Page 13

CHAPTER 13

VIOLET

T he dead shifter's final moments kept replaying in my mind as we prepared to infiltrate pack territory. The way the shadow essence had poured from him like smoke and his eyes went black before the life drained away was going to feature in my nightmares. If I ever slept again. Between worrying about Aislinn and watching Fiona fight the corruption spreading through her wound, rest seemed like a distant dream.

Thankfully, we had somewhere to start. Gadross had managed to track down the pack's current location. It was a long shot that we would find her in an open area on their property. It was our best connection to this mess. The tracking spell we’d done hadn’t given us an exact location, but it had sent the twisted shifters after us.

"The tunnels should connect here," I said as I traced the path on the ancient map we'd retrieved from the archives. My fingers left trails of golden light across the yellowed parchment. "They lead to some wine cellars that were built over even older passages. According to this, some even dated back to Roman times. Their choice to move here makes sense given how Dark magic has twisted their nature. The limestone walls are brilliant for dampening magical signatures."

Bas nodded as he studied the markings. He was supporting Fiona with one arm. Her wound pulsed with sickly purple light as it fought against the containment runes he'd placed around it. Even watching it made my magical senses recoil. She should have stayed at the B&B to recover, but none of us wanted to leave her alone. Not to mention, we would likely need her help.

"The stone has a strange resonance," Thanos observed as he ran his hand along the damp wall. His divine power sparked at the contact. "You can feel old magics worked into it. The ancient covens used these tunnels for something important because the limestone now naturally masks magical signatures."

"Brilliant for sneaking about," Fiona managed through gritted teeth. Despite her pain, her eyes sparked with familiar determination. "Though trekking through ancient tunnels makes my skin crawl. The gods know what creepy crawlies had made their home down there over the centuries."

"I still vote for Plan B," Thanos commented as he checked his weapons. His power sparked along the blades Bas had made for him. The hum they emitted calmed my racing heart. My mate was rarely with us on cases and I liked having him nearby for this one. The stakes were so much higher this time. "It’s quick, direct, and includes at least one explosion. That was my favorite addition, Fi."

"And alert every corrupted shifter in Hambledon?" I raised an eyebrow at my mate. "Let's save the fireworks for when we actually need them."

I reached for my phoenix power and let golden flames dance around my hands as I began weaving dampening spells. The fire responded eagerly. The beast inside me wanted to burn everything and reduce this corruption to ash. It hadn’t taken over entirely because it wanted to find Aislinn as much as I did.

We found the tunnel entrance behind a false wall in one of the abandoned cellars. It looked exactly like something out of a gothic horror film. Damp stone walls disappeared into the darkness. Water dripped somewhere in the distance. The sound echoed ominously. Centuries of accumulated magic surrounded us.

"Remember," I whispered as we prepared to descend, "our masking spell should hide our magical signatures, but we need to stay close.”

Fiona nodded. “We can add illusions to handle visual concealment. Sound will still carry, so keep quiet. I can’t hide us completely while magical corruption is trying to eat me from the inside out."

“You don’t have to do any of it,” Bas told her. “We can kick their asses.”

Fiona shook her head. “Not without being injured or worse. They’re magically juiced up. We ran earlier. Stealth is the only way we survive.”

Bas nodded in agreement. We continued and my phoenix fire cast shifting shadows that made me antsy. I kept expecting one of them to jump out and sink toxic claws into me. The flames highlighted centuries of magical residue that coated the walls like invisible fingerprints. Each layer told a story. There were protection spells, concealment charms, and wards against various threats. Some were so old they barely registered as more than whispers of power.

"The corruption's getting stronger," Fiona murmured as we reached a junction. Purple light pulsed through cracks in the stone. It created patterns that made my magical senses itch. "It's like the whole place is infected. It’s freaking vile."

She was right. What should have been a neutral magical space had been twisted into something that made my soul want to crawl out of my skin and run away screaming. The cult's influence had spread through the tunnels like a disease. It had tainted even the ancient protective magic woven into the stone.

"Hold still," I whispered. I laid my hand on Fiona's arm when she stumbled. Something felt wrong. My phoenix fire flared as I pushed my magic out, seeking what it was. When it encountered the corrupted power, I shoved harder. The shadow essence trying to reach for her through the wound sizzled away like water on a hot griddle. The effort made my head spin. It was like trying to empty the Thames with a teacup.

"Thanks," she breathed and leaned into Bas. "Though I think it's getting worse. The magic knows we're here. I swear it's trying to spread faster." A growl rumbled through Bas’s chest. Fiona ran a hand over him in a soothing manner.

She nodded and we continued. Argies took point as we navigated the sodding maze of passages. His dragon senses were sharper than ours. Heat rolled off him in waves that left scorch marks on the ancient stone. That kept us toasty as the temperature dropped when we got closer to pack territory proper. Eventually, frost formed on the walls despite Argies's heat. Our breath came out in visible puffs.

"Blimey, it's proper baltic down here," I muttered as I pulled my jacket tighter. The corruption was more concentrated. It felt like walking through invisible cobwebs made of ice and pain.

"This way," Argies growled softly. His eyes glowed with dragon fire as he followed a scent we couldn't detect. "I can smell her. And blood. Lots of blood."

My heart clenched at his words. We'd known they were preparing her as a vessel. Hearing it confirmed made everything more real. More urgent. The phoenix inside me stirred restlessly. It wanted to burn away everything in our path. It was so tempting. I held onto the hope she was still alive.

The tunnels opened into what I bet had once been a grand entrance hall. Now, it looked like an abandoned Victorian asylum left to decay for a century. Pack banners that should have displayed proud heraldry were rotting on the walls. Their symbols had been forgotten and left behind. They were no longer the family they had once been.

"Bloody hell," I breathed as we took in the scene. "What have they done to this place?"

They’d have to tear everything out and start over to make it remotely livable. The marble floors were cracked and seeping evil like a badly maintained council estate after a flood. Statues of pack ancestors had been smashed into grotesque shapes. They reminded me of the abstract art installations that always seemed to pop up in London's rougher areas. Gods, it was hard to breathe.

"Fiona," I whispered, "we need cover. These shadows are dodgy."

She nodded and gathered her power despite the obvious pain it caused. The illusion she wove made us meld in with our surroundings. We’d have to move slowly so we didn’t disrupt it. She’d done brilliant work. Especially considering the corruption trying to eat through her defenses. Watching her fight through it made my chest tight with worry.

Argies paused before walking out the doors. "The blood smells old. It’s not Aislinn’s,” he growled. “Her scent is also too faint for her to still be around. I don’t think she’s here.” His voice cracked at the end and his expression became a mix of anguish and rage.

“We might still be able to find something here," Thanos told Argies as he clapped a hand on his shoulder. “We need to find more information on what we are dealing with. Including any other properties they might have. If we can find their library, we might find something there.”

Argies sucked in a breath and nodded. “I smell parchment and leather this way," He replied. He gestured toward a corridor I hadn’t noticed before. "If there are answers here, that's where we'll find them."

“We’ll find her,” Fiona promised Argies.

We moved carefully through the hall. It was a challenge to avoid the thickest concentrations of shadow essence. The corruption had changed the very nature of the room. What had once been a proud pack house now felt like a temple to something ancient and hungry. It was like walking through the worst parts of the London Underground at 3 AM. Only there were more evil horrors here and less drunk tourists.

The pack's library was a massive chamber that would have made any Oxford college proud. If they were into books that writhed on their shelves like they were having fits. It wasn’t because the books contained powerful magic in them. It was the external power that covered them and everything around them. Something dripped from their spines like black tears and made horrible little splashing sounds on the floor.

“Fi, look at this,” I called softly as I pulled a journal from a desk that seemed less possessed than the others. The leather cover was warm to the touch and seemed to pulse like a heart. "It's Richard Blackwood's personal records. He’s the mage that went bad. He and the alpha at the time worked together. It was their relationship that caused the pack’s decline."

The others gathered around as I carefully opened it. I tried not to think about how the pages felt disturbingly like skin. The handwriting started neat and proper. It was something you'd see in a solicitor's office. It became increasingly manic as the entries progressed.

"Here," I pointed to an entry dated eighty years ago, "he writes about finding ancient texts in a sealed chamber beneath the wine cellars. They were about the First Ones and their power. Listen to this rubbish. 'Our magic is but a pale shadow of what it could be. The First Ones offer so much more. Their whispers grow stronger with each ritual. The power they grant is intoxicating. The pack resists, but they'll understand once they've tasted it themselves.'

"The lot of them are barking mad," I muttered as I turned pages. "The next bit details his experiments. He was deliberately corrupting shifters. He moved on to the pack bonds.” My stomach roiled when I read the next part. “He used them to spread the taint to others. Those who fought it were... bloody hell." Bile burned the back of my throat. "They were sacrificed to strengthen Blackwood’s hold over what he called animals and his connection to the First Ones."

"Like father, like son," Fiona muttered. She was referring to the family member currently leading the charge. She was leaning heavily against Bas. It was her pale face that had my heart aching. "Keeping it in the family, apparently. Though I have to say, their family reunions must be mental," she finished.

More journals revealed the horrible progression. Pack members who resisted were ‘converted’ through brutal rituals that made my recent visit to the dentist seem pleasant by comparison. Those who couldn't be turned were used as fuel for darker workings. The corruption spread through pack bonds like a virus. It tainted those who initially fought against it. And the alpha fell last.

"This is wrong," Bas said. His voice was tight with fury as he examined a ritual circle carved into the floor. It looked like someone had taken traditional pack magic and put it through a demonic blender. "They've taken sacred magic and warped it into something else. Shifters were never meant to be led like this. Their animals have specific needs only an alpha can provide."

"It feels a bit like that kebab shop on the high street," Fiona quipped weakly. "You know, the one where even the rats won't eat the leftovers?"

"Not helping, Fi," I said. Although, I appreciated her attempt at humor. It meant she was still with us.

Thanos was fiddling around with some books and jumped back when the book he moved opened a hidden door. It was behind the bookcase. These nutters really were going for every evil lair cliche in existence. We poked our heads in and saw that it led to what looked like a research room. The walls were covered in charts and diagrams that would have given my old math teacher a migraine. They detailed magical compatibility and resonance factors for different supernatural beings.

My blood ran cold as I studied the information. It was like looking at a shopping list written by someone planning to build a bomb out of people. "This is why they took Aislinn.”

“And why they need us,” Fiona added grimly. “Look. They need individuals with multiple magical signatures who could act as a bridge. Aislinn fits this as well as both of us. She’s got Fae blood combined with her connection to dragon magic through carrying Kalli."

"The perfect vessel," Thanos agreed grimly. He entered and picked up a set of documents. "They've been collecting other supernatural beings for decades. Testing different combinations and trying to find the right mixture of power types. They’re some demented magical mad scientists."

The alarm that shattered our investigation sounded like a cross between a police siren and a banshee with a head cold. Shadow essence began pouring from the walls like someone had turned on corrupted taps. "Company is coming," Fiona announced unnecessarily as heavy footsteps thundered above us. "And they don't sound like they're bringing tea and biscuits."

We backed away from the hidden room and turned to face the attack. The first enforcer burst through the library doors in a form that defied natural law. It was caught between wolf and man. It had too many limbs and eyes that burned with purple fire. It looked like large sections of its organs had been pulled outside its body. More followed. Each was warped in its own unique and horrifying way.

"Well," I said as I called my phoenix fire, "I suppose subtle is off the table. Rather like my gran at Christmas dinner after too much sherry."

The battle that followed was pure chaos. My flames met corrupted flesh while Thanos carved paths through horrifying beasts. Bas wielded his weapons with as much skill, while Fiona lobbed magical bombs at them. Like the night before, there were too bloody many. They were damn strong. Each enforcer could shift between multiple forms. It made them nearly impossible to pin down. One moment, you'd be fighting what looked like a wolf. The next, it would dissolve into something with too many teeth and not enough physics.

"We need to fall back," Bas called as another wave of enforcers poured in. "There are too many, and they're drawing power from the corruption in the walls!"

He was right. Even Argies's dragon fire wasn't enough to keep them all at bay. Argies could shift and take a large portion of them out, but we wouldn’t survive the collapse of the building on top of us. There wasn’t enough room for how big his beast was.

We began retreating. We had to fight for every step like it was the last queue at Tesco's before a holiday. That's when one of the enforcers got too close. Something caught Argies’s attention and made him roar with fury. "Aislinn," he snarled. Dragon fire lit his eyes. "Her blood is on this one. They're using it to track our movements!"

The enforcer's laugh was like breaking glass. "The vessel serves her purpose well. Soon, you'll all serve the First Ones. The old ways will-"

Argies's flames cut off whatever else he was going to say. Thankfully, we'd heard enough. They were using Aislinn's blood for tracking magic. Which meant she was still alive, but for how much longer? Bas and Thanos shoved Fiona and me behind them. The three men acted as a wall between us and the shifters.

We fought our way back to the tunnels. Fiona and I used our magic to seal the entrance behind us with every ward we could muster. The sound of corrupted enforcers throwing themselves against the barrier echoed through the stone like the world's worst drum solo. "Well," Fiona said as we caught our breath, "that could have gone better. Though I suppose finding out Aislinn is still alive counts as a win? Even if we had to fight the pack from hell to get it?"

I nodded in agreement and continued down the tunnel. "They’ve got to be keeping her close. And we know why they chose us. That's something."

"It's not enough," Argies growled. His hands were still smoking from the battle. "We need to get to her before they complete whatever ritual they're planning."

"We will," I assured him. "They can’t finish without Fiona and me. We need a new plan before we try again. One that preferably doesn't end with us fighting an entire pack of corrupted shifters in their own territory. They will overwhelm us if we try again."

"I might have an idea about that," Thanos said slowly. "But you're not going to like it."

Looking at his expression, I had a feeling he was right. But then again, when had any of our plans gone the way we expected? At least this time, we knew what we were up against. Sort of. Now, we just had to figure out how to save Aislinn from being used as a mystical battery for ancient horrors beyond comprehension.