Page 68 of Blood Currents
“I’ll be fine,” she replied, pulling away with unusual sharpness.“Worry about yourselves.”
I watched them go, unease settling in my stomach.Something about Raven’s eagerness, the shadows that seemed to move with her just a fraction too slowly, Boris’s erratic tapping—alll felt wrong.But there wasn’t time to worry about that now.
An hour later, we moved through the academy grounds like shadows.Keane’s portals skipped us past patrol routes, and Elio’s illusions masked our presence from the few guards we couldn’t avoid.
But as we approached the hidden entrance to the underground levels, the wrongness hit me.The magical atmosphere around the concealed doorway writhed with new layers of protective enchantments—detection spells, alarm wards, and something else that made my necromantic senses recoil.
“He’s added even more magic protections,” I whispered.“Tied to pain and suffering.”
Keane’s expression went grim.“Blood magic.”
We all turned to him.
“I hadn’t had time to tell you, but that’s what he’s been injecting me with—vampire blood,” Keane said.“That’s what’s corrupting the magical channels.”
I didn’t even have time to process that.The vampires and the council were even more in bed together than we’d thought.“He’s using what he learned from torturing you to strengthen his defenses.”
Keane nodded.
“Can you get through them?”Cyrus asked Elio.
“Not without triggering something,” Elio replied, his illusions flickering as they tested the edges of the new wards.“These aren’t just concealment spells anymore.They’re designed to alert him the moment anyone tries to breach them.”
“Then we go in loud and fast,” I decided.“No stealth, no subtlety.We hit hard, get Parker, and get out before he can mount a proper response.”
“That’s not a plan,” Elio protested.“That’s barely controlled chaos.”
“Sometimes chaos is what you need,” Cyrus said, his flames beginning to burn hotter.“Especially when you’re fighting someone who thinks he has all the advantages.”
Keane’s portal magic swirled around him.“I can get us directly into the lab chamber, bypassing the defensive perimeter entirely.But once we’re inside…”
“We face whatever’s waiting for us,” I finished.“Together.”
“Everyone ready?”I whispered as we gathered around Keane.
Three nods.Three determined faces.Three people willing to risk everything for what was right.
“Then let’s go save Parker,” I said.“And let’s make sure Alstone pays for what he’s done.”
Keane’s portal opened directly into darkness, and together, we stepped through into the heart of enemy territory.
31
Marigold
Silver light flared as wematerialized in the chamber of horrors I’d hoped never to see again.But this time, it was fully operational—magical equipment humming with energy, instruments arranged with clinical precision, and the air thick with the smell of fear and corruption.
And there, strapped to the same examination table where Keane had suffered, was Parker.
She looked terrible.Her usually pristine uniform was torn and stained, her face pale and drawn from whatever they’d been doing to her.But her eyes—when they snapped open at our sudden arrival—still burned with defiant intelligence.
“What the—” one of the guards started, spinning toward us.
But we were already moving.
Cyrus didn’t hesitate.Blue-white flames roared to life around him, not trying for stealth but going straight for overwhelming force.The first guard went down before he could even draw his weapon, Cyrus’s fire wrapping around him in bonds that would hold but not kill.
“Intruders!”another guard shouted, lunging for an alarm crystal mounted on the wall.
