Chapter 22

Anna

Austin called a halt to the majority of our hurricane preparations so the pack was in high spirits. Caleb kept monitoring the progress of the storm and each time he called out stats to show it lessening even further in intensity I relaxed a little more. Even if the storm made it here, the most we would have to worry about was a little flooding. Virginia had already called a state of emergency and evacuated a large portion of the coastal areas that were prone to flooding, so most of the guys were off work tomorrow. Apparently, that called for a celebration.

I didn’t mind having most of our pack members in the house and on the grounds. I liked the feeling of comfort and belonging it gave me. A part of me wondered if it had something to do with the magic that wolves had at their core. Someone like Austin could exude power, but every wolf had at least the minimum amount that would allow them to shift. Did our pack bond allow us to share magic as well as our thoughts? What would happen if I tried to share my magic with the pack after I absorbed a large amount? Could I also draw magic from the pack if I needed it?

Sam nudged me as we sat side by side on the loveseat. “Can I borrow your charger? My phone is at six percent.”

I made a face. “Yeah, but it’s upstairs next to my bed.”

“I’ll go with you,” she offered. I looked at her face a little closer and saw strain around her eyes. Maybe she needed a break from all the testosterone we were surrounded by. A loud cheer went up in the kitchen as a bunch of guys did another round of shots. Yeah, it might be time to take a walk. A couple minutes of quiet would be good for both of us.

My mouth cracked open in a yawn as we walked up the stairs together. “That’s contagious,” Sam complained before shooting me a grin. “Trevor and the other guys are on their way back here, so it’s cool if we stay the night, right?”

“Yeah, of course.” It was already pretty late and James was adamant about not letting anyone drive drunk. He claimed it was because he didn’t want any police attention on anyone in the pack, but I knew that deep down he just didn’t want to see anyone get hurt. That wouldn’t stop him from being a complete asshole about taking keys and making threats though. 

Another yawn hit me as I opened the door to my room and flicked on the light. I let out a rare curse when I saw Gemma rifling through my nightstand. I scowled at her. This was taking things too far.

Sam stopped dead in front of me. “What the fuck is that?” she asked in alarm.

I stared in confusion for a second, looking beyond Gemma for what Sam had seen. I took a step forward and Sam held out her arm to stop me. My eyes shifted back to Gemma when I felt the phantom trickle of magic again. This time I really looked at Gemma with all of my senses.

I felt nauseous when I realized what Sam must have picked up on. Something was wrong with her. I had always assumed that Gemma didn’t give off a magical signature like the rest of us because she was too human to have anything of significance. But when I truly examined her I felt the slight disturbance that indicated she was using inverted magic to hide something.

Anger rose inside me. I don’t know if I was angrier at her for hiding something, or at myself for missing it for this long. Gemma hissed when I pushed past Sam and let my magic rise inside of me. I let my anger flow through me and faced off with her. Gemma had dropped her innocent façade and was staring at me with hate in her eyes.

“Hey, Anna-” Jason’s voice interrupted our stare-down, and Gemma’s attention flicked to where he and Mason were coming through the doorway.

Tendrils of magic floated from Gemma and toward my twins. I grabbed a hold of them with my own magic and tugged on the slimy strands. Gemma’s jaw dropped and she tried to pull back, but it was too late. She had given me an opening and I was going to take it. I didn’t stop with the magic that she extended, I kept going. I pulled on the magic that was flowing out of her and also reached for the magic that she was using to cloak what she really was. I felt her fighting me, but after battling the Winter King, she was no match for me. Magic unraveled around her and revealed her true self. She was slightly shorter than the glamour that she had been wearing and her slight frame was emaciated to the point that it looked painful. Her skin had a greyish tinge, making her look sickly.

I could feel shock reverberating from the twins. I stopped drawing magic from Gemma once she had stopped fighting me and wrapped her in a protective barrier. She limply laid her hand on the barrier as if testing the limits but didn’t try to break out. I walked around the edges of her prison, and she tracked me with hateful eyes.

“Anna, what the fuck?” Jason asked in disbelief.

I turned to face him and opened my mouth to answer but my attention had been off Gemma for too long. She broke through my barrier and I whipped around. Gemma was faster than any normal human and had lunged at Sam before I could get another barrier around her. Sam used some kickass moves to take her down to the ground, but the moment that Gemma got a hand on Sam, I could feel her draining the magic from my friend.

Sam shifted into her panther form, tearing her clothes, and went right for Gemma’s throat. Mason and Jason shifted behind me and ran to attack Gemma as well. With three large shifters tearing at Gemma, I couldn’t get at her with my magic without harming one of the others. I tried to push through them to get to her, but they purposefully blocked me out. Gemma’s grayish skin must have been made of something tougher than leather, because the teeth and claws of a panther and two wolves weren’t having the expected effect. A human would have been torn to shreds within moments, but Gemma’s hide was barely damaged.

Jason had one of Gemma’s arms in his mouth and looked like he was attempting to tear it right off her, but I could feel Gemma latch onto him with her magic. I hissed in frustration as I desperately tried to get through them. But Gemma was draining the magic from all three of the shifters that were touching her. Jason’s body slowly sank to the ground, but he didn’t relax his grip on her arm.

“Let go!” I shouted at them. “I need a clear shot at her!” I knew they were trying to help, but what they were doing was just making her stronger and not giving me an opportunity to fight her.

Gemma laughed and got to her feet as all three of my friends laid limply on the floor. Jason gave a whimper and tried to pick up his head, but he didn’t have the strength to get up. Sam and Mason were completely still. I tried not to let terror get a grip on my heart. They had to be okay.

Gemma and I circled around each other, and I could see the glow of magic around her. Magic that she had stolen. Rage boiled beneath the surface of my skin. How dare she take advantage of our hospitality this way. She had been living here with us, pretending to be an ally, when all along she was an enemy. Magic flickered around my fingertips as I let go of all my self-control. There was no more reason for me to hold back from her.

Gemma easily blocked the stream of fire that I sent in her direction. Smoke started to rise as my bed caught on fire and the flames started growing. I took a deep breath and focused on Gemma, trying to block everything else out. Once I took her down, I could put out the fire and heal the others, but if I allowed myself to be distracted right now she could get the upper hand.

I tugged at the barrier she had erected around herself and a slight tingling of magic off to my left was the only thing that gave me a warning of her next attack. I took a step to the right and a blade made of air whistled past where I had just been standing. I narrowed my eyes and dug deep inside of myself for the power I needed to end this. It had only been a couple of hours since the battle with the hurricane and the Summer fae, so I was already exhausted. If I had been at full strength, there was no way this would have dragged on for this long.

Finally, I got a hold on the magic holding her barrier together and sucked it into myself. That gave me the boost of magic I needed to attack. Footsteps pounded in the hall as Austin, Cody, James, and several of our other pack members burst into my room. I mimicked the air knife that Gemma had sent my way, but instead of one blade, I sent knife after knife in her direction. She blocked them as quickly as I sent them, but I could feel her tiring. I pushed past my own exhaustion and kept going.

Luckily, James had picked up on our magic battle, and instead of getting in the way or trying to interfere, he shouted for the guys to put out the fire. I worked on trying to get Gemma to step away from our pack members who were collapsed at her feet and tried to drive her into the corner. Cody realized what I was doing and edged around the room to get into position so that he could pull Sam and the twins to safety once Gemma was far enough away.

I couldn’t see what Austin was doing behind me, but then I felt his touch. My body was flooded with the warm, earthy energy that I associated with him. Austin was sending his power into me, giving me the upper hand over Gemma. With his help, I did something I hadn’t thought was possible. I kept throwing the air knives at her, but another part of me tugged at her barrier. There was a light pop as I finally won the tug of war game with her barrier and absorbed it. Before she could make another to replace it, I grabbed ahold of the magic that made up her very essence, similarly to how I had drained the lesser fae in the Winter Court.

Gemma crouched down with hate burning in her eyes. I could feel her shaking with determination and doubled my efforts to drain her magic. The room was quickly filling with smoke, making my view of her hazy. The fire alarm in the hallway was shrieking, and I could hear the shouts of our pack mates throughout the house. Austin had let our pack know we were under attack and they were rallying for battle.

Gemma sprung forward in a desperate last attempt to attack men and I took half a step back, Austin bracing me from behind. I struggled to throw up a shield, but I wasn’t going to make it before she crashed into me. I could feel a sinking feeling in my gut when I caught the flash of steel in her hand. She had given up on trying to beat me with magic and was going to stab me right in the throat. I felt like everything was going in slow motion, this couldn’t be how it all ends.

Out of nowhere, Talen flashed in front of me. Gemma’s knife sank into his throat instead of mine. Blood sprayed everywhere, and Gemma’s eyes met mine with surprise that flashed to triumph when I let out a scream of pain and rage. I slashed an air blade through her throat at the same moment that James pierced her heart with a sword from behind. I gave one last yank and pulled all the magic out of her collapsing form.

Talen’s body had sank down at my feet and I wiped the blood from my face so that I could see him clearly. I clasped my hand over this neck wound, struggling to stem the gush of blood spraying out. Talen’s eyes were wide with fear and panic and he grasped my wrist.

“I can do this,” I said desperately, tears in my eyes. I struggled to keep my hand over the slippery spray of blood and closed my eyes to focus. I pictured the wound sealing shut in my mind and forced magic into his body, begging this to work.

I could feel his flesh knitting back together, but it was too slow. He was losing blood too fast and I couldn’t heal him quickly enough. “Anna…” I heard Talen’s voice in my mind. “I want you to remember me the way I was at the end…”

“Talen!” I screamed into his mind. “Do not give up, I need you to fight for this!” I poured everything I had into the wound, but I could feel his body failing. He didn’t have enough blood pumping through his body, and his heart was slowing. He was making a horrible gasping noise, but his presence was strong in my mind.

“This is the last gift I can give you…” Talen’s memories flooded my mind and flashed by in fast forward. His love for a raven-haired beauty that made him leave his world behind and give up everything that he had ever known. His sense of loss and betrayal when she left him. Despair and abandonment when he found himself lost and alone in a world full of fae that hated him. Distrust when Froston took him in. The hardening of his heart over the years as he was forced to live a life that he hated. Resentment and anger when he was banished to the human world with me. And then hope for a brighter future when he spent time with the pack. The realization that we were fighting for a better world. Determination when he dedicated himself to our cause.

I felt his desperation again and again as he tried to connect to the earth in our world. Frustration when he felt his life force fading, knowing that he was dying now that he finally had something to live for. His resolve, the moment that he realized he was going to die….

A bright flash of magic overwhelmed me. I was lost in a white sea of pure energy. Love, hope, and finally the fear of the unknown went through me. The pure magic absorbed into my body as the knowledge of who Talen truly was sank into my brain. My vision cleared and once again I was in the room filled with smoke, ash, and death.

Talen’s body was limp under my hands, his eyes open wide and staring blankly at the ceiling. He was gone. 

My shoulders shook with sobs before I threw my head back and screamed. I pounded on his chest angrily, but nothing changed. Talen was still dead. Gemma had won.

“Anna…” Austin said gently.

I collapsed on Talen’s chest, my heart breaking as I sobbed. This was all my fault. This was why Talen had given me so many lessons on how to sense inverted magic, how to remove glamours from fae. He had known what Gemma was and was trying to warn me. Anger burned through me. Why hadn’t he just said something?

Why was I so stupid? So slow? What couldn’t I protect my pack? Protect Talen? If I was better, strong, faster, smarter, none of this would have happened.

I raised my head and looked around the room. The guys had opened the windows and turned on the ceiling fan so the smoke would clear from the room. My bed was a charred mess, the walls stained with soot, an ugly black mark on the ceiling. Talen’s body laid in front of me, Gemma’s right in front of his. James was growling orders and Cody was helping Sam up as the twins struggled to their feet. No one would look me in the eye.

Austin was rubbing my back and I turned to meet his gaze. I saw only pity in his eyes. I shrank back from that and struggled to my feet. I still had enough magic left in me to heal Sam and the twins. I staggered over to Sam, and she gave me a weak smile. “The bitch is dead.”

I tried to return her smile, but the cost of our victory was too high. I could feel a part of Talen still inside me, and I didn’t understand it. His memories, his essence felt like they were now a part of me. I couldn’t hear his voice, but I finally understood more of what he had been trying to teach me. I reached out to Sam and sent a healing wave of energy to her. She stood up a little straighter and gave me a nod. “My guys are gonna be pissed when they hear about what they missed.”

I tried to laugh at the rhyme, but it came out sounding fake. Cody let go of Sam and watched her for a moment to make sure she could stand on her feet. She gave him a pat on the arm. “I gotta text Trevor.”

“They’re on their way,” Cody murmured as he turned his gaze to me. Cody looked worried as he took in the bloody mess in front of him.

“I’m fine,” I lied as I pushed past him to the twins.

Jason was staring at the floor, refusing to look at me. Tears threatened to overwhelm me again, and I swallowed the lump forming in the back of my throat. I touched Mason and he looked at me with sadness in his hazel eyes. “I’m sorry, Anna.” His eyes flicked to where Talen was still lying on the floor.

I tried to lock up all of my emotions as I gave him some of my energy. Mason perked up and grabbed my arm when I started to sway. I reached for Jason but he pulled away from me.  “I’m fine,” he mumbled.

Austin slid an arm around me. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

My legs started shaking as Austin guided me past the bodies and toward the hall. My breathing came faster now that some of the numbness had worn off and reality slammed into me. Not only was Talen gone, but I had killed someone. I had killed with my magic before, but it was an accident. This was on purpose. I had wanted Gemma dead and had callously slit her throat.

Could I have handled this differently? Could I have disabled her instead of murdering her? Maybe, maybe not. What scared me the most was the part of me that was glad she was dead. She would never be able to harm anyone ever again. I had felt anger and hate before, but I had always been able to rise above it. I had never given into the dark desire to kill before. There was no doubt about it. Sweet, innocent Anna was dead and gone. Forever.