Page 26

26

LUKE

The potion is failing.

I can feel it in my blood, a slow creep of instability that’s becoming harder to ignore. Felix bought me time, but that time is running out faster than I’d hoped. My hands shake slightly as I grip the edge of my jacket, forcing myself to breathe slowly, steadily.

Control. It’s always been about control.

“Constantine will likely be back soon, I’ll wait for him in my office,” I mutter to Gaida, pulling away from her.

She nods and lets me go.

I teleport back to my office, where the sword materialises on my desk. Its presence is concerning, but at the same time, I wonder why it’s going after me and not Gaida. Surely it would want the being who will merge the worlds, not the one who can keep them apart. But maybe, like everything else, we’ve got that backwards.

The fabric of reality parts like silk beneath a blade, and Constantine arrives, his ancient presence filling the room with primal power. With him is a woman I haven’t seen in centuries and figured I never would again.

She moves with liquid grace, her blonde hair floating around her as if gravity is merely a suggestion. Her eyes, a startling emerald green that seems to hold centuries of wisdom, fix on me immediately. Where Constantine radiates raw power, Aefre exudes pure, deadly precision.

“You look terrible,” Constantine states without preamble.

“Your wife looks lovely as ever,” I reply, inclining my head to Aefre. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has. This world suits you,” she says.

“Then help me stay in it.”

Her eyes narrow and shift to her husband.

Constantine waves away the demand. “First things first. My timestone.”

“Erm, my timestone,” Aefre mutters with a smirk.

He rolls his eyes at her.

I retrieve it from my drawer in my bedroom with a flick of my fingers and hold it out. He snatches it with unnecessary force, his ancient eyes boring into mine. “You are lucky I’m fond of you, or I would have your head.”

“I’m aware, but it was necessary. I had to get back here.”

“To her.”

“And the rest.”

“Away from Lucius.”

“That was a priority.”

“He is unimpressed.”

“Tough shit.”

She smiles. “I do love a good charge rising against their sire.”

“Ex sire.”

“Oh, how familiar we are with that fiasco,” Constantine mutters. “You’re deteriorating faster than you’re letting on.”

“I’m managing.”

“No,” Aefre says softly, “you’re not.” She moves closer, and I fight the urge to step back. Her power rolls off her in waves that make my skin prickle. “The girl cares for you deeply enough to risk approaching Constantine about a sire bond.”

“Gaida shouldn’t have?—”

“But she did,” Constantine cuts in. “And here we are.”

I meet his gaze steadily. “And why are you here, exactly?”

“We’re here,” Aefre says, “because that girl of yours managed to touch something in my husband that I thought long buried.” Her lips curve in a smile that holds equal parts amusement and danger. “Compassion for someone other than his blood.”

“I am his blood. Kind of.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Constantine mutters, but there’s something in his expression that suggests Aefre might be right.

“Let’s be clear about what’s being offered,” Constantine says, pocketing the timestone. “If we do this, if I become your sire, there will be conditions.”

A fresh wave of pain ripples through my blood, and I grip the edge of my desk harder. “Of course there will be.”

Aefre moves to the window, looking out over MistHallow’s grounds. “You’ve built something remarkable here, Luke. A sanctuary. But you know as well as we do that it won’t last without intervention.”

“And what exactly would being your charge entail?”

“Protection,” Aefre answers before Constantine can. She turns from the window, her green eyes piercing. “Not just for you, but for this place. These children you’ve gathered.”

“At what cost?”

Constantine’s laugh is sharp. “Still suspicious after all these years? Good. You should be. The cost is your independence. Not completely, but you’ll be bound to me. Your blood will answer to mine.”

Another spasm hits, stronger this time. I taste blood in my mouth from where my fangs have cut into my lip.

“Time grows short, Luke. The temporary fix is failing.”

“And then what happens to your students?” Aefre adds softly. “To your academy? To everything you’ve built?”

They’re right. Of course they’re right. I can feel the truth of it in my deteriorating blood. But accepting Constantine as my sire... letting that ancient, dangerous power into my veins...

“I need time to think,” I manage.

“You don’t have time,” Constantine snaps. “Look at yourself.”

I catch my reflection in the window—my eyes are starting to silver, the veins around them darkening. The severance is pushing harder now, as if sensing its chance for freedom.

“There’s another matter,” Aefre says, her voice taking on a different tone. “One that concerns our son.”

Constantine’s shoulders tense. “He’s in danger. The kind that follows powerful bloodlines.”

“We need somewhere safe for him,” Aefre continues, her green eyes holding genuine concern. “Somewhere the hunters on our earth cannot get to him.”

“And you thought of another earth, of MistHallow? It isn’t the right place for the son of… you two.”

Aefre snickers. “What do you know?”

“Plenty has happened in the time I’ve been gone, but most recently in the last twenty years or so. I keep up.”

“So you know how much our son is a target.”

“I can imagine.” I pause, considering. “I know somewhere that will be the perfect fit for him.”

Constantine’s eyes narrow. “Where?”

“SilverGate Academy. It exists on yet another different plane, specialising in protecting and teaching rare and powerful beings.” I manage a wry smile despite another wave of pain. “The kind of beings who might be targeted for their bloodlines.”

“SilverGate,” Aefre tests the name.

“They’re extremely selective,” I continue. “But I have no doubt that you will move to the top of the list. It rests on this very spot in a realm adjacent to here.”

“On top of the Nexus.”

“Yes.”

“Is there a reason it is not simply another version of MistHallow?”

“Yes. The realm is darker and more foreboding than this one, which tends to match the mortal world more closely. MistHallow doesn’t fit into that world. SilverGate does.”

“And he will be safe there despite this foreboding realm?”

“More so than anywhere else.”

“How do we go about the siring process?” Constantine asks. “I’m assuming the usual way isn’t appropriate.”

“With this sword. But we need Gaida.”

He nods slowly. “Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes. If you are willing, I have to do this.”

“For her,” Aefre says quietly.

“Always.”

“We have to go back to our world,” Constantine says. “Both of us being away for so long is asking for trouble. I will return in the next day or so. Can you hold on until then?”

“Yes. I have about five days or so.”

He nods and, without another word, they vanish. I should feel relieved that this decision has been made, but part of me is wary. This liberation of having no sire is a feeling I don’t want to let go of, even though I know I don’t have a choice.