Page 104

Anxiety started beating in Alex’s chest as she shared a glance with Kaiden and Declan, then called out, “Has anyone seen Jordan, D.C. or Bear?”

Murmurs descended upon the group until finally Sean staggered forward, a hand pressed against the bloodied gash on his head while he winced from the brightness of the moonlight reaching his concussed eyes. But it was the three words that came out of his mouth that stole Alex’s focus, three words that stopped her heart in an instant.

“They were taken.”

Twenty-Nine

Having been semi-unconscious on the ground, Seanhad been helpless to do anything but watch in a haze as Jordan, D.C. and Bear had been carried away during the swift departure of the Meyarins.

He claimed that a male and female matching Gaiel and Vaera’s descriptions had targeted them specifically, and that while Jordan, Bear and D.C. had put up a fight, even with Jordan’s transcendence gift, they’d been unarmed and therefore unable to overcome the strength of the immortals. Kicking and screaming, they’d been forced onto theValispathand had disappeared with all the rest.

After hearing Sean’s shaky recount, Darrius all but dragged the panic-stricken Alex, Kaiden and Declan up to his office, forcing them to sit down and going so far as to raise his voice at Alex when she said they didn’t have time to waste—they needed to go after their friends, and they needed to do sonow.

But more had happened in the time they’d been gone than just a few small skirmishes at Akarnae. And Darrius insisted that they needed to know everything before they rushed in without care, risking further casualties.

Struggling to contain her full-body trembles at the thought of what might be happening to her three best friends while she learned what had transpired in their absence, Alex sat and listened as Darrius, along with Hunter, Karter and Mayra,brought them up to speed on the current climate of Medora. With each word out of their mouths, her trembles deepened, to the point where she was clenching Kaiden’s hand, with both him and Declan seated beside her in equally alarmed silence.

In the seven weeks they had been gone, the Tryllin palace had fallen. As the human capital of Medora, Aven had sought to destroy it first, sending in his whole army to bring the city to its knees, just like in the future vision Alex had seen.

Unlike in the vision, however, D.C.’s parents had made it out alive and were now ruling from within the walls of Soori Outpost, overseeing what remained of the human armies. Nisha and Jeera had also survived the attack, to Kaiden’s— and Alex’s—nearly crippling relief, as had General Drock. But tragically, General Tyson had sacrificed his life to give the others time to get away—and so too had Advisor Jaxon.

Upon hearing the news of his grandfather’s passing, Declan looked to the floor, all colour draining from his face. Kaiden released Alex’s hand and slid his arm behind her to clasp his friend’s shoulder, while she entwined her fingers with Declan’s, wincing at his tight-knuckled, desperate hold. Despite the royal advisor being a crotchety old man, he had taken care of Declan since his parents’ deaths. Regardless of how difficult he may have been to get along with, Jaxon had been Declan’s sole remaining blood relative—all he’d had left.

But other than his stricken features and tight grip, Declan didn’t give in to his grief, because Darrius still had more horrors to share.

Aven hadn’t only attacked Tryllin in the time they’d been gone. The note he’d left the mortal rulers of Medora after the battle at Graevale had made his threats abundantly clear; threats he’d begun carrying out the very next day.

‘From here on out, I will show no mercy. And when I am done, none shall survive my wrath…’

After the razing of Tryllin, Aven had been possessed by his desire to make all mortals pay, but more, to makeAlexpay. Each time he and his army swept in to ransack a new village or chip away at the defences of city strongholds, like a cat toying with a mouse, his single demand had remained the same: ‘Bring me Alexandra Jennings, and I will offer you mercy.’

He had put a price on her head: hand her over in exchange for clemency. But Alex knew it was a promise he wouldn’t keep. Fortunately, those he attacked also knew better than to trust him, from the Shadow Walkers and Dayriders in Graevale, to the Flips in Nialas and the rest of the Undersea Islands, to the Jarnocks inhabiting their treetop home in Maroo. Each of those mortal municipalities had again been hit by Aven’s forces, only managing to avoid total destruction because of the swift aid offered by the alliance now held between them and the humans. The combined force of numbers, race-specific abilities, giftings and weaponry was enough to keep the Meyarins from overthrowing them completely, even if many lives were lost during the attacks.

Despite the alarming list of casualties, more would have died had it not been for the aerated Hyroa blood that Fitzy, Luranda and Fletcher had managed to turn into functional weapons, all thanks to Bear’s design—something he’d neglected to share with Alex, but she wasn’t at all surprised to hear he was the genius behind its creation. The air-dusting sprays had worked exactly as theorised, the Hyroa blood weakening the Meyarins enough for them to retreat, while the slow-release antidote kept them from dying. The problem was, once Aven realised what was being used against his armies, he sent out warriors to hunt down and exterminate all the remaining Hyroas. And while Hunter had managed to get his hands on a good supply of blood before Aven’s drastic measures, due to the frequency of attacks, the weaponised stock was now all but depleted.

Slowly but surely, Aven was taking ground, killing as many mortals as he could along the way—sometimes by his own hand, sometimes by the hands of his Claimed followers. He wasn’t always a witness to the attacks, often mentally monitoring the proceedings through those he had bonded with, just like during the skirmish that night.

‘He didn’t know you’d be here, so he never ordered us to deliver you to him. You need to leave,now.Before he gives that command.’

Somehow Vaera had managed to break through the power of Aven’s Claim to warn Alex. But Aven hadn’t sent the order for her capture. As soon as he learned that she had returned from her seven-week disappearance, instead of having his followers abducther, he’d chosen to hit her where it would hurt most—by going after those she loved.

Nausea roiled through Alex as she sat there fearing for her friends. She was desperate to embark on a rescue mission, but before she could do that, she had to finish hearing out Darrius and her other teachers who were finally coming to the end of their nightmarish recount.

“—and somehow, he’s gifted now, too,” Darrius was saying in a grave voice, confirming Alex’s dread after what she’d learned from Zaylin, “though, how that can be, none of us know. But I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve watched him command the elements, I’ve watched him move people and objects with his mind, I’ve watched him suffocate his victims at just a glance. He’s not limited to one gift; there doesn’t seem to be anything he can’t do.”

Alex flicked her eyes to Mayra, the only person in the room other than Kaiden and Declan who might know the truth about Aven’s cannibalistic tendencies. But the Meyarin seemed as grimly bewildered as the other teachers.

Alex chose not to fill them in, and instead only said, “I know.”

Her answer didn’t satisfy them, and given all they’d been through in recent weeks, she forced herself to swallow back the anxiety clogging her throat and her impatience to get moving, taking a moment to quickly summarise what Niyx had revealed to her about Aven, along with the gaps Zaylin had filled in. All of her teachers looked justifiably repulsed by her news and immediately began peppering her with questions:

How long can he access the gifts of those he’s consumed?

Can he use more than one gift at a time?

Does he have to Claim his victims for the transfer to work, or can he just eat anyone’s heart and take on their ability?

Alex wasn’t able to give them any answers, not knowing herself.