Page 1 of Risen
Chapter 1
Ruya
Wemovedinaragged procession through a winding path of old Detroit’s abandoned buildings, back alleys, and, mostly deserted streets.Sadavir carried Josh’s limp body in his arms, the vampire spelled unconscious to prevent Acacia from being able to use any of his senses to figure out where we were going.
Sadavir insisted that his royal blood allowed him to sense where his people were, through some ancient ancestral magic—he said he had feared they’d be somewhere unreachable, maybe across the ocean in another country, but was surprised when he performed the ritual to connect to the magic and realized they were close by.But I was rapidly learning that “close” was a relative term when it came to magic.Especially since we on foot, and we weren’t traveling in a straight line directly to wherever we were going.
Robin and Martina steered us around, zig-zagging us through old Detroit in an attempt to stay somewhat hidden and lose anyone who might try to follow.I think we were all still reeling from everything that had just happened.The Fox, our sanctuary, had been attacked, and from what I was able to gather, reduced to rubble.The cult was apparently still holding a grudge.And Robin’s network of safehouses and fallback plans had been compromised.
Somehow, I had grown to think of The Fox as impenetrable.It was a powerful alpha dragon’s nest, after all, and guarded by a group of impressive paranorms.I had feltsafe, only for that safety to be snatched out from under me.Now I stumbled along, following Sadavir toward some unknown destination, feeling more than a little lost.And I knew I wasn’t the only one.
The magic casters among us were on high alert, magic pulsing through their auras in palpable waves as we moved, ready to defend at a moment’s notice.An air of desperation and tired fury hung around us and it pressed down on me like a physical weight.
But even now, as his sorcerer’s aura flared bright with the defensive magic he held at the ready, Sanka managed to spare some of his attention for me, no doubt trying to ease my fears and worries about the future.He murmured bits of history and observation as we went, painting a picture of the city for me, since I couldn’t see it and hadn’t been free of the cult’s pocket world long enough to learn everything about the world around me.
Old Detroit, the area where The Fox was located and the heart of the original city, was filled with beautiful architecture and historic buildings that he described with a level of detail that told me how much Sanak truly loved the place and saw it’s potential.
The humans had mostly abandoned the area after the early 1900’s, when the paranormal world was revealed and the humans and paranorms established their governmental divides.The older parts of the city were claimed by the paranorms, who by and large tended to prefer and appreciate things with history—Sanka said so proudly, telling me he was one of those paranorms.The humans, he said, were more enamored with development, with building new modern things, rather than tending to what was already there.They had largely moved out of the older parts of the City into newly developed areas.
Then the syndicate came along, a system that not only further shifted the divide between paranorms and humans, but created a divide amongst paranormals themselves—those loyal and valuable to the syndicate, and those who were not.Now, most of the nicer, maintained and restored historic buildings were owned by syndicate members.The rest of the area was left to the unaligned, unwanted paranorms.Buildings outside the areas claimed by the main syndicate factions were left to rot, since the unaligned were locked out of the resources they’d need to maintain or rebuild the buildings.
It filled me with a sense of sadness to know the crumbling, abandoned buildings and near wasteland right around The Fox had once been filled with vibrance and splendor, owned by paranormal clans and families who were a true community.That there had been a time when the weak or vulnerable didn’t cower at the feet of the strong.What had that been like?What could have been, if the syndicate never came to power?What could be again, if someone dismantled the broken system and built something better in its place…
Robin put a hand on my lower back, gently urging me to the left.“Fallen bricks,” she murmured before swiftly moving away.The shift in and out of her warm alpha aura bolstered my flagging mood.She loved the city as much as Sanka did.Maybe more.If she’d just see herself in a different light—as less of a martyr—maybe she could be that “someone,” the city and its citizens needed, find something else to live for once her revenge was complete.
Eventually, we reached the outskirts of town.Cicely and Sadavir stayed with me, sheltering just inside an old factory building, while Robin and the others went to retrieve the car they kept hidden here for emergencies.I knew Robin had been planning and gathering resources for decades.But it was still surprising when I was reminded just how careful and thorough she was.
It also surprised me that she hadn’t made her move against the emperor long before now.But then again, it was hard to kill someone you couldn’t physically locate.The sound of tires crunching against the dirty cement reached my ears as Cicely’s mind speak described a large SUV—the car Robin apparently kept stashed here on the outskirts of the city, hidden in an abandoned building, under wards and spells, fully gassed up, full of weapons and supplies, and ready to drive off at a moment’s notice.
On any other day, I’d say she was paranoid.But, here we were, desperately needing the aforementioned car and extremely glad she’d had the foresight to stash it here.
We all loaded in, the animals who had come to live with us at The Fox piling in my lap and around my feet like a warm, furry blanket of comfort.Sadavir’s strong alpha aura enveloped me as he settled in beside me on the big bench seat, shifting around to get a more comfortable hold on Josh.I knew he wouldn’t put his beta down until he was awake.He wouldn’t let Josh out of his arms until he was himself again.
Rage bubbled up inside me again as I brushed my hand over Josh’s leg, double-checking.He was fine.Perfectly healthy and well.Just stifled under Sanka’s spell—technically a curse, according to the sorcerer.Sanka assured me that Josh wasn’t feeling any distress, but I wasn’t sure I believed it.He might not be able to speak, or move, or see.He was unable to scent the area or gather any information that could be used to recreate our trail.But who knew what Acacia was doing inside his mind through the maker’s bond?
I felt around until I found the curse breaker’s charm necklace resting against Josh’s chest.Hopefully the combination of the amulet, Sanka’s spells, and the distance we were now putting between him and Acacia would make it harder for her to toy with the poor man while he was immobilized, all his senses stolen from him by the curse.
We drove for hours, taking backroads and stopping occasionally to let Sadavir recalibrate the connection with the earth that allowed him to guide us.But eventually… we ran out of road.The car rolled to a stop, and I heard Sanka restlessly drumming his hands on the steering wheel for a moment before he spoke.“Are you sure this locator sense of yours is working Vir,” he said with a strange tone in his voice.
Sadavir grunted from beside me, and I felt him shift Josh enough to sign something.Cicely’s voice spoke in my mind.Water.There’s nowhere left to go in this direction.But Sadavir says he’s certain the naga are this way.
“You’ve been leading us on a wild goose chase, snake,” Yukio muttered from the row of seats behind us.“Wasting time on this pointless fool’s errand when we could have been trying to find a safe place to regroup.”
I wasn’t sure whether anyone bothered to translate that for Sadavir.
Doors opened as everyone wordlessly started exiting the vehicle.I followed, glad for the chance to get out and stretch my legs, not to mention the animals could use a potty break.But dread coiled in my gut alongside my relief as I climbed out of the car.The fact that Robin had allowed Sadavir to lead us was a very clear reminder that she didn’t have any good alternatives.If the cult had found one of her safehouses, then there was no guarantee they hadn’t found all of her hidden assets and backup plans.It was a miracle the car had still been where she hid it.
If Sadavir’s plan failed, where would we go?I shuddered at the thought of the cult catching up, overwhelming us with their demon-enhanced magic and taking me away to be locked up in the tower again.
I couldn’t go back there, where I’d be forced to heal everyone they brought to me, to further the cult’s reach, no matter how vile the aura of the supplicant.Where my hair would be shaved and my nails cut, parts of me sold on the black market for spell components.Where I’d be kept in a single room, completely isolated, smacked around for talking back and tortured with magic overload if I refused to comply with The Mother’s orders.I couldn’t do it.I’d die before I ever let them imprison and use me again.
Robin’s fiery aura brushed mine as she walked past, and I wanted to lean into it, take comfort in the strength of the alpha who had offered me shelter and protection, and give her comfort in return.Shewasmy alpha, though she refused to claim the title.However, I also still wanted to strangle her at the moment.
So, instead of giving into my instincts where the dragon princess was concerned, I drew strength from Sadavir, myactualtrue mate, and used it to ground and bolster whatever innate omega calm I might be unconsciously projecting.The court could really use whatever comfort my gifts could provide right now.
As I stood by the car and drew in a few welcome breaths of open air, Sanka started asking Sadavir all kinds of questions about how his location magic worked, picking the ability apart as if he could fix it, like a mechanic working on a faulty engine.I took a few steps away from them and drew in another deep breath of lake air.Grounding.Calming.Pushing down all the worries and fear that wanted to overwhelm me.
I couldn’t really follow all the technical stuff Sanka was saying about spellcasting.I might be part witch, but most of my magic was passive.I didn’t know much about purposeful casting and large area of effect spells...Though I promised myself one day I’d learn.If things ever calmed down.If there was evertimefor anyone to teach me.
