28. Chapter 28
Danzig
I thought we were all dead. Or at least I was about to die.
I’d curled myself around my brother and mate, ready for my body to be destroyed to keep them safe, only for magic to tickle my scales but nothing else.
Now I was looking at something that I’d only heard of in myth.
Uncurling, I freed Marduk, and he uncoiled to reveal Bec and Beatrix.
Beatrix immediately took flight to hover over us, and Bec remained sitting on the ground. Marduk gently wrapped his tail around her, and she slumped against him.
“What's going on?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
“Nothing I’d ever thought possible,” Mason said, landing next to us. He had a scared expression on his face, which was rare. Gargoyles almost never got scared.
Lomis was on his knees, still holding the ties, but I wasn’t concerned about that any longer. Not after what stepped out of the void.
“I exist.”
The words came from a figure that looked like it was made out of pure void. It was human-shaped with two arms and two legs, but it was black with sparkling stars glittering throughout.
The figure lifted a hand and examined it, as if curious.
“I have a shape, but I need skin,” the void said, then I felt a gentle pulse of magic and a strange tugging on my mind. By the way everyone else reacted, they experienced the same thing.
“I’ll pick that shape,” the void said, and his outline glowed brightly enough to make us all look away. When the light dissipated, the void looked human.
He was naked and very obviously male with a slim, muscular build. He had pale skin and short, dark brown hair. His gray eyes focused on Beatrix.
“Thank you, Beatrix, I like this shape,” he said.
“Oh my god,” Beatrix whispered. “He looks just like my cousin Anthony. He died a few years ago.”
“Yes,” the void said. “Your memories of him are happy. He was a good soul. I’m sorry he’s gone, but I didn’t want to assume the face of someone still here.”
Beatrix blinked rapidly. “Okay.” Her voice was a little shaky, as if she was holding back tears.
The void gave her a gentle smile. “Your memories of him were lovely. Thank you for sharing. It’s an honor to have his shape.”
I wasn’t about to point out that he hadn’t asked permission to invade our minds or use Beatrix’s cousin’s face. We all stayed quiet as he swept his gaze over us. If the void-tie was powerful enough to level San Diego, how powerful was a being made from the void itself?
It was mind boggling.
“You are all pure souls,” he murmured. It was probably a good thing none of the vampires were here because they might not pass the soul test.
Then his eyes focused on Lomis. “Except for you.”
Lomis looked up, and I saw that his face was red and blistered, as if he had a bad sunburn. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he held all his ties in both hands and strained to break them all at once.
“None of that,” the void said. With a wave of his hand, the ties disappeared. “I’m pure void magic, did you really think you could attack me with my own self?”
Lomis stared at his empty hands.
“No,” he whispered. Looking up at the void, he shook his head. “This isn't real. This can’t be real.”
The void tilted his head, then crouched down to put his face at the same level as Lomis.
“I shouldn't exist,” the void said. “You created me. I’m here because of you. I’m here because you tried to control something far beyond you.”
“Please,” Lomis begged. “All I wanted was power.”
“Yes, I know,” the void said. “And you almost ripped a hole in this planet and destroyed everything here. Sapient beings are rare in this universe, and you nearly unmade the ones on this planet. That’s inexcusable.”
The void stood back up, his expression gentle but unrelenting. He made me think of Mom when she was disappointed by our behavior but not surprised.
“You wanted power, so I will make you into pure magic,” the void said.
With a sweep of his hand he sent Lomis into the void. We could hear his pained screams until the man moved his hand again and the opening disappeared.
We all watched this in quiet shock. Even with Lomis gone and the opening to the void closed, none of us moved or spoke.
It was Mason who broke the silence. “Um, didn’t you want to go home?”
The void gave Mason a gentle smile. “Are you worried about me? That’s kind of you, but I can’t go back. I’m self-aware. That means I’m unable to reconnect to the void. My life is here now.”
I felt another pulse of magic tugging on my brain. As much as I wanted to tell the void to stop doing that, I kept my mouth shut and my brain as blank as possible.
The void frowned and met my eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that wasn’t acceptable. I won’t gather knowledge like that again.”
I shifted to my human shape so I could answer. “It’s a little uncomfortable when you do that, so thank you.”
“I wanted a name,” he explained, sweeping his eyes over us again. “All of you are full of names, but I like Victor the best. All of you can call me that instead of void, void-man, or scary-void person.”
Bec snorted. “Thanks for saving us, Victor.”
Her words were slow and a little stilted. Victor frowned at her and worry flashed through me.
“You’re the only human here,” he murmured. “And you were hurt the most by Lomis. You were all hurt by Lomis. I can fix that.”
He swept out his arm and this time when the magic swept over me, I felt my aura strengthen and rebuild. A glance at Marduk showed a perfectly healthy aura on my brother also. Bec sucked in a breath, then straightened up.
“Oh fuck, that’s a lot better,” she exclaimed. “Thanks, Victor.”
Victor gave a single, graceful nod of his head. “If you ever need that again, seek me out. You’re easy to heal.”
That was the first time I’d ever heard that. Most times it was impossible to heal humans with magic.
“That's a nice offer, thanks Victor.” She looked around at all of us. “We're done here, right? All the bad guys are gone. We all survived.”
I nodded, unsure about this new, revitalized Bec.
“Great,” she said. “We should go out for a beer and nachos. I’m suddenly starving.”
Bec looked a lot better, but she wasn’t completely steady on her feet. I was quick to wrap my arms around her. Marduk shifted to human form and moved to Bec's other side.
Victor looked intrigued. “Since I can’t gather knowledge any longer, I don’t know how to find out what beer and nachos are.”
“Then all you have to do is ask,” Mason said. “Beer is a beverage and nachos are a food.”
“I don’t know if I need to eat or drink, but I’d like to try these things.”
Before any of us could comment on that, dozens of cars drove up the single dirt road to our area. The first one had Titan, the second one had Mom and several Lobo Gris shifters in it. The rest of the cars were a combination of Lobo Gris Pack, Clover Pack, and Laske Pack.
In a flurry of dust and movement, they all skidded to a stop, and everyone poured out, surrounding us and all taking at once.
“Hello everyone,” Victor said, apparently delighted to meet more people. “I can’t use my magic so all of you will need to tell me your names, I’m sorry if that is an inconvenience.”
I started laughing. Bec and Marduk looked at me, then started laughing also.