Chapter 8
Aster. His clothes are ragged and worn, covered in mud and twigs.
I’d bet he has been travelling a while to get here, and the bags under his eyes tell me he hasn’t slept much or at all.
I walk over and give him a hug. Both Black and Maz growl low, and I look back to see Black grab onto Maz’s arm with his gloved hand.
“Congratulations on your mating. You’ve always been my brother, but now we are forever linked through our mate.
As for the possessiveness you just felt, it does fade after a few weeks.
Remember, it’s protectiveness and not that she is in any danger.
Especially not from her friend’s bonded. ”
Maz’s eyes flash with his dragon, but he doesn’t move, and I smile at him before I turn back to Aster. There are cuts on his face and blood dripping off his cloak. “Are you okay?”
“Mindless. They are out in groups and searching for you. I killed a pack of them, not even twenty miles from here,” Aster tells us all.
Black comes over, kissing the side of my head. “I’ll go and warn the scouts, and you’d best take him to your mother before we talk anymore. She can check him for injuries and get him something strong to drink.”
“Meet you there,” I tell him before he jogs off. Maz wraps an arm around my waist. Aster looks between us with a small smile and a flash of sadness in his eyes that makes my stomach drop. “Before we go…Wini?”
The last time I saw her, she was in the headmaster’s arms, with a stab wound and close to dying. Aster’s eyes soften at the mention of his bonded. “She’s weak but healing and playing pretence in the academy with Headmaster Parker.”
My shoulders drop in relief. “Okay, that’s good. You were at Bloodstone Academy? Did you see Kane or Vale?”
“Probably best we talk all together,” Aster softly replies, and the look in his eyes sends a bolt through my heart. He clears his throat. “I know Vale isn’t dead.”
“But there are things worse than death,” Maz adds, and I feel his fear for Vale and Kane in the air, just as strong as mine.
I nod once before we all head over to Lyra’s house.
After quick introductions, we all settle around the sofas, and Lyra checks Aster over before handing him some clean clothes and showing him where to change.
When he is done, Lyra already has a beer and hot soup with bread waiting for Aster, and we all make ourselves busy as he eats and drinks like he hasn’t in weeks.
I tap my foot on the floor and watch the door until Black returns, and he comes to sit next to me, placing his hand on my knee to stop my tapping.
Lyra and Zeph sit on the other sofa, while Mell’s wolf lies near the fire. Aster takes the only single chair, and I share a sofa with Maz and Black. “Out with it, Aster. Please.”
He downs the last of his beer. “I haven’t seen Kane, and I don’t know what’s happened to him or where he is, but I do know the Umbral Authority don’t have him because of what they’re doing to Vale.
They’d be doing the same to him, and if they’d managed to kill Kane, they wouldn’t keep that a secret.
I’ve sat in enough halls, listening to the witches side with them and their brags of how breaking the enchantress’s daughter’s mates is key to winning this new war.
The Umbral Authority have declared you have sided with the enchantress, and you want to kill all witches.
They also claim you have spelled shifters to your side, which is bullshit and their way of making it look like the shifters didn’t leave of their own accord. Anyone who speaks out is killed.”
“We knew they’d make up new lies to cover up what happened,” Maz grumbles.
“And what are they doing to Vale?” I whisper, tasting something bitter in my mouth. I can barely focus on anything else Aster said.
“They’re torturing him. He screams all night and day. The healers are giving them things to heal him so that he doesn’t die. Whatever answers they want from Vale, they’re definitely not getting, because they’re still continuing the torture.”
Sickness rises in my throat. I feel my blood burn with not just fury, but panic.
“I have to go to him.” I stand up.
Maz grabs my hand. “We need a plan first. Vale would not want you putting yourself in danger.”
“He doesn’t know what he wants. He is being tortured!” I snap. “I can’t sit here knowing he’s being tortured!”
“Your new mate is right, daughter,” Lyra softly warns, but I can’t hear her. I can only hear a buzzing in my ear, telling me to go to Vale. Now.
“Getting into that castle and getting to Vale is impossible. Headmaster Parker, Wini and I are trusted in the castle, and none at all of us seems to be able to get on the same floor. They surround him with Mindless, with nasty spells and trained witches. One of the Umbral Authority never leaves. There’s always one or two of them there.
You won’t be able to just walk in,” Aster cautions me.
“I don’t care. I’m going.” I cross my arms.
“You are not.” Lyra stands up, and she smiles. “Not without a distraction that my old friends would never be able to miss.” She clears her throat. “My daughter’s bonded is in danger, and the one thing the Umbral Authority hate the most in this world is me. I can be a distraction.”
“Lyra, they will attempt to kill you,” Zeph warns, moving to stand in front of her. Whatever he sees in her eyes makes him nod once. “You will face them with us.” Mell’s wolf moves to her side and rubs his head against her arm.
“You’d do that for me?” I whisper.
“Yes, of course I would. We are family.” Zeph answers like it’s a fact of the world, when I’ve never had a family before. “We’ll go to Bloodstone Academy together and make a distraction outside.”
“What about Kane? He has to be near the academy,” Black questions.
“If he’s smart, he’s hiding or planning something. Possibly breaking those nasty spells. We have to trust that he’s going to be there to back us up when we arrive.” Maz rubs the back of his neck.
“Okay,” I whisper. They are with me.
“I’ll take the people away,” Aster suggests. “We should move them with the Mindless armies being so close, and the ones I’ve killed are going to attract more. They’re everywhere. We’ll keep moving them north to the ruins.”
“Where’s that?” I question.
“I know of it.” Black nods. “Take the people. Leave cryptic messages for people to find afterward. Spelled so that only shifters and loyal witches can read.”
“We’ll spell them. No traitors,” Aster agrees.
“Then we’re going. We’ll need to make some spells, potions, and supplies to keep us all safe.” Vale, we are coming for you. No one gets to torture you, other than me by beating you in class.
Aster comes over to me as everyone begins planning. “Tell Wini where I am, and when you leave Bloodstone, take her with you. Bring her to me.”
“I will.” I touch his arm before going to my mates and planning how we are going to break into Bloodstone Academy.