I raised one eyebrow at my brother. ‘You totally burned down Dark Row.’ My voice was light, but he winced.
‘It was an accident … sort of.’
Four Midnight guards dressed in black leather armor stood at the edge of the blackened earth, and twenty yards south of them was a large bear shifter. It was crazy to see bears working alongside us to help the mages. It was… something I never thought possible but always wanted, for all shifters to work together again.
Guilt wiggled through me at the sight of the bear, leftover shame from Nanny Bess, and without saying a word, Justice and I detoured toward our men.
“King Courage,” said Richie, the eldest of the guards, and all four of them straightened.
I gave Richie a tight smile. “It doesn’t seem like they’re making much progress.” I waved to the expanse of ruin. “Or are they not going to rebuild it all?”
Richie shrugged, but his eyes darted a quick glance to the cluster of tents. “The word is the lower mages have lost half a dozen men in the last few days. Whatever is hunting them has been picking them off, one by one. I think they’re all staying south for that reason.”
More evidence against the vampires as they were allegedly banished to the northern cliffs.
“Right,” I muttered, then jerked my head toward the group of mages. “Let’s see if we can get some more info from them today.”
As luck would have it, the young brunette woman, who I’d originally met at the alpha castle, sat on a small wooden stool at the outskirt of the tents. She was grinding spices with a mortar and pestle, her head bowed over her work. She muttered indistinctly to herself, not even noticing our approach.
“Excuse me,” I said and was rewarded with a sharp gasp and a glare from the female mage.
“What do you want?” she snapped, pausing with the pestle in hand. “Come to gloat over our losses? Or are you going to pull your guards again?”
What was with these people? They hated me, the high mages, and pretty much everyone, it seemed.
“Why would you say that?” Justice shot back. “He sent guards—”
“Not enough!” she spat back. “Not until one of his own was killed, and even now, they all stay in their little groups, doing nothing to help.”
I raised my chin and glanced over my shoulder. “Richie!”
The four guards approached.
“Where are the other five sets of men?” I asked. As soon as he started to list the various locations, I shook my head and cut him off. “Pull them all into Dark Row. The goal is to help these people recoup, not to patrol all of Mageville.” I raised my eyebrows at the female mage. “Right?”
She winced. “If you pull them all in, then the townspeople will be left unprotected.”
I shook my head. “There are thousands of mages here. If you don’t have your own force, I suggest you create one. This isn’t my problem.”
“We’re not allowed to, bonehead.” She glared at me. “That’s why we came to you in the first place. The high mages don’t allow the mages any type of military force or mage collective.”
‘Did she really just call me a bonehead?’ I asked Justice.
He snorted but kept his attention on the mage.
Apparently, the high mages were control freaks, and the shifters were left protecting their people. That wasn’t right. Why not let them make their own police force?
It dawned on me then.
The mages would become more powerful that way. The lower-level mages outnumbered the advanced, master, and high mages, ten to one. If they were allowed to train together and create some type of organized force…
I shook my head. Another problem for future-Rage to deal with.
“We’re here trying to help. I suggest you stop calling the alpha king names,” Justice growled, and she dropped her chin to her chest. Justice ignored her obvious embarrassment and plowed on. “And maybe do what you can to help us understand what the hell is going on.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Unless you’d rather us just leave.”
The girl’s skin turned a healthy shade of pink. She swallowed hard before she looked up at us—this time with tears in her eyes. “What do you want to know?”
“Are the vampires the ones attacking your people? Are they all drained of blood?”
She frowned, eyes widening in alarm. “Vampires?”
I felt like I was having a conversation with a two-year-old, in a foreign language.
“Vampires. Blood-sucking creatures—”
“You mean the blood-mages?” she asked and then nodded. “Yes. They’re coming down from the cliffs to feed,” she muttered, almost to herself. “Plus, taking blood for their spells…”
Whoa. Whoa. “What?” My eyes widened. “Feed? You’ve known about them this whole time?”
She flicked me an irritated gaze, “Everyone knows. But your uncle and Surlama kept them satiated. Now, they’re just … running amok.”
My head spun with her words. My uncle … and Surlama?
“Surlama?” I interrupted her, my eyes widening in horror as I thought of how the witch had always demanded blood from Nai—and me.
She wouldn’t have been … a … blood mage, would she?
If the vampires were really blood-mages … and used blood in spells as well as consumed it, then…
The woman looked up at me with a sugary smile. “Surlama was a blood mage. But if you want to call them vampires, they don’t care.” She cocked her head to the side. “Didn’t you know?”
That meant that…
“Kalama!” Justice and I both said at the same time.
‘Noble?’
‘What’s up?’
I nearly sagged with relief at his voice. ‘I need you to go check on Kalama in the library. Take a few guards with you, and…’
‘And what?’ Noble asked when I grew silent.
After all this, I couldn’t very well let her get away.
‘And detain her. I’ll need to talk to her when I get back.’
I turned my attention back to the female mage. It was time to divide and conquer, and right now, I trusted my brother’s head better than mine. “Tell my brother everything you know about blood-mages.” I pointed to my brother. “He’ll stay here with you.”
‘Sorry, bro,’ I told Justice.
He shrugged. ‘I understand.’
“Richie…” I turned to the guard. “I need you to go through Mageville and pick two dozen young mage men who have some semblance of wit about them. Teach them how to run patrols, defense, craft weapons, anything so they can learn to take care of themselves.” I wasn’t the damn alpha of mages. They needed to figure their own crap out.
I spotted another group of four guards and called them over. “I need you four to come with me. We need to go examine where Kirkland was attacked.”
‘I’ll meet you at the boat in an hour,’ I told Justice.
As I strode away, I let my wolf surge to the surface. Dropping to all fours, I raced past Dark Row and headed north.
So many thoughts swirled around in my head. Where in the mage hell was Nai? What would I do if the vampires really were back? How deep and dark did my uncle’s secrets go? Could I even do this alone? Surlama had been one of them the entire time! There was a reason we used to be Shifter Island. There was a reason we all banded together. Because when enemies like blood mages came calling, we stood stronger together. Something I thought we’d been doing just as wolves. But if my uncle had simply been paying the vampires off with a blood payment, then … well, that didn’t sit well with me. I wouldn’t do that.