Chapter 56 Hawk
Hawk
Recognition flared inside me at the sight of the wolf shifter carrying Ivy. Something about his demeanour—the protective way he held her, the quiet way in which he tried to get through whatever nightmare she was trapped in—reminded me of something else.
Of him, maybe.
Based on the snippets of thoughts I caught through the wards and charms they’d placed on themselves, they knew me. But they didn’t like me, I could tell that much without the need for the stolen power.
They were part of the memories that had been taken, though not the vampire. I remembered her from before the blank memories, but only in passing.
“Fuck,” the wolf growled, lowering himself and Ivy to the ground. She’d been out maybe a half hour as we waited for the last of the late Queen’s mates to join us. The siren amongst them was going to swim with those that remained, the mage building a barrier to protect them from the archers.
Only once they were on the island would we escape. The other demons of House Elysian would finally be able to make the jump to safety, with the demon king taking most of our group.
But we had to find a way off the island first.
Ivy thrashed in the wolf’s arms, tears rolling down her dirty cheeks. It took all my strength not to take her from him, to not slip into her mind to offer her some comfort.
With the amount of power I’d stolen, I wasn’t entirely sure I could go into her mind without causing her more harm than I already had.
I was terrified that my proximity to her was causing her nightmares, that the last power I’d stolen—the power of fear from the pain demon—was leaking out of me and terrorising her.
“We need to find a way out of here, soon,” the vampire murmured, voice soft. “Are you still unable to jump?”
The Elysian King hesitated before shaking his head. “I feel the shadows, but they will not come to me.”
“What if this is Dante?” one of Greer’s mates asked, keeping his voice low.
“We don’t know how many different affinities he has on his side.
We were witness to at least one of everything while in his prison.
He could very well be holding us here until he can send a team in to take us.
All of us. That escape shouldn’t have been that easy. ”
What little I remembered about my time in the compound, beyond where Ivy was concerned, told me that he was right in his assumption. It shouldn’t have been that easy.
“Why were there no barriers in the tunnel itself?” one of the others asked, following his bond mate’s line of questioning. “Why only his little torturer and hellhounds? We might be weak, but we aren’t that weak. We can still handle ourselves. We still have power.”
The female shifter, who had finally found us after Ivy passed out, shook her head. “Ivy was certain he wouldn’t have blocked the tunnel for his own gain. Figured he was too arrogant to think anyone would dare use it.”
Dante’s brother shrugged as he ran a hand through his hair. “It’s possible she’s right. But still, he probably would have had contingency plans.”
“Well, I can’t check the comms. He’s cut me off.” Sunniva waved her device around, releasing a frustrated groan as she did. “Neither Cato nor I were high up enough for us to even get anywhere useful.”
The winter Fae shook his head. “I know there was a charm mage who specialised in wards. That was who broke down the barrier at the ball.”
“Someone powerful had to have done that,” Greer’s charm mage mate said, glancing at his son. “Did you ever get a feeling of who it might be, Adrian?”
“No,” Adrian replied darkly.
“Yeah, he’s always been known as the Charm. That was the code Dante and the commanders used for him. Charm was kept on a tight leash from what I know,” the Fae added, glancing between us. “This could be his work.”
I vaguely recognised the name from my early days with Dante. I remembered it being mentioned in my presence, but not why. But I knew I’d never actually come face to face with the mage. I was sure I’d remember that.
My gaze flickered to the sleeping Queen, who went still in the wolf’s embrace. The tears fried, and the remnants of her nightmare had slipped away into what I hoped was peace.
And yet, the wolf didn’t move, his eyes locked on her.
I had to wonder if these bonded mates knew the full extent of what Dante put her through.
From my own broken memories, I could recall more than just her cage.
I remembered the long hall of nothing with her cell.
I remembered hearing someone say it was draining her, peeling away any charms or spells used on her.
I remembered her being isolated for days, given nothing while Dante worked to undo her protections.
And I remembered everything about the pregnancy, now.
But did they know? Were they aware?
The wolf should have scented it. Perhaps that was why he was so protective now, though I knew, deep in the back of my mind, he was always like that. Always protective, always using himself as her shield.
The vampire was her weapon, the centuries old creature a skilful and powerful being in her own right.
I remembered that about her. I also remembered how Dante wanted her, could recall snippets of conversation from the compound about how they hadn’t found a vampire with nearly as strong abilities as her.
They both probably knew about the pregnancy now.
I shook my head, forcing my gaze away from her. “I could try and…steal the power,” I said, looking around the island, at the ruins and thick foliage that hid us from the prying eyes of the Luna shoreline. “At least enough so it gives you Elysian demons a chance to get out of here.”
“You aren’t strong enough,” one of Greer’s mates said without looking at me. “After you took from the pain demon, you faltered. You have stolen from three creatures in a matter of hours. And you might not even be able to take power from the island itself. It isn’t a creature.”
I gritted my teeth, glancing at him sharply.
I tried to recall his name, tried placing his dark skin and silver eyes from before my memories were altered.
Before, I’d known all of them. Their names, their faces, their powers.
I’d known how and when they met Queen Greer, when they joined her mate circle, and their positions now.
For years, I’d worked under Phoenix with my team, a team that was now broken and scattered across Nyx’s Domain, either dead or under Dante’s control.
But those memories were now different, shadowed. Like having her stolen from me made everything else darker and harder to reach.
“I could still try,” I replied finally, ignoring how true his words were. “Anything to get her out. We are running out of time, and we have no idea how close he is to capturing us.”
“The only problem, little wraith,” the Elysian King sneered, crossing his arms, “is we are still missing creatures. There are soldiers on land who have yet to check in. And my cousins still aren’t strong enough to make one jump, let alone the two or three they’ll each need to make to take our rescues back to the Underworld. ”
“But you are,” I pointed out. “And if I borrow from you, then that makes an additional shadow jumper.”
“You were arrogant before, but fuck man,” the divination mage scoffed. “You somehow seem worse.”
I frowned, glaring at him. “Unless you have a better idea, then that is all we have.”
“Not really,” Greer’s charm mage mate said, scratching his beard. “Adrian and I could unravel the wards. If this is the work of a charm mage, then two could easily undo it.”
For a moment, the son—Adrian—appeared hesitant. From him, I caught only a flash of his thoughts, a quick glimpse into the fear festering within him, his agonising worry that he could fail—again.
But he looked at his—our—mate, and something within him softened. “Okay,” he breathed, nodding once. “Yeah. We can undo it.”
Regardless of whether they could, I still sought the magic myself. As Adrian joined his father, separating from the group to concoct a way to nullify the charms circling the island—if it was charms, anyway—I felt for the power myself.
“You’ve got a lot to prove to us, Nash,” the divination mage hissed.
“We know about your missing memories. So, I’ll refresh you on something you probably don’t remember: you wanted to reject her.
Said to me, with her there, that you didn’t want the bond, and she took that to mean you wanted to reject her.
Now, I’m ready to give you the benefit of the doubt, especially knowing this isn’t your first time having your memories fucked with and you subconsciously had walls put up when it came to her—walls you weren’t even aware had anything to do with the sacrifice my mother intended for you. ”
I couldn’t remember any of that, but…no. I did. My heart pounded as I met his furious stare, noticed the rage playing out in his eyes, in the tick appearing in his jaw as he clenched his teeth.
For a moment, I was lost to the distant, shadowy memory of an office.
Of soft light highlighting her still, sleeping features.
The flutter of her dark lashes as she lay between her two bonded mates.
The smell of the ocean, tinged with the coming storm and death, only just obscuring her familiar scent.
I remembered the words forming on my lips, the way they tasted wrong even then, and yet…
“If they can’t do what they say they’ll do,” the mage continued, tearing me from the memory. I snapped back to reality, to the island and the ticking clock hanging over us. “Then you do it. Understand?”
Swallowing, I nodded. Part of me was glad I couldn’t remember his claims. That I couldn’t remember wanting to reject my own mate. Bile rose in my throat as his words echoed in my ears, replaying repeatedly until they were all I could hear.
The Primal of the Old World stared at me in disgust from where he stood with the bear shifter. Both looked at me like they couldn’t believe they’d risked their lives to rescue me after what I’d done to her.
My own disgust in myself wavered, shifting into a bone deep guilt.
She could have gotten out faster, sooner, if she hadn’t come for me. Maybe she could already be away, stowed safely somewhere Dante wouldn’t find her.
Despite everything I’d done to her, despite me not being the mate she deserved, she still came for me.
For the rest of my life, I would be on my knees begging for her forgiveness.
I would spend the rest of my life crawling to her, praying to anyone who might listen for just a piece of her mercy.
I would take whatever she offered me, even if it was scraps, so long as I could prove to her that I was not that male anymore.
With or without my memories, I knew deep in my bones, I was hers. I’d always been hers.
The divination mage stepped away from me and moved to where the wolf continued to hold her. She still hadn’t woken, but I didn’t reach for any part of her mind. Maybe she didn’t want any part of me. She certainly wouldn’t want me invading her sleep.
I watched as the mage sat beside the wolf, who silently placed her in the mage’s arms. They spoke quietly between themselves, sharing words I didn’t try to listen to.
All I did was step back, trying to ignore the bile rising in my throat and the churning sickness in my stomach.
Moving to one of the remaining walls of the palace, I pressed my hand against the stone and closed my eyes.
The faintest whisper of magic still burrowed deep into the bones of the palace beckoned me to them.
Power that called to the part of me that was Fae.
My connection to the ancient Fae world, the old ways of this realm, rose within me.
But I pushed past it. Beneath the earth were the bones of those who once served this island. The guards who protected the last High Queen. Her children. The Queens who came before her.
Old tombs of long dead monarchs and their courts left forgotten beneath the water.
It wasn’t them I wanted. It wasn’t their magic I sought.
At first, I barely noticed the wards. They’d been hidden so well, right where the water was at its deepest where none would think to search.
Most would look to the old ruins for the source, but not the water surrounding it.
But there, deep beneath the rushing tides, carved into smooth stones trapped in the currents, were charms.
They were strong, but the magic could easily be stolen from them, too.
It would be harder, but I could take it away. I could give them time to escape.
I should need to place my hand on it for this to work. But it was connected to the island, and I prayed to the Goddess that it would be enough.
As I reached for it, I released the power of the pain demon. I didn’t need his magic anymore. It didn’t serve me, didn’t give me any advantage now that we were out of Dante’s grasp. It might flow directly back to him or disappear entirely—I wasn’t sure, and I never cared to ask.
The magic of the demon leaked out of me, soaking into the earth at my feet. I felt tears of blood mixed with his power drip from my eyes, but I kept them closed as I drew in a breath and forcefully took hold of the wards.
Complex magic, they were. But it would take the charm mages too long to unravel the power themselves. This was years of work in the making, work I was tearing apart and consuming for myself.
It didn’t take long for it to flood my veins. Charms and wards, old and new, coursed through me. Each one I took tasted like ash and burned like fire.
It was only when the island trembled that I knew I’d succeeded.
We were free.