Chapter 19 #5
I tried and fell over, the dizziness getting worse.
The room had been cleared of vamps, and it was time to leave. We weren’t sure what to do with the creepy heart experiments, but Celia made arrangements for them to be brought to a lab at the academy to be studied.
“Asher, can you carry her to the portal? I want to get everyone back to campus,” Celia asked.
Asher looked like that was the last thing he wanted to do, but he swooped down and picked me up anyway.
I wanted to feel safe in his strong arms, but all I felt was judged.
Like he hated me without even getting the full story.
But I knew that was my fault. I’d dug myself into this hole, and now I was stuck in it.
I was quiet the entire walk through the building, and when we got outside, Jax was waiting at the extraction point with an SUV and a bunch more hunters.
Celia barked orders at her hunters, including telling Akari to reinforce the runes on the building so that vampires wouldn’t be back any time soon.
But we both knew with an arcanist on their side, that wouldn’t last long.
We drove back to the portal in a daze. I listened to the whispers between Derek and Celia as they theorized what it would mean for our world if vampires had hearts that regenerated.
“It’s like…” Celia drifted off.
“ The Terminator ,” I said, thinking of the movie with the metal guy who just melted and re-formed every time.
She peered at me from the front seat and nodded. “Yeah, like that.”
A depression settled over us as we made our way back to campus, and pretty soon, word had spread about our mission and what was found.
It was too big to keep quiet. The guild called an emergency meeting, and Celia was going to fly out in the morning for it.
She would be meeting with other lead hunters from other parts of the world. This was huge.
I’d almost forgotten about the whole loyalty oath until Celia called us all into the small auditorium. It was just after midnight. We were bloody, bruised, and tired. I was still dizzy, but it was wearing off, and I was able to walk if I leaned on Harper or Luna.
That rune had really hit me harder than I imagined it would.
“She called you ‘the marked one,’” Asher whispered next to me. “Why?”
I frowned, confused. “What?”
“The traitor arcanist vampire who is about to make all vampires truly immortal. She said ‘Don’t kill the marked one.’ What did she mean?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, Asher. Probably my rune.”
“Do they know about the shadow mark?” His whisper was so faint I barely heard him.
I shook my head, making the dizziness worse. “No way.”
Right?
He gave me a side glance like he didn’t believe me, and my stomach dropped.
Before I could say anything more, we stepped to the podium as each hunting unit walked up to the stage and stood there.
Celia or Derek congratulated them on a successful hunting trip and then asked them to take an oath. I could barely focus because my mind was spinning. I also noticed that not every unit was invited to come up to the stage. Some looked defeated, like maybe it hadn’t worked out well for them.
“Stella Sinclair’s unit,” Celia called.
It was weird to have my name be associated with our team. For me to be the leader. I knew the least here.
Celia looked tired, but she managed a smile.
“Well done tonight. You fought as one, overcoming insurmountable odds. Now for the oath. There must be a deep trust and loyalty within a hunting unit for it to work. One you are all willing to die for. So I’m going to ask each one of you.
Do you accept this unit placement, and do you vow to protect your fellow hunters with your very life? ”
She peered at Luna.
“I do.” Luna grinned.
“Harper?”
“I do.” Her daughter smiled.
“Jax.”
“I do.” He nodded confidently.
“Stella.”
“I do.” My voice croaked.
“Asher?”
His face blanched, and he glanced at me. An awkward silence stretched between us, and it felt like with each passing second, my heart was being squeezed in my chest.
“Asher, do you accept this hunting unit, and are you willing to protect any one of them to the death?” Celia said.
He held my gaze, and I knew what he was thinking.
Trust and loyalty. Protect to the death? We didn’t have that, and I hadn’t had a chance to show him everything so he could see just how I’d arrived at the decision I had given the evidence I was confronted with.
“Asher?” Celia sounded concerned.
“I do not.” He stepped off the dais. “I’m sorry.” Then he ran out of the room, causing a gasp to ripple through the room.
My entire life felt like one big rejection. From being laid at the steps of a hospital as an infant to countless foster families saying no to adoption. But nothing, I mean nothing, hurt as badly as knowing that Asher couldn’t vow to protect me because he thought I was working with the vampires.
In that moment, I wished I’d been drained dry at my birthday. Anything would be better than the empty feeling in my chest right now.
Be on the lookout for book two, Staked .