THIRD POV
Alaia blocked another attack from Deacon as he pushed her away from Arias and Zira. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Zira finally getting up and assessing the situation.
Alaia looked around confused. The wolf attacking her was James’ wolf, Deacon, but she could clearly see James’ body in the hall. Her mind was so clouded she couldn’t figure out who was the real one. Besides, this wolf was moving too fast for her to focus on attacking.
This…this wolf had to be an imposter or some sort of trick.
Deacon kept attacking her, pushing her back and she could feel herself getting weaker or maybe it was tiredness. She watched Deacon stand between her and Arias. The one power that could give her the boost she needed. Deacon saw the way Alaia was looking at Arias and linked Zira.
Get him out of here now, he yelled at Zira.
What about you, Zira asked.
This is not about me, Zira. It’s about getting our son to safety. NOW!
Although she didn’t want to, she knew Arias’ safety was a priority and staying would only be a distraction. It took her a minute to adjust from being unconscious, but as soon as she found her footing, she turned to run through the archway.
Alaia saw Zira run and ran after them, only to be blocked by Deacon. He kept pushing her away from the path Zira took. He could tell she was getting weaker. From time to time she would try to fling him across the room but her magic could barely hold him. He just had to tire her out enough to get a good shot at killing her. It was time to end this.
Mirja, Zack, George, and Harry made it to the hall where Mary was helping Isaiah, who still looked like James, to his feet. There was blood dripping down his shoulder and a bloody knife beside him. Before they could say anything, Zira jumped through a hole in the wall a few feet away.
“Zira,” Isaiah ran to them as Zira looked at him confused and stepped back. Realizing he still looked like James, he took off the necklace to reveal himself. Zira’s face twisted with anger as she walked up to him and punched him in the arm.
“What the hell, Isaiah?! Maybe next time, let everyone know the plan,” she screamed at him. Isaiah smiled while rubbing his arm. He knew she wasn’t really that mad at him but he did notice Arias asleep in her arms. With all this noise, he was surprised the little guy could fall asleep.
“Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Zira said while bringing Arias closer to her chest. “I can feel him. He was protecting me and I think it drained him somehow. Harry?”
Harry moved next to Zira and hovered his hand over Arias. “She’s right. He’s a little wiped out, but maybe I can help. Some time and a quiet place wouldn’t hurt.”
“Take him to my mother’s house. I want him as far away from this as possible,” Zira said while handing Arias to Mary. “Keep him safe for me.” Mary nodded as Harry quickly opened a portal for them to walk through.
Zira turned to go back to James when Mirja grabbed her arm.
“Wait,” Mirja yelled.
“For what? Right now, we need to help James. He will only be able to keep her back for so long.”
“Yeah how,” Mirja questioned Zira, who didn’t have an answer. “This is the only way to stop her,” Mirja said, holding out the dagger. “Stabbing her releases the magic and I can seal it back to the grimoire.”
“How are we going to get close to her when she could stop us with the flick of her wrist,” Isaiah asked.
“We make it hard for her to focus. Last I checked, she only has two eyes and two hands, and there are four of us. We bomb rush her while someone with the dagger could get through,” Mirja said. “I can do-”
“No,” Isaiah disagreed, “I’ll do it. She’s my mate after all. My responsibility.”
Mirja looked at Isaiah and shook her head. “The fact that you say ‘is’ instead of ‘was’ is a little discerning. Sorry lover boy. Just don’t think you’ll be able to do it when the time comes.”
Isaiah wanted to argue but maybe she was right. Maybe he’ll do better as a distraction. Zira was getting more agitated by the second when a devastating pain seared through her chest. She screamed but instead blood came out of her mouth.
“We’re out of time,” she gasped. “She’s killing him.”
Frustrated about letting the child get away, Alaia focused her power to grab Deacon in midair and throw him across the room. Deacon let out a loud yap as he flew into the wall and fell to the floor. Alaia stood over Deacon and conjured up a knife.
“Let’s see if you're real or not.”
Alaia was about to bring down the knife when she felt a presence behind her. She turned and quickly held up the two wolves lunging in her direction. She was about to throw them until she noticed a third person coming up the middle, landing a punch right in her face.
“Get the hell away from him,” Zira yelled, with a slash across Alaia’s cheek.
Alaia tried regaining her footing but another round of punches connected with her jaw, head, cheek, knocking her further back. Alaia threw the knife hoping to hit something, but it didn’t help as another punch lifted her off the ground.
Zira was breathless from the pain of her mate but refused to give Alaia a chance to focus. Zira danced around Alaia delivering lightning fast punches and they were able to keep Alaia off her game. Zira finally got Alaia to the ground but fell back from the pain in her chest. James, she thought as she turned to run to him.
Alaia was getting tired of people getting in her way. She fueled all the anger she had, creating a black mist around her. Everyone stood back, trying to figure out what to do except Mirja. With the dagger in her hand, the darkness wouldn’t dare touch her. Mirja didn’t hesitate for one minute as she ran towards Alaia with the dagger out.
Alaia looked at her and, with the mist floating around her body, her skin almost turned black. Mirja lunged for her and Alaia caught her in the air. Her icy cold fingers wrapped around Mirja’s neck. Mirja couldn’t help but stare at how far gone Alaia was. By the black lines etched on her face and arms, coating her skin in darkness. She was becoming more the grimoire than Alaia.
Around the black mist, Zack and Isaiah tried to find a way in but the shield was impenetrable. Even George threw fireballs that sizzled the moment they touched the mist-like the mist was absorbing them. George grabbed the grimoire, thinking that destroying it by fire would help but, the moment he tried, it disappeared. He turned to see Alaia with the grimoire in her hands.
“I should’ve known you came up with this plan. So weak and pathetic, Mirja. Well, I guess I won’t be needing this anymore,” Alaia said while looking at the grimoire as a black flame enveloped it, turning it into dust. “I was going to grant you all a merciful death, but now-”
“Alaia, you have to stop this. Think about what you’ve sacrificed so far. Your life, your mate, your baby. All this for what? A guy who doesn’t love you-”
“Shut up,” Alaia screamed, tightening her hold around Mirja’s neck. “You know nothing about me but I know everything about you. The grimoire showed me everything. Your family abandoned you. Cast you out like the black sheep you are. You were weak to them. An abomination among their kind. Whatever love you saw was forced to make you feel accepted. Even your precious brother despised you. I don’t blame them. You are the reason they’re all dead and gone.”
Mirja screamed and brought the dagger up towards Alaia’s chest, but Alaia stopped it before it made contact and flung it away. The dagger easily cut through the mist and slid across the floor. That was Mirja’s last chance and Alaia knew it. It brought her joy, so much so she started to laugh.
Through the pain in his chest, James shifted back and sat up. Everything around him was muffled as he tried to focus. His chest was heavy and it was hard to take a full breath. He could still feel Alaia’s hand wrapped around his heart. He looked up and saw Zira coming to his side. He closed his mind off from her, hoping she wasn’t feeling the pain he was in, but by her face he knew she could feel some of it.
“We have to get you out of here,” she said with tears running down her face. She tried to lift him but he didn’t budge.
This was the most painful thing he had ever experienced and he could feel himself trying to slip away. His eyes were closed but he felt someone lift him. He opened them to find Zira on one side and Isaiah on the other.
He struggled away from them and leaned against the wall. “I’m fine, just give me a second.”
“James, you’re hurt,” Zira said, moving closer to him so that their foreheads touched. Her hand caressed the side of his face as he leaned into her touch. “We need to get you somewhere to heal.”
James didn’t want to leave, not until this was done. Besides being this close to Zira and languishing in her touch gave him enough strength to see this through. His focus started to return and he looked at the scene in front of them. Alaia was in the center of darkness. The same kind of darkness that took the lives of important people in his life.
“I’m not going anywhere until she goes down,” James growled.
“James, please,” Zira pleaded with him, but by his face she knew she wouldn’t be able to convince him to turn away. She felt tears running down her face.
"Hey, hey, hey," James grabbed Zira's face in his hands. "It's going to be okay. We are going to win. Trust me, Zira." James pulled her into a kiss, pouring as much of his soul as he could into her.
Isaiah turned away to give them privacy. There was pain watching her with James this way, but she was his mate and Isaiah came to terms with that. All he ever wanted was for her to be happy and if that was with James, then so be it. He had to figure out a way to take Alaia down himself. He thought about it and was about to give up until something slid next to his foot. It was the dagger. He stared at it for a second before picking it up. Then an idea crossed his mind.
Devon-
I know. We have to. We are Alpha and we take care of our own, Devon growled.
And Elena? Isaiah knew that this was a sore topic, since Elena was vastly different from Alaia. Though if something happens to Alaia, the same happens to Elena, and Devon was still connected to Elena. Isaiah waited for Devan’s reply.
When she’s ready she will give you a signal, Devon said with a mixture of sorrow and pain in his voice.
This was their last resort and it pained Isaiah to know how this was going to end. Isaiah placed the necklace back around his neck to turn to James while holding up the dagger to James.
“I have an idea.”