5
In a way, I felt for Lothair. It couldn’t be easy being forced into the shadows when dragons worshipped the sun. But there had to be a better way than imposing the power of dragons onto unsuspecting humans. Mass death wasn’t the answer.
“How many unicorn shifters are under the protection of the Mythguard?” I asked.
“We have about three hundred in our system, but there has to be at least two thousand in existence. They’re the rarest type of shifter, with ineffectual Alpha lines that rarely extend more than two or three generations.”
“That’s because of their placid nature. There is a sense of violence intrinsic to the act of transforming a human into a shifter,” I mused out loud. “And because they’re so rare, they don’t often breed.”
“Interestingly, we’ve found that lately, the bottlenecking on Alpha lines is caused by the hybridization of unicorn shifters. They will breed with other shifter races in order to protect their offspring—a unicorn hybrid without a horn is useless when it comes to the Lycan ritual.”
The horn was an integral part of the Lycan ritual, a well of magic that shifter Gods fed off of. The Gods granted shifters magic, but it had come from their own reservoirs. The ritual was an offering, a form of thanks, a return of magic from where it came. The Sun God in particular had always been receptive of these offerings, as the sun itself was ever hungry for more fuel to burn, to consume.
“Is there any way a shifter can be blocked from performing an effective ritual?”
Sebastian caught my eye. “Not that we know of. If we could prevent Lothair and David from performing the ritual, we would. But as it is, we have no way of preventing it except for restricting their access to a unicorn horn. And with Muriel Vale being held in Grandbay, at such a close proximity to them… it’s only a matter of time before they get their hands on her.”
A long sigh streamed from my nose as I considered this. Gavin was insistent on protecting Muriel, but he was only inviting the inevitable. There was no way I could convince him to hand Muriel over to the Mythguard, especially since the Mythguard were the reason Muriel had been targeted in the first place. They had failed to protect her from Lothair accessing her files when he abandoned the Mythguard and went rogue.
“Have you considered the next course of action regarding Grandbay?” asked Sebastian.
“I’m working on it. Right now, we can’t directly confront Grandbay without further damaging the alliance between Grandbay and Eastpeak. I’m going to try indirect preventative measures with Dalesbloom.”
“You’ve gotten into contact with David?”
“No, but whether he likes it or not… I’m going to find out what he’s up to.”
Sebastian nodded. “We have to preserve as many lives as possible. Even if Grandbay thinks it’s them versus us.”
I nodded, too.
Their pride would be the death of them, and if they succumbed to Dalesbloom’s violence, then Eastpeak would surely follow. I wasn’t about to let that happen.
Chapter 3: Aislin
W
ith yesterday’s spar a bust, there was no way I could get around training today. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have wanted to. Physical combat was my area of expertise. Gavin and I used to fight all the time as children, and despite his size advantage against me, my agility kept him on his toes and won me half of our spars. The thrill of the fight was addicting, the physical challenge—measuring my skill against someone else—fulfilled an innate primal urge that appealed to my wolf. Deep inside, it had to be some underlying compulsion to prove myself worthy, but I’d never had a reason to doubt myself until now.
I woke up that morning whistling from my lungs. My condition had deteriorated even worse from the spar with Niko, which was so embarrassing it caused me to avoid everyone afterward. An hour was spent bent over my bathroom sink, coughing, and spitting up red until finally I could breathe. Dark circles under my eyes and a paleness in my skin betrayed how poor I was feeling. But I straightened up and smiled radiantly at myself, manifesting the fiery demeanor I was so known for. Nobody would be any wiser. And I was confident of this… until I left my apartment building and found myself winded just from walking. Maybe I can’t go on like this, I thought miserably, leaning against the building and evading the curious glances of people walking by. The only person who would be able to help me was Muriel.
Okay, I decided to myself. I’ll talk to her.
She was at my parents’ house as far as I knew. I called my dad, but the line rang five times before going to voicemail and I didn’t want to spark curiosity by leaving a message about the unicorn. I called my mom, but she didn’t answer either. There wasn’t even an answer on the landline. That meant nobody was home, and I had no idea where Muriel was.
Gavin was my next option, answering quickly. “What’s up, Ais?”
Phlegm caught in my throat before I could speak. Annoyed and embarrassed, I pulled the phone away to breathe. “Sorry.” Maybe he wouldn’t think anything of it. “Where’s Muriel? Nobody’s answering the phone at my parents’ place.”
“They brought her to the cabin while they’re doing a border check,” said Gavin.
“Okay. Thanks.”
There was a moment’s hesitation in Gavin. Fearing he would ask about my coughing fits, I hung up before he spoke again.
I’d take a quick trip to the cabin and get this over with. Hopefully Muriel would be recovered enough and she wouldn’t feel inclined to share my injury with anyone else.
Clouds had rolled overhead by the time I pulled up to the cabin. The smell of rain hung heavily in the air, emphasizing the personal scents of my packmates woven into the dirt and between trees; most nauseatingly, it was Niko who dominated the yard, and I quickly found out why. He appeared from around the corner of the cabin, carrying a ladder for some task he had intended to do on the roof, only to sneer when he saw me getting out of my car.
I swung the door shut. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Got the morning off,” said Niko. “Surprised to see you back here after running off with your tail between your legs.”
Anger crackled within me. “You just hit me in a weird spot. That’s all.”
“What got stuck up your clam, you on your period or something? Can’t take a little shove?”
Did he have to be such an asshole? I breathed in sharply to fire something back, only for the pain to spike through my lungs. He laughed, unaware while I struggled to speak.
“What’re you here for?” Niko prodded.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” I rasped.
Niko set the ladder beside the wall, nonchalantly gazing up at the gutters. “Sure, ginger.”
If there was one thing I hated, it was being brushed off and disregarded like I was nothing. I couldn’t stand for him to see me as weak. I wouldn’t let someone like Niko Silva think he was stronger than me, better than me. “Come at me then,” I challenged. “I’ve smashed you before, Niko, and I’ll do it again.”