Page 22

22

DANTE

The word hangs in the air, the gravity of the situation sinking in. There really isn’t another word for it. I don’t need my empathic abilities with her to know she is afraid, confused, and has a steely determination that makes me want to protect her and follow her into battle.

“So,” I say, glancing between Luke and Felix, “what you’re saying is that Mashtar wants to bring the different realms back together using Gaida, or possibly Constantine, to do this? What would that mean?”

Luke’s jaw tightens. “Certain catastrophe. The different worlds have different rules now. This split happened millennia ago, each one evolved in a different way. Mashing them all back together?—”

I let out a loud guffaw that cannot be helped. “Mashing them!”

Gaida snickers despite Luke’s ferocious growl, sharing my humour even in this time of crisis.

“Mashing them all back together would likely make the universe implode, and none of us would survive.”

“So why does he want to do it then?” I ask, sobering up after that mic drop. “If none of us would survive, why risk it?”

“Because he is the original original. With the sword, he can create a whole new world that is connected to him. Bows down to him,” Gaida says quietly, also completely serious now.

“Exactly.” Luke nods, his eyes dark with worry. “Mashtar existed before the split. He likely believes he can survive the chaos and rebuild what will be lost.”

I stifle my grunt of pain from the emotions in the room that are overwhelming. Felix’s calculating intensity, coupled with Luke’s fear for Gaida and his determination to protect Gaida and MistHallow and this world at all costs, nearly brings me to my knees.

“So, we destroy the sword,” I suggest, feeling the weight of their stares.

Felix shakes his head. “Not possible. The sword exists partly outside our reality. Destroying its physical form wouldn’t eliminate Mashtar’s consciousness.”

“Then we hide it,” Gaida says, her voice firm. “Somewhere no one can find it.”

“The problem is, it’s already chosen you,” Luke says, his gaze fixed on her. “It will find its way back to you unless we break that connection.”

I move closer to Gaida, instinctively protective. “How do we break the connection?”

“We don’t,” he grits out.

“Oh.”

“This is bad,” Gaida says, shoving her hands into her hair and tugging desperately. “This is so bad. Why do our parents want this? It makes no sense!”

“I don’t believe this is what your parents want,” Luke says. “I don’t believe they know any of this. As it stands, we are still speculating. There is no concrete evidence that we are correct.”

“But there might as well be!” she shrieks. “It all makes perfect sense.”

Felix lays a hand on her arm, and she visibly calms. “We need to find the evidence.”

“We need to find Draken,” I say and then beam when I’ve had my own mic drop moment.

“How the hell are we supposed to do that?” Gaida asks. “He is an ancient vampire monster that hasn’t been seen in forever.”

“Not necessarily,” Luke interjects. “Your parents might know.”

“Oh, so are you going to ask them after Gaida’s dad threatened to have your head?” I ask with a smile.

Luke’s eyes flash dangerously. “I have my ways of getting information without direct confrontation.”

“I could ask them,” Gaida offers, but the thought makes my stomach turn.

“Absolutely not,” I state emphatically.

“You’re not going anywhere near your parents until we understand their involvement,” Felix adds and I nod at him, grateful for the back-up. I look at Luke and my heart sinks.

“Seriously?” I snap at him. “Your plan is to send Gaida back home to the wolves?”

“Vampires, but yes. It might work.”

“Or it might not, and they will confine her, imprison her even, and use her for whatever nefarious plans they have.”

“At least we know they aren’t trying to bring about the end of days,” Luke snaps.

“That you know of!” I roar. “We don’t know jack shit!”

“Guys, stop,” Gaida says, dropping her head into her hands for a moment before lifting her head again and dropping her hands, fists clenched. “Luke’s right. It’s the only way. Or at the very least, the quickest and most efficient way. I’ll be okay. It’s my family. They aren’t going to hurt me.”

“Again, that you know of!” I grit out.

“So, we make a plan, a way to pull me out if things take a turn for the worse.”

“How?” Felix asks.

“I’ll go with her.”

“How will that help?”

I glare at him. “We will go to Gaida’s parents and ask for their blessing to be married,” I say, carefully, as the idea takes root. “It’s the right thing to do in vampire society, no one would think anything of it.”

“It’s perfect,” Luke says approvingly. “It is the perfect ruse.”

“Who says it’s just a ruse?” I ask, staring at him.

His emotions spike as he narrows his eyes at me. “If you are trying to draw out a response from me, Mr DuLoc, you have chosen the wrong target. You and Miss Aragon are a match. Everyone knows it, including me. Don’t think you can make me jealous because you get to claim her officially first.”

“In all the ways, I claimed her first,” I state. I have no idea why I’m trying to bait him. It’s senseless and will only lead to a confrontation where my head might be separated from my body.

Luke growls but when Gaida slams the book shut and flings it across the restricted section, the emotions drop a level as the book thumps against the stacks.

“Enough,” she says calmly. “That book heightens emotions somehow. We won’t be having this conversation now or ever again. Do I make myself clear?”

I blink, realising that she is right. Now that the book is away from us, I feel more myself.

“Sorry,” I mumble, suddenly feeling ridiculous for riling Luke up. “You’re right. That book has some serious mojo.”

As if to prove it, the book, indignant as fuck, flies back towards Gaida, causing her to yelp and duck as it sails over her head and lands back on the table with a thump.

Felix nods, eyeing the tome warily. “Ancient texts like this often carry the emotional imprint of their creators or previous readers. This one seems particularly potent.”

“So, we stick with the plan,” Gaida says firmly, bringing us back to focus. “Dante and I go to my parents under the guise of seeking their blessing for our union. While there, I’ll try to extract information about Draken and the chalice. One assumes Draken has the chalice seeing as it’s named after him.”

Luke considers this, his earlier antagonism fading into thoughtful strategy. “Possibly. It’s as good a theory as any.”

“When should we do this?”

“The sooner the better, after that shitshow earlier. They will be fuming,” I say. “Right now, might be a good idea.”

“You have a scrying mirror?” Luke asks.

“Yes. Will you two play nice until we get back?”

“Always, but you are going to have to be quick. This potion is temporary,” Felix says. “It won’t hold more than a week.”

Gaida nods, her eyes on Luke. “Think about what you want,” she states. “Whatever you decide, we will deal.”

He nods once.

“And maybe you should try and get in touch with Constantine, as well,” I add. “We don’t know what he knows about this, if anything, but maybe he knows a lot.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he replies, giving me the slight stink eye after our posturing but I deserved it, so I let it go.

I reach for Gaida’s hand, interlacing our fingers. “If things go sideways, we’ll get out. You should probably go and shower though. Showing up smelling like Luke will kind of put their backs up before we’ve even started.”

She giggles but Luke is less than impressed.

His jaw tightens, but he nods. “Be careful. Don’t reveal what we know about the sword or Mashtar. Test the waters first. And do not under any circumstances let them separate you.”

“Got it.” I give him a nod and a smile to say, ‘no hard feelings and I’ve got this.’

He seems to accept it, but he is still bristling from my comments.

“We’ll keep searching for information. This book is determined to tell us something more,” Felix says, trying to diffuse the tension.

“Okay,” Gaida says and leaves me to step into Luke’s arms. He closes his eyes and holds her close, sniffing her hair and I feel like a total arsehole for my behaviour earlier. Book’s influence or not, it was uncalled for.

She releases him and strokes Felix’s face. He gives her a secretive smile and I wonder if he’s told her about him. Things are deeper with them, certainly from his perspective. Hers is harder to read, naturally.

She takes my hand, and we make our way out of the restricted section, leaving Felix and Luke to continue their research.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask quietly when we reach her room. “We could find another way.”

She stops at her door, turning to face me. “I’m sure. My parents may be manipulative, but they’ve never been cruel. Not to me, at least.” Her blue eyes search mine. “Besides, I’ve got you with me.”

“Always,” I promise, leaning down to kiss her softly.

“We need to discuss the possibility that this will take a bit of wrangling. After earlier, Dad is going to be massively not in a good mood.”

“No shit. So, what do we say?”

“That we are in love, and we want to be together.”

“I hear no wrangling so far.”

She smiles. “No?”

“No. I do love you and I do want to be with you.”

She pulls me to her for a deep kiss. “Same. Give me fifteen minutes to shower and change.”

“Do you want company?”

She laughs, the sound light and musical despite the weight of our mission. “Not if we want to leave anytime soon.”

I sit on the bed, watching as she gathers fresh clothes. “Fair point. I’ll wait here.”

She disappears into the bathroom and true to her word, fifteen minutes later she emerges smelling of jasmine and vanilla, her damp hair pulled back in a loose braid. She’s wearing a deep blue dress that brings out her eyes, elegant but not overly formal.

“Perfect,” I say, taking her hand. “You look beautiful.”

She takes a deep breath. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

We make our way across campus in comfortable silence, both lost in our thoughts. The night air is cool against my skin, stars glittering above us like scattered diamonds. When we reach the edge of the academy gates, we grimace at each other and then plaster smiles on our faces as our parents are still sitting outside, pissed off and not afraid to show it.