Chapter 5 Maverick
Maverick
The mage’s eyes widened in surprise. My bear demanded we rip him away from our little mate, but I shoved him back down. As much as I despised the mage, we needed his healing magic.
I didn’t dare take her to the healers on campus. They’d ask too many questions. One of the healers had magic that could read thoughts and emotions. I knew Raven could block her thoughts when she tried, but I didn’t trust her shields to remain in place while she was unconscious.
If anyone found out about Rasmus, he was as good as dead. One vampire stood no chance of fighting off hundreds of mages. Tiberius Vane wouldn’t want a powerful vampire like Rasmus Dvorak questioning the origins of the bloodborne virus.
I watched as the mage closed his eyes. A warm glow traveled across my little mate, gently lifting her hair before it faded. She tensed in my arms before crying out.
Damn it, he better not be hurting her!
All my protective instincts screamed at me to shove the mage away from my mate, but I held back. The mage shuddered before he stepped away from the couch and dropped into the chair next to the window.
“Fuck.”
“Tell me what’s wrong with her!” My voice deepened as my bear pushed forward, trying to force a shift. Fur rippled across my hands, and my claws appeared again. It took everything in me to stop myself from shifting. This room wasn’t big enough for me in my shifted form. I’d squash my mate.
My bear growled and grumbled in fury, but he stood down.
“Dark magic is leeching her life force away.”
Alaric’s words sank in. “How?” I had very little experience with dark magic, but the few mages I’d come across that used it had suffered extensive necrosis. We’d not seen any mages at the club last night.
“I don’t know,” Alaric admitted. “My stepmother practices it, as does my father’s minion, but it requires a significant blood sacrifice to curse someone using dark magic. Cursing Raven makes no sense. It wouldn’t benefit anyone.”
“Can you remove the curse?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t have the skills.” I scented no lie in his words; the mage was telling the truth.
“So what are our options?” Damn it. Magenta was the only witch I trusted, but the last I’d heard, she was in the fae realm, and it would take too long to travel there.
If Alaric was right, Raven might not have much time left before the curse claimed her life. My bear howled, inconsolable at the thought of losing his soul-bonded mate.
“My Uncle Adam is powerful enough to remove the curse.”
Raven’s guardian, Tiberius Vane’s brother.
“We have no fucking idea where he is!” He could be anywhere on this continent.
“No, but I have his number.”
“Then call him, but I hope for your sake he’s more trustworthy than your bastard father, or I’ll tear your head off.”
“No need to issue violent threats, care bear,” Zane said from the doorway, where he stood watching, his eyes fixed on our mate. “If he fucks us over, I’ll drop him in a volcano.”
The kitsune pushed through Zane’s legs and jumped onto the bed, where he curled up into a small ball of gray fluff, both tails covering his face.
The small creature hadn’t left the witch once since she had fallen unconscious, which was unusual; I’d noticed he often seemed to disappear at regular intervals, returning with random items.
Zane hadn’t commented on this, so I suspected he knew what the kitsune got up to, but I hadn’t bothered inquiring.
“You can’t kill me,” the mage hissed, unimpressed by Zane’s murderous promises.
“If she dies, small fry, all bets are off.”
“Small fry?” If Raven were awake, she’d be giggling over Zane’s new nickname for the mage. My hand squeezed hers as a pang of fear shot through me.
“He fries things, and he’s…small.”
“For the last fucking time, I am not small!”
Zane shrugged. “Po-tae-to, po-tah-to. Now go call Uncle Adam; there’s a good boy.” He threw Alaric a patronizing smirk, but from the scent of acrid anxiety flooding the room, the incubus was as worried as me.
Alaric sneered one last time before stomping away. The front door banged, and then a blast of cold air sent flames surging up the chimney.
Fucking mage.