with that infuriating smirk of his, stepping inside and kicking the doors shut behind him. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
“How did you—” I started, but Quill cut me off.
“You knew?” Quill asked Lysander, his voice sharp. “You knew about the breach before the alarms went off?”
Lysander’s expression flickered for just a moment, something crossing his face that looked almost like guilt. “I was already awake when your boyfriend came to warn you.” He turned to me, his green eyes sharp despite the casual tone. “I love that you didn’t try to wake me up, by the way.”
“I was worried about Red,” I said, my tone defensive. “He’s my top priority.”
“Well, he’s your mate, so that makes sense.”
I froze and I felt Quill prickle beside me.
“Mate?” Quill looked up at me. “Is that true?”
My jaw began to work as I tried to formulate a response, but no words came out.
“Yes, he’s your mate,” Lysander said, filling in the gaps.
“It’s obvious from the way he’s been acting around you.
But we don’t have time to worry about that right now.
We need to destroy as many of these undead as possible before the Purity Front shows up behind them.
” He gave me a discerning look. “The last thing I need is Elder Thaddeus’s grandson getting hurt during an attack. He’d never forgive me.”
“Forgive you?” I scoffed. “He doesn’t even know you. And I can take care of myself.”
“You really don’t recognize me, do you?” Lysander grinned.
“No. Why the hell should I?”
He smiled wide as he swept his hand over his face. Green magic glowed at his fingertips as the glamor fell away. His fair features and blonde hair were replaced with freckles and sharp angles and wild red hair. But those green eyes remained the same.
My jaw nearly hit the floor.
“Elder… Elder Briar Hall?” I gasped.
He chuckled. “Did you really think your grandfather would let you stay here without any inside protection?”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scream or kick myself.
He’d been watching me the entire time, getting so close that I should’ve been able to scent him or see through that stupidly simple glamor of his.
How did I not notice it before? Was I really that fucking blind?
And did my grandfather truly send him to watch me when we both disliked him so much?
He was the biggest pain in the ass on the Elder Council.
“Questions later,” Elder Briar Hall said, holding up a hand before I could speak. “Right now I need to get you both to safety, and then we can talk it over with your grandfather.”
The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Elder Briar Hall. Wilderain himself, standing in front of me covered in the remains of undead, casual as if he’d just been out for a stroll instead of slaughtering dozens of corpses.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I managed to say, my brain struggling to catch up with what my eyes were seeing. “You’re the one who’s been—”
“Watching you? Yes,” he interrupted, that infuriating smile never wavering.
“And doing a damn good job of it, if I do say so myself. Your grandfather was worried you’d get hurt should the wards fail.
However, I do think he’ll be surprised to find you’ve got a witch for a mate. And a male one at that.”
I felt Quill’s hand grip my arm, his nails digging in slightly. I glanced down at him and saw the betrayal written all over his face. He was looking at me like I’d known about this the entire time, like I’d been complicit in whatever scheme my grandfather had orchestrated.
“I didn’t know,” I said quickly, turning to face him fully. “Red, I swear I didn’t know about any of this.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Elder Briar Hall said, rolling his eyes.
“Thaddeus wanted to keep it contained. The fewer people who knew about my assignment, the better. Though I have to say, watching you two moon over each other for the past week has been absolutely delicious. Do you have any idea how obvious you’ve been? ”
“Can we please focus on the fact that there are still undead trying to kill us?” Quill snapped, his tone sharp despite the tremor in his voice. I could smell the spike of adrenaline and fear coming off him in waves, mixing with anger and a hint of betrayal.
Another crash echoed through the building, this time from the back. The undead were testing all the exits, probing for weaknesses. Wild glanced toward the sound with that casual confidence that made me want to punch him.