Void(17)

Right before I blacked out, everything stopped. The pain. The sound. The Void’s consuming smoke and light. It was just gone.

All three of our bodies slumped against the ground, so still that I wasn’t sure any of us were even breathing. My eyes stared straight up, unable to blink. All I could see was the dark stone ceiling above me, the remnants of my smoke curling around the windows as it evaporated into thin air. The darkness in my mind was too seductive, too demanding. I gave in, letting the world go black.

The Void was hungry, so I guess it consumed me, too.





Chapter 4





“I want every scholar here now. No exceptions. Bring in Doctor Adams, too. I want a full report on my desk. No one leaves here until I say so. I want to make sure everyone in that room keeps quiet. We can’t let this get out,” Judge Braxton said, his booming voice drawing me out of my sleep. It felt like each syllable was a jackknife against my skull.

“It’s too late for that; people are already talking. The elementals have petitioned a claim for her and want her on their compound,” an unfamiliar voice replied to my left.

I was on a stiff cushion, but I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes yet. Every bone in my body ached. Every tendon felt stretched thin like a rubber band about to snap.

“Send in another healer!” Judge Braxton ordered, and I heard feet scurrying.

“You’ve already lost three healers to the Void, trying to revive her,” my mother replied. She was here? “The Void just sucks up their abilities. She probably just needs rest.”

I nuzzled deeper into the pillow with a moan, and all the commotion around me went silent. “Dev?” I felt my mother’s cold hand on my forehead. My clammy skin stuck to hers. “Dev, are you awake?”

I peeled open my eyes and winced at the bright light. “Mother?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“Get her water, and turn off the lights,” Judge Braxton boomed as I tried to lick my lips with a sandpaper tongue. Why was he so determined to make sure I was okay? Wasn’t he the one threatening me with a death sentence just a little while ago?

A cool glass was pressed to my lips, and I greedily sucked up the water, wincing when it hit my dry throat. Memories slammed into me in an instant. The vampire woman. The shifter. The black smoke that suddenly turned blue. The pain. I winced at the memory, my body feeling oddly tender.

“Is the vampire okay?” I asked while trying to sit up. A strong hand landed on my shoulder, pushing me back down to a lying position. “Oh gods, did I kill her?” Hot tears began flowing down my cheeks as bile filled my mouth. I turned to face my mother. “I didn’t mean to. I warned you this would happen.”

A calm voice beside me broke through the chaos. “She’s alive. Better than ever, actually.” I turned to look at who was speaking, my mouth opened in shock at Render. His lips were parted in awe as he stared at me.

Awe? What the fuck was happening?

“What?” My voice was gravelly with a tender rawness in my throat that made me wince.

“Your Void power. You—”

“Enough,” Judge Braxton cut him off.

Render’s expression darkened as his eyes snapped over to the judge.

I looked around at the room I was in. It looked like the judge’s chambers, with a desk, bookshelves, and a guard at the back. I was lying on a stiff couch that smelled like upholstery cleaner and tobacco. When I tried to sit up again, my mother helped me by stuffing a pillow behind my back. The motion took me by such surprise that all I could do was gape at her. A strained smile touched her pale pink lips, but it was the most pleasant expression she’d given me in years.

“What’s going on?” I asked warily.

I pressed a palm to my pounding temple, thankful that they’d turned the lights off. I could still smell the acrid, sharp scent of my Void smoke, but it was thankfully contained again. Judge Braxton, my mother, and Render were crowded around me, watching me with indecipherable expressions.

“You successfully cured the female vampire of her bloodlust,” Judge Braxton told me.

A relieved sigh blew out of me as I looked between the three of them. I was missing something, something huge, but I had no idea what it was. “...Okay. That’s good, right?”

“Very good,” the judge nodded.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, tell her,” Render snapped.

“Mind your place, vampire,” Judge Braxton snapped. “You may be your people’s paragon, but you are still under my authority.”

“He’s right, Edwin. She has to know,” my mother said, surprising me.

“Know what?” I tried to stand, but I fell right back on my ass, and my dizziness returned.

Judge Braxton shot a look over his shoulder at the guard. “Get out.”

The guard didn’t hesitate. He swept out of the room, leaving the four of us alone. When the door shut, the judge looked back at me. “Your Void powers didn’t take the powers from the vampire and the shifter.”

I blinked at him, not understanding. “What do you mean? You just told me I cured her of bloodlust.”

“You did,” he nodded. “Because she’s not a vampire anymore. But she’s not a human, either.”

My blonde brows pulled together. He wasn’t making any sense. I’d fed from her. I’d fed from them both, there was no doubt about that. “Then what…”