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“Watch my wings!” I shriek when his arm moves across my back. He kisses my cheek when I gasp to find them gone. “Thank the fates,” I groan, leaning my head on his shoulder as he steps through the portal to the last ward.
“I'll do the last one,” he says, setting me down on the ground. The forest is eerie out here after the attack. It has me wanting to return to the castle and the safety of our room, our little bubble away from the chaos.
With each passing minute, I can feel my magic receding, burning out, and me along with it. It is like I had a power surge, then my body expressed it, unable to hold onto it. Yet Darius' power is still strong. Even Tobias' is surging strongly through the bond, which makes me wonder, how? It makes me feel weak and useless as mine dissipates further.
Sensing my question, Darius' eyes soften as he glances at me over his shoulder. “You need to build up stamina. That was a lot of power. Your body will rid you of it to protect you. Tobias and I are used to magic, have learned to control it and preserve it,” he tells me as I chew my lip. It sounds like a reasonable explanation, but still, I hate the loss and the empty feeling settling inside me. I still have magic, but nothing like I had at that moment after Kalen’s death.
“You'll get your power back, Aleera. Until then, you have us.” Darius reminds me, and I look up at him.
“I still have power,” I tell him. He chuckles as if he knows something I don't, making me glare at him as he opens a portal. Darius doesn't elaborate either as he grabs me, stepping through the portal back to our mates who are still finding phoenixes. He places me down next to Kalen.
“Is the place secure?” Tobias asks. Darius nods to him just as one of the recruits comes out with a few baskets to set the chicks in. The recruit places two beside us before going to help the other men clean up.
“I just don't get how they got past the wards,” I mumble before yawning. Lycus makes a strangled noise while scooping up another chick from the ashes. I stare around at the devastation left behind from the attack and lean heavily against Kalen, watching as everyone finishes up what they are doing.
“It's not your fault. I don't think your father would be stupid enough, and I think it has something to do with the Phoenixes.” Darius reassures Lycus as he places another chick in the basket beside me. They jump and chirp inside it, trying to get out. I pet a couple of the squirming balls made of skin and beaks.
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused.
“Fae are useless without magic or their mates. We can't power share,” Darius states.
“Or so most think,” Tobias says, winking at Darius, who smirks. “Phoenixes can power share with any creature if paired. Therefore, if killed, they can be drained or absorbed. We had an entire flock here. That kind of power would have been sensed here,” Tobias tells me.
“The power hunters probably thought they stumbled across something, not expecting to find us here,” Tobias says with a sigh, looking guiltily at Lycus.
“My father probably sensed them when I came back, I recognized the man from the pits, he was talking to my father.” Lycus states glaring at the ground.
“I still don’t believe your father would be stupid enough, he knows you’re his cash cow, he wouldn’t risk killing you,” Tobias tells him.
So, it's my fault, I think bitterly. Phoenixes hate Dark-Fae and are drawn to White Fae and Harmony-Fae. I am the reason they were here and the reason for so much death.
“It was definitely the Phoenixes?” I ask.
“Yep, they would have lit this place up like a beacon,” Darius mutters.
“And once they sensed Darius' power, he became the prime target until you manifested, whatever it was you did,” Kalen says, pressing his chin against my shoulder. Darius, Lycus and Tobias watch me curiously. But if they want answers, they are looking at the wrong person because I don’t even know what I did or how to explain it.
“So, do you think they will come back?” I ask, unable to handle their stares. Darius’ men drop the last few chicks in the basket. There were too many to count. They stared at me hungrily with their big eyes and oversized beaks. Ryze bounces across the grass towards us, plopping a chick he had in his beak into the basket.
“Good boy,” I tell him, scratching his head feathers while yawning.
“Now they know we are here. It might be a deterrent, but it depends on how desperate they are for magic,” Tobias says, looking around at the forest surrounding the castle grounds.
I blink, trying to keep my eyes open, when I feel a strange coldness settle through me. I groan, knowing what is coming. I’ve burned out. I hear Darius chuckle, making my eyes flick to him. A devious smirk lights up his face.
“She lasted longer than I thought,” I vaguely hear Tobias laugh.
“Rest, Aleera. You're gonna need it for when you wake,” Kalen whispers next to my ear, his breath on my neck makes me shiver as I feel his arms tighten around me.
Then, everything goes black. I am too tired to try to fight it, so instead I succumb, trusting that my mates will keep watch over me while I am absorbed by the darkness.
ChapterThirty-Seven
Darius Wraith
Kalen tucks Aleera closer as goosebumps begin to prick her skin. She has finally succumbed to exhaustion. “We should get her inside. I think a storm is coming. The air is still charged,” Lycus says, and I could feel his guilt. He believes the attack was his fault. I watch as he sniffs the air, looking at the dark clouds rolling across the sky. The heavy clouds,moving quickly and the sky darkens just as fast, and the silence in the forest I observed earlier while setting up wards told me the storm would be a big one.
“What are we going to do with all these chicks?” Tobias asks, grabbing one basket as I retrieve the other. “Are you right with her?" I ask Kalen, as my eyes fall on Aleera, watching him stand with her limp body in his arms.
