Void(18)

“She’s a shifter now. And the male shifter who attacked you? He’s now a vampire.”

I heard his words, but it was like they wouldn’t register. I had to go over them again and again in my head. I shot to my feet, despite my dizziness and positioned myself behind the lounge, suddenly needing space to think. “You’re saying...you’re saying that I…”

Judge Braxton nodded with a hungry gleam in his eye. “Yes, Miss Cainson. Your Void ability switched their powers.”

I breathed out a puff of air, forcing my pale, blonde hair to swirl around my face as I tried to steady myself. I switched their powers? “Does this mean the shifter now has bloodlust?” I asked while looking around the room. Everyone’s expression remained neutral.

“It’s hard to say. It’s like he’s a new vampire. We won’t know until he’s properly fed if it’s just normal newborn hunger or bloodlust. Same with the vampire, she’s struggling to control her wolf,” Judge Braxton explained with a disapproving frown.

Another searing pain rocked through my skull, and I grabbed my head to try and dull the ache. “Fuck, why does everything hurt?” I groaned.

Another glass of water was put in front of my face, and I looked up at Render in shock. He was helping me. Me. The Void who wasn’t good enough for the dirt beneath his shoe.

“If that’s holy water you’re trying to poison me with, I’m sorry to inform you that I’m not affected by it,” I said dryly while eyeing him with suspicion. It was like I’d woken up in an alternate universe where people actually cared about me.

“Drink the damn water, Void. Using your powers drained you, and you need to hydrate,” he sneered. Ah, there was the asshole I knew and hated.

I grabbed it from his outstretched hand, sloshing water over the rim and onto my clothes. I took a long sip before turning my attention back to my—doting?—mother. “So what now?”

Everyone looked at one another as if daring someone to speak first. “Devicka, this changes things,” Mother said, looking at me with a strange expression on her face. “Now that you’re able to transfer powers, Judge Braxton wants to learn more about your abilities. This is really good for our family—for you.”

I looked at Judge Braxton and suddenly saw a multitude of scenarios flooding his expression. I was a shiny new toy that he wanted to play with. As if it weren’t bad enough before, now he saw the chance that I could take powers away and give them to someone else. He was already scheming—I could see it in his beady eyes.

Fuck. That.

I shook my head. “I have no idea what I did in there. No idea how to control it. The Void has a mind of its own; I’m just a vessel. That should’ve proved it to you,” I argued.

“Which is why we’ll train you.”

“How?” I gaped. The council had never been open to allowing me any sort of training when it came to my power. They always said it was too dangerous for me to use it at all, unless under their strict supervision and direction.

“We’ll send you to Thibault Academy,” Judge Braxton said simply.

My mouth dropped open in shock. I couldn’t believe this. He wanted to send me to the academy? My brain couldn’t wrap around it. I shook my head. “Why was that shifter even intervening in the first place? Why did he cross through the barrier?”

“He was involved romantically with the vampire,” Judge Braxton answered. “He intervened because he was hoping you could just take the bloodlust from her, not all of her powers. He also was not...prepared to deal with the level of pain it would cause her. He had impersonated one of our real guards and snuck in.”

“Oh.” The fact that it had been her lover defending her made me feel like such a...villain. He’d only been trying to protect the person he loved from a monster.

I looked down at my chest where the shifter had sliced my skin, noting the three long lines there, covered with dried blood and partially sliced through my t-shirt. Why was I always the villain, when all I ever tried to be was the hero?

“We need to research your abilities, see what you’re fully capable of. Then the council can decide what to do with you. Until then, I want you to stay here.”

I was about to open my mouth in protest when the door to his office suddenly slammed open. I flinched at the loud noise and gaped over at the man rushing into the room. He had shoulder-length blond hair like a mane and vibrant green eyes that were shrouded in fury.

“Void!” he roared, surging forward.

Hair pricked along his arms, his shifter animal trying to come out. I tried to scramble away from him, but I was too slow. Within seconds, he had me by the neck and was lifting me off the ground.

I thrashed frantically, trying to get him to let me go, but his hold on me was too firm. His claws dug into my skin, and my windpipe was being crushed with his hold.

“You fucking ruined him!” he screamed in my face.

My feet were clear off the floor, so I tried to kick him, but his hips trapped mine before I could connect with his groin or shins. At his level of fury, it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Shifters were strong, but this guy? I could feel the power rolling off of him like water rushing out of a broken dam.

Guards came spilling in the room, but I was losing consciousness fast, black dots littering my vision.