Page 80 of Assisting the Alpha
“Oh tremendously, yes. But she came up with a brilliant solution.”
I’m not sure I want to know, but I think I have to. “An experiment?”
“Theexperiment. She poured all of her money into it, every penny of the small inheritance she got. If it had worked, Mother would have had all of Aunt Wema’s power.”
“What, permanently?” I’ve never heard of anything like that before. The idea of stealing power from another magic-user is nauseating.
Nyoka nods, still pacing. “Yes, she was attempting to transfer Aunt Wema’s core into her.”
“Oh my goddess, that’s horrific.”
Nyoka stops pacing and stares straight at me. “Horrific? No, it was a stroke of genius. If Uncle Uba hadn’t gotten in the way, she might have succeeded.”
“Dad stopped the experiment? Wait… Fuck, Nyoka, is that how they died? It wasn’t a rogue group of shifters at all, was it?” That’s what I was told at the time, and I didn’t question it. Why would I?
Looking back, some out-of-towners killing my parents is unlikely given how powerful they both were, although it’s not impossible. I guess I just assumed they were tricked into letting their guard down. They both saw the best in people, so it was within the realm of possibility.
“No, of course not. The experiment went wrong. Mother couldn’t contain a sorcerer’s core in her body or a sorcerer’s power within her own core. All three of them died, but I wasable to transfer a small portion of your mother’s core into this.” Nyoka takes off one of his rings and holds it out to show me. “I must say, it’s been extremely beneficial over the years. Not a substitute for a sorcerer’s full core, of course, but it’s taken years to experiment with alternatives.”
I open my mouth but no words come out. I try to remind myself how to breathe.
My aunt killed my parents.
Nyoka has been carrying around a portion of my mum’s core.
Increasing his power.
Oh,shit.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
“Me?”
“The Nagual.” He has the power for it. That ring would provide him more power than a group spell worked with five mages. A power boost sufficient to work a sorcerer’s spell.
He slips the ring back on, that creepy smirk returning to his face. “Yes, Ayo. You see, Mother’s problem was that she jumped straight to the end goal without conducting any testing first. Now, not only do I know how to use a sorcerer’s power in conjunction with my own, but I’ve finally perfected how to incorporate another magic-user’s core. Admittedly it took a few tries to get right, but no matter. I’m ready to take your core just as soon as you recharge.”
He turns and strides out before I can formulate a response, which is probably just as well. I stare at the closed door, trying to wrap my mind around the horror of my cousin killing his own people simply to steal their cores for his own sick experiments.
Was this even about money? Or is he simply as jealous of my power as my aunt was of my mum’s?
I don’t know why he needs me to be at full power to rip out my core, but at least it buys me time, since he doesn’t knowabout connecting to ley lines. Because fuck, I have to get out of here. Before it’s too late.
Chapter Twenty-Three
ETHAN
“Got something,” Kit yells, plunging the chaos of the busy conference room into silence. “315 Kerscott Road. Vamp territory.”
Vittorio pulls out his phone and types rapidly. “I’ll send a scout.”
He’s already offered some of his people for any search and rescue we mount. While I’ve sent out a small preliminary search group to each area of the city, I’ve got most people combing the task force data for clues. Long experience has taught me that no matter how much I want to run out there and find Ayo, being smart is always quicker, even if it drives my wolf crazy to stay still in here instead of actively doing something.
I turn to my IT specialist. “Why there, specifically?”
Kit taps a couple of keys and their laptop screen displays on the screen on the wall. “I’ve got a deleted email from Irving McEwan to Nyoka querying rent being paid on that address, two weeks before he and Ayo were attacked behind Love Bites. There are a couple of follow-up emails where Nyoka tells him tojust pay it and Irving queries the address since it’s not in coven territory or the neutral zone.”
One of Teo’s people turns the laptop he’s sharing with Jet in my direction. “The task force have Irving’s tracking data from his phone for the week before he died. One of the locations he visited was that address. We hadn’t gotten that far through checking each location yet.”
