Veiled Spirits

I snort. “No, Aggie. Literally everyone knows they’re corrupt, but it’s hard to change a nearly millennium-old system.” The council is… a problem I really don’t have energy to deal with. Hopefully it’s just a coincidence that all the ghosts have the same injuries.

It’s not a coincidence.

Spirit after spirit tells me the same story as Amelia. They were offered a spot in the prestigious new mage development program. They’re from lower mage families in Hawthorne Grove and other mage cities on the East Coast. Every single one of them remembers being in the council basement for testing before blacking out from pain.

My stomach sinks as I realize the council is a bigger problem than I thought. They’re clearly preying on lower mage families, but why? What are they getting out of it? None of the ghosts have the answer.

I don’t bother to pause between ghosts to heal my injuries. When I don’t heal myself between spirits, I have to heal all the injuries at once. It sucks ass. But I’m so caught up in the mystery that I lose track of how many ghost I heal.

“Kid! You have to stop!” Aggie shouts from beside me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“What?” I look around for the first time in a while. The gaggle of ghosts is a lot smaller than it was when I started, which isn’t good news for me.

“You’ve healed twenty ghosts! Your power is growing, but that’s too many, kid!” Aggie is frantically gesturing as she speaks, and she’s worn down the grass underfoot with her pacing. “I’ve tried to get your attention, but you’ve been in a trance for the last five ghosts.”

Fuck. Aggie is definitely right. That’s way more ghosts than I can heal in a night. I can already feel the land of the living trying to yank me back to pay my penance for all the healing. My form is flickering in and out as I stand here.

“You need to get Bishop, Aggie. I don’t have enough magic for this. Go to Levi, and he can get Bishop for you. Only get Rhys or Aiden as a last resort, okay?” Without enough magic to heal all the wounds, I’m going to die. While that’s more appealing than it should be some nights, tonight is not one of them. I can’t die until I figure out what the council is up to.

“I can do that, kid. Can you stay here until I get back?” Aggie’s blue eyes are wrinkled in concern. She’s wringing her hands as she watches me struggle to stay in the spirit realm.

I’m unable to answer her question as I’m forcibly pulled back into my body. I stare up at the clear night sky for a single moment of peace. Then it feels like my skin splits open all over my body. Blood gushes out of what feels like thousands of burning cuts as I scream and scream. My hands claw at the soft dirt underneath me, and my back arches in agony.

I can do nothing but ride the waves of never-ending pain and hope Aggie gets back soon. If she doesn’t, well, then at least my mates and family will be safe.

Hurry, Aggie. Please, is the last thought I have before I’m dragged under the swells of excruciating pain, unsure if I’ll ever surface again.

CHAPTER 25

LEVI

“Tall, dark, and scary! Wake up!” someone shouts over me. I jackknife in my bed and launch a throwing knife I keep under my pillow at the noise. I see a very startled ghost looking between me and the knife embedded in the wall behind her. “Well, that was terrifying, but we need to go. Izzy needs Bishop!”

“What’s the problem, ghost?” I get out of bed and hunt around for my clothes. I’m still confused by how the spirit is able to come and leave this plane at will. It must have something to do with her spending time around my very powerful mate. It baffles me how those mages are unaware of the staggering amount of power she possesses. I almost think she could take my brother in a power fight, which is unheard of.

“There’s no time! The kid’s dying. We need to get to Bishop, now.” The ghost’s eyes are frantic and pleading with me. It’s clear the spirit cares deeply for my mate.

My blood runs cold when I process what she said. While I want to know what exactly is happening, I care about my mate’s well-being more. “Then, hold on to me, ghost. We won’t waste time with portaling.”

When her spectral hand hesitantly touches my shoulder, I pull on the blood-red flames of magic in my chest. I transport both of us to Bishop St. James’s room. The moonlight streaming in from one of his large windows gives me enough illumination to see the mage. He bolts up in bed much like I did, but he aims a gun at my head. Interesting. It seems the pretty boy mage has more to him than I first thought. A gun won’t do anything to me if I did want to harm the mage, however.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Levi? It’s two in the goddamn morning.” The mage drops his hand holding the gun when he realizes it’s me. He scrubs his hands over his face and seems like he could fall back asleep sitting up.

“The ghost says Izzy’s in trouble and needs you.” My voice remains steady, but the worry for my little raven is like acid crawling through my veins.

“Or Aiden and Rhys, but that’s only as an absolute last choice. The kid doesn’t want her family knowing what she does.” I nod to show I heard the spirit.

“What type of trouble?” Bishop throws off the covers and rushes around his room to get dressed.

“I don’t know. The ghost just said she’s dying and needs you.”

Bishop pales. “She’s still healing them, isn’t she, Aggie? Does Izzy need my magic because she overdid it tonight?”

“Yeah, she is. The kid never stopped, Bishop. She doesn’t have enough magic to make it through tonight.” The spirit’s eyes soften in sympathy as she gazes at the mage.

I relay what she said to Bishop.

“Goddamn it, Izzy,” Bishop rasps brokenly. He shoves one hand through his hair before seeming to shake himself. “She and I are having a talk once she’s better, and she will get through this. There’s no other option. We need to go get the wolves. Their touch can help her heal.”