Chapter 114 The Lovers Reunited
CALLUM
Movement returns like lightning through my body. Painful. Overwhelming. Every muscle cramping simultaneously.
I collapse. Can't stand. Too much time paralyzed. Body forgot how to work.
Around me, chaos. Everyone unfreezing at once. Screaming. Confusion. Hermetic mages fleeing. Parliamentary hunters backing away.
The containment spell shattered. Gone. We're free.
I force myself up. Legs shaking. Vision blurry. But moving.
"Valentina!" I shout. Can't see her. Too many bodies. Too much chaos.
Wolves are attacking mages. Fae warriors cutting through fleeing hunters. Vampires confused about whose side they're on. Everyone fighting or fleeing or dying.
"Valentina!" Louder. Desperate.
I see her. Fifty yards away. Struggling to stand. Blood on her face. Covered in dirt. Exhausted.
Beautiful.
I run toward her. Dodging fighters. Jumping over bodies. Ignoring everything except reaching her.
A vampire hunter tries to stop me. I break his neck without slowing. Keep moving.
"Callum!" Valentina sees me. Staggers toward me. We meet in the middle of the battlefield.
I grab her. Hold her. Make sure she's real. She does the same. Gripping my arms. Checking for injuries.
"You're alive," I gasp.
"So are you." She's crying. "I thought... when they loaded us in different trucks... I thought I'd never see you again."
"Me too." I cup her face. Blood and dirt and tears. "I love you. If we die today, I needed to say it."
"I love you too." She kisses me. Desperate. Honest. Real. "We're not dying today."
"No?"
"No. We already survived the worst. This is just cleanup."
A mage throws fire at us. Valentina shoots him. Silver bullet. He drops.
"See? Cleanup." She reloads. "Stay close. Watch my back."
"Always."
We fight together. Moving as unit. Valentina shoots. I tear throats. Protecting each other. Covering blind spots.
A dragon in human form charges. Tom appears from nowhere. Stakes him with fae-blessed silver. Dragon dies screaming.
"Thanks!" I shout.
Tom nods. Exhausted. Nearly dead. But still fighting.
Hermetic mages are retreating. Countess Isolde is attacking them personally. Ancient vampire versus human mages. No contest. She's destroying them.
Parliamentary hunters are confused. Orders contradicted. Some fighting. Some fleeing. Some just standing around looking lost.
The organization is gone. Replaced by chaos.
"We need to regroup!" Valentina shouts. "Get our people out before more hunters arrive!"
"Where?"
"Anywhere but here! This battlefield is death trap!"
She's right. We're exposed. Wounded. Exhausted. Easy targets.
"Fall back!" I shout to nearby wolves. "Retreat to secondary positions! Regroup at the Camden safe house!"
Some wolves hear. Start retreating. Others keep fighting. Too angry. Too committed. Can't stop.
I see Cormac. My brother. He's across the battlefield. Staring at me. Our eyes meet.
Neither of us moves for a moment. Just looking. Acknowledging.
We almost died today. Both of us. Separately but together. Enemies but brothers.
Then Valentina grabs my arm. "We need to move. Now."
"Right. Let's go."
We start retreating. Valentina covering me. I'm covering her. Moving through chaos toward safety.
That's when Cormac appears.
He's suddenly in front of us. Fast. Alpha-level speed. Blocking our path.
"How touching," he says. Blood on his face. Fury in his eyes. "Let me ruin it."
He attacks. Not me. Valentina.
Hits her while she's distracted. Looking at me. Not expecting him.
Claws rake across her chest. Deep. Vicious. She screams. Goes down.
"Valentina!" I'm on Cormac immediately. Tackle him. We go down together.
He's trying to get back to her. Finish the kill. I won't let him.
We grapple. Claws and teeth. Brother against brother. Again. Always.
"She's not part of this!" I snarl.
"Everyone's part of this! Everyone who helped you!" He rips my shoulder. I break his jaw. We're both bleeding. Both dying.
"Stop!" Valentina's on her feet somehow. Chest wounds bleeding. Gun raised. Aimed at Cormac. "Both of you stop!"
We freeze. Staring at her.
"I will shoot you both if you keep fighting." Her voice is steady despite the pain. "Callum, he's your brother. Cormac, he's your twin. You don't get to kill each other while I'm standing here."
"He attacked you," I say.
"To get to you. Because you're what he wants." She keeps the gun steady. "But today ends different. No more fratricide. No more destruction. We leave. He leaves. Different directions. No more fighting."
"I can't just let him go," I protest.
"Yes you can. Because the alternative is watching you two kill each other. And I won't survive that. Neither will your community. So you let him go. Today. Now."
Cormac stares at her. Then me. Calculating.
"Next time," he says. "Next time I finish this."
"Next time," I agree.
He backs away. Slowly. Disappears into the chaos.
Valentina lowers the gun. Collapses. I catch her.
"You're insane," I tell her. "Stopping that fight while bleeding out."
"Someone had to." She's fading. Blood loss. Exhaustion. "Get me out of here, Callum. Before I change my mind about shooting both of you."
I lift her. Carry her. Moving toward safety. Away from the battlefield. Away from death.
Behind us, the chaos continues.
But we're alive. Together. Free.
That's enough for today.