Chapter 159

Chapter 159
Calla

My eyes opened slowly, blinking against the evening light that seemed too bright after the harsh laboratory fluorescents. Everything hurt, but I was breathing. The air smelled like smoke and distant rain instead of chemicals and death.

Why wasn't I dead?

The countdown had reached zero. The facility had exploded around us while I was chained to that bed. But instead of pain and darkness, I found myself being carried through the rocky terrain like I weighed nothing at all.

Strong arms held me steady against a solid chest. When I tilted my head up, I saw a face that made me forget how to breathe properly.

He looked young, maybe twenty-six at most, with sharp features that belonged on magazine covers. Pale skin that seemed to glow in the fading light. Silver hair that caught the breeze. But his eyes held depths that spoke of centuries, like looking into ancient wells that had seen the rise and fall of empires.

"Who are you?" I whispered, my voice hoarse from smoke and screaming.

The stranger's lips curved into a smile that was both gentle and terrifying. "My name is Virex."

My blood turned to ice water in my veins. Lord Virex. The ancient vampire I'd heard whispered about in fearful tones. The one who commanded armies and made other supernaturals tremble at his name.

Before I could process what that meant, before I could ask why he'd saved me instead of delivering me to whatever fate he'd planned, I heard a voice that made tears spring to my eyes.

"Calla!"

Axel. My mate's voice calling my name with desperate relief and fury mixed together.

I turned my head and saw him standing maybe thirty feet away, surrounded by my pack family. Malachai with his massive frame tense and ready for violence. Jace beside him, hand hovering near his weapon. Rikka, Marcus, Eden and the rest - all of them looking like they'd been through hell but were ready to fight their way through more.

That's when I realized my hospital gown had fallen open at the front during whatever rescue Virex had performed. The torn fabric hung loose, leaving me exposed to the evening air. Heat flushed my cheeks as I tried to pull the material closed with trembling fingers.

Virex noticed my discomfort immediately. Without a word, he set me gently on my feet and shrugged out of a long black coat. The fabric was impossibly soft as he wrapped it around my shoulders, covering me completely.

"Better?" he asked, his ancient eyes holding genuine concern.

I nodded gratefully, clutching the coat closed. But when I took a step toward Axel, toward safety and home and everything I'd been fighting to get back to, Virex's hand settled lightly on my shoulder.

The touch was gentle, almost casual. But it held the weight of absolute authority. A reminder that this ancient being could snap my neck before I could blink if he chose to.

Axel's growl echoed off the rocky walls around us, low and dangerous. "Let her go."

Virex's smile widened, showing just a hint of fang. "Such fire, young pup. I can see why she chose you."

"Don't call him that," I said before I could stop myself.

Both men looked at me with surprise. Virex raised an eyebrow while Axel's expression softened slightly.

Jace grabbed Axel's arm as my mate started forward, his gray eyes blazing with protective fury. "Easy," Jace said quietly. "Let's not do anything we can't take back."

"I'm going to get you out of this," Axel called to me, his voice carrying across the space between us like a promise. "I swear on everything I am, Calla. You're coming home."

The certainty in his voice, the absolute conviction that he would move heaven and earth to keep that promise, made my chest tight with emotion.

Virex chuckled, a sound like silver bells mixed with winter wind. "Such devotion. How romantic."

Before anyone could respond to that mockery, Blake's agonized grunt echoed through the evening air. I looked past Virex and saw my ex-husband collapsed on his knees near the smoking ruins of the facility.

"Bastard," I whispered, watching him convulse with whatever torment his transformation was putting him through.

I felt nothing for his pain. No sympathy, no satisfaction, nothing at all. After everything he'd done, everything he'd put me and my pack through, he'd become less than nothing to me. Just another monster that needed to be dealt with.

Movement caught my eye on the ridges and valleys behind us. Pale figures standing motionless against the darkening sky. Dozens of them. Maybe more.

Vampires. Virex's army, waiting for orders.

Then came the howls.

Deep, resonant calls that echoed off stone and made the hair on my arms stand up. Behind the Vanguard pack, shapes moved through the rocks. Werewolves appearing like ghosts from the landscape.

I recognized some of them from the coalition meetings - Derek's people wearing their distinctive jackets. But there were others too. Pack members I didn't know, from territories I'd never seen. All of them moving with purpose toward what looked like it might become a battlefield.

Virex watched the gathering forces with obvious amusement. "How delightful. Everyone's here for the grand finale."

He turned to address the crowd of supernatural beings - vampire and werewolf alike - his voice carrying easily across the rocky terrain despite its conversational tone.

"Do any of you actually understand what you're looking at?" Virex gestured toward me with elegant fingers. "This woman is the last Moonkeeper born in over three centuries."

The silence that followed was absolute. Even Blake's pained gasping seemed to quiet.

Virex's smile was sharp as winter starlight. "Tell me, do you even know what being a Moonkeeper signifies?"