Chapter 20 Amari
AMARI
Istand over Torin’s sleeping form, watching the boy’s chest rise and fall with steady breaths. The blue aura still pulses around him, faint but undeniable. He’s still possessed. Still trapped inside his own body while that bastard uses him as a puppet.
The boy’s face is peaceful in sleep. His sandy locs fall across his forehead, and his small hands are curled into loose fists. He should be dreaming about playing in the forest with his friends, not being used as a vessel for a vengeful spirit
Little Aaron approaches in his pajamas, scratching his head. His curly hair is a complete mess. His pajama shirt is on backward, the tag visible at his throat.
“He’s fated to Nala,” Aaron says matter-of-factly, his voice still rough with sleep.
I look at him, my brow furrowed. He speaks with the certainty of someone far older than he looks. “Yes, I know.”
Aaron straightens. “I’m going to go check on her for him.” The same certainty his mother has when she’s decided something.
I suppress a chuckle because this is not the time to be laughing at a child’s misplaced heroism. The situation is too dire, too dangerous. But there’s something admirable about his loyalty to his friend’s fated mate, even if that loyalty is rooted in his own feelings for the girl.
I watch as Angie’s son starts to walk off with purpose in his steps, but Jacob, his stepfather, catches him by the back of his shirt with one large hand. He lifts Aaron clean into the air like he weighs nothing.
Aaron kicks his feet, glaring up at Jacob.
“Hey, I was just going to check on her!” Aaron protests, still kicking.
Angie suddenly appears beside them, appearing from the shadows where she’d been studying spell books. “You need to sit your bad ass down before I put you into the same nap.”
Aaron’s shoulders slump and he stops kicking immediately, the fight draining out of him as he listens to his mother. E
She mutters something to him about needing to stop coveting that lion shifter. “She doesn’t belong to you and you can’t take a mate from a mate.”
“I know, Mom,” Aaron says, his voice small, almost in embarrassment. His cheeks flush slightly.
Jacob keeps hold of him, his grip careful. “Come help me look through some spell books for solutions.”
He walks back over to the table with Aaron still dangling from his grip like a kitten being carried by its scruff, then sits him down in one of the chairs. Aaron crosses his arms but stays put.
I smile at them having their family moment.
Even in crisis, the love is clear—and it’s what I’m missing.
I was supposed to be doing this with my own kids right now, making sure Noki and Tofi started bonding again, working through their sibling rivalry.
I want this over. I want to go home to Carla and our children, back to the life we’re building.
Angie approaches with a spell book in hand, sweat at her temples from the magic she’s already worked tonight.
Her black hair is pulled back in a messy bun, strands escaping around her face.
“I have the spell to end the possessions, but this spell says only for one, so it looks like I’d have to perform it one at a time. ”
One at a time. There are dozens of possessed children in this academy.
Aaron stands up from his chair, eavesdropping as always. The kid has supernaturally good hearing, even for a shifter. “I can help, Mommy.”
Angie rolls her eyes, but there’s pride hidden in the gesture. “I know.”
“And thank Mother Fate my sisters are at home,” he continues, relief evident in his voice. “I only stayed because of extra trials. Hopefully they’re okay.”
Jacob puts a hand on his shoulder, the large palm nearly covering Aaron’s entire shoulder blade. He eases him back down in his seat. “They’re fine at House of Zorah. The brothers take good care of the pack.”
“Yeah, they do.” Aaron grins, some of his usual spunk returning. “And they’re a little crazy about it too.”
Jacob chuckles,
Leah steps forward. “Let me see the spell. I can help.”
Kade nods. “And teleportation seems to work as well. I’ll do my part.”
Angie passes the book to Leah so she can study the spell, then walks over to Torin. She kneels beside the sleeping boy, her expression softening as she looks at his peaceful face. “These children have been through enough, now this.”
“It’s a good thing they won’t remember anything when they’re free from it,” I point out, trying to find some silver lining in this nightmare.
Angie rolls her eyes at me, the gesture sharp and sarcastic. “Yep, I’m ready to be Wintermoon’s scapegoat. Lovely.” She raises a sarcastic eyebrow and I chuckle despite the tension.
Bobby approaches me with the enclosure in his hands. “Do we still need this?”
Angie nods without looking up from Torin. “Yes. The minute those spirits leave the children, Nathaniel will come to try and put things back into place. We’ll be ruining his plans to come after Solomon.”
Torin’s eyes suddenly snap open, but they’re still glowing that eerie blue.
The color is wrong, unnatural, like looking into the depths of cursed water.
With my vampire senses, I hear all the other children waking throughout the academy.
The sound of small bodies stirring, feet hitting floors, doors creaking open.
It’s like a horror movie unfolding in real time.
Nathaniel is here.
Angie falls into me and I catch her, pulling her protectively into my arms when we feel a surge of magic suddenly hit the academy.
It’s like a shockwave, rippling through the building.
Pink webbing shields the structure in a magical barrier thrown up by the spider children.
Through the windows, I can see the intricate web patterns glowing.
I want to go out and help, but I know I can’t.
Not yet. I don’t want any of them to get hurt.
Noki, Tofi, Moria, Kemnebi, or the rest of Carla’s children.
They’re my children too now, in every way that matters.
I may not be able to feel their deaths like Carla can, but the pain of not knowing, of being separated from them during battle, hurts all the more.
“Well fuck, getting it at all angles. How lovely,” Angie mutters against my chest.
Torin’s already on his feet, moving with unnatural speed and grace. His claws extend with an audible snikt, sharp and deadly. He leaps at us—every movement a trained killer’s.
Angie tries to cast another sleeping spell, blue and gold magic sparking from her fingertips, but he claws her hand badly. I grab Torin's possessed body by the back of his neck, my vampire strength allowing me to fling him into one of the bookshelves harder than I meant to.
The impact is brutal. Wood splinters. Books tumble to the floor. The shelf itself cracks down the middle.
I didn’t want to hurt the boy, but I don’t have a choice. It’s him or Angie, and I’m not letting anyone else get hurt tonight.
But Torin manages to stand on his feet almost immediately, shaking off the impact like it was nothing. He’s ready to attack again, his blue eyes fixed on us. That little toss didn’t do shit.
Aaron stands up. “I know that motherfucker didn’t just claw my mommy. I don’t give a shit if he’s possessed.”
Angie looks back at him, her injured hand dripping blood onto the floor. “How many times have I told you to watch your mouth?”
Jacob is smirking at Aaron’s protectiveness, clearly proud despite the situation, but he immediately becomes serious when he sees Angie’s glare. That woman’s stare could freeze hell itself.
He grabs Aaron by the back of his shirt and takes off at shifter speed, a blur of motion. Aaron is pissed, kicking his legs and yelling for him to stop as Jacob carries him to safety somewhere deeper in the academy.
“Put me down! Let me help! That’s my mom!” Aaron’s voice carries down the hallway, growing fainter.
Angie uses magic to heal her hand, blue and gold light knitting the torn flesh back together. The skin closes, leaving only blood behind as evidence of the wound. She looks at me, her brown eyes fierce. “We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”
Torin charges again, moving even faster this time. Immediately, he freezes mid-leap. A pink magical web suddenly forms around him as he levitates into the air, suspended like an insect caught in a trap. His limbs are spread wide, unable to move.
I smile, recognition slamming through me. That magic. That particular shade of pink. That peachy scent filling the air.
Carla. My Carla is here. And I can feel her through the bond, stronger than ever before. The connection surges with power I’ve never experienced. It’s like she’s everywhere at once.
I watch as the pink magical web envelops Torin completely until he’s wrapped in it like a cocoon.
The webbing is beautiful, intricate, pulsing with life.
Then blue spirit energy spills out of him, seeping through the pink webbing like smoke.
It coalesces into an orb that hovers in the air, pulsing with malevolent energy.
“Use the enclosure!” I shout to Bobby.
Bobby moves with vampire speed, capturing the orb in the device. The moment it’s contained, Torin drops to the floor like a puppet with cut strings. Unconscious again, but free. The blue glow is gone from his eyes.
Angie, Leah, Kade, Bobby, and I run out of the workroom and down the stairs. We reach the dorm level and that’s when we see it.
All of the children are floating the same as Torin, wrapped in magical webs that glow pink in the darkness. The spirits start floating out of all of them, releasing them from their possessions one by one. Blue orbs emerge from small bodies, leaving the children unconscious but free.
Angie looks at me, her eyes wide with awe. “Your woman is a bad bitch.”
I smirk, pride swelling until I feel like I might burst. “I know. She’s magnificent.”