Page 17

17

GAIDA

The abandoned cottage creaks around us as Dante pulls me closer, his lips trailing down my neck. I tilt my head, giving him better access as his fangs scrape lightly against my skin, sending delicious shivers down my spine.

“We should probably be using this time to plan what we’re going to do,” I murmur, my hands gliding over the hard planes of his chest.

“This is planning,” he whispers against my throat. “Planning to keep us both sane while we’re stuck in this mess.”

I laugh softly, the sound turning into a gasp as he presses me into the old, dusty sofa.

“Dante,” I breathe, as his cock drives into me harder, with powerful thrusts that soak my pussy.

He pauses for a moment and gives me a wicked smile before pounding into me so hard, the old sofa breaks under the force. I shriek as it collapses, my back hitting the unforgiving floor.

“Do you two do anything else?” Felix asks from over by the doorway.

I look up and wave my hand in front of my face to clear the dust motes. “Felix? What are you doing here?”

Dante slams into me, and I tremble as another orgasm hits me.

I lock gazes with Felix and see his arousal, but I also see that same shyness that intrigues me.

“Your parents are at the gate. There, I’ve told you. Be it on your heads.” He saunters into the cottage and looks around as Dante grunts and explodes inside me, drenching me with cum.

“That it?” he pants, withdrawing quickly and standing up to shove his dick back in his pants. He holds a hand out for me to help me up, and I take it. He hauls me to my feet, and I shove my knickers back into place and straighten my dress. At this rate, I wonder why I’m even bothering with underwear anymore.

“That’s all I had to tell you. I’m out here for a different reason,” he says, turning back to face us. “Fancy going on an adventure?”

“What kind of adventure?” I ask curiously. “We are meant to be laying low.”

Felix holds up a piece of paper he takes from his pocket. “I need the things on this list. Petal of the Midnight Bloom that grows only where realities bleed together, bark from the Whisper Oak at the forest’s heart, and sap of the Voidroot that feeds on dimensional rifts.”

“And you expect to find those things in the forest?” Dante asks.

“I do. So you can come or stay here and fuck some more.”

“Coming,” I say immediately, wanting to spend some time with him, hoping to get to know him a bit better. Plus, now we are outside the academy wards, that soul bond is going a bit haywire. I go to him and slip my hand into his. He looks down at me and smiles.

“Still?” Dante says, giving me a smirk. “I got you good.”

“Oh, fuck off,” I retort and take the list from Felix. “Do you have any idea where to even go for this stuff?”

Felix gives me a slow smile and slips his hand out of mine to pull a small, worn, leather-bound book from his pocket. “This, my lovely vampire princess, is why you want me around.” He opens it to reveal a crudely drawn map, the edges singed as if it had been rescued from a fire.

“What is this?” Dante asks, peering over my shoulder.

“A map of MistHallow’s forest from 1756,” Felix says. “I liberated it from a hidden compartment in the desk I was working at in the restricted section.”

“Stole it, you mean,” Dante corrects with a smirk.

“Borrowed without permission,” Felix counters smoothly.

I study the map, tracing the faded lines with my fingertip. “These markings... they’re not just geographical features, are they?”

“No,” Felix confirms. “They’re magickal nodes. Points where the dimensional fabric thins.” He taps a spot near the centre of the map. “This is the Whisper Oak. And here—” his finger slides to a darkened area at the eastern edge “—is where the Midnight Bloom grows.”

“And the Voidroot?” I ask.

“That’s trickier.” Felix’s expression grows serious. “It only appears when the dimensions are actively bleeding together. I’ve been monitoring the forest, and there have been increasingly frequent ripples. Reality shifting. I felt one just before I came to find you.”

“What does that even mean?” Dante asks.

“It means the boundaries between dimensions are weakening,” Felix explains. “When that happens, things from other dimensions can bleed through. Including plants that shouldn’t exist in our reality.”

I shiver slightly. “That doesn’t sound ominous at all.”

“It’s not great,” Felix admits. “But it’s perfect for our ingredient gathering. The Voidroot only grows where these rifts occur. If we’re lucky, we’ll find one tonight.”

“And if we’re unlucky?” Dante asks.

Felix’s smile is grim. “Then we might encounter things far less pleasant than rare plants.”

“Brilliant,” I mutter. “Just what we need on top of our parents trying to drag us home.”

“Speaking of which,” Dante says, “what’s going on at the gates? Are they still there?”

Felix nods. “Luke’s holding them off for now. The wards are strong, but I can feel them testing the boundaries. They brought mages with them.”

My stomach tightens with anxiety. “How long will the wards hold?”

“Indefinitely.”

“You sound mighty sure of that answer,” Dante says, eyes narrowed.

“I am.” The confidence that borders on arrogance is quite the turn-on.

Moving even closer to him, he smiles down at me and slips his hand around my waist.

“What’s this potion for anyway?” I ask, gesturing to the list.

Felix hesitates, his expression guarded. “Just something for Professor Blackthorn.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Extra credit.”

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“It’s boring, and you’d fall asleep if I told you.”

He locks gazes with Dante, and I shift my gaze quickly to the empath. Something passes between them, but I’m totally excluded from it.

Well, fine. They can have their secrets. Who gives a crap?

Me. I give a crap .

“You really aren’t going to share with me?” I ask, my voice tighter than I intended.

“It’s not for me to say,” Felix says eventually. “It’s Luke’s thing.”

“Fine,” I mutter, folding my arms across my chest. “Keep your secrets.”

“It’s not like that,” Felix says softly, grasping my wrists and pulling me against him. I can’t help but wrap my arms around him. “I promised Luke I wouldn’t say anything.”

“So this isn’t just about extra credit. This is something more serious.”

“Look, let’s just get what we need from the forest. The sooner I can finish this, the better for everyone.”

I want to push, to demand answers, but the tension in his shoulders and the slight frown stops me. Whatever this is, it’s weighing on him heavily.

“Fine,” I relent. “Lead the way, dark sorcerer.”

Felix nods with relief. He unfolds the map fully, orienting himself before pointing deeper into the forest. “The Whisper Oak should be about two miles that way. It’s the closest of the three ingredients, so we’ll start there.”

As we set off, the forest grows denser around us. The canopy thickens overhead, filtering the moonlight, making it even darker. The air feels different here, stifling and charged with magick. It makes my hair float around me.

“Does anyone else feel that?” I ask after we’ve been walking for about twenty minutes.

“The magick?” Felix nods without looking back. “It gets stronger the deeper we go. This forest is ancient, older than MistHallow. It’s also, quite possibly, sentient.”

“Of course it is,” I groan and move in closer to Felix, feeling safe nestled between him and Dante.

The forest grows more oppressive with every step. What began as a simple walk through the woods has transformed into something almost claustrophobic, with trees pressing inward and branches reaching out like arthritic fingers.

“We should be getting close to the Whisper Oak,” Felix murmurs, consulting his antique map. “According to this, it’s just beyond that ridge.”

The mist around our feet, swirls in patterns too deliberate to be natural. The way it curls and twists reminds me of writing, of symbols being formed and erased before I can decipher them.

“This mist isn’t normal,” I whisper, brushing at it with my foot. It parts around my ankle and then reforms, clinging like a living thing.

“The forest knows we’re here,” Felix confirms, his voice low. “It’s watching us.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” Dante mutters, stepping closer to me. “How exactly do we communicate with a sentient forest that wants to stop us from reaching these ingredients?”

Felix pauses, kneeling to examine something on the ground. “We don’t know that it wants to stop us. It might just be curious.”

The mist thickens suddenly, rising up to our waists, making it impossible to see the ground. The temperature drops sharply, our breath forming clouds in the suddenly frigid air.

“That feels like stopping us,” I say, shivering as the chill seeps through my clothes.

Felix stands, his expression grim as he looks at me. He takes his black cashmere coat off and holds it out for me to slip into.

It’s the most gorgeously chivalrous act ever, and I beam at him as I snuggle into the warm coat where his aftershave lingers enticingly.

“The forest protects its treasures. It’s testing us.” Felix pulls a small vial from the coat pocket, uncorks it, and lets a single drop fall into the mist. The liquid glows gold as it hits, spreading outward in concentric circles, burning away the mist in a six-foot radius around us.

“What was that?” Dante asks.

“Essence of fire salamander,” Felix explains. “Creatures of pure heat. The forest is using elemental magick, so we fight back with the same.”

The respite is temporary. The mist creeps back almost immediately, this time carrying a distinctive, sweet scent that makes my head swim. I take an involuntary step toward it, drawn by the alluring fragrance.

“Don’t breathe it in!” Felix snaps, grabbing my arm and pulling me back. “It’s bewitching you.”

Dante grabs my other arm, and together, they drag me backwards as the mist advances.

Felix thrusts something under my nose. It’s a small bloom with petals like crushed rubies. Its sharp, acrid scent cuts through the sweetness, clearing my mind instantly.

I gasp, blinking rapidly as awareness returns. “What was that?”

“The forest tried to enslave you,” Felix explains, tucking the small flower away. “It uses different tactics on different people. You’re drawn to sweet things, so it tried sweetness.”

“How did you know that about me?” I demand.

Felix merely smiles, but before he can answer, the ground beneath us shudders violently. Tree roots erupt from the soil, whipping through the air like tentacles. One lashes toward Dante’s ankle, but he leaps aside with vampire speed.

“Run!” he shouts, grabbing my hand.

We sprint through the forest, dodging the animated roots that pursue us with unnatural intelligence. Felix leads the way, occasionally tossing handfuls of some glittering substance behind us that causes the roots to recoil when they touch it.

“The ridge!” Felix points ahead. “If we can get to higher ground, the roots won’t follow!”

I push myself harder, my vampire speed giving me an advantage over Felix. Realising he’s falling behind, I grab his hand, pulling him along with me. Dante takes his other arm, and together, we practically drag him up the steep incline.

We crest the ridge just as the largest root yet erupts directly in our path. It towers above us, swaying like a cobra preparing to strike. I freeze, torn between retreating down the slope toward the other roots and facing this new threat.

Felix raises both hands, sending out a stream of dark magick that wraps around the root in chains of black. The root writhes, thrashing against its magickal bonds, but it can’t break free. “That won’t hold it long. We need to move.”

Beyond the ridge, the forest opens into a circular clearing. At its centre stands the most massive tree I’ve ever seen. The Whisper Oak towers above all others, its trunk wider than a house, its branches spreading to form a canopy that blocks out the night sky. The bark swirls with patterns that shift as we watch, almost like faces forming and dissolving.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathe, moving toward it.

A low, melodic humming fills the air, coming from the tree itself. The sound forms words, though not in any language I know. Yet somehow, I understand.

Why do you seek me, blood-drinker? Why do you bring the dark sorcerer and the heart-reader to my domain?

I glance at Felix and Dante, wondering if they hear it too. Their expressions confirm they do.

“We come with respect,” Felix replies, stepping forward with a formal bow. “Great Whisper Oak, we seek a small piece of your bark for a healing potion. To restore balance to one who protects many.”

My gaze bores into him, but he ignores me.

The humming changes tone, becoming sharper, more questioning.

You speak of the guardian with the severed bond. The one who walks between worlds.

“Yes,” Felix confirms.

His suffering is his own choice. Why should I sacrifice a part of myself to ease it?

My hands shake as I realise what all of this is for. “It wasn’t his choice. I did this to him. Without him, the academy falls. Without the academy, the forest is vulnerable.”

The tree’s response is immediate and alarming. Its branches whip downward, stopping mere inches from my face. I don’t flinch, somehow knowing it’s testing me.

You carry ancient power, blood-drinker. The sword-bearer. The bond-breaker.

“My name is Gaida,” I murmur.

The branches retreat slightly. The humming softens, becoming almost thoughtful.

The prophecy unfolds. The Blood Queen rises.

A chill runs through me at the title. “I don’t really know what that means.”

You will.

The tree falls silent for a long moment. Then, with a sound like a sighing wind, a small section of bark near the base of the trunk peels away, floating through the air toward us. Felix quickly produces a cloth pouch, capturing the bark fragment before it can touch the ground.

“Thank you,” he says, bowing again.

For the Blood Queen, I give freely. For the others... a warning. The forest changes tonight. What was fixed becomes fluid. Paths that lead forward may not lead back.

“What does that mean?” Dante asks, looking uncharacteristically unsettled.

Reality thins. The boundaries weaken. Old things return. New things emerge.

With that cryptic statement, the humming ceases. The Whisper Oak once again appears to be nothing more than a massive, ancient tree, albeit one with an unsettling presence.

“One down,” Felix says, carefully securing the bark in his satchel. “The Midnight Bloom is next. According to the map, it’s about a mile east of here.”

“What did it mean about the forest changing?” I ask as we leave the clearing, following what appears to be a natural path heading eastward.

“It is responding to the severance, I’d imagine,” Felix says.

The path ahead of us suddenly splits into three identical trails where only one existed moments before. Each looks exactly the same, winding away through dense trees, dappled with moonlight.

“Which one do we take?” Dante asks, looking between the three options.

Felix consults his map, frowning. “None of these should exist. The map shows only one path.”

“The forest changes tonight,” I recall the Whisper Oak’s warning. “Paths that lead forward may not lead back.”

A distant howl cuts through the night, unlike any animal I’ve ever heard. It’s followed by another, closer, and then another from a different direction. Something is hunting in these woods, something that doesn’t belong here.

“Ferals,” I croak.

“Very likely. You two should turn back. Get back behind the academy wards,” Felix says.

“What? And be faced with our parents dragging us home instead to do the gods only know what with Gaida? Not happening. I’ll take my chances with the ferals. You with me, ma reine ?”

“Yes,” I whisper, but fear courses through me. Real fear. We are being hunted. Where is that damned sword when you need it?

“We need to move,” Felix says urgently, shoving the map into his pocket. “Now.”

“But which path?” I insist.

Felix closes his eyes, extending his hand over each trail. When he reaches the left path, his fingers tremble. “This one. It feels thinner somehow. Like the dimensional barrier isn’t as strong.”

“And that’s a good thing?” Dante asks sceptically.

“For finding the Midnight Bloom? Yes. For our general safety? Probably not.” Felix offers a tight smile. “But we don’t have much choice.”

We take the left path, moving quickly. The howls grow closer.

“Faster,” I mutter. “We need to go faster.”

The forest around us changes in subtle, disquieting ways. The trees become less familiar. Their bark, textured with geometric patterns no earthly tree should have, leaves an iridescent purple that shimmers even without light. The ground beneath our feet feels spongier, almost responsive to our weight.

“This isn’t our forest anymore,” I murmur, reaching for Dante’s hand instinctively. “We’ve crossed into somewhere else.”

“Not exactly,” Felix corrects, his voice hushed. “It’s still MistHallow’s forest, but... I think it’s overlapping with another dimension’s version of itself. I’ve been seeing versions of this alternate dimension for days now.”

A flicker of movement catches my eye. Something large is slipping between trees to our left. I freeze, tugging Dante to a stop.

“There’s something?—“

I don’t get to finish. A creature erupts from the undergrowth, leaping toward us with frightening speed. It resembles a wolf, but only in the most basic sense. Its proportions are wrong, legs too long, jaw distended to accommodate multiple rows of needle-like teeth. Its fur ripples with bioluminescent patterns that beat in rhythm with its growls.

Dante shoves me behind him, fangs dropping as he hisses a challenge. The creature pauses, assessing this new threat, its six eyes, arranged in an unnervingly symmetrical pattern across its face, blinking independently.

“Don’t move. It’s a motion detector,” Felix whispers.

“It’s a giant wolf monster,” I hiss back.

“A motion detector in the shape of a giant wolf monster,” he mutters.

The creature’s attention shifts to Felix, nostrils flaring as it scents the air. A long, forked tongue slithers from between its teeth, tasting our fear.

Slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements, Felix reaches into the coat pocket. His fingers close around something, and he withdraws a small, flat stone inscribed with glowing sigils.

“When I throw this,” he whispers, “run forward. Don’t look back. Don’t stop until you reach the water.”

“Forward?” I squeak.

“Forward,” he states.

The creature slinks closer, its massive paws leaving smoking impressions on the forest floor. The acrid smell of burning vegetation fills the air with each step it takes.

“Ready?” Felix breathes, drawing his arm back.

Dante and I tense, preparing to run.

Felix hurls the stone directly at the wolfy motion detector. Instead of striking it, the stone stops in midair, expanding rapidly into a net of golden light that engulfs the creature. It howls in rage and pain, thrashing against its magickal prison.

“Now!” Felix shouts.

We sprint forward and duck around it as it thrashes and howls with the magick net.

“There!” Dante points ahead as a branch smacks me in the eye as I run. I shake it off, even as brambles scratch my legs and hook onto my clothes. Through the trees, I glimpse the silvery ribbon of a stream cutting across the path.

We push ourselves harder, the sounds of pursuit growing louder behind us. The undergrowth rustles violently as multiple creatures crash through it, gaining on us with each passing second.

Just as we reach the stream’s edge, the forest behind us explodes with movement. Three more motion detectors burst onto the path, their glowing patterns pulsing rapidly with excitement at the chase.

“Jump!” Felix shouts.

“What, in there?” I yell.

“In there,” Felix says and shoves me forward.

I plunge into the freezing cold water. It steals my breath as it closes over my head, and I internally shriek as the current sweeps me away from the guys. I fight against it, my limbs numbing in the frigid water as I’m pulled downstream.

I drop below the surface, but then strong arms wrap around me, dragging me up. Felix has me in his grip, tightening his arms around me as we are thrust forward.

“Stop fighting it,” he murmurs in my ear. “Let it take us.”

I close my eyes and hope for the best.

After a few minutes of violent motion that makes me feel like losing my lunch, the river widens into a small lake, the water calming as it deepens. Felix guides us toward the opposite bank, his arms still securely around me. We drag ourselves onto the muddy shore, soaked and shivering.

“Fuck me,” I gasp, wringing water from my hair. “That was horrible.”

“But necessary,” Felix says as Dante hauls himself out onto the bank. “They have lost sight of us.”

“Thank fuck,” Dante pants, flopping forward, soaking wet and looking hot as hell.

“It won’t stop them for long,” Felix says. “They’ll look for another way across. We need to keep moving.”

“We are very far from the Academy now,” I whisper. “And soaking wet.”

In a flash of dark magick that burns my eyes, Felix has dried us off, and I feel slightly less panicked as Dante gets to his feet.

“Thanks,” I murmur and press my lips to his. He takes advantage of it and deepens it, swishing his tongue against mine. I clutch his shirt, wanting to rip it off him and have my way with him in the middle of this dangerous situation we have found ourselves in, but something stops me. I pull back, my hands still bunched in his shirt.

“Soon,” he murmurs. “I want it.”

“Me too.”

He searches my eyes, but I’m not really sure what he is looking for. He smiles and grips my hand. I take Dante’s hand with my other one, and we huddle together.

“This way,” Felix murmurs.

The path continues ahead, winding deeper into the increasingly alien forest. The trees here are taller, twisted into impossible shapes that defy gravity. Some appear to be growing upside down, their roots splayed toward the sky, branches buried in the earth. Glowing fungi cluster at their bases, glowing brightly.

“We’re getting closer,” Felix says, pointing to the fungi. “These are Dimensional Lichens. They only grow near rifts between worlds.”

“Like the one where we’ll find the Midnight Bloom?” I ask.

“Exactly.” Felix leads us forward, following the increasing concentration of the glowing fungi. “The Bloom grows at the very centre of dimensional convergence points, places where multiple realities overlap.”

We follow the path as it curves around a particularly massive tree. Beyond it, the forest opens into a small clearing, unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

The clearing isn’t truly a clearing at all, but a place where reality has fractured. The ground ripples like water, reflecting not the sky above but different landscapes. A desert, an ocean, a city of crystalline spires. The air is split into visible segments, each tinted a different colour, each moving at a different speed.

In the middle, growing from what appears to be a perfectly circular pool of silver liquid, is a cluster of midnight-blue flowers. Their petals shimmer with an inner light, releasing glittering spores that dance in the fractured air.

“The Midnight Bloom,” Felix breathes reverently. “It’s even more beautiful than the texts described.”

“It’s also more dangerous,” Dante remarks, pointing to the skeletal remains partially submerged in the silver pool. The bones aren’t human, nor any animal I recognise. “What happened to that thing?”

“The pool is liquid reality,” Felix explains. “Pure dimensional energy. It dissolves anything not native to it. That’s why the Bloom can grow there. It exists simultaneously in multiple dimensions, so it’s native to all of them and none of them.”

“How exactly do you plan to harvest it without dissolving your hand?” I ask, eyeing the deadly pool warily.

“I’m going to test a theory I have. If it fails, tell Luke I tried my best.”

“Wait? What?” Panic hits my chest as he steps forward into the pool. “Felix!”

My shout of horror is echoed by Dante, who zips forward to grab Felix to drag him out, but then stops.

Felix is okay.

“Please be quick!” I shout to him, not sure what is protecting him.

The closer he gets to the centre, the more pronounced the dimensional fracturing becomes. The air around him splits into prismatic shards, his image duplicating and overlapping with versions of reality.

He reaches for the nearest Bloom with steady hands. The moment his fingers touch the flower’s stem, the clearing erupts with energy. The ground bucks and heaves. The fractured air compresses, then explosively expands. Multiple realities bleed into one another, filling the clearing with overlapping images and sounds.

I see MistHallow in flames, students fleeing for their lives. I see Luke standing on top of the clock tower, Mashtar’s sword in hand, opening a rift that swallows the sky. I see myself, eyes black as midnight, blood running down my chin as I stand amidst a field of broken bodies.

“Felix!” I shout, struggling to see the real him among all the chaotic visions.

A hand grabs my arm, holding me back. Dante, his expression grim. “Wait,” he urges. “We can’t risk getting caught in whatever’s happening.”

Felix moves with speed, severing a Bloom with a silver knife. The moment the stem is cut, the flower releases a cloud of spores that swirl around him in a glittering cyclone. He stumbles backwards.

The visions intensify, becoming more vivid, more terrible. I see my father kneeling before me, offering up his throat. I see Dante and Felix, bound together by chains of golden light, their eyes burning with inhuman power. I see a world remade in blood and shadow.

Felix staggers toward us, the harvested Bloom clutched in his hand. The spores follow him, swirling in increasingly tight formation. As he reaches us, he thrusts the flower into a crystal vial, sealing it with hands that now shake.

“Run!” he gasps, wading out of the pool.

We flee the clearing as the ground begins to collapse behind us, the dimensional rifts expanding, consuming everything they touch.

By the time we reach the boundary of the clearing, the forest has returned to something closer to normal, though still unsettlingly alien. The trees no longer twist in impossible configurations, and the air no longer fragments into visible shards.

Felix collapses against a tree trunk, his breathing ragged.

“Two down,” he pants, holding up the crystal vial containing the Midnight Bloom. “One to go.”

Dante and I glance at each other before Dante lunges forward and grips his shirt as he hauls him to his feet. “Who the fuck are you?”