“What did you see?” Draven prompted. She glanced up at him, then over at me, flinching and loosening her grip.
“Oh gods, I’m so sorry,” she gasped. “I lose control of myself during visions.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “I’m not hurt.” Though I did pull my sleeve down just in case it was bruised. No need for her to feel bad about something and derail us all from the reason we were here. Not to mention I didn’t think the guys would be happy to see my marked skin. They were on the overprotective side.
“He’s here. The place he was standing almost looked like it was underground…” She trailed off like she was searching for the right word.
“Like a basement?” Jude offered as he leaned in closer, running a soothing hand up and down her spine.
“No… Well, maybe? It’s different. The walls were stone, but it looked more like old architecture rather than a standard basement. What’s the oldest building in town?” Quinn asked.
Everyone turned to me, but I shrugged. “I’m guessing town hall and maybe the library? They turned it into a bookstore when the city no longer wanted to supply us, but it’s ancient. Like stone-lions-outside-the-building kind of old.”
“What else happened in the dream?” Niko prompted. Her eyes closed in defeat, and she took a settling breath.
“He had three people chained to the wall. There was some sort of inscription circle on the floor under each one,” she said. “Runes and symbols of some kind.”
“He was well practiced in dark magic,” Avi said with a sigh. “Seems he’s gone even deeper. If there are runes under them, keeping them in place, then it’s one of two options. They’re demons, which appear the same as we do but with soulless eyes, or they’re human batteries.”
“Human... Batteries? That’s a fucking thing?” I knew that there was a lot to learn about magic, but that didn’t seem like something that should even be possible in the first place.
“Not for people with a conscience. It’s excruciating to the victim,” Kane bit out. “Covens used it in the early days of our society before laws took over.”
“Why would he need that much power?” I wondered. “He’s already got so much.”
“It’s likely an addiction. I’ve seen it a lot in my time,” Avi shared. “The dark magic gets under their skin and slowly infects their mind. Soon, nothing and no one matters but that next hit of power.” The bitterness in those words meant that admittance was hitting a bit too close to home. I reached out and squeezed his arm, but he didn’t even manage to look at me.
“Anything else?” Draven asked her.
She let out a breath. “His face looked like several people. The mayor. Then Farren. Then someone else I didn’t recognize. He’s slowly taking out the town and replacing them with himself, switching people so no one realizes,” she explained. The solemn tone in her voice had a shudder going through me. I couldn’t imagine witnessing that in any capacity, and I honestly hoped we never had to in person. But that was wishful thinking. The bastard would be coming for us, like it or not.
“How do we fight that?” Jude asked in frustration. “He could be anyone at any time.”
“Is there a ward or something that dispels dark magic?” Quinn asked. The way she talked about magic was odd, like she wasn’t a witch or was lacking the foundational knowledge she should have had.
“I’ll research,” Kylan promised.
“I’ll help,” Niko offered. “I have some contacts as well.”
“Dragons shouldn’t have this power. He found something along the way that changed him,” Levi said. “I grew up in a brood and not a single one had that. Elemental magic? Sure. Basic spells? Of course. Dragons were formed from ancient magic, so they have large pools of power. But this isn’t part of that.”
“We won’t know those answers until we find him. I’d say step one is finding his lair,” Niko said. “But we can’t go down there unprepared either.”
“We have babies coming,” I reminded them. “In the midst of a fucking war.” My fear and vulnerability slipped through enough that everyone’s moods fell even further, but I couldn’t feel bad about saying that. Despite how hard it was to hear, this was our reality now.
“Is it too much to ask to wipe him out before they come?” Levi asked with a pained sigh. “I just want to enjoy being parents for a little bit. No fear. No worries. Nothing hanging over our heads besides the things all parents think about.”
“Now that I’ve been reattuned to Farren, I’ll likely have more visions. When I first met you all, these visions started slowly. Now they’re ramping up,” Quinn said. “Maybe because the danger is so high here?”
“Could be,” Maxon agreed. “They were bad before the High Priestess attacked us.”
“True,” Nolan said. “That tracks. It was quiet until he started his attacks here.”
“I’m sorry,” I said softly. “It feels like my fault, like I brought this here.”
“If anything we did,” Levi corrected me. “He looked for us and found you because of us.”
“We also found each other, so I guess the good comes with the bad,” Kane said. “I promise we will find this asshole and end this. You won’t have to live in fear for long.”