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“This splitting-up shit is not how we do things,” Kane growled, but I cut him off.
“Levi’s right. We have to trust him,” I said, defeated. “But if you’re out there longer than ten, fifteen minutes, we’re coming after you.”
“Deal,” he said. “How long has she been gone?”
Avi glanced at the large clock on the mantle. “Three hours. She usually flies for a solid five though.”
“Okay,” he sighed. “It might be longer than that.”
“Hurry back,” I said fiercely, pulling him in and claiming his mouth. “Be safe.”
“Always,” Levi promised before slipping through the door. Alphas weren’t patient, so I prayed to whatever gods were listening that this ended well.
Levi
The moment Cadmus and I shifted, I called out to Zehra and Farren, but the connection was off, completely silent. She’d either shifted back or had gone too far.
‘Fly. Something’s wrong,’I told my dragon. He lifted off, soaring through the sky toward the bulk of the mountains. Our eyes scanned the skyline and the landscape, making the flight slow but purposeful. Each moment we had no response, saw no sign of her, my heart sank further.
‘She’s alive. I know it,’Cadmus reassured me, but it did little to soothe the true fear that had settled in my soul. Alive didn’t mean safe and unharmed. After scenting the Arch Mage, there were too many possibilities to keep from panicking.
‘There!’I yelled, shifting our focus to the ground. Just outside of a cave mouth was Farren. She was stumbling along, and I knew something was wrong. Cadmus immediately swooped down, but instead of landing, he scooped her up in his claws, carrying her through the sky and back to the cabin. He dropped her gently before landing and completing the faster shift we’d ever done.
As soon as I was human, I rushed to my mate. Once I was in front of her, I could see how blue she was, see that she wasn’t well. Her eyes were fluttering, but they wouldn’t stay open. I scooped her up, running back to the cabin at top speed. I only paused long enough to push the door open.
“Blankets!” I yelled as I gently settled her in front of the fire. “Something’s wrong!” I cried out, my tears now falling.
“What happened?” I couldn’t even identify who asked, but I answered on autopilot.
“We found her stumbling outside of a cave. Something’s wrong, but she’s too cold right now to figure out what,” I said.
“Her magic,” Avi said immediately. He rested a hand on her chest before a shocked, choking noise came from him. “It’s gone, barely there.”
“She smells likehim,” Kane growled, leaning close to sniff her clothes. Cadmus and I had missed that, but now that Kane had pointed it out, it was unmistakable.
“What has he done to her?” Niko asked, sounding truly broken for the first time since I’d met him.
“This is what he’s done all these years, isn’t it?” I asked, looking at the others. “All those deaths we didn’t agree with? Once they were killed, the Arch Mage always had their bodies whisked away. This was why, so no one could see that the magic had been manipulated—stolen.”
Dread filled the room, drowning out everything else. Farren was still unresponsive, but at least her color was coming back.
“We need to get her to a healer. I don’t know how she’s alive, but I refuse to let her die,” Kane thundered. Working together, we grabbed her coat and slipped it on her. When she was bundled up, he lifted her. I tucked blankets around her body, unsure why she couldn’t keep warm. We walked back to Mountainview in silence, aside from Avi calling West to get a healer on the way.
West met us at the door and immediately led us to the library. We shifted the couch in front of the fire and let her rest where she could stay warm. Even now, her skin felt icy, and her scent was still wrong. The moment the healer burst into the room, we moved away so he could work even though I knew it was killing all of us to be out of reach of our mate. We watched in silence as the healer’s eyes went stark white, and he hovered a hand over her.
“Her heart is damaged. That will take time for her to heal, but I have things that can help. Very strong magic is at play. Somehow, the eggs are unharmed. Her body is going to keep incubating them while she recovers,” he promised.
“Eggs?” I choked out. “She’s pregnant?”
“She is,” he confirmed, startled. “You didn’t know?”
“I don’t even know if she did,” Niko said, both elated and despondent at the same time. “Tell me she can recover. Tell me this isn’t permanent.”
“She will physically,” he said with a sigh. The way he spoke was gentle, like he was going to break awful news. “But her magic and life force were taken. The eggs had enough magic and life force that they’re sustaining her, but unless it’s returned, she’ll never be the same. Best case, she’ll be weak and magicless. Her cognition may take a hit."
“And worst case?” Kane asked. He was fighting off the same anger and guilt that I was feeling.
“Let’s not worry about that yet,” the healer sighed.
