Page 37

~Nyx~

I could feel his eyes on me.

Damn, a whole lot more than that.

His warmth and encouragement, his pride in me.

Kai was standing in the open doorway of the Great Hall, leaning against the wall, and watching Velra and I deliver our presentation on the Crossborn Refuge System.

I’d had this sort of amazing support from all of them all day long.

Ariana had been sending me texts full of reassurance, urging me to show people exactly what I was made of, citing that the team was lucky to have me.

There had been hours of quiet from Vorzyr and communications from Ariana and Kai had explained why.

I’d been anxious since, worried about where he’d possibly flown off to.

But when I’d seen Kai standing there, I’d sensed a relief and calm from him that I knew belonged to Vorzyr’s situation. Thank goodness.

As soon as I was done here, I needed to get back, though, and deal with it.

Although things seemed to have stabilized, that might not last. That was where I would come in. Whatever had happened wouldn’t just be dealt with through a one-shot deal. It needed time, care, and a lot of attention.

I sucked in a breath and forced myself to put it out of my mind for now, as Velra came to the end of her part of our joint presentation, and it was over to me.

“Before my days at Maven Academy, I was nothing but a disruption. My powers scared people. Let’s face it, they still do.

My nature confused them. And worse—it terrified them.

When I was extracted from that Chimera Circle lab, my parents disowned me because I was no longer “pure” in their eyes.

My sorcerer blood had been tainted. I would have been left out in the cold if it hadn’t been for Thomas and Louise Hunter taking me in.

But even then, they didn’t know what to do with me.

They only understood my sorcerer abilities, not the Incubus aspect.

And more importantly, not the way that those abilities blended together with my hybrid nature.

We can’t rely on the kindness of strangers, just hoping that other hybrids will catch a lucky break like I did. ”

I went on, “I can’t overstate just how absolutely vital this proposed program is.

A transitional sanctuary program that will take in hybrids immediately after they are either liberated from these Chimera Circle labs, or born as such and disowned by their families.

A specialized halfway house on a grand scale, it will offer magical and emotional stabilization, a secure sanctuary, tutoring and magical identification testing tailored to their hybrid nature, trauma-informed therapy, and mentorship by other hybrids to both give them something to aspire to, and to inspire hope that they can function like we’ve learned to do, that they can be comfortable and accepting in themselves. ”

“Following this, we’d move onto pathway placement into the next phase like educational-based ones such as attending an Academy. Or career-driven roles should they be ready, like working for the Guardian Movement, the Unity Council, the Covens,” Velra finished for me.

As our presentation came to an end, I looked out at Warlow, and a thrill went through me when I saw his eyes gleaming with excitement.

He rose from his seat amongst the other Crossborn members and started clapping, everyone following his lead and joining in.

“Very well done,” he said, approaching Velra and I. “This is inspired and extremely well thought out. I’ll present this to Ryker and the supernatural leaders.”

“Really? You’re on board for rolling it out?” I asked.

He nodded. “It is vital. And it’s the exact sort of thing I was counting on this team developing.”

Velra smiled over at me, happy that we’d succeeded—better than we’d even thought.

And then Warlow turned and addressed the rest of the members, explaining what would happen to each proposal that the rest of them had presented today.

Everyone rose as he finished up, and I started over to Kai.

As I did, I caught sight of Lazriel bounding into the Speaker’s Circle just before Velra could head down. And then the flirting began.

I shot her a look, but she signaled that she could handle it, that she didn’t need me backing her up.

I hesitated for a moment, until I watched her hand spark against Lazriel, which worked to have him backing up several steps and taking it down a notch.

It harkened back to the way Warlow had used wolf dominance to put him in his place.

He seemed to respond well to that, even from a non-wolf in Velra.

I turned my attention to Kai then, now no longer needing to concern myself with anything else, and then I was bounding over to him.

“Well fucking done,” he told me, grinning so proudly.

As I reached him, I threw my arms around him, holding him to me tightly for a few moments.

“Thank you, Kai,” I said, as we pulled apart.

“You were commanding, concise, and also empathetic. You demonstrated your specialized understanding of the issues afflicting hybrids. Very well done.”

“You flatter me too much,” I jested, grinning out at him.

“You deserve it. You’ve come a long way.” He gestured around at the space, the team filtering out. “Becoming a part of this team is clearly working so well for you.”

It really was.

“Thanks for coming, Kai,” I said, as we headed on out of the room and turned down onto the corridors of the Compound.

“Ari wanted to be here, too. And Vorzyr.”

“No worries. I totally get it. I felt that Vorzyr is okay now. Ariana managed to calm him down?”

“Yeah. She sent me a text. He’s stabilized.”

“Good. Really good.” I looked out at him as he gazed around at everything.

“How does it feel being here?” He’d wanted to be a part of the Guardian Movement for a long time.

He’d been up here a couple of times with his parents, but just as the next heir to the Maven Coven, never in a broader capacity, or in a way that had given him the opportunity to actually tour the place or see the broader scope.

I mean, sure, he had his research, so I had no doubt that he already knew all about it. But being here in person was different.

“Fine,” was all he said.

I cocked an eyebrow. “Just fine?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Honestly, yeah.”

“Wow, after all these years of you coveting a role here.”

“A lot has happened lately. It’s… shifted things, it seems. I hadn’t really had time to take stock of that until now.”

“Until being here.”

“Essentially.”

I went to speak more to it, but my words caught in my throat as I felt a wave of anxiety slam into me.

Oddly, it wasn’t mine.

And then I looked out to see Velra turning onto the corridor with Lazriel walking beside her.

“That was phenomenal,” he was telling her.

“Thanks,” was all she said.

Kai and I exchanged a wince at the uncomfortable tension coming off Velra, something that Lazriel was just blowing right through with his determination to reach her, to connect with her.

An awkward silence settled for a few moments, before Lazriel cut through it, asking her, “Hey, so what did you think of my presentation? Revamping the Academy curriculums all over the place to include specific hybrid-focused classes?”

“Yes. It was an inspired idea also.”

“Did you just actually give me a compliment, beautiful?”

“You were fishing for one, so I took pity on you.”

“Ouch. So it wasn’t real?”

“I’ll leave that for you to decide.”

“What about his hot little banter between us? Is that real enough for you?”

She came to an abrupt halt. “You shouldn’t pursue this.”

“And here I was working up to asking you out for a drink at Polaris .”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? You’re out there holed up on your own in one of the Guardian Movement provided safehouses. You don’t attend an Academy or anything. I do and I have a night class to get to but I’m willing to miss it so we can spend some time together.”

Another sigh made me wince, because this time it was a lot heavier.

In fact, I’d noticed a shift in her mood as soon as the presentation had finished.

A definite downturn.

A worrying downturn, actually.

“Look, we have to work together in Crossborn, so I don’t want to make this awkward or antagonize you.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Why would you think you’d antagonize me, Wraithqueen ?”

“Because this can’t happen. I don’t… get involved.

And I certainly don’t date. And, let’s face it, you’re only drawn to me because your vampire side feels a pull to my wraith side.

I’ve dealt with it before. Vampires are always circling me because of that strange pull.

It’s a pull to death, Lazriel. You don’t want that, believe me. ”

“You’re wrong and you’re oversimplifying things. And, once again, you’ve neglected to consider my wolf side, which is stronger than the vampire, for the record.”

“Yes, as you keep wanting to make clear to everyone.”

He cursed, glared at her, and then in the next second, he was rushing away with a burst of vampire speed, blowing past us and leaving the Compound.

“Are you all right?” I asked Velra across the thirty-foot distance between us.

“Fine, yeah,” she said, shaking out her hair.

No. She wasn’t fine. Something was really off with her.

She was… struggling.

I went to move to go to her, but I was pulled up short at movement entering the corridor from our right.

I looked to see Aegis Watch had returned.

Well, part of the team. Per their protocol that I’d learned about since being a part of Crossborn, some would bring the liberated hybrids back to the Guardian Movement for medical attention and processing, while the rest would remain to wipe the lab from the face of the earth.

There were four of them right now, their features hidden by the overhanging hoods of their black Guardian robes. And they were escorting a single being.