Page 12

12

DANTE

The scrying mirror vibrates on the bedside cabinet. I had to leave Gaida a few minutes ago. The pressure from the sword is making mincemeat out of my head. I can’t cope with it. The foreboding presence that resides inside that thing is menacing, and it’s painful to be near it.

I ease myself from the bed, rubbing my tired face with my hand. The mirror vibrates again, more insistently this time. Only my family uses this particular frequency. Urgent, high-pitched, annoying as fuck.

“What?” I growl, and the mirror’s surface ripples like disturbed water.

My mother’s face materialises in the silver, her perfect features arranged in an expression of barely controlled panic. Her blonde hair, usually immaculately styled, looks hastily arranged, and she’s wearing what passes for casual clothing in her world—a silk blouse that probably costs more than most students’ entire wardrobes. French, elegant and lacking a warmth that betrays her as an ancient vampire from an ancient family. Pureblood.

Or not so much anymore…

“Dante,” she breathes, relief flooding her face, an unusual expression which intrigues me. “Finally. We’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”

“ Maman ,” I acknowledge her in her native language as she prefers. “What’s so urgent?”

Her eyes dart to something off-screen. “Your father wants to speak with you.”

Before I can respond, the mirror shifts, and my father’s stern face replaces hers. He looks exactly as he always does. Coldly perfect, with not a hair out of place despite the apparent emergency. His expression gives nothing away, but I can feel the tension coming from him even through the scrying connection.

“You need to come home,” he says without preamble. “Now.”

“Good morning to you, too,” I reply, unable to resist the urge to needle him. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

His jaw tightens. It’s the only indication that I’ve annoyed him. “This isn’t a social call, Dante. The situation has become untenable. Bond severances are spreading across Europe and soon the globe. It’s not safe for purebloods to be exposed right now.”

“I’m aware of the situation,” I tell him. “We are ground zero.”

“Precisely. It’s not safe.”

“It’s fine. I’m not leaving.” Leave? How can I leave now? Gaida needs me, and I need her.

“This isn’t a game,” he snaps. “Transport is being arranged.”

The command in his voice sets my teeth on edge. “No.”

For a moment, he looks genuinely startled. “No?”

“No,” I repeat more firmly. “I’m not coming home.”

My father’s expression darkens, a storm gathering behind his carefully controlled features. “Perhaps I haven’t made the severity of the situation clear. Bonds are breaking across the continent. Charges are going feral. Your blood, pureblood , will be like catnip to them.”

Pureblood, my arse . I want to tell him to bring him down a notch or two. Whatever lies he told me previously about not being involved in this Equilibrium business, I don’t believe him.

“Purebloods carry the strongest bloodlines, Dante,” he adds when I remain quiet, but not for the reasons he thinks. “Our blood calls to them like a beacon. The ferals are drawn to it.”

I process this information, thinking of the ferals locked in MistHallow’s underground cells.

“The Council has issued emergency protocols. All purebloods are consolidating at secure locations. The DuLoc estate has been fortified.”

This is news. Gaida must be getting this call as well right now.

“I’m staying at MistHallow,” I tell him flatly.

“This isn’t negotiable, Dante. I’ll come for you myself if you refuse.”

Centuries of authority ring in his voice. The voice that expects always to be obeyed.

“I’m not a child,” I say, measuring each word. “I don’t need your protection.”

“No?” His eyebrow arches elegantly. “Tell me, son, how many ferals have you faced? Not the handful of students in containment at MistHallow. I’m talking about dozens of them, hunting in packs, operating on pure instinct with no humanity left to appeal to.”

The truth is, I haven’t. But admitting that would only strengthen his position.

“I’ll take my chances,” I reply instead. “The wards here are fortified, stronger than ever.”

“They have been broken already.”

“They won’t again. Blackthorn has made sure of that.”

“Meaning?” he growls.

I smile to myself. Yeah, that has pushed his nose out of joint. Gaida’s dad will be fuming when he finds he’s been locked out as well.

My father leans closer to the mirror, his face filling the frame. “This is about the Aragon girl, isn’t it?”

Heat rises to my face, anger building in my chest. “Leave Gaida out of this.”

“So it is.” His expression shifts to something like satisfaction at having confirmed his suspicion. “I understand the attraction, Dante. The Aragons are an ancient line, compatible with our status. But now is not the time for romantic entanglements. Not when her father is calling her home as well.”

“Gaida makes her own decisions,” I reply.

“Does she?” My father’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “You are clearly being stubborn about this, Dante, so I will leave you no choice. I will be arriving shortly.”

“Good luck with that,” I mutter, making him even more furious.

The mirror’s surface ripples and returns to its normal reflective state, leaving me staring at my face. My eyes have darkened with emotion, and the veins beneath the surface are more pronounced.

When my dad shows up here, it’s going to be embarrassing as fuck. I have to find a solution that doesn’t involve leaving Gaida or allowing my father to storm MistHallow with his security detail like a man on a mission to drag me out of here kicking and screaming. If Blackthorn even lets him in. One assumes he would have to, or it would be an act of war on the pureblood families. That’s not his fault, and I get it. So, this requires thinking outside the box.

The idea forms almost immediately. Felix. If anyone can create a way to hide me from my family in plain sight, it’s him. All I need from him is a cloaking spell powerful enough to hide me from my father’s senses. It would be complex for a normal student, but for him, it’s a piece of cake.

I dress quickly, pulling on jeans and a black shirt. The stake Luke gave me—or rather, the one I appropriated from him, and he isn’t getting back—is lying on the bedside cabinet, never far from my reach. I tuck it into my waistband at the small of my back. Its presence is comforting, like a silent guardian. Whatever enchantment it carries seems to have bonded with me in some way, responding to my emotions almost like the sword responds to Gaida’s. It makes me wonder who is inside this thing, while trying not to think about who or what is inside that sword.

Slipping out of the room, I lock the door behind me. The corridors of MistHallow are bustling, even with the ferals contained under the academy. Business as usual. If it doesn’t affect you directly, get on with your life, is how most supes our age tend to deal with shit. It works. For the most part. Us, though? We don’t have that luxury. This is happening because of us. I won’t blame Gaida for this. It’s not her fault. I have a feeling this is a culmination of things. My arrival here. Felix transferring in, her bond with Luke. She has been here for four years, so if it was just about her and that sword, why wait? Why not hit her with this the second she stepped foot here? Nah, I’m not buying this is only about her, and I doubt Felix thinks so, either. Luke is harder to read since he returned from the other dimension. I can still feel his emotions, but they are dulled, background noise. Maybe I need to get him alone to really dive into what is going on with him right now. The mess of feral anxiety pounding into my head in a constant barrage of pain is drowning out pretty much everything else.

Using those senses to my advantage now, I reach out with my empathic senses, searching for Felix’s distinctive emotional signature. His dark magick leaves a trace, unlike any other student at the academy. It’s like cold fire, intense yet controlled. I detect nothing nearby, which means he’s either shielding himself or not in the residential wing.

My first instinct is to check the library. Felix is an academic at heart. He loves to lose himself in ancient texts. When I arrive, the library is busy enough, but I focus intently on finding Felix. After a few minutes, I give up. He isn’t here.

Growing increasingly frustrated, I expand my empathic search further, pushing the boundaries of my ability. A faint echo reaches me from deep below the academy—the containment cells where the ferals are housed. It’s not Felix, but rather a chaotic jumble of feral emotions, raw and unfiltered. The sensation is so intense that I stagger, bracing myself against a wall as wave after wave of primitive hunger and rage washes over me.

When the feeling subsides, I continue my search with greater caution, carefully filtering the emotional impressions I receive.

Turning to leave, I get a sudden ping. It’s almost as if he knows I’m looking for him, and he has sent out a deliberate signal. I spin on my heel and follow it to the back of the library, to the far corner where there is a caged-off section that sparks every now and again to warn students not to try it or lose a hand.

I find him near the entrance to this restricted section, on the inside, surrounded by open books and scrolls. A small wooden box sits on the table at his side.

“Dante,” he murmurs, not looking up. “What’s up?”

“Felix.”

“Why are you looking for me? Shouldn’t you be with Gaida?”

“She’s sleeping. And I need your help.”

“With what?”

“Can you let me in?”

He smirks. “That’s not up to me. You are either allowed in or not.”

I gulp and take the big-boy approach. I step forward and then bounce back several feet as the ward hits me.

“Take that as persona non grata ,” Felix says, sitting back with that infuriating smile. “Whatever it is, you will have to discuss it from out there.”

Gritting my teeth, I explain the situation rapidly about my father’s demands, the threat to forcibly retrieve me, and the apparent danger to purebloods from ferals.

Felix listens without interrupting, his fingers absently running over the page, almost like he is absorbing whatever information it holds by osmosis. I wouldn’t put it past him. That kind of badassery in the magickal world is precisely why I’m here. When I finish, he remains silent for several moments, his eyes distant as he processes the information.

“You want me to create a cloaking spell powerful enough to hide you from your father even if he is standing right next to you?”

“Yep.”

“It’s not impossible, but…” He gestures to the books spread around him. “I’m already working on something for Luke. I can’t just drop everything for this.”

“What could be more important than keeping me here with Gaida?” I demand. “She needs us both right now, Felix. You know that.”

His eyes flicker at the mention of Gaida’s name. Whatever he’s working on, it clearly involves her in some way.

“What exactly are you doing down here, anyway?” I ask, glancing at the texts surrounding him.

Felix shifts to block my view of the central grimoire. “Research. For Professor Blackthorn.”

The use of his formal title makes me raise an eyebrow. He has clamped down, and I probably won’t get much else out of him. But he’s hiding something. I can feel it in the sudden guardedness of his emotions. He is deliberately keeping his mind blank as I probe into his feelings.

“Oh, you’re getting good at that,” I murmur, showing a hint of fang to intimidate, even though I can’t reach him through the wards. “What did Luke ask you to do?”

His gaze meets mine, challenging. “That’s between him and me.”

“Is it about Gaida?”

A flicker of hesitation crosses his face. “Nope.”

He is exasperating. “You know I need to be here. We both do.”

“I know,” Felix acknowledges with a sigh. “How soon until your dad arrives?”

“He said soon. Who knows? And then, who knows how long it will take him to convince Luke to let him through the new wards when he does turn up?”

“It’ll need your blood,” Felix continues, stopping at a page filled with complex diagrams.

“Of course it does.” I extend my fangs fully and rip open my wrist.

Felix grimaces at me but reaches over to snatch up an empty vial, which he throws at me. It pops through the wards, and I catch it, dropping my blood into it.

I stare at him for a second, and then, with a sigh, I place it on the floor outside the ward. “Don’t let anyone else get that, you absolute fucker. I will hunt you down, and your little wards won’t stop me.”

“They’re not my wards but noted. I’ll find you when I’m done.”

“Thanks,” I mutter and turn from him.

The journey back through MistHallow feels heavier with an ominous warning.

As I near Gaida’s room, a sensation like ice water pours down my spine. My empathic abilities flare, detecting a chaotic swirl of emotions from within. Fear. Confusion. Pain.

I break into a run, skidding to a halt outside her door. It’s unlocked, so I burst inside. “Gaida?”

She’s standing in the centre of the room, the sword gripped tightly in both hands. Her eyes are wide, unfocused, gazing at something I can’t see. The blade’s light engulfs her completely, casting her shadow in multiple directions at once, as if she exists in several places simultaneously.

“Gaida!” I rush to her side, reaching for her, but a shock of energy repels my hand when I try to touch her. “What’s happening?”

She doesn’t seem to hear me. Her lips move, forming words in a language I don’t recognise, her voice distorted as if coming from far away.

“The bonds break. The queen rises. The cycle turns.” The words emerge from her mouth, but the voice isn’t entirely hers. It’s layered with something ancient, something that raises the hairs on the back of my neck.

“Gaida put down the sword,” I urge, circling around to face her directly as the “emotions” from the sword hit me full force. None of this is coming from Gaida. I still can’t read her, but that badass weapon is a whole other story.

Her eyes finally focus on my face, but there’s no recognition in them. They’ve changed colour completely, shifting from their normal deep blue to a molten gold that matches the sword’s glow.

“The ferals hunt the pure,” she continues in that same alien voice. “Blood calls to blood. The old order falls.”

A chill runs through me as I recognise the warning. It’s the same threat my father mentioned about purebloods being catnip to ferals. Is the sword somehow communicating this information to her?

“Gaida, please,” I try again, risking the energy barrier to grasp her shoulders. Pain sears through me, but I hold on, gritting my teeth against it.

For a heartbeat, nothing changes. Then her eyes clear slightly, recognition flickering behind the golden glow.

“Dante?” Her voice sounds more like her own now, though still strained. “Something’s happening. I can see... feel… everything. All at once. Too much. How do you cope? How do you live like this?” Her desperation and the tears in her eyes, breaks something in me.

“Let go of the sword,” I urge, trying to keep my voice calm.

“I can’t,” she whispers. “It won’t let me.”

The sword’s light intensifies, and Gaida gasps in pain.

“Fight it,” I tell her desperately. “Whatever it’s doing to you, fight it!”

Her eyes lock with mine, gold battling blue for dominance. “It’s not fighting me,” she manages to say. “It’s... changing me. Preparing me.”

“For what?” I demand, though I fear I already know the answer.

“For what comes next,” she replies. Then, with sudden clarity, her eyes focus completely on me.

Before I can respond, the golden light surrounding her surges again, blindingly bright, then abruptly vanishes. The sword clatters to the floor, and Gaida collapses with it. I catch her before she hits the ground, cradling her against my chest.

“Gaida?” I brush her hair from her face.

Her eyes flutter open, back to their normal blue. “Dante,” she murmurs. “The visions.”

I help her to the bed. “You were speaking about ferals hunting purebloods.”

She frowns, struggling to remember. “Hunting? It’s all jumbled now. Like a dream fading after you wake up. But I saw... danger. Coming from multiple directions. Your family, mine… the Equilibrium. I saw it. The sword showed me. You can’t go, Dante. It’s exactly what they want. To separate us. To isolate me.”

“Go? How did you know my dad was coming?”

Her eyes go wide. “I didn’t. He is?”

I nod slowly. “Yeah, he called earlier. He is on his way to tear me back home. I’m not leaving you, Gaida. Felix is working on something.”

“My dad will be coming for me.”

“The wards will stop him.”

“For how long? How long before Luke has no choice?”

“Then we had better figure out who is inside that sword fucking fast, because I think that is the only thing that is going to save you.”