Dark Souls Academy: The Sacrifice (Hell Dimension #4)

Chapter 33

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

“ I ’ll be the first to try the spell,” Kain declared as he sat on the couch next to me. “I won’t let my brothers put themselves in danger.” Trigger told us what happened with Lucifer, and it set Kain’s protectiveness off. His shadows were roaming around, pacing, ready to strike.

Alaric cleared his throat from his nook by the window and put his book down in front of him.We’d rearranged the furniture to be closer to him for his comfort.

“With all due respect to everyone in this room, I’m not sure losing you would help us. You have more offensive power than both your brothers.”

“And it’ll be even greater when it’s unleashed,” Kain argued. He had a stubborn glint to his baby blues, so I knew no one was going to change his mind. Yet, my gut told me Alaric was right.

Bones sat down near his brother. “Kain, they have a point. Losing Trigger and you would hurt us in a fight. I’m good, but you guys have the extra power we need,” Bones said. His tone was gentle, understanding his brother.

Trigger nodded. “Anyway, if Bones unlocks his powers, he’d be able to portal jump as much as he wants, killing twice as many people.”

Kain growled. “No. That’s the end of it. This could also just as easily kill us, and you two aren’t doing it.”

Bones stood. “We don’t want you fucking dying either.” He snapped out.

His stomps were loud as he moved around, loud enough that the soul building took notice and rattled the pictures on the wall in protest. When his feet didn’t stop, the souls opened and shut the window in warning, slamming them to get his attention. Bones didn’t care. He paced around the room, sending Kain deadly glares.

When I could feel the rage inside of him rising. I lifted my arms inviting him to sit, so I could play with his hair. He needed someone to anchor him. His abandonment issues gripped him like a leash, choking all the reasoning out of him. Dex moved to pet the wall closest to him, whispering soothing words to get it to stop.

Kain lifted his chin. “I won’t die, but this is the end of the discussion.”

Trigger threw a knife at Kain’s head, but one of his shadow beasts caught it before it landed. “You stubborn bastard. Those shadows are the only thing that Lucifer is scared of. He won’t hesitate to kill us if you die.” His words might have sounded uncaring, but his tone was full of the fear of losing his brother. My chest hurt from their fear seeping into the bond.

Kain stubbornly crossed his arms, lifting his chin high. “And think how scared he’d be if I had full access to my shadows.” It was the final word. We all knew it, but we spent another thirty minutes arguing. I didn’t want to lose any of my mates, but it didn’t make sense to get rid of our most powerful weapon. My demon magic wouldn’t work on the Devil while he wore his amulet, and my Fae side wasn’t strong enough to take him on.

He didn’t care. Before long, the stubborn bastard laid on the bed, with some sort of gunk all over him. Trigger hovered over his prone body assessing his work.

“You ready?” Trigger asked as he lifted his hands. Kain’s only answer was hard glare. He was done with our shit.

“No one else move or breathe. I’m trying to not barf at this shit all over him.” Trigger gagged. For a guy that didn’t mind blood and guts during a hunt, he sure had a weak stomach for anything else.

He took a few deep breaths. The air around him crackled and his hair lifted into the air. His eyes grew brighter almost turning from the red color of his demon to a bright white. Trigger put his hand over Kain’s closed eyes, before he spoke. “ Aperi mentem et spiritum.”

His hands glowed with power. Slowly, the light escaped into the air and disappeared until only the tips of his fingers glowed. Light shot from Triggers fingers into Kain’s chest where his heart would be. Kain jolted each time, making me jerk with him. Eight fingers left, seven, six, five, four, and all three of the last fingers flashed, going dark.

A sharp intake of breath held me in its grip as if someone had me by the throat. More time passed without Kain moving. I licked my lips and stepped closer. A gasp escaped me, at the same time tears stung the back of my eyes. My throat closed up, and my mouth went dry.

His chest wasn’t moving.

“Come on. Come on,” I whispered to myself, hoping the Gods heard me.

“No, no, no, no, no.” Trigger shook his head and stepped away, but he went right back to his side. He rubbed his hands together as if to activate the magic again. His knees collapsed to the floor. “Please.”

Bones slammed his fist into the wall. “You stupid son of a bitch!” he bellowed at the dead man on the bed. My dead man. My mate.

“Kain?” My voice was a whisper. I couldn’t breathe as I stared at his body.

Trigger said another spell and Bones picked a fight with the building. He ducked and dodged the wall as it moved to hurt him back. It turned the floor into a waterbed, catching him in the chin. That was all background noise. Neither my eyes nor my soul looked away from Kain.

Too much time had passed. I had to do something. I jumped on the bed, dodging Alaric’s arms. He wanted to keep me away just in case, but I wasn’t having it. My mate was not dead. I refused to accept that.

I blew everyone away from me with my air magic without even meaning to, but they’d stop me. There was nothing else. Nothing else mattered.

I sent all of my energy into my hands. They glowed pink. My magic burned my palms it was so intense, I didn’t care. The pain was worth it.

“Ivy, the spells aren’t working.” Trigger tried to reason with me, but my brain barely registered him.

If magic alone wouldn’t work, I’d focus on his human basic needs. He needed to breathe. My hands went in the middle of his chest. They still glowed, but it didn’t stop me from giving him CPR.

Over and over, I pumped on his chest.

On and on I went. Nothing else had my focus. I never stopped moving.

My whole body screamed at me to stop, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t give up on him. Not my mate. He was not leaving me after I finally got them back. I might have blacked out while still doing chest compressions because when I came back to my mind, Dex was giving Kain air.

“Ivy, it’s been ten minutes. He’s gone.” Alaric was at my side, feeding me his energy. I couldn’t stop. There was no way my body would let me.

Tears blurred my vision, but the arms that reached for me ended up slammed against the wall. I was fucking feral. My fangs lengthened. A roar escaped me that rattled the bed. Before, I could second guess myself, I plunged them into Kain’s neck. He glowed pink with my magic.

The moment his blood touched my lips, and my magic went into him through the bite, his chest lifted off the bed. His huge gasp of air was better than any heavenly bells ever could be. I poured the last of my energy into him, making sure he wouldn’t leave me again.

“Get her! Shit! She’s sacrificing herself!” Trigger shouted from the floor. He must have been the one I slammed into the wall.

Strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me away from my injured mate. My body was too heavy to do anything. “No!” I cried out. Everything screamed for me to thrash around and get back to Kain, but my body wouldn’t move. The tears soaked my face, and I didn’t hold them back. “I lost Kain.”

“Shh. No, you didn’t, my world. He’s alive.” Bones kissed me so gently that I barely felt it as the darkness took me. “You brought him back.”