SWNOVELS Chapter Thirty-Five
Vali
Leaving Faerie was difficult to say the least. In Faerie I felt safe, at home even, but that could just be because of what had transpired there. At that thought I glanced at my right hand, at the black patterns that were an exact reflection to what was on Mircea’s left.
As we walked down the path towards a new, darker castle, I took that marked hand in mine for support.
“Are you okay?” Mircea asked as my eyes flicked around the black forest around us. If the Fae realm had been something that brought me comfort, that had been filled with nature and wonder and joy, Hel was the opposite. The Demon realm was a burnt dystopian land, and the portal that brought us here had been pitch black compared to the white of the Faerie portal.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Was all I was able to say, and he just smiled at me.
“Everything will work out for us, fate did not give us a measly few days. That would be cruel, and fate is anything but.” I shook my head at his words. While it was impossible to argue with him without sounding like a complete pessimist, the feeling of dread didn’t ease either.
“It seems awfully quiet…” Marcy said from behind us, so I turned over my shoulder to look at her.
“What else do you expect from the Demon realm?” Antanasia responded, as if she couldn’t understand where Marcy was coming from. Maybe that was what was contributing to my unease, the complete and unnatural stillness and silence here. There wasn’t so much as a breeze to make it feel real here, let alone sounds of nature.
“I expected some movement.” Jackson said in reply. Well, that settles it. If Jackson thought something was off then that was enough for me.
“Then let’s leave, we don’t need Lilith. It’s not worth it.” I said, looking up at Mircea as his eyes turned red. It was hard to tell why his eyes changed until I realised he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at something behind me. Slowly I turned to look at what he was staring at, which was when I saw the dozens of yellow eyes between the dead trees. How had I not sensed them? How did I not smell them? Right, lack of air movement would probably do that.
“The portal is too far away to evacuate everyone quickly and safely.” Anne said, and I felt Mircea’s hand tense in mine. What she said meant something important. It meant something bad.
“Okay…” Mircea trailed off, his voice far too quiet as the eyes in the trees slowly moved forwards. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of opalised wood, before he whispered words over it and slipped the leather connected to it over my head.
“What is going on?” I asked, my eyes never leaving his. He smiled as I felt a cold breeze behind us, Anne using her power, and heard the growls of two wolves, as well as the unfamiliar growling of something other.
“You need to run.” He told me, his hands moving to hold my shoulders as I heard the fight ensuing behind me. “You need to get to the portal before it closes.”
“Why aren’t you saying ‘we’?” I asked, he licked his lip and shook his head. “Mircea, what have you done?”
“Anne will get you to safety.” He said, his eyes flicked over me and back. “She can explain everything once you’re safe.”
“No, tell me now, why the fuck have you given me your scent inhibitor?”
“Because I need you safe. Once you’ve run far enough that you can’t be tracked, Anne will turn the inhibitor off so it won’t track you anymore. Then you need to go somewhere completely safe, where no one will be able to find you.” He told me, and I shook my head.
“Mir-”
“I’ll be fine.”
“They’ll kill you.” I corrected him, and he shook his head before he let go of my shoulders and instead forced a wave of power towards the demons that were attacking our friends.
“When does a mark between mates disappear?” He asked me, his eyes flashing towards me.
“When one of them dies.” I answered, turning towards the mess of demons myself before raising my hands and sending out a wave of my own power. Sending out a wave of my rage and confusion which knocked all the demons either off their feet or cut straight through them. They just looked like shadows with glowing eyes in their home realm, they only took on physical bodies in the mortal realm. Either that or they took over a body that belongs to someone else.
“As long as you have our mark, I’ll be on the other side fighting to get back to you. Will you do the same?” He asked, my body froze.
“Mir-”
“Will you do the same?”
“Yes.” I whispered, unsure of what else I was meant to do. How could I argue this? How could I convince him this was a bad idea when he seemed to set on it?
“We need information from inside of Bran castle, I can get it. You need to get somewhere no one will find you so you can learn to control our power, do you know where you can go?” I furrowed my brow and nodded my head slowly. In what was likely an attempt to calm me, he kissed my forehead, but it made the wolf in me angry. It made me angry.
“You… how could you…” I trailed off, taking a step away from him.
“Vali-”
“I don’t need your fucking protection, but if you have a death wish then go ahead. Go back to your father and see what happens.” I snapped, and I saw him grimace. “Marcy and Jackson are no doubt going with you, and I know we’ve accepted the Bond, but I swear to Selene, if they die because of this idiotic plan I’ll kill you without my eyes changing colour. Understood?” I asked, to which he nodded.
I didn’t let him speak another word as I walked down the path we had come, throwing back any demons who got too close with the telekinesis my mate and I shared. The ones I missed were frozen by Antanasia as she followed me. It was only when we were at what she had deemed a safe distance that I stomached looking at her.
“This was your fucking idea, wasn’t it?” I hissed, handing her Mircea’s scent inhibitor that she whispered words over to turn off.
“Yes.” Well, if nothing else she was honest. I stood barely an inch away from her, looking down into her eyes as my chest felt like it could explode.
“If any of them get hurt…” The words came out in a growl, and the way her scent turned bitter told me she was afraid of me; as she should be.
“Where are we going? Do you have somewhere in mind?” She asked, concealing her fear with ice-cold indifference in her tone. If only it covered her cowardly scent.
“Yes, we’re going to visit my parents.”