Eclipse Sector (V-Clan #3)

38. Ivana

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

IVANA

“We should open the door,” Quinn said suddenly.

“What?” I asked her, startled by her suggestion.

“It’s too dark in here.”

“We’re wolves. We can both see just fine,” I reminded her. “And the power will be back on any minute, right?” That was what she’d told me after the initial electrical surge. But ever since that had happened, she’d seemed a little off.

Which was how I’d noticed the mysterious fog clouding her mind.

Just like with Grey.

And Granger.

Cillian, Quinn wants to open the door.

Absolutely fucking not, he hissed back at me via our bond. There are several hostiles on their way up, including Granger.

I’m not so sure he’s a hostile, I told him, frowning. I… I don’t know what he is.

A dead wolf, Cillian informed me. That’s what he is.

Just hold your judgment until I figure out the source ? —

“Quinn,” I hissed out loud, abruptly ending what I’d been mentally saying to Cillian. She’d stood up and was near a panel by the metallic barrier.

“We need to leave,” she told me flatly.

“We need to stay right here,” I growled at her, pushing away from my chair to meet her at the panel. I gently moved her hands away from it and focused on her mind, trying again to track the source of the strange fog. The power had thickened, creating a murky layer that hummed with electrical undercurrents.

Who is doing this to you? I wondered as I unwound the strands again.

She blinked. “What’s happening to me?”

“Someone is… I don’t know how to describe it. Compelling you, maybe? Or forcing you to believe false information?”

“Like how I should open the door?” she asked.

“Yeah, like that,” I muttered, capturing the cloud forming in her head and blowing it away with my mind before it could latch on.

Then I jolted as that fog came at me, trying to fuss with my own sense of right and wrong.

I don’t think so, I thought at it, throwing up a mental wall to keep it from clouding my judgment.

Electricity zipped down my spine, the magic intensifying as the psychic energy demanded that my barrier crumble.

“Oh,” I breathed, my palm slamming against the wall as my knees threatened to buckle.

Cillian said something, but I couldn’t hear him, my mind fighting to protect itself from any and all intrusions.

Only one Alpha could make me submit, and he wasn’t the owner of this intrusive power. This manipulative cloud. This compulsive nonsense.

Back off, I growled at it, my mental barrier vibrating with resistance. Determination. An unwillingness to bow.

I gasped as the power hit me again, this time like a blade to my head, stirring an ache I felt to my very soul.

But my shield held.

It didn’t even crack.

Or had it?

I… I wasn’t sure.

The world felt dark.

Unfamiliar.

Cold .

Why am I so alone here?

I shivered, my eyes blinking into the inky night. What happened? Where am I?

Ivana! Cillian shouted, making me blink.

Cillian?

Fuck, Vana. Come back to me, macushla. Fight!

I frowned. Fight what?

But in the next instant, I felt it. That oppressive presence. The power that had blasted through my mental blocks, threatening to take control of my mind. No!

The black curtain fractured, then detonated into a pile of obsidian blocks.

And my sight returned.

I was still in the room with Quinn.

But she was trying to open the door again, her fingers flying over the panel keypad.

I caught her wrist, yanking her back just as a click sounded.

“Quinn!” I shouted, both aloud and in her mind. Then I shoved that damning fog from her thoughts once more and sent it right back to the owner.

To the culprit outside.

Only, it wasn’t who I expected.

It… it wasn’t even an Alpha. But an Omega .

I felt her stumble. Heard her cry out in response. Then sensed her recharging to strike again.

However, this time I was ready. I caught her incoming assault with a mental fist and returned fire with her own power, pelting her mind and forcing her to her knees.

Then Cillian followed up with one of his psychic blasts, knocking the female out entirely.

A howl sounded, one that reverberated the very floor beneath me, as well as the walls around us.

That howl demanded attention. Required submission. Mandated respect.

King Kieran, I thought, trembling as he howled again with even more ferocity underscoring his roar.

I grabbed on to the nearby desk for support as the door to the safe room began to open.

I hadn’t stopped Quinn in time. She darted forward, intent on fixing it.

But it was too late.

The wall opened to reveal her bloody nest. Death littered the floor. And Grey stood on the other side, covered in the remains of the Alphas at his feet.

He growled, the rumble menacing in nature and causing Quinn to stumble backward several feet.

His eyes were pitch black, bloodlust painting his features in harsh lines. A Z-Clan Alpha in a rage, I thought, swallowing.

I’d heard rumors of their kind, knew them to be brutal and cruel. But in a blink, Grey’s irises turned back to their icy color, and his expression marginally softened.

Cillian shadowed into the room, his dark clothes stained with evidence of his fight, his hands covered in blood. But that didn’t stop him from grabbing me by the nape and yanking me into his hard form. His mouth crashed down on mine in the next instant, his kiss hungry and demanding and confusing .

There was a battle going on.

A war raging all around.

And he was kissing me like he fully intended to fuck me right here, in Quinn’s ravaged nest.

By the time he finished, I could hardly breathe, my body and mind so utterly consumed by him that I was starting to question my own reality.

Only then did he say, “Gods, I love you.” He nipped at my bottom lip before I could return the sentiment, then started pulling me out into the hallway where Quinn was waiting.

Grey was nowhere in sight.

Another howl bounced off the wall, an Alpha calling his pack to the center. It was loud. Intense. And had my knees threatening to buckle again.

But a purr from Cillian held me steady, his fingers lacing with mine. “We need to go to Kieran.”

Quinn was already walking that way, her steps not nearly as wobbly as my own. Maybe because it was her mate releasing that sound. Or perhaps it was because her power rivaled his own. She was our Queen for a reason.

When she reached the stairwell, she paused. “Where are all the bodies?”

I wasn’t sure what she meant until we reached the same point and I saw all the blood smearing the walls. My eyes widened. Was this you?

Yes, Cillian confirmed. “I shadowed the unconscious Alphas out to the street for Cael to hold. The dead ones were dropped in a pile next to Tadhg.”

I swallowed. “And where’s Tadhg?”

“On his knees outside,” Cillian replied. “Kieran is making a statement. One that doesn’t require words.”

Quinn visibly shivered, her pupils dilating in response to Cillian’s comments. Whatever Kieran was doing, she no doubt felt it. And the slight curve of her lips told me she approved.

Where’s the Omega? I wondered.

Sylvia’s unconscious, he replied, making me freeze mid-step.

“ Sylvia ?” I repeated aloud, causing Quinn to falter as well. “The one with the compulsion power is Sylvia ?”

His jaw clenched as he nodded. “Yeah.”

“How is that possible?” Quinn demanded. “She’s from the Sanctuary.”

“How long has she been there?” he asked. “Is she a more recent addition? Do you know where she came from?”

“I…” She trailed off, frowning. “Jas vetted all the Omegas. She just re-vetted them recently, after everything that happened with Fritz.”

Cillian nodded. “And she probably assumes she vetted Sylvia. That’s what Sylvia would have forced her to believe.”

Quinn’s jaw clenched, her gaze hardening as she resumed her trek down the stairs. Only, she wasn’t stepping now so much as marching.

“But Sylvia was drugged, too,” I said, frowning. “Why would she drug herself?”

“To have access to Blood Sector,” Cillian replied. “Access to Kieran and Quinn. To their powers. Their minds .”

My eyes widened. “Oh, shit.”

“And then Granger dosed everyone else with the same serum to create a distraction. He slipped it into the refreshments Cael and Dixon were handing out after Sylvia’s attack.”

My eyes widened even more. “I helped distribute that drink.”

“You had no way of knowing, Vana.”

“Yeah, this is not on you,” Quinn echoed. “This… this is about them .”

Her stomping grew even louder, her anger a palpable presence that had me wincing. Pregnancy emotions were… intense. However, I shared those emotions right now.

Because I’d helped Granger.

Unknowingly, yes.

But that didn’t change what had happened.

“What was the point of it all?” I wondered out loud. “Why did they drug us?” Because they clearly hadn’t benefited from the “estrus party” they’d created; it’d started after we’d arrived in Blood Sector.

“They originally planned to attack us while we were all busy taking care of the Omegas in heat—but Ashlyn did something to stop them. I don’t know what yet, just that she’d posed a problem that required their plans to shift.”

“You gathered all of this from Sylvia’s mind? Or Granger’s?”

“Both,” he replied. “And Tadhg’s thoughts have confirmed some of it as well.”

“I’m going to enjoy watching Kieran kill Tadhg,” Quinn seethed. “But Sylvia is mine to handle.”

“It’s possible she’s still a victim here,” Cillian hedged. “From what I saw in Granger’s mind, Tadhg groomed her to become his personal weapon, one he deploys at will.”

“But… but how did he know to send her to the Sanctuary?” I asked. “You all didn’t share information on it until recently, right?”

Cillian’s jaw clenched. “The shadow organization Cael and Grey mentioned has clearly been aware of the Sanctuary for quite some time, but they haven’t known how to get through the barrier. They set Sylvia up as bait, and potentially others, too.”

Quinn snarled at that, her boot landing hard on the final step before reaching the main floor. Had she been wearing heels, she probably would have broken one with that final stomp.

“So the slave trade is true,” I whispered.

“Yes,” Cillian muttered. “Definitely true.” His annoyance trickled through our bond. Not annoyance at the existence of such a concept—Omega slaves were nothing new in our world—but annoyance at not having known about this particular agency.

Whoever they were, they had excelled at keeping their existence a secret for a very long time.

And that concerned Cillian.

It concerned me, too.

Swallowing, I followed him and Quinn out of the building to the massacre outside.

There were Alphas and Betas everywhere, most kneeling with their heads bowed, others unconscious on the street, and a handful of them standing with their attention focused on Kieran.

Well, not quite focused.

No one was meeting his gaze directly.

Only Cillian seemed capable of that, and even he winced a little at the power pouring off Kieran’s vibrating form.

It was impressive.

Almost as impressive as Benz being among the standing Alphas. He was the only Beta not kneeling in submission. His turquoise gaze met mine, relief shining bright in the depths of his eyes. I returned the look and gave him a little nod. It felt like a million years since I’d last seen him. There was so much to say, to catch up on.

Later, I thought, knowing Benz would understand even though he couldn’t hear me. The telepathy gift was clearly one I hadn’t inherited through my new bond to Cillian. I wasn’t upset by that. Mind reading was… enough.

Kieran took one look at Quinn and held out an arm, his unspoken command clear.

She went to him with confidence fueling her steps and slid right into his side. His opposite hand came over to palm her protruding belly, his growl softening to a subtle purr.

At least until he looked down at Tadhg’s bald head.

The Alpha was on his knees like several others, but the way his body twitched and pulsed told me he hadn’t taken that position willingly. Everyone else seemed to be kneeling out of respect. But not Tadhg. He was being held there by Kieran’s will.

Grey shadowed in a hairsbreadth of a moment later, holding an unconscious Sylvia in his arms.

He slowly and gently set her on the ground, his Alpha instincts taking over when it came to handling someone so much smaller than him.

That same kindness didn’t exist inside me.

When I looked at Sylvia, I saw a traitor. A villain. Someone who had fucked with the minds of others all for some unknown gain.

Except Cillian’s words from a few minutes ago whispered through my mind.

It’s possible she’s still a victim here.

Possible, perhaps. But her power hadn’t felt all that innocent. It’d felt purposeful. Intrusive. Deadly .

“Prince Tadhg of Alpha Sector, you and your cohorts have committed the highest level of treason today,” King Kieran announced in a voice that carried for miles, his Alpha prowess in full force “There will be no trial. No pleading your case. The lives of you and your co-conspirators are forfeit.”

He paused, like he was waiting for anyone to try to argue.

But all Tadhg did… was laugh .

The rumble of sound seemed to rival King Kieran’s, the mocking tone traveling for miles.

“You’re a fool,” Tadhg gritted out.

“I’m a fool?” King Kieran repeated, canting his head to the side in a manner that came off as far too threatening to be innocent.

“You’re all fools,” Tadhg reiterated. “Ask Grey. He knows.”

The Alpha in question glared, his eyes darkening to the same shade I’d seen when leaving the safe room. But he didn’t make a sound. Didn’t utter an explanation. Just stared down at Tadhg with such immense hatred that it left no question as to whether or not these two had history.

Tadhg’s head jerked as he fought whatever control Kieran had exuded over him, and managed a glance up at Grey. “You just keep your relics, don’t you? First Nikiski. Now Ashlyn.” He huffed another laugh. “You just keep failing your Omegas, don’t you, Grey?”

Grey’s fists clenched at his sides. “ Where is my sister?”

“So you choose her over Ashlyn, then?” Tadhg taunted. “Your own blood over a potential mate? I’ll be sure to let her know your choice.”

A growl left Kieran. “You won’t be letting anyone know anything.” A wave of power slammed down on the prince in the street, causing his neck to strain and his jaw to clench as he snarled in response.

“Where is she?” Grey demanded, taking a step forward. “Where the fuck did you leave her?”

Blood trickled from Tadhg’s mouth, the weight of Kieran’s energy seeming to act as a physical blow. “I dropped her in Kodiak Sector,” he gritted out. “That meddling little bitch is no doubt dead by now. Good fucking riddance.”

Grey stared at him for a long moment, his expression seeming to smooth out, all signs of his fury dying as he shifted his focus away from Tadhg to Prince Cael.

He stood on the sidelines, arms folded with a shoulder braced against a building wall. He was the epitome of boredom. Yet I could feel the presence of his gift all around us.

Cillian had said he’d dropped all the Alphas off for Prince Cael to hold.

I now understood what that meant.

He seemed to have them all under his mental fist, holding them in a way similar to how King Kieran imprisoned Tadhg now.

“That final note was never for Cillian or Ivana; it was for me,” Grey said, making me frown.

“What final note?” Cillian asked before I could voice the same question.

“The one about our pasts making us stronger and remembering that I’m not him.” Grey looked at Cillian. “That post-postscript was for me. And now I know where Ashlyn is.” He looked down at Tadhg. “Thank you. You’ve been most helpful.”

With that cryptic comment, he disappeared.