Page 18 of Gift from the Source (Source of Elementra #5)

Thirteen

Tillman

“Formation,” Ry and I bark at the same time.

Behind us, Willow and Oakly let out small laughs as the students in front of us nearly jump out of their skin. Every time a team returns from a mission, from the first years to the fourth years, they all act like they’re greeting royalty.

It’s as though they forget some of them will be doing this same shit in a few short months.

If they can get their acts together.

“Three laps now, then hit the sparing mats,” I order, glaring at all of them as they straighten their shoulders.

Ry and I stand stoically until the students round the first corner on the trial and disappear from sight. Then we address our men, who just returned, as Will and Oakly come to stand between us.

“Well done. Codi, your Nexus will stay for report. Everyone else can return to your houses,” I say.

“Hear me out for a second, but maybe…say a little more than that,” Willow says with humor coloring her tone .

I know what it is she’s subtly telling me to do, and I grunt. Not at all wanting to do what she’s asking. But if I don’t, she will. Then she’ll have my men eating out of her hands like puppies.

“The last few weeks have been nonstop. These missions may have seemed small scale, but they were far from that. Ten Mastery locations located, infiltrated, and destroyed is no small feat whatsoever. We didn’t lose a single man but cut down plenty of theirs. You should be proud of yourselves. I’m…very impressed. The Spring Ball is a few days away. Relax, spend time with your Nexuses. No more missions until that’s over.”

My men erupt into cheers. I grit my teeth and cut my eyes down to Willow, only for the soft smile on her lips and knowing look to simmer my irritation down immediately.

Well, almost.

“Dismissed,” I bark and then smirk as they scatter.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asks sweetly as she turns into me and wraps her arms around me.

“I don’t know about that,” I grunt.

“You start treating them like babies, they’re going to act like it,” Trex comments as he, Codi, Dex, and Xander walk up to us.

“See, little warrior. The asshole agrees with me.”

He chuffs as everyone laughs at his expense.

I give him shit daily about his dickish attitude, but honestly, Trex is a natural-born leader. Which is something I wouldn’t have ever assumed based on the first time I met him.

I’m still not sure if his purpose is still fully fueled by revenge or not, but regardless, when I made the tough decision to let Codi lead these missions up since it was his brother’s knowledge we needed the most, Trex stepped up with him and has been impressive, to say the least.

When my Nexus and Ry’s started discussing who would lead these missions since the two of us needed to stay here, I couldn’t decide on anyone. My trust in anyone who isn’t considered family was gone.

Finding out about Claven was a knife to the gut that sank in deep, then sliced me all the way to my heart .

I was questioning everyone’s motives around me. I was prying so deeply into the minds of my men, I’m surprised I didn’t accidentally melt a couple brains.

Claven’s betrayal was a different sort of betrayal.

I disliked him, of course, but I didn’t have a hate for him that he has for me. I tried to convince myself all those years that he was simply bitter at losing our trials. The thought of him being a rebel that entire time never crossed my mind.

He would join us in meetings, talk shit about the rebels, he’d help us plan missions against them. Even in his hatred for me, I never saw him as a traitor. Me sucking up his disdain and convincing Corentin the right move was to hire him to settle the uproar in the elite society was so foolish on my part.

It was all a lie.

And he will pay greatly for it when I find him.

I had to put all that aside, though, and make the best call for these missions. And funny enough, putting three men who were previously Mastery slaves in charge became the perfect choice.

As for Codi, he hasn’t always manned Rebel Castle. He used to be in the front lines all the time when he first joined the E.F. The only reason I had placed him at the castle was because he was Nexusless and the team I had joined him with were wiped out on a nasty mission that went wrong.

He was the sole survivor, and it crushed him. Those were his substitute brothers, and they were gone.

Being reunited with his real brothers, that pain has been healed. It’ll always linger because he was so close to those men for years, but now he has even more reason to avenge them.

“Yeah, yeah. Call me an asshole all you want, but when I’m being an asshole, not making friends, I can pick out shit no one else notices because they’re all goofing off,” Trex grumbles.

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“They were cocky this mission. Yes, we were successful, but while they were too busy celebrating our victory, they didn’t even realize we pulled in a high-ranking member. ”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“You all were too busy picking on me and my attitude,” he says with a smart-ass smirk on his face.

“Go change and let’s get to—”

“We need everyone to the dungeons. Now,” Cas suddenly commands.

Willow startles beside me. She easily picks up on the unease in his tone just as well as I do.

“Does this have to do with the Mastery member Codi and them just brought in?” I ask.

“What member? No, just get here.”

“Core? Draken?” I ask.

“Meet you there,” they both say.

“Never mind. No time to change. Something’s going on at the dungeons. On me,” I order, and everyone lays a hand to me as Willow presses herself to my side.

The possibilities of what’s going on flash across my mind.

Judging by the time, Cas and Keeper just returned from checking on the forest. It can’t be a coincidence that these two things are happening at the same time.

Willow’s gasp is loud as we pop in right in front of Caspian’s favorite torture room. She separates herself from me and hauls ass toward them. The two of them have blood all over them. Draken, who just popped in as well, wastes no time going to his…dad.

I don’t think he’s at that point yet.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Willow fusses, rubbing her hands all over Cas.

“It’s not mine, Primary. We’re okay,” he says softly.

“The vampires attacked?” Corentin and I ask at the same time. They haven’t made a move against them any of the times they’ve gone to the forest.

“No, they didn’t. They were the ones attacked,” Keeper says mournfully as Draken squeezes his shoulder. “When we arrived, it was a bloodbath. Apparently… ”

He’s struggling to keep it together. His eyes, much like Draken’s, flash between their ruby shade to angry crimson.

“The Summum-Master went to the nonmagical realm yesterday. Left in the afternoon and returned before dawn today. Furious, to say the least. Many of the vampires fled throughout the forest, but those that have been loyal to Keeper attempted to hold him and his men off when he started senselessly killing the others. Many of them lost their lives. Those who didn’t, he warned them to have their allegiances in line or when he returns, they’d never see the outside of the forest. He’d starve them for their long-lived immortal lives.” Cas finishes for Keeper darkly.

Will’s eyes fill with concern as they bounce back and forth between Keeper’s and Cas’s clothes. Her fingers shake as she traces the blood streaks on my brother’s hands.

“Some…it’s too gruesome to describe to you, Primary. Keeper gave them a proper death. He isn’t handling this well, but I was there for him,” Cas murmurs, leaving out the details that I put together on my own.

My gut turns, knowing what they did. It’s such a hard thing to do, but you don’t allow someone to suffer a long, drawn-out demise if you know there’s no chance of survival.

Unfortunately, in the Forsaken Forest, there’s no surviving deadly blows.

Also knowing the only way to kill a vampire, I know the Summum-Master left them right on the brink of beheading but didn’t finish the job fully.

“Thank you, brother,” Draken says before wrapping his arms around Keeper.

“He was making his move on the Valorian Veil. He knows now he can’t,” Will whispers.

We knew this was coming.

I didn’t honestly think it would be this soon, though. From a strategic point of view, we all felt that if he was spending his time gearing up here, going there would be his last move.

Putting ourselves in his mind, it would make the most sense to have all his forces that are in this realm prepared for his return. Once he returned successfully with the Gods’ stolen power, then he’d attack.

We throttled that plan of his, but still …

His plans were steps ahead of what we had assumed if he was going there already.

We figured we still had weeks in the making.

“Yes, now he knows. But now we have no idea what our timeline looks like,” Cas says, following my thoughts exactly.

“There may be someone in here who does, though. We need to interrogate the prisoner just brought in. They may not know shit exactly, but they were the highest ranked we’ve come across so far,” Trex says from behind me.

“As soon as Keeper is ready, we’ll do that,” Willow states firmly, glaring at all of us.

A low, dark chuckle falls from Keeper as he pulls her into him for a hug. “Thank you for your protection and concern, Adored. I am ready, though. There will be time to mourn the loss of my people. Right now, we need to do whatever we can to prevent the loss of more.”

“If you say so,” she says quietly, then nods to me.

“Go get him,” I order Trex and his brothers.

Unless I can’t see something in his mind, I have no intention of truly interrogating him. The moment his rune is removed, I’ll be diving as deep as I can into his mind to find out everything he knows.

My brothers know it already and I tell Willow so she’s aware of what’s going on.

There’s no screaming, no snarls, nothing coming from the man Trex, Codi, Dec, and Xander march in here. He’s calm, stoic, and everything about him screams he’s well aware and has accepted his death.

A true loyal soldier.

That is until Keeper steps out of the dark corner, twirling the dagger in his hand.

His eyes widen and…his body almost relaxes.

He nods as though he’s giving his agreement to what’s about to happen.

“Thank you,” he mumbles quietly as Codi sits him down .

The almost inaudible sound takes me by surprise. He’s respectful with the way he follows the commands to sit, stay still. Whatever one of the guys tells him to do, he just does.

His calm and lack of fight, plus the reverent tilt of his head and quietly murmured ‘yes, sirs’ make me uneasy. Even the strongest would say something. Sometimes it’s just taunts to rile us up, but they’re never this polite.

“Something is off about him,” I tell my Nexus.

“I sense it too. He’s almost…relieved,” Willow agrees. “Draken, tell Keeper to be easy with removing the rune. There’s something more about this guy.”

The language of the Keep slips through Draken’s lips and that draws really the only reaction out of the guy. He stares between the two of them in fascination. There isn’t a hint of concern or fear when Draken bends down to unbutton his shirt to reveal his mark.

Willow’s comment is proven correct as the guy literally lets out a sigh and a small smile as the dagger is placed to his chest.

“Thank you,” he says again the moment Keeper steps away from him to add his blood to the dagger to completely sever the connection from this guy and the Summum-Master.

Suddenly, Willow has her finger placed to the man’s temple, and we all growl her name. He falls back completely still, not making any moves as she does whatever it is that she’s doing.

“Shit,” she breathes.

“Did you just go through his thoughts that fast?” I ask.

“No. I sensed another block on his mind even as Keeper was removing the rune. I didn’t want him to lock it up even tighter or anything like that, so I just reacted. I knew it wasn’t the Summum-Master’s, but it was strong,” she says out loud for everyone, even this mystery guy to hear. “He is relieved to be captured. He isn’t really Mastery.”

“Spit it out, Primary,” Cas says impatiently.

“I don’t understand. He’s Dillon and Pran Gale’s informant…and brother,” she mumbles before placing her fingers on her lips. She’s falling deep inside her mind, trying to work something out, and we’re all just as confused .

“My name is Maxima. You may look through whatever you’d like, Leader Tillman. My job is finally done,” he says, bowing his head to Willow first then me.

Grabbing the extra chair from a few feet away, I set it in front of him and stare into his eyes. His ease still makes me uncomfortable, and I’m so lost on what Willow just meant.

I’ve only ever seen a soldier act like this when they’ve accepted death completely. But if what Willow just said is true, we won’t be killing him.

“I’m going to lay my hand to your forehead. That’ll be easiest for me and less painful for you,” I tell him to see his reaction.

I don’t like what I see.

It’s almost like a sense of disappointment floods him that I’m sparing him this pain.

“Whatever works best for you, sir.”

Laying my hand to his head, his eyes close and I dive in.

Devastation.

That’s all I see and feel as I map my way through his life. One thing after another. This man has lived no sense of peace. He’s so much older than he looks and that has served him well in his journey for revenge.

Revenge I understand so much better now.

It’s gut-wrenching and I have to swallow back the bile collecting in my throat. What he, Pran, and Dillon have been through would have made most go crazy. I’m not sure how they’ve kept their composure well enough to have such well-thought-out plans.

In all honesty, though, this is a perfect example of there are no limits that we won’t go to for the people we love.

My breathing comes out in fast, short pants as I pull away from him. It’s only when my little warrior lays her hand to my back and fills my lungs with air that I can finally take a deep breath.

Maxima’s eyes are watering when I look up at him, but his face is calm. He’s accepted any ending. He’s ready to move on from this life.

“I’m so sorry for all that you’ve been through,” I say quietly.

“Do not be. I did it all in the name of her. Elementra was an afterthought, but nonetheless, I will always serve her if she holds a place for me in the beyond.”

“Till—”

I cut Corentin off as I raise my hand while never taking my eyes off Maxima’s. “Ask one of the guards outside to escort Maxima to a larger cell and bring him some food. You’ll be safe here until we figure out our next steps. Since the rune is removed, as far as the Summum-Master knows, you’re dead.”

His tight pinched smile bothers me. He thought that even though I found out this truth, we’d still kill him for the things he’s done. Regardless of the good he’s done while being undercover.

I believe so many years in the Mastery have warped his mind to think the cruelest of everyone.

The room sits in an uncomfortable silence. Other than the sound of Codi unhooking Maxima from his chair, no one moves or speaks. As he leads him out the door, I lay my head in my hands and take deep breaths.

“What in the realm is going on, Tillman?” Corentin asks again as soon as the door shuts.

Standing and turning to everyone, I decide here isn’t the place to tell this story. Also, Aunt Rory and my uncles should also hear this.

“Let’s all go to the throne room so we can sit. There’s a lot to digest here,” I say solemnly and that seems to tell everyone how serious this is.

Willow laces her fingers through mine as her shadows crawl over everyone. They bring with them her touch all over my body and I suck up every drop.

Based on how she’s reacting and the emotions in her bond, she didn’t eavesdrop while I was in his mind. If she had, she’d be reacting so much differently. She probably would’ve given Maxima a hug.

As we appear in the throne room, Aunt Rory is laughing and teasing with my uncles like they always have our entire lives. They’re showing way too much PDA and a tinge of longing spears me in my chest.

I honestly hope they never stop acting like this.

Even if it is gross .

It reminds me of how in love my parents were.

How in love almost all true Nexuses are. Us included.

“Kids, what’s everyone doing?” Aunt Rory asks, but the second she senses the moods, she backtracks. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

“We just, well, Tillman just gathered some information from a prisoner that was apprehended this morning. Apparently, he gathered something that needs to be shared with all of us,” Corentin says.

There’s anxiousness laced in his tone, so I won’t drag this out. Not that that’s what my intentions were. This is pretty sad shit that everyone needed to hear at once.

I nod as all eyes look at me and point over to the massive table. “Everyone, take a seat.”

“You all have me worried now,” Aunt Rory says as she sinks down slowly.

“This is going to be a long story I’m going to get out all at once. Everyone just wait before you say anything unless I ask something. Which I’m going to. Starting with you, Aunt Rory.”

“Go ahead, Tillme.”

“You may have to dig into your memories quite a bit for this, but do you recall the first Spring Ball after meeting my uncles? Drudy forced you to dance with Nexuses even though you were already with my uncles and had your awakenings, correct?” I ask.

Four grunts and noises of displeasure fall from my uncles, and she snorts. “That’s correct. It didn’t go over well. She did it every year, our bonding ceremony, and my coronation.”

“Do you remember if Dillon and Pran Gale were two of the men you had to dance with?”

She startles, almost taken aback by my question, then her eyebrows draw down in concentration. “As a matter of fact, Pran came up to me and whispered, ‘I don’t mean to offend you, but we have a Primary and would prefer to skip this dance. We just don’t want to seem rude.’ I laughed and told him I had a Nexus and didn’t want to do this at all. He excused himself and I didn’t see him or his brothers for the remainder of the night. I later found out that they had approached Vicki Gale earlier that night and asked her to be their chosen Primary. She and her parents agreed sometime after that.”

She spoke the first part of that story fondly until she reached the mention of Vicki. Her disdain will only grow from here.

“That night they did find their Primary. But Pran and Dillon are not Hunt and Isaiah Gale’s true Nexus brothers. Maxima, the gentleman we have in the prison right now, as well as a man named Joslin were their Nexus brothers. That Spring Ball, Joslin had his awakening with a woman named Lucila—”

“Wait, Lucila Gale? Vicki’s cousin? That can’t be right. Lucila was unfortunately…” She pauses, giving Keeper a sad smile. “She was attacked by a rouge vampire that had been slipping under the radar. He was apprehended and put in the forest. She succumbed to her injuries.”

“That is the version of the story that’s been told, but it isn’t the right story,” I say sadly as her eyes well with water. “Vicki wasn’t happy that Lucila was a true Primary. She demanded from her father that she be given Lucila’s Nexus.

“Unbeknownst to them, Lucila and Joslin cemented the bond that night. According to Maxima’s memories, they couldn’t wait. They declared their love for one another right after their awakening and nothing was going to keep them apart. The others wanted to wait until their own awakenings happened.

“Vicki’s father called for a meeting and asked Lucila to come, introduce her new Nexus to the family. She was excited and eagerly agreed. When they arrived, Maxima got held up outside speaking with an old academy buddy and told them to head on in and he’d catch up.

“The moment they walked in, Vicki killed Lucila right there. Unknowingly also killing Joslin. His death was not dragged out but seemingly happened seconds after her last breath. Dillon and Pran lost their minds and attacked Vicki. They were restrained and taken to the cells beneath the Gales’ home. Maxima ran in once he felt his brother’s bond rip from his and saw the other two being taken away. Pran shook his head at him not to follow. Maxima ran and hid in the home until nightfall and then went below to check on them .

“When he snuck in and found them, they all mourned the death of their brother and the true Primary they never got to bond or awaken fully with. Before dawn, Pran ordered Maxima to leave and not stay behind with them. He was their only ally on the outside for whatever the Gales had planned. He told him to stay away and they’d find him. Years went by without any communication between them, but Maxima stalked them from a distance.

“This is the part where there is some information missing for me on Dillon’s and Pran’s sides. One night, they kidnapped Maxima. Kidnapped is a strong word, but ultimately that’s what they did. They apprehended him and placed in him the Mastery. While he was going through processing, his brothers acted as though they didn’t know who he was. Once he was fully in and marked, they came to him again one night and explained everything that had happened over the years to an extent.

“They’d been kept in those cells for a while. The only way they were to be released was if they agreed to bond with Vicki. They refused, no matter the consequences. Something changed along the way, though, obviously. From there, they explained their long line of plans and began interfering with the Mastery from the inside out.”

The air in my lungs whooshes out of me. That isn’t half of what I saw in that poor man’s mind. His loneliness, his multiple mental fights of ending his own life, his desperate desire for his brothers. Even once he got them back, they weren’t truly back. They’ve always had to be kept at a distance since then and his identity as the fourth Nexus brother has always had to stay secret.

“Uncle Orien’s interference. When did he come in the picture of their lives?” Cas asks calculatingly.

We all sit in silence again as we look at Willow. She sits still with slow tears flowing out of her unblinking eyes. She’s already speaking to our uncle in her mind but isn’t opening the line of communication.

When she finally does blink, she also inhales harshly and wipes her face clean.

“The Gales announced the arrangement of Vicki and the men even before they had formally agreed. I guess they figured the men really never had a choice. CC had a vision of Pran and Dillon locked in the cells, plus a mystery man whose identity was obscured from him after reading the Chosen Primary decree sent out from the Gale family. He disguised himself as a part of the Gales’ security and snuck into their house. When he met them, he told them who he was and the vision he had of them. They tried to explain who the third man was, but CC told them to stop. If his identity was hidden from him, it needed to stay that way.

“He told them the truth of most things. That he was a seer, tasked with the unexplainable, and asked them to trust him. If they did, he promised one day, their Primary’s and brother’s deaths would be avenged. They did. And that was the beginning of their unforeseen friendship.

“Maxima always stayed a blind spot for him because he was so close to the Mastery. It was too dangerous for him to facilitate a relationship with him and his brothers.”

“Poor Lucila. Oh Elementra, she was so sweet, so young. She was only a little younger than me. She’d just turned twenty-six. Oh—” she says as she pops out of her seat and begins pacing. “My mother put away another innocent vampire. She took the Gales’ word and ordered the vampire to be captured immediately. All the innocent lives…”

My uncles surround her and comfort her. There’s guilt written across her face as though she holds all the fault for what our rotten grandmother did. What the previous generation of Gales did.

They spoiled Vicki so rotten, her murdering her cousin didn’t even make them bat their eyes.

This isn’t Aunt Rory’s fault, though. It’s none of ours, but we have to stop it.

“He was the distraction that night that the three of you got free that final time,” I say, looking at Trex and gaining everyone’s attention back.

“He was the cloaked man,” Dec whispers, and Xander and Trex turn their heads to him. “When all the commotion of whatever was happening started, the cloaked man told us what direction to run and not to stop. It was him.”

“Shit,” Trex breathes and looks to me for confirmation .

“That was my uncle’s last conversation with Dillon. He asked him if everything was in place to get the three of you free.”

“Then we fucked it up royally,” Xander bites out, hanging his head low.

“There’s more to it than this, T-man. Not that all of this isn’t important, it is, but he’s been a Mastery member for what, damn two hundred years? Why isn’t he higher ranked than what he is? Did he stay under the scope so he could spy better or what?” Draken asks knowingly and I nod.

“That’s exactly what he did. He stayed quiet, kept his head down, and listened. Interfered where he could and told his brothers anything of importance at their monthly meetups. Eight years ago, Dillon told him to make himself known. Not in the sense of who he was but what he was capable of. He just took over Gish’s role when Willow burned him beyond repair.”

Draken and Cas snicker at that, breaking up the intensity in the air, but Willow’s voice silences them.

“Eight years ago. When CC died. They didn’t know what direction everything was going to go in, so they decided to get him higher up and closer to the Summum-Master.”

“And back closer to them. They see high-ranked officials more than lower ones, so it made them speaking with him less suspicious. Since taking over this ranking, he hasn’t recruited anyone in like he’s supposed to have been. Their numbers are…devastating. More than we could’ve assumed. At least a couple hundred stronger than us. He’s been trying to slow down recruitment on his end as best as he can.

“He’s slacked on their training. His interference is basically why at all ten of those locations, the Mastery members were like sitting ducks. He hasn’t given them any orders in weeks. He’s supposed to be preparing them.

“We were right in the assumption their gearing up. They most certainly are. In two weeks’ time, they were going to attack the Central. That was the last order he received two days ago. He got that order, went to his first location, and did nothing. Then we caught him. ”

Again, the room descends into silence and my heartbeat thuds in my ears.

The hundreds more soldiers than our E.F. is a fear-inducing piece of knowledge.

Everyone realizes we’re now in a position of truly not knowing what’s going to happen. We have no one really on the inside, we’ve changed the trajectory of the Summum-Master’s plans, and the waiting game begins.

We must be prepared at all times from this moment forward.

“Roye, Tillme, prepare the E.F. for imminent battle. Station them spread out around the Central lines. No more missions for the time being. We continue with our plans, and we still host the Spring Ball. Everyone will be listening to everything. Both the Gales and the Everglows have sent in their agreements for attendance. Maybe we will gather something from them. Get the academies ready and inform the headmasters. The students are not to leave. From this moment on, we proceed as though Elementra is under attack.”

Aunt Rory’s words send a chill through the air. There’s a finality in them that is undeniable. It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my chest pounds with anticipation.

It’s a collective pulse. From my brothers, myself, and most importantly our Primary.

Our heartbeats sync and thud together as one.

My little warrior lets out a slow breath that has everyone else inhaling deeply. Her strength pours through our bond, causing my brothers and me to straighten our shoulders. She nods to each of us before facing the others.

“We prepare for war.”