Alpha Asher
Chapter 231

It was terrifying how easy it was to use my magic now. A single thought woven with intention, entwined with a thread of energy, and reality itself bent beneath my hands.

Holly and I left the garage, walking through the kitchen and into the living room where everyone had gathered. Breyona was talking animatedly to Mason and Clara, while the two Vampire's standing close by watched with interest. Dad and Asher had come back inside and were now sitting on the sofa still deep in Conversation.

Asher's head snapped up, his eyes locked on my face as Holly, and I entered the room. There was no dark light of suspicion in his eyes, only exhaustion and endless love. He opened his muscular arms and I stepped into them, my breath catching as I waited for what might happen

next.

What my mate didn't know was that the girl he held in his arms wasn't real.

Through one of the many living room windows, Holly and I watched the illusion I crafted unfold.

Everything, from the stitching on our clothes to the part of Holly's hair, was a product of my magic. I'd taken the extra precautions to make the illusion tangible on the off chance someone was to reach out and touch one of us. Nothing would blow our cover like a hand passing through our arm or torso, proving we were made of nothing more than mist and magic.

It took seconds to conjure up two clones of us, to slip through the front door without a single person in the house noticing. Without Rowena's cursed amulet around my neck, it was all too easy.

"It's a little unsettling, isn't it? Seeing yourself from a distance." Holly murmured in a low voice, even though it wasn't needed.

Another droplet of magic and any sound we made was undetectable. The Shadows themselves cloaked us outside, obscuring our forms from the window we stood in front of.

I couldn't bring myself to answer her. Guilt ran rampant in my ch3st the longer I looked at Asher. He and Breyona were talking to me-to the illusion.

Their lips moved, but I didn't dare tune into what they were saying.

Forcing myself to turn away, to go against my family and friends, was the hardest thing I'd ever done. It made every breath I took sting in my lungs, but I couldn't-wouldn't lose anyone else. If this power I had was so incredible, then there was no reason I couldn't do this on my own. "Let's go. We're wasting time and I need to make a pit stop."I ushered Holly away from the window, compelling the Shadows to follow.

We jogged around to the front of the house, going down the driveway to where Tristan had parked the sedan. A tiny push of magic and the engine rumbled to life. With betrayal roaring in my head, an acrid backdrop to the song the dark magic whispered in my veins, Holly and I peeled out of the driveway and into the night.

Neither of us spoke, but I gathered she was nervous by the way she tapped out a hasty rhythm on the armrest, eyes scanning the passing forest.

Peeling down the back roads brought up a time when I'd been afraid of driving. I wasn't sure when that fear had subsided, but at this very moment, I felt absolutely nothing. Blame it on the icy kiss of dark magic, or the fact that I'd been maxed out with my brother's death, but it was a break I had longed for.

How long do we have to do this?" Holly asked, her voice soft as it peeled past the layers of darkness.

The backroad we coasted down widened as we drew closer to town. Businesses began to pop up, their windows darkened, and open signs flipped to closed.

Most of the parking lots were empty, except for the one I was looking for.

"Without me there to control them, the illusions will slowly unravel. I'd say we have an hour tops."

There was no way for me to actually know this, yet I did. The answer came in the form of a kick to the gut, an eerie feeling that smacked me upside the head and demanded I listen.

I made it to my first and only pit stop within ten minutes, swinging into a bay before putting the car in park.

"Lola, why are we here? Holly craned her head to stare out the window, a strange note of suspicion plaguing her voice. Her brows were furrowed when she finally turned my way.

Again, I didn't respond. She knew why we were here and what my plan was. I wasn't going to waste the time answering.

Be back in five." I turned away, closing the driver side door.

With a single thought the air around me folded, weaving itself over my body and erasing my form from view. To Holly, it would look like I had vanished in thin air, but I was still very much present.

An iridescent film of magic only I could see floated in front of my face, encasing my body in a cocoon of energy.

Without looking back, I strolled into the Hospital through the ambulance's bay doors, one step closer to bringing my brother home.

Nurses flitted by left and right, a sea of colorful scrubs that blurred as they passed. There weren't any more than a dozen, and while they moved with purpose they lacked that sense of urgency present when someone was teetering on the cusp of death. It seemed it was a normal night for them. For me, it was anything but.

Not a single one of them looked my way. Mots of them chatted as they walked, slinging medical phrases i didn't know the meaning to. More than once I had to move out of the way to avoid running into one, but I doubt they would've noticed if I had.

Even the nurses sitting behind the main desk failed to notice me pass. As for the badge I snagged, one of them would be missing that, but they'd most likely chalk it up to a case of forgetfulness.

Five minutes would pass, and they'd replace it in the exact spot I'd swiped it from.

The morgue itself was cold, but not nearly as cold as my hands. By the time I made it to where Sean was being kept, that iciness had injected itself into my veins and traveled to the rest of my body, encasing me in frosty stone.

When I pulled his body out of the cooler, my first urge was to drink him in. To stare at the face I'd grown up besides, to think about how much it had changed during his progression from boy to man.

I didn't give myself so much as a second, because this -this wasn't the end.

Getting into the Hospital was the easy part.

Escaping, now that was a bit harder. With another speck of magic, any sound I made was silenced.

Making sure I didn't run any nurses down with the giant metal cart I pushed, that was the hard part.

I did wind up clipping a few with the corner, but the most they did was hiss in pain and turn to see nothing but empty hallway, before going back to their jobs.

Fvck, Lola. Don't tell me that's what I think it is."

Holly squeaked as I approached the car, slapping a hand over her mouth. She fumbled to get her seatbelt off, though I wasn't sure why.

I was too Wrapped up in sliding Sean's body onto the backseat to notice that Holly had cursed for what was most likely the first time in her life. Once I got him situated, I slammed the door shut and climbed into the driver's seat. Holly was turned in my direction, her eyes wide with some vagrant emotion

I didn't care to process.

Once again, we drove in silence. This time around, it was thick with tension. Nearly a dozen times Holly would open her mouth only to snap it shut, never once saying anything.

What was there to say, after all? She knew my plan and had even offered her blood to help. There was no backing out now. Not for me, not for her. Hell, not for any of us.

All I needed was a patch of land directly under the full moon. I didn't drive far before replaceing the perfect spot. A cut out alongside the main road wouldn't even garner attention for most. It was unimportant, an easy detail to overlook. For me, it was everything I needed and more. "Help me with his body." I told Holly, barely waiting to put the car in park before jumping out.

She twiddled with her fingers, once again opening, and closing her mouth. I guess she could tell I meant business because with one look at the expression on my face, she snapped out of her stupor.