Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
brEXLEY
I went numb.
Staring at the group, the only safety I felt was the rock behind me.
The man anchored me, keeping me from totally losing it.
I was barely holding on as it was. My stomach was still wrenching with thoughts of Jethro—with all those I left.
The danger I put them through, the lives I destroyed.
Now I find out I was even more of a freak than I thought.
“What does that mean?” My attention bounced from Ember to Tad, needing someone to calm the panic I could hear in my voice. “Does that change me?”
“No. It doesn’t change anything, my dear,” Tad replied softly. “You are what you are. I don’t think any new powers are going to pop up suddenly. You are a mix of many things, and that portion is probably very, very minuscule.”
“But I have her fire magic.”
“You have her family’s magic. Aisling, her mother, also had the power of fire.”
“Daes are extremely powerful, right? Don’t they usually go insane?”
“Every. Single. One.” Eli snorted, grabbing his stomach when Ember elbowed him.
“Not helping,” she grumbled.
“On the contrary, woman. I helped a lot. My blood kept you sane. Needed a little Dark Dweller inside you to keep you sane.” He winked, and it was full of insinuation. “Though that is sometimes still in question.”
“Shut up.” She rolled her eyes with a grin. “You’re the one who makes me crazy.”
“In all the right ways.”
“Wait. What do you mean, your blood?” Ash turned to Eli. “You can’t transfer blood between fae species. It kills them.”
“Tell that to this one.” Eli flicked his chin at Ember with a cocky grin. “She took it greedily. Kept begging for more.”
“Seriously?” Shock turned to fascination on Ash’s face.
“We think Daes react differently to blood transfusions.” Ember shrugged.
“Since I am the only Dae anybody knows of, it’s a working theory.
” Ember batted her hands. “That’s not important.
We’re getting off track.” She tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
“So, I want to get this straight . . . the night of the fae war when Kennedy and I were taking down Aneira, you were being infused with not only the Seelie queen’s magic and the barrier’s energy, but also mine?
How in the hell did you survive that? Just one of those should have killed an infant. ”
“My mother was casting a black magic spell to protect me.” I nodded at Tad. “From him. But I think it helped bounce things off me a bit, absorbed into the shield around me.”
“Your mother was a druid?” Ember’s voice went up, her eyes widening.
“Sort of.” I swallowed, feeling my throat tighten.
“My family was stripped of that title after they tried to rebel, but Aneira twisted my grandfather’s mind so much that she convinced him to curse his own family line if they went against her.
They’d die if she died.” I leaned farther into Warwick’s warmth, feeling his strength surround me.
“And on their death, they would become necromancers.”
“I’m sorry . . .” Ember’s mouth dropped farther open. “Did you say necromancers?”
“My mother died just a few moments after I was born. I should have too. But instead, all the conflicting magic merged. Counteracted each other and protected me. Saved me . . . saved more than me.” I shot a look to Scorpion, my fingers threading through Warwick’s.
“I have the power to bring people back to life. I can also communicate and control spirits.”
“Holy fuck.” Eli rubbed his face, his hands sliding back into his dark hair as he paced in a circle.
“So instead of reaping souls, you put them back?” Ember blinked at me.
“If I can. It’s limited. It has to be within a few moments of their death before their soul leaves.”
“And I thought I was a freak.” Ember snorted, her head wagging. “You really are a magic mutt.”
“Yeah.” I snorted, my lips thinning. “And to add to the freak show, the nectar you all are after? That’s what saved my life. Took on most of the magic hitting me.”
“What do you mean saved your life?” Ember’s lids narrowed.
My eye twitched, knowing what their responses would be already.
“The nectar . . . it’s my afterbirth.”
Silence.
A choking sound came from Ember and Eli, and I think Caden and Wesley also gagged behind me.
“Oh my gods . . . seriously?” Ember looked green. “I think I’m going to throw up.”
“Everyone needs to grow up.” Tad waved his hand, annoyance wrinkling his nose.
“It’s one of the most natural things in the world, but to clarify, the magic changed its makeup.
It is no longer what it was. It functioned as a shield for Brexley, absorbing much of the magic before it went into her.
A buffer of sorts. The elements and composition altered the moment magic hit it.
No human lab in the world would be able to test it and find its makeup.
It’s more like ancient, preserved honey.
The nectar is now pure organic magic. One of the most magical objects in the world. ”
“Still.” Ember shivered, her tongue sticking out in disgust.
“That’s gonna be a fun story to tell someone when we get home.” Eli chuckled, grinning at Ember. “And we can’t let it anywhere near Sprig.”
Ember groaned with humor. “The most powerful treasure in the world being pooped out by a monkey-sprite.”
“Think he gets the zoomies now?” Eli snorted. “He really will be a super sprite.”
She laughed, shaking her head before a weary sigh expelled from her, like the realization of everything that had happened tonight finally hit her. She rubbed her head, turning back to me, her humor dropping away.
“We were sent here to retrieve and kill if need be. Though tonight didn’t go at all like planned or what we even considered, and our mission may have altered”—she paused— “the core of it has stayed the same.” Her focus was on me, slightly dipping to the small box protruding from my pocket. “The nectar comes with us.”
I felt Warwick’s energy smashing against my back, and a low growl hummed from his throat.
Warwick barely moved an inch forward, his chest and shoulders expanding, before Eli reacted to the threat, green eyes flashing red, his teeth appearing like daggers as he growled back, his body curving in attack mode.
The entire room pinged off each other like a game. Caden came to Warwick’s side, his stance identical to the Legend’s, like they were one and the same. Scorpion, Ash, and Killian flanked his other side.
In a matter of minutes, this room would be soaked in blood—in death. We outnumbered them by far, but I knew not to underestimate a Dark Dweller or a Dae. They were at the top of the food chain for a reason.
If we killed the demon king’s daughter, we would be so fucked.
“Warwick.” I put my hand on his chest.
“They’re not touching you or the nectar,” he gritted through his teeth.
“That’s not up for debate.” Eli’s fingers began to shift into claws.
“You want to bet, pussycat?” Warwick snarled, stepping around me. His and Eli’s energy suffocated the room, their physiques ready to collide.
“ENOUGH!” Tad yelled, Gaelic words following.
He had no staff this time, nor the same level of power he did when he was alive, but the impact of his magic divided the room like a sledgehammer, stumbling all of us back, separating the two alphas about to attack.
“We have enough enemies outside these doors. We don’t need to fight amongst ourselves too. ”
“They are the enemies.” Warwick’s lip lifted at the pair, his muscles locked, ready to jump back in.
“No, they are not.” Esmeralda’s tiny frame stepped between the two groups, holding up her hands.
“For better or worse, we are all on the same side. All the rest is meaningless if we don’t come together to stop the true threat.
The goals of the king and queen are the same as ours.
Stop Istvan and Sonya at all costs. What people seem to forget is we are all connected in this world.
If the East falls, the West will be severely affected.
Their economy will weaken to the point Istvan will try to attack it as well.
With his super soldiers, he has a good chance of succeeding.
This fight is not only affecting us, but it also involves you now. ” Tad motioned to Eli and Ember.
“Lars can’t declare war unless they outright attack the Unified Nations.” Ember shook her head.
“I said nothing about the king declaring war. Though I figured you two would not be able to walk away, knowing of the threat against your nation. Your king and queen. Will you fight with us or against us?” Tad asked bluntly.
Mistrust filled the space, the two sides watching each other.
Ember and Eli barely glanced at each other.
A buzzing sensation tickled my skin, and somehow, I knew they were communicating with each other.
Not like Warwick and I could, but through a link I knew mates might share.
Some fae species could communicate through a similar link, like my mother and her clan.
Ember dipped her head, folding her arms, her words tight, not easing the tension. “We are with you.”
Tad peered between us, gauging the unease in the room.
The melted bunny slippers seemed so ridiculous in contrast to the tension, and I couldn’t help a crazed laugh from coming out.
All of this was too much. I tried to remember my life back at HDF, when I was a boring human in love with my best friend, who I thought didn’t feel the same. And I thought that was complicated.
Now my best friend was part fae, connected to the man I brought back to life because of powers shoved into me from an evil queen, a cursed witch, and a probably half insane Dae.
The same person trying to kill me now.
We all were being babysat by a dead druid, using the body of an old gypsy seer who had been shot multiple times tonight.
“My life.” I scoured at my face in utter disbelief, realizing I hadn’t even gone into my friends standing around me and all their issues.