Chapter 81 MORRISON’S GAME
Morrison's POV
Logan Reeves stands in front of me bleeding and exhausted with four vials of my blood his trembling hands.
"How did you find me?" His voice shakes with adrenaline. "I lost your guards miles back."
"You did not lose anyone. I called them off. Told them to let you run."
Confusion crosses his face. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I wanted you to succeed." I gesture to the vials.
"You wanted me to steal your blood." He says it slowly.
"I needed you to steal it." I corrected him. "If I had simply offered you the cure you would have been suspicious. But stealing it yourself after fighting through guards and evading capture makes the victory feel real and the blood seem valuable."
Logan's grip tightens on the vials. "This is a trick. The blood is fake or poisoned."
"The blood is completely genuine."
"Then what is the trick?" Logan backs away slowly.
"I want Alicia to become stronger." I watch realization dawn on his face. "Every obstacle I have put in her path, was designed to push her beyond her current limitations."
"You have been making her suffer on purpose."
"I have been making her evolve. Do you know how True Luna power actually works, Logan? The texts say it is triggered by extreme emotional duress."
"You are torturing her to make her stronger so you can steal her power."
"Stealing implies taking something that does not belong to me." I moved closer to him. "Alicia's power was always meant for me, but I need the power to be fully awakened before I absorb it and that requires her to reach her absolute limit."
Logan lunges at me. I catch his wrist without effort and twist until his bone made a cracking sound. He drops to his knees gasping.
"You cannot hurt me." I release him and step back. "Even at full strength you would not last thirty seconds in a real fight. I have absorbed the cores of two hundred wolves over three centuries."
He held his broken wrist and looked up at me with hate.
"Why are you telling me this?" Logan forces the words through gritted teeth. "If your plan is so perfect, why reveal it?"
"Because knowing changes nothing." I pull out a cigarette and light it. "You will take the blood back to your pack. Use it to cure Monty. Feel grateful and victorious and relieved. And in doing so you will make Alicia trust that resurrection magic can work which is exactly what I need her to believe."
"She will never trust magic that involves you."
"She will not know it came from me." I blow smoke into the cold air. "You will tell her you stole it from The Veritas. Dr. Moore's presence will confirm your story. The blood will cure Monty and prove the resurrection ritual is good. Alicia will be one step closer to attempting it herself."
Logan's eyes widened. "You want her to try to resurrect someone."
"I want her to try to resurrect everyone." I finish the cigarette and crush it under my heel. "Every wolf who died in the raids. The emotional weight of that much loss combined with True Luna power will create an awakening unlike anything this world has seen in a thousand years."
"It will kill her." Logan struggles to his feet. "That much power channeled at once will burn her alive."
"It will transform her." I met his gaze. "And once she reaches that transcendent state I will perform the absorption ritual and claim everything she has become."
"You are insane."
I turn and start walking back toward the facility. "Give her the blood Logan. Fix your little Beta. Tell Alicia there is hope for bringing back the dead. You are all going to need that hope for what comes next."
"What comes next?" He calls after me.
I pause and look back over my shoulder. "War. I am going to attack Dark Night Pack with everything I have, and when she is drowning in grief and rage and desperate enough to try anything I will give her the tools she needs to attempt a mass resurrection."
"She will never fall for that."
"She already is." I smile. "Why do you think I let Monty come back wrong? Why do you think I arranged for Kai to find those specific texts? Every piece has been moving into position for months. The board is set. The game is nearly over. And there is nothing you can do to stop it."
Logan stands there shaking with fury and pain and helplessness.
"One more thing." I add before leaving. "When you get back to the pack, tell Alicia I said hello."
"I will kill you. Somehow. Some way. I will find a way to end you."
"Many have tried." I shrug. "All have failed. You will too. But I appreciate the sentiment. It is that kind of determination that makes you valuable to Alicia and by extension valuable to me."
I walk away leaving him standing alone in the forest holding blood that he thinks will save his pack when really it will be the first domino in their complete destruction.
The guards are waiting for me at the tree line. "Sir should we pursue?"
"No need." I wave them off. "Logan served his purpose. Let him run home and deliver the good news. Everything is proceeding according to plan."
Dr. Moore joins me as I enter the facility. "Do you think he will actually use the blood?"
"He does not have a choice."
"And when Alicia sees the cure works?"
I pour a glass of wine and toast the empty room. "To Alicia Monroe. The True Luna who will make me unstoppable. Thank you for being exactly what I need you to be."