Chapter 26 Burn the Witch
Chapter twenty-six
Burn the Witch
Xander
Xander stood hunched over the table, feeling the wary eyes of his colleagues upon him and listening to their whispered worries about his behaviour.
He’d been struggling to keep his shadows under control since he woke up alone in the cottage and he hadn’t slept since.
His dark power clung to him and followed him wherever he went, serving as a reminder that he had lost her again.
It had been days and Adriana was still missing, there was no trace of where she was.
He knew the moment he woke up that she was gone, he felt her absence more than he could comprehend.
It was almost fitting, waking up soaked in his own blood from where she had fed from him; it gave him the slightest sense of what she had felt when she had awoken all those years ago, alone in her room, with healed wounds to serve as a memory of his attack.
He could feel the concern emanating from the Lupi, having never seen him in this state before.
His brothers understood, they knew not to push him when he was like this, particularly when it involved Adriana.
It seemed Ieuwan hadn’t wanted to even face him while he was in such a state, having been absent since the day before.
But it was Cassandra’s emotions that made him look up, he could practically smell her fear as she forced herself to have another vision.
Xander knew she was terrified, partly of him but mainly because she had seen Adriana in her visions.
Every prophecy showed her trapped in a cage, and when the vision shifted to show more, it would only provide glimpses of Adriana in pain, writhing on the floor whilst the sound of laughter roared around her.
But the vision she was having at the table, the vision that Xander was watching with her, was so much worse.
Adriana was screaming, her eyes were squeezed shut as she howled in pain at the flames that licked their way up her body, burning her alive.
Her screams continued, and then dozens of voices began to chant.
Burn the witch.
Cass snapped out of the vision just as Xander threw his chair across the room, the wood smashing against the wall and splintering to the floor. He ran his hands through his hair, grasping at the roots and pulling in anguish.
“We’re running out of time,” he said, the strained calmness in his voice giving way to his desperation with every word. “We need to find her right fucking now.”
“It’s got to be the Liberators,” Deion said. “Likely someone high up in their chain of command. Rook wouldn’t get his hands dirty, which means someone else took her.”
“What did you see this time?” Nicolai asked Cass. “Was anything different?”
Cass could only shake her head as she silently sobbed, her tears falling down her face and dripping onto the table.
Nicolai frowned and offered her a tissue, but she couldn’t even seem to move.
Xander knew she was so petrified of losing her sister that her emotions were blocking her ability to see beyond the flashes and glimpses.
Fear of the future was a Vanticini’s greatest weakness.
Xander came to lean on the table again, addressing the room. “They’re going to kill her. Whoever has Adriana is going to kill her.”
Before anyone could respond, the phone in the centre of the table rang out, Katie’s number flashing on the screen. Xander all but launched himself across the table to answer it.
“What is it?” he snapped, as he put her on speakerphone.
Katie had been incredibly busy dealing with the riots across the country that the Liberators had instigated.
There was carnage everywhere; streets were demolished, buildings set on fire, hundreds of people injured or killed for being Daemon sympathisers.
She tried to rally her government as best she could, deploying police forces across the towns and cities that were hit the worst, but it was useless.
Rook had dug his claws deep, and now she had no known true allies except the Courts.
They were on the brink of civil war, and the chaos that had erupted over the last few days had given Caligo just the boost he needed to double his attacks.
Since Adriana had been taken, there had been new sightings of Umbranimae almost every hour.
They appeared across the whole country, destroying everything and everyone in their path.
Without the control of the government, they were losing all of their forces.
And without Adriana, Xander felt he was losing his sanity entirely.
The mortal leaders of the World Court had refused to send military aid after Katie reported to them about the growing Umbranima attacks amongst the Liberator chaos, and so they had chosen to let her deal with it alone.
Rafael Sharma, Katie’s right hand man, had tried his best to persuade them to join their fight, but even he had to admit they were making the right decision for their countries’ safety, for the UK was not the only place dealing with the Umbranimae.
Instead, he and Katie opted to focus their efforts on finding allies within the country and had set up rescue missions for Daemons in the larger cities to escape the Liberators.
But for now, the Courts were on their own.
And their greatest chance at fighting the Umbranimae was locked away somewhere unknown, awaiting her execution.
“Are you all at headquarters?” Katie asked, the loud sound of traffic and shouting in the distance coming through the line.
“We are,” Xander replied. “We’re all here, what’s going on?”
“You need to get yourselves out and go somewhere safe. London is going to fall and everyone knows headquarters is where you'll most likely be. You’re sitting ducks if you stay there.”
“We can’t leave,” Cass spoke up. “We need to find Adriana. I’m sorry, ma’am, but I’m not leaving until she’s safe!”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone until Katie spoke again. “That’s the other thing I called to tell you. You need to turn on the news. It’s Rook.”
Xander tensed, piecing together what she meant. Deion switched the TV on, flicking through the news channels. It didn’t matter which one he picked, every single one showed Adriana’s bloodied and beaten face.
Cass choked on a sob as she watched the screen. Adriana was slipping in and out of consciousness, her body being held up by the chains that bound her to a wooden post as she stood on top of a pyre. Standing before her was Ieuwan, Norman, and Lucas Rook.
“Traitorous bastards!” Kadeem spat out, standing so abruptly he knocked his chair over as he saw their brothers on the screen. His wave-like markings on his arms flared a bright blue as his anger peaked.
They had all noticed Ieuwan’s growing absence over the months, but none of them had paid much thought to it.
He had always been on the outside of their group, ever since Norman had been removed.
Whilst they believed it was purely because he’d lost his closest friend after Norman left, along with not having as big of a role in the Courts as the rest of them, it was now clear he’d been playing a much bigger role for Rook.
And Xander could only despise himself for not noticing until now.
“I am demanding a meeting with the Courts,” Rook’s voice rang out. “I demand for the traitorous Daemon sympathiser, Katie Jones, to step down from her position as Prime Minister. I demand for the blood-sucking filth, Alexander Duran, to give himself up, as well as his allies.”
“Like fucking hell!” Nicolai shouted. The entire room had stood to watch the broadcast, their anger and rage flooding Xander’s senses.
Rook’s message continued. “If you do not meet these demands, my army will continue to attack every town and city until all Daemons and sympathisers are removed and eradicated. If you do not give yourselves up, I will burn this Blood Witch at the stake and let the world watch her die.”
The broadcast cut out and Adriana’s face was replaced with a newsreader. No one in the room moved.
“Where is she?” Xander asked, his voice breaking. “Katie, where are they?”
Katie sighed on the other end of the line. “You can’t go, it’s a trap.”
“Where is she?” he roared, the Court leaders collectively flinching at his raised voice. “Where the fuck is he keeping her?”
“Parliament,” Cass whispered, her eyes coming back into focus from another vision. “They’ve stormed the Houses, that’s where they are. There’s not much time. They’ll come here next.”
“Duran, don’t you fucking dare,” Katie’s voice shouted. “I am handling this. This is a mortal conflict and you are not to involve yourself.”
Xander let out an exasperated laugh. “That’s bollocks, Katie, and you know it.
He called me out just as he did you. He’s threatened us all, he’s threatened her.
She is the most important thing to me and he knows it, those cunts who were once my brothers would have helped Rook come to that realisation.
I’m not sitting this out, so don’t waste your time expecting me to. ”
“I’m already there, let me sort this.” The line went dead as Katie ended the call.
Xander shook with rage, his shadows had stopped flying around the room and huddled close around him, cloaking him in darkness. He looked around the table, his anger reflected in everyone else.
Katie wouldn’t stand a chance, but of course, as the prideful leader of her country and people, she had gone at it alone.
Xander knew she would never sacrifice her position to save Adriana, a woman she didn’t even know.
And though she was right to do so for the sake of all the mortals and Daemons under her protection, he couldn’t let that happen.
He would sacrifice it all, this entire world he had helped shape and build—he’d lose it all for her.
Cass stepped forward, narrowing her eyes at Xander, a mutual understanding passing between them. “We’re getting my sister back.”
Adriana