Run To Earth (Power of Four) (29 page)

Kyran didn’t say anything. He looked to Aaron who stared back at him.

“I’d better go and get my things,” Aaron said.

“Wait.” Kyran held out a hand. “Won’t it be...easier if you...stay here?”

Aaron blinked at him. “What?”

“I’m just saying,” Kyran replied. “We’ll need to train quite a lot and if we’re in the same cottage, we can work till late or get up early.” He shrugged. “It’s up to you. If you want your own place it’s cool. I just thought it’d be simpler than going up and down the street at all odd hours of the day.”

Aaron turned to Jason. “If Kyran’s okay with it, then I don’t mind staying at his place. I’ll check with Sam and Rose, but I reckon they’d want to stay here too.”

Kyran smiled and ducked his head, hiding his grin.

Jason stared at Aaron. “So, yeh dinnae wannit?”

“No.” Aaron smiled. “But thank you.”

“Nae bother,” Jason replied. “I jus’ wish I hadnae spen’ t’ree days sortin’ the dam’ p’ace for yeh.”

“I’m sorry,” Aaron called as Jason walked away, shaking his head. “Sorry, Jason.”

Aaron followed Kyran inside and hurried to his room to find Rose already there, sitting on the bed, head lowered over a book.

“Hey,” he greeted her. “Guess what? Jason just told me he had a house ready for us to move into, but Kyran insisted we stay here. How weird is that?” He chuckled, unbuttoning his shirt, swapping it for a clean one. “I told Jason we’d stay here – figured we’re settled, anyway – but if you and Sam want to move I can talk to Jason and we’ll move.” He looked over at Rose to see she hadn’t moved or reacted to him. She was staring at the book, completely engrossed. “Rose? You heard what I said?”

Rose didn’t reply.

“Rose?”

Aaron fastened his last button and walked over to sit next to her. Only when the bed dipped with his weight did Rose lift her head to look at him.

“Aaron?”

“Yeah?” Aaron replied. “What’s wrong, Rose? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

Rose shook her head. “It’s worse than that,” she replied.

Aaron’s gaze darted to the book. “What is it?”

Rose licked her lips, looking uncertain as to how to start the conversation. “You...you said you saw that...that map thing in the Hub?”

Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Yeah.”

“What...what was the name of the zones? The ones without the Gates?” she asked.

“Hadrian’s zones,” Aaron replied.

Rose glanced down at her book before looking up at Aaron again. “I thought that’s what it was,” she said. “I was hoping I was wrong, but I remembered Ella mentioning the name Hadrian.” She looked at Aaron. “They told you Hadrian was a demon, right?”

“Yeah,” Aaron replied.

“You sure?” Rose asked. They used the actual words ‘Hadrian is a demon’?”

Aaron furrowed his brow, thinking back to that day’s conversation. “Scott said Hadrian was the enemy and Ella said the ones who lived in Hadrian’s zones were demons,” he said. “So that makes Hadrian a demon, right?”

Rose shook her head. “The ones living in his zones may be demons, Aaron, but Hadrian’s not a demon.”

Aaron frowned. “How do you know that?”

Rose faltered before lowering her book and reading it out loud. “
The case gathered interest from all the cities across the realm. Everyone wanted to know the fate of Giovanni, for his crime was of such a nature it divided the mage community. Some wanted Giovanni to pay, others argued he had no choice but to commit the grave act to save his loved ones. But the fate of Perves Giovanni was to rest in the hands of the Elemental council.
” She looked up at Aaron and licked her lips again. “
James Avira, Christopher Adams, Neriah Afton...
” She paused before forcing out the last name. “
...and Hadrian Aedus.
”

Aaron’s eyebrows shot up, disappearing behind the stands of hair that fell across his forehead. “Hadrian Aedus?” he repeated. “Hadrian is a mage? He’s...he’s an Elemental?”

19

The Mage Who Fell

Aaron stormed out of the cottage, the book Rose had been reading clutched in his hand. He found Ella seated at the table, chatting with Ryan and Zhi-Jiya. Aaron raced to Ella’s side and slammed the book onto the table.

“Hadrian Aedus?” Aaron spat. “He’s a mage?”

Ella stilled. “What?” she asked, as if she didn’t understand the question.

“Hadrian,” Aaron repeated. “The enemy you lot are fighting, whose name is on the zones that have demons. He’s one of us?” he asked. “Hadrian’s an Elemental?”

Ella didn’t say anything, but her face rapidly paled.

“This fight,” Aaron went on, “between Neriah and Hadrian, over the zones. It’s a civil war?” He shook his head, green eyes bright with anger as well as disgust. “You lot are ripping apart your world and wreaking havoc on the human realm for what? A fight to put up Gates or a competition to see which mage is better?”

“It’s not like that,” Ella said. “It’s not a civil war, Aaron. Hadrian isn’t a mage, not any more.”

“What is he then?” Aaron demanded.

Ella paused. The two mages next to her shifted in their seats, looking away from one another. Ella seemed to gather herself and lifted her gaze to meet Aaron’s. “He’s a vamage.”

“A what?” Aaron asked.

Ella grimaced. “A vamage. A disgusting hybrid,” she said, “between a mage…” She faltered before pushing on. “…and a vampire.”

Aaron stilled, his narrowed eyes widened a little.

Zhi-Jiya silently got up, followed by Ryan. They left the table. Wordlessly Aaron sat down in the chair next to Ella. For long moments Ella didn’t speak. She seemed to be collecting herself.

“Hadrian Aedus,” she said quietly, “is known as the Mage Who Fell.” She paused before looking up, soft grey eyes squinting in the sunlight. “The mages are supposed to be an example of unity. So what do you do when one of your own turns on you?”

“What happened?” Aaron asked. “How did Hadrian go from being a mage to a...a vamage?”

Ella laughed a bitter, cold laugh. “If we could have the answer to that, we’d halve our problems.” She shook her head. “No one knows what happened. No one saw it coming. Hadrian was perfectly content one day, and the next he became worse than the things we hunt.” Ella turned to look at Aaron, her face taut with emotion, her eyes glistening. “Stories about Hadrian say he was brilliant – smart, powerful, driven. He was passionate about mages, about Elementals. Then one day he walked away. When he came back, he was no longer a mage.”

Aaron felt a prickle of fear race down his spine. “How did it happen?” he asked. “Was he attacked by a vampire?”

Ella scoffed. “Some say it was accidental, but they ignore the fact that a mage can’t be
accidentally
turned into a demon. They have to willingly give up their purity. Mages weren’t created to be demonic, Aaron. They don’t turn like a human would. The mage has to consent. They have to want to become something other than a mage, otherwise they would simply die.” She went quiet for a moment, collecting her thoughts. “Hadrian disappeared for a while. No one knew what had happened to him. When he came back, he was different. Quieter. He kept himself secluded. No one realised what had happened. No one picked up on it.” She took in a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. “Until Hadrian’s self resolve broke and he attacked. He killed James Avira.” She looked over at Aaron and added, “Skyler’s uncle.”

Aaron’s heart clenched in sympathy. No one deserved to have their family murdered, not even a git like Skyler. “That’s horrible,” he said.

“Horrible?” Ella stared at him. “Aaron, part of our bond as a mage is that we’re all linked to each other. That’s why we can’t kill each other. We can do what we like: stab, cut, shoot, hurt each other all we want, but we can never
kill
one of our own, except of course by the ritual but–”

“Wait, ritual?” Aaron frowned. “What’s the ritual?”

Ella closed her eyes and shook her head. “It’s...it’s disgusting. Trust me, you don’t–”

“Ella?” Aaron interrupted. “Please.”

Ella looked at him, holding his gaze until giving in with a resigned sigh. “You have to forge a special bullet,” she started, in a tone that told how revolted she was. “You then carve the name of the mage you want to kill into the bullet. Only at dusk, if the mage is shot in the spot between their eyes with the named bullet, will they die.” She shuddered. “You can imagine how many times that’s happened. No one has the courage to carve the name of their brother or sister into a bullet and then shoot them like that, no matter what.”

“So it’s all theoretical?” Aaron asked. “It’s never happened?”

Ella’s expression darkened. “It’s happened,” she admitted. “A few mages have been executed.” She shook her head. “But that’s got nothing to do with Hadrian,” she said. “He’s no longer a pure mage. He’s a vamage. His demonic power gave him the ability to kill another mage, to kill James Avira. You can’t understand how devastating that one death became for the mages. For the first time in our history, a mage – if only a partial one – took the life of another in such a way. This wasn’t a demon that crawled out of hell’s lap. This was one of our own who turned on us.”

“What happened then?” Aaron asked. “Hadrian ran?”

“No, Neriah caught him.”

Aaron could hear the note of pride in her voice. “Neriah?” he asked. “Neriah Afton?” At Ella’s nod, Aaron asked, “Is he your father?” He doubted it. Ella wouldn’t call her dad by his name.

“Uncle,” Ella replied. “Maternal.” Her expression grew solemn. “The only family I have left.” She paused for a moment before taking in a breath. “Neriah was too late to save James but he captured Hadrian after seeing what he had become.”

Aaron didn’t want to know what that discovery must have felt like. He imagined finding Sam or Rose as something else, something no longer human. He shuddered and pushed the thought out of his mind. “What did Neriah do?” he asked.

“What Hadrian deserved,” Ella replied. “He bound Hadrian’s powers, locked them deep within his core so he couldn’t use them.”

“Why didn’t he just kill him?” Aaron asked. “Hadrian was part demon, it wouldn’t be against the mage code to kill him.”

Ella paused. “No, it wouldn’t,” she agreed, “but Neriah couldn’t bring himself to kill Hadrian.” She looked down at the table. “You have to understand, back then when all the Elementals were together, it was like one big family. Neriah, Hadrian, James, your dad.” She looked over at him. “They were all like brothers. Hadrian had turned and killed James, but Neriah was still a mage and he couldn’t take his brother’s life.”

Aaron didn’t have any family other than his parents and Michael. Sam was the closest thing he had to a brother and he knew, without a shadow of a doubt, he wouldn’t be able to hurt Sam, no matter what. “So what did Neriah do?” he asked.

“He imprisoned Hadrian, foolishly believing he could cure him,” Ella said. “But Hadrian got away. For a few years he lay low, quietly building his own army. He lured mages to his side, turning them into this hybrid of mage and vampire. When he had enough by his side, he declared war on us.”

Aaron’s eyes wi
dened in realisation. “Hadrian’s zones,” he murmured. “That’s why they cause disasters in the human realm. It’s the vamages there that are using the power of the elements,” he said. “Because they’re still part mage.”

“Yeah, part mage and they use that part to their own disgusting advantage,” Ella said.

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

“Vamages can use elemental power as well as the demonic power they get from being part vampire.” Her lips curled in disgust. “The vamages can kill us, because their demonic power allows them to deliver a fatal blow, but their mage part protects them against our attacks.”

Horrible understanding filled Aaron. “They can kill us,” he said, “but we can’t kill them.”

“The only way is a Q-Zone,” Ella said. “Something that destroys anything left inside it.” A frustrated breath left her and she reached up to rub at her forehead, as if soothing a headache. “Problem is, the vamages know how a Q-Zone works. They were once mages themselves. They won’t fall for any of our traps.”

“So how do you destroy them?” Aaron asked.

“We don’t,” Ella admitted. “We drive them out of zones using our powers and, at times, outnumbering them.” She sighed. “Doesn’t always work, considering Hadrian’s army is growing day by day.” She let out a frustrated breath. “His own species of vamage is slowly taking over the world, invading zone after zone. Not to mention that Scorcher of his who’s burning this realm to the ground bit by bit.”

Scorcher. Aaron had heard that name before. He remembered it from the one and only Hub meeting he had attended.

“I don’t get something,” Aaron said with a frown. “How could Hadrian make his own army? How can he fight when Neriah bound his powers?”

“Hadrian doesn’t need his powers to turn mages into vamages,” Ella said. “He can do that with his charm alone. Hadrian derives his strength from his demonic part. He doesn’t fight mages – he can’t without his powers – but he has plenty of others to do his bidding.”

“But what does he want?” Aaron asked. “Why is he after the zones? Wouldn’t he be after Neriah instead?”

“Hadrian wants power,” Ella said. “It’s probably why he gave up his purity and became part vampire, because of the power it would reward him. But Neriah foiled his plan and took away his powers. So what does Hadrian do in return? Once he gets enough support, he starts tearing down the Gates and taking over the zones.” She shook her head. “Don’t you see it? He’s making this realm his kingdom to gain power. Destroying the human world is just a bonus.”

Aaron felt his stomach lurch with disgust. “What do the humans have to do with all this?” he asked. “Why is Hadrian involving them?”

“Because he’s a demon,” she said. “Demons feast on the innocent. They kill as many as they can: humans, mages – it’s all the same to them.” She paused, her face twisted in a mixture of anger and disgust. “But Hadrian’s gone a step further than demons.”

“What do you mean?” Aaron asked.

“Mages are all connected,” she repeated. “But even more so when we go into a realm that isn’t ours. When a mage goes to the human realm and uses their power, any other mage in the human realm will be able to feel it. They’ll know exactly where the other mage is and they’ll come to their aid.”

Aaron sat back as it finally made sense to him. That night, when he had inadvertently cracked open the ground to stop the car, his mum, dad and uncle Mike came to him, knowing exactly where he was.

“That’s how they knew,” he muttered under his breath.

Then another realisation came to him and it made Aaron’s breath choke in his chest. He turned to Ella with wide, fearful eyes. Ella nodded, reading the question from his expression alone.

“If a mage can feel another’s presence, then so can the vamages,” she said.

“Those...those men.” Aaron swallowed hard, trying to speak past his frantically beating heart. “The ones that came that night and attacked Mr and Mrs Mason. They...they were vamages?”

“You used your powers to save yourself and your friends,” Ella said. “Your parents felt your power but so did the vamages. That’s what they do, Aaron. They surf the human realm, just waiting for Hunters to slip up and use their powers, so they can either kill them or convert them. Humans marked by the Trace become visible to the vamages and so are found and killed.” She paused, regarding Aaron closely. “Your instinctual reflux gave your location away and the vamages came for you. Sam and Rose saw you using your power, so the Trace went on them. The moment they tried to run home, the vamages – being the disgusting cowards that they are – decided to attack the vulnerable humans instead of the mages present.”

Aaron already knew that the ones to kill Mr and Mrs Mason had come that night because of the power he had unleashed to stop the car. But he’d never thought he and those monsters could be connected like this. Never in his life did he think the cruel beings that killed his best friends’ parents were part mage.

Aaron rubbed at his head, turning to look away. His eyes widened when he saw Rose standing to the side. She must have followed him out of the cottage. Aaron stood up, staring at her. From the look of utter devastation on her face, she had heard every word.

***

Kyran placed the last bottle on the wall and stepped back. “Alright.” He rubbed his hands together. “Go for it.”

“I don’t know about this,” Aaron said.

Kyran turned to him. “Why?”

“I don’t feel comfortable.”

“Why not?”

Aaron turned to glare angrily at him, squinting in the bright sunlight. “Because it’s not me!”

Kyran chuckled and walked over to him.

“It is you,” he said, propping himself next to Aaron against the low wall. “It’s a part of who you are, deep down. You know that.”

Aaron shook his head, vehemently denying it. “
This
is not me!” He held out his hand, clutched around the silver pistol.

“Deny it all you want,” Kyran said. “But as it comes down to it,
this
,” he pointed to the gun in Aaron’s hand, “is in your blood. It’s who you are. Why you were created.” He smirked at Aaron. “Fighting it will only tire you. Fight
with
it, and it’ll bring you nothing but success.”