Page 28 of Pack Rage
“Fuck. Blood magic. It’s just like he said.” He rushed into the room and placed his hands on the sides of Brand’s face, staring into his bleary, silver eyes. We both peered down at his arm, where the blood that kept welling in the cuts vanished before it trickled down his arm, evaporating almost. “Brand, I think my mother is siphoning energy from you somehow.”
Brand mumbled an affirmative sound.
I cursed softly. “What can we do?”
“We?” Finnick cursed softly. “Nothing, most likely. But Grigor would know exactly what to do.”
“Is he alive?” The thread he’d added to mine to save my life still felt… off, somehow. Like he was keeping it closed off.
When I mentioned it, Finnick almost smiled. “Yeah. He’s protective of us, it turns out. He’s trying not to drain us all.” There was an odd note in his voice, something like wonder. He respected the wizard.
I focused on what he’d said. “Drain us. That’s what your mother’s doing to Brand, with his blood somehow, isn’t it?”
“Grigor told me about this. He can do the same thing. He told me…” His eyes slid to mine. “He told me I should be able to do magic someday. That my mother must have been draining me from the time I was a baby, to keep me from having power. Me and Tana, too.”
“Grigor gave you power?”
“A little. As much as he could, for now.” There was something else he wasn’t saying, something significant. Just then, his phone went off.“Yes, Mother?” Finnick snapped out the words, his whole demeanor growing icy in an instant. “Yes, he’s secure. I came up to see what was going on with the electricity. The cameras… None of them are working? Ah, I see.” He muttered a few more things, then hung up, agitated.“She’s leaving the Mansion, going into the city. Supposedly, Tana’s been spotted.” I laid my hand on his back, and he let out a shuddering breath, then focused on Brand again, whispering to himself, “She’ll be fine. Shehasto be. If they couldn’t get her away, no one could.”
I didn’t ask who he meant. “Do you have any ideas for how to help Brand? After your mother leaves, can we get Grigor to help us? Or go to him?”
“No. I had to leave him down there, in the damned body bag. The cameras are out, so Mother’s assigned triple guards for the entire lower levels.”
“He’s trapped?”
Finnick shrugged. “For now, maybe. He’s gathering strength; you must have noticed. I’m supposed to come up with a plan. But I need Brand for any plan that might work.”
Brand let out a low, pained groan. Finnick grabbed a towel and folded it, placing it like a cushion under his head.
“We have to stop the drain she’s put on him.”
“Slow it,” he suggested. “If it stops, she’ll know something’s happened. If it slows, maybe she’ll think he’s just weakened.”
“How—” I began, then thought. “Grigor bound us together, me and Glen and himself. He gave us access to his power, or some of it. Then Brand funneled power to Flor in the fight, and to Glen. It’s what saved us all. We need someone who can do magic.”
For some reason, Finnick dropped his gaze. “Maybe Brand can do something. He could have some kind of magic. His eyes…”
“Not magic. Moonblessed,” Brand managed to grumble.
I bit back a curse. Brand would need to get over his aversion to magic. He was going to be co-mates with Finnick and Grigor, for fuck’s sake. I sighed, trying for patience. “With the moon’s blessing, then. Can you interrupt Elina’s access to your power, or slow it down?”
“She did something. I can’t—she’s pulling as fast as I can draw from my pack.” Each word was drawn forth slowly, painfully. “Don’t want… Flor to be affected.”
The thought of Finnick’s mother growing as strong as Brand had been, of her somehow tainting Flor in the process, filled me with dread. I’d sworn to protect her, and I would. I just needed to see the way through this mess.
Closing my eyes, I focused on the bonds inside me. The triple-braided one that I could almost feel. The bright, bold connection to Flor that hummed with purpose. I could evensense the places where she was connected to the others, through the mating bites they shared.
Mating bites were blessings from the moon. I remembered the sharp taste of her blood, the salty-sweet flavor of her racing along my tongue as her soul and mine slid closer together. My wolf raced in my mind, as if guiding my human mind on a hunt for the answer.
Our blood had been mingled. Mingled for years. From the moment I threw my body over hers when she was a toddler, and I was the only one in my pack who wasn’t frozen, watching our Head Enforcer try to beat her to death.
Blood, mingled blood. Maybe Elina had cut Brand, and left some of her own… I leaned down and sniffed at the cut again. It smelled of magic.
“Blood is the answer,” I said, suddenly understanding. Magic. Moonblessed. They weren’t the same thing, but… maybe close enough? My wolf howled his assent. “Brand. Can I try something?”Brand didn’t speak, though Finnick’s focus sharpened on me. “I’m not certain this will work, but…” I explained what I suspected, told them both what I’d smelled.
Finnick leaned close and sniffed as well, his eyes going wide in shock.
“I think, if I connect with you, it will help.” I swallowed, hard. “If I, uh, bite you.”
