by Nicole Hall
Sera whispered behind him. “Can you feel that too? It’s like what happened at Samhain. There must be another surge of power tonight.”
Ryan spoke over his shoulder, not ready to move forward. “Zee mentioned something about Yule coming up.”
Jake pointed past them at the opening. “Isn’t this Torix’s clearing?” They both gaped at Jake, and he shrugged. “I spent a lot of time creeping through the woods that night.”
Ryan wished he’d paid a little more attention when Zee had been talking about her research. He’d thought he’d been listening, but he couldn’t remember a single thing about those nights except that Zee fit really well against him.
“So we’ve returned to the scene of the crime.” Sera’s voice sounded strained, and he saw Jake drop a kiss at her temple in his periphery.
“It wasn’t your fault, Sera.”
“We’re here because I broke something the last time. Maybe I can help fix it.”
A golden glow started to emanate from Sera’s hands, but then sort of fizzled out. She gasped, and dread churned heavily in his gut. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her hands then looked at Jake with panicked eyes. “I can’t make my magic work. It’s still there, but I can’t touch it.”
Ryan could feel his own magic responding, and he had no problem accessing it. “Mine’s fine. Why wouldn’t the Wood seal me?”
Jake’s brows shot up. “You’re not Fae, or even half-Fae. Sera’s magic is different than yours, so maybe yours is allowed?”
Ryan gazed around at the trees that existed literally in the middle of nowhere, and considered their options. They didn’t know how to get back, and now Sera was effectively powerless. “Okay, you guys are now officially emergency backup. Keep your shields up and stay hidden unless it looks like one of us is dying.”
Sera’s face fell. “Yeah, sure.”
Ryan shared a look with Jake. Sera could be unpredictable, but he knew Jake would follow through. He wanted them safe.
The bond was stronger here, maybe because of the magic tingles, and he could sense Zee ahead of them. Probably in the clearing. He walked gingerly toward the opening in the trees, careful to stay in contact with Sera. Their muffled steps sounded loud to his ears, but as he got closer, he noticed that everything was muffled, like he’d changed altitude and needed his ears to pop.
They’d made it to the edge of the trees, but not into the open, when Zee spoke into his mind.
Go home.
ZEE
Zee knew the moment Ryan entered the Wood. She didn’t react outwardly because she didn’t want to draw Chad’s attention, but when he moved closer, she lowered her shields enough to send him a message.
Go home.
She didn’t know why Chad was there or how dangerous he was, and she didn’t want to be distracted if she needed to defend herself. Ryan was the ultimate distraction. She hoped he listened, but she wasn’t going to issue a second warning. Her shields closed tight, and she shifted to get a better view of whatever Chad was doing.
He smiled and patted the broken stone. When he’d entered the clearing, she hadn’t noticed any outward signs of his power, but now he practically glowed. She had to tread lightly because with that much magic at his disposal, he could be extremely dangerous.
Her people couldn’t normally wield elemental magic. The power was too volatile to be safe, and it had the potential to be addictive to the few who could access it. Chad had never given much respect to the rules and traditions of their people though. Case in point, he was kicking dirt back onto the stone instead of treating it with the reverence it deserved.
Zee wondered how long he’d been siphoning power out of the Wood directly instead of harvesting it from the trees. A new ache joined the others in her chest. Does Lana know? Have I been a fool all along?
Chad smirked as he brushed dirt off his hands and turned back to the trees. He must have been about done with his thievery, but Zee wasn’t ready to let him leave without some answers. Only Lana knew about her being sealed, so she could probably use Chad’s lack of knowledge to her advantage. She pulled her shoulders back and strode into the open.
“Hello, Chad.”
He jumped and spun around. “Zee? You’re back? What are you doing here?”
She managed to keep the smile off her face, but he wasn’t so confident anymore. “A better question is what are you doing here?”
His eyes darted right and left. “The Wood is acting strangely, so I came out here to see what I could find.”
He couldn’t lie any more than she could, but he could tell plenty of half-truths. She’d taught him that skill. She tilted her head and stepped closer. “That’s interesting. I’m here for the same reason.”
“Lana said your magic was sealed.” So much for her advantage.
She let a small smile surface. “Lana told me yours wasn’t. It’s odd though. Your magic seems to have changed since the last time I saw you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Maybe you’re not remembering right. It seems like you’ve had a lot going on lately. How is Ryan?”
She shrugged and feigned arrogance, though her heart beat loud and fast in her ears. He didn’t know Ryan watched from somewhere behind her in the trees, and he didn’t know that they’d cut all the ties they could. His wild jab happened to land in an open wound.
“I wouldn’t know.” She was growing weary of the thinly veiled back and forth. They could do this all day, but if the buzzing magic under her was any indication, they didn’t have that much time. Yule was approaching faster than she’d thought.
“I know you’ve been stealing elemental magic, Chad.”
Panic flashed across his face, but he didn’t give in to it. “It’s not stealing if it’s leaking out already.”
“Semantics. It’s not your magic, yet you’re brimming with it. How did you even find the break?”
His shoulders curved in, and he took a step back toward the trees. “You told me to come out here and renew the barriers. I was only a few days late, but they’d already been done. You could have told me that you’d already done it, you know. I tripped as I was leaving and landed on the stone. It wasn’t my fault that the magic was flowing in my face.”
“That was years ago. And you didn’t come tell me? Or Lana? You kept it a secret all this time…what, so you could get a little boost at the cost of the Wood? Why?”
He dropped the façade of subservience. “Because I don’t want to live the rest of my life trapped in that backwoods village. Some asshole used his power against humans a long time ago and I’m supposed to pay for it because I happened to be born here? What kind of bullshit is that?”
Zee spread her hands. “You never had to stay. There are other communities that would welcome you.”
He waved those aside. “None of them have Wi-Fi, not that it works here anymore. It doesn’t matter anyway. The crack kept getting bigger, so I could pull more out. After the Wood sealed everyone’s magic, I had to pull more so I could keep your people from starving. And now I’m the only Fae out here with magic, so it looks like I made the right decision.”
Sera’s relief that it wasn’t her fault burst out of the trees, and Zee nearly cursed aloud. Ryan brought back-up. Chad had noticed too. His head snapped up, and his gaze searched the trees behind her. Zee used a bit more of Ryan’s magic to gather the dirt and needles covering the stone into a mini tornado and sent them winging into the trees in the opposite direction of her friends.
“You’re not the only Fae out here with magic.”
Her gambit worked. Chad’s attention swung back to her. “What do you care? You got what you wanted.”
“I care because your selfishness is poisoning the Wood and starving our people.” She moved closer to him and gestured to the stone. “What was your plan when this broke completely? You can’t possibly hope to contain that much power.”
He shrugged. “Who cares? It’s not going to break any time soon.”
Zee had t
o take a second to center herself because his idiocy was making her feel particularly violent. “Everyone but you, apparently.” She squatted next to the stone and held her hand over it to judge the amount of damage he’d done.
As soon as she opened her shields to it, she could sense the elemental magic seeping out. It felt wrong though. She dug her other hand into the earth next to the stone and searched for the difference. The power under her was clean and strong, but the power coming through the crack in the stone was tainted. Chad shuffled closer, and Zee sent him a warning look. His hands were in the pockets of his pants, but his gaze was locked on the stone.
“We need to cleanse and close it.” Zee had her suspicions about what was wrong with the stone, but without more power, she couldn’t confirm them. Ryan had ignored her order to leave, but he hadn’t barged into the clearing yet. With her shields lowered significantly, she was getting snippets of his mind. Anger that she’d come on her own. Worry that something would happen to her. An occasional flash of her facing off against Chad. The constant images disconcerted her, and made her glad she hadn’t taught him how to speak to her mind yet.
Noticeably missing was the intent to protect her from himself. That had shifted to the intent to protect her from everything else. She wondered what had changed during the course of the day.
Zee focused so heavily on Ryan’s mind and the power running through the stone that she almost missed Chad pulling the knife from his pocket. He slashed it near her face, and Zee tumbled back away from him and the stone.
“We’re not closing shit.”
Ryan came barreling out of the trees, but she pulled hard from him. He stumbled, and Zee sent him an apology as she flung a spell at Chad. He flinched as it hit his shield, but instead of falling to the ground stunned, he grinned and took a step closer.
“Looks like someone found their own magic battery. Pretty ballsy of you to preach at me about stealing from the Wood when you’re stealing from him. At least the Wood doesn’t feel it.”
Zee stood, and the mystery suddenly became clear. The Wood wasn’t sentient, but it wasn’t inanimate either. Chad had taken a minor wound that probably would have healed itself like Lana had said and made it a thousand times worse with his magic. Fae magic. The Wood was responding by trying to eliminate the threat. That’s why it had sealed all the Fae magic but not the other types, and why the confluence for the sprites had disappeared. The Wood was trying to protect itself.
They had to heal the injury.
Chad stood in front of the stone, holding the knife loosely in one hand. She recognized it as the one Lana had given him years ago. The rowan wood handle had worn smooth with time, and the blade, roughly the length of his hand, curved to a wicked point. He balanced on the balls of his feet, and Zee knew his skill with that particular weapon. She wished again for her leather armor.
Ryan caught up to her alone, and Zee spared him a glance. He was pale, but steady. She could still sense Sera and Jake in the trees, but if she wasn’t mistaken, Jake was doing everything in his power to hold Sera back. Surprisingly, Sera let him.
To Ryan’s credit, he didn’t try to shove her behind him, though she could feel how much he wanted to. She dropped the shields between them and was startled to find that he was braced for her to use more of his magic, even if it brought him to his knees. Even more shocking was the way he held himself wide open to her. The bond swelled with warmth and love.
Zee let the emotions wash over her, a balm to her battered heart.
She wouldn’t reach for him physically, Chad might see that as a potential weakness, but she let him feel how much he meant to her. Let him see that she’d come into the Wood for him. If Chad had paid more attention in training, he would have easily been able to spot their distraction and make use of it. For once, Zee appreciated his lazy work ethic.
With the bond fully open, she shared her plan with Ryan.
Chad shifted his weight slightly left, more to Ryan’s side. The asshole assumed Ryan was the bigger threat. Zee wanted so badly to prove him wrong, but if they were to help the Wood before the full influx of magic from Yule, Ryan would need all of his power. She dropped her pack at her feet and decided to give Chad one more chance.
“You don’t have to do this, Chad. We can fix this.”
He laughed. “I don’t see anything that needs to be fixed.” He’d made his choice. Very well.
“Okay then, see if you can keep up.” She released all but a tiny bit of magic back to Ryan and used that bit to boost her speed.
Chad flipped the knife to a reverse grip and swung out wide, quicker than she remembered. She leaned back to avoid the blade and used his opening to kick him in the stomach. He grunted, but absorbed the impact and brought the knife down fast. Zee narrowly avoided being stabbed and slid back to sidestep around him.
He moved with her, but stayed stubbornly over the stone. She closed again, low, ready for the strike. He was skilled, but predictable. Another swing, and she blocked and trapped his knife arm. Zee pivoted intending to disarm him and toss him into the dirt, but a blast of magic against her back dislodged her grip and knocked her forward.
She rolled with the force and hopped back onto her feet. Chad smirked, but he’d moved away from the stone. Behind him, Ryan got close enough to touch it and started channeling his magic through the edges of the tear. Elemental power was building and putting pressure on the crack though. Ryan would need more time.
“Too afraid to fight me without magic?” she taunted.
Chad scoffed. “I’m not stupid. You’re gimped right now, otherwise I’d already be unconscious. But yeah, fighting you with magic…that’s a great idea.”
She dove to the side as the knife zipped past her wrapped in his magic. It spun neatly and tried to impale her again as it flew back to him. Instead of dodging, she reached out and grabbed the knife out of the air. The second her fingers wrapped around the hilt, she realized her mistake.
The knife had been a distraction.
Chad’s arms wrapped around her middle and his weight drove her into the ground. They hit hard enough to knock the breath out of her. His hands locked around her wrists and squeezed. Zee could sense Ryan’s anger at Chad, but he didn’t waver from his work. He believed absolutely that she’d handle Chad, and healing the wound in the nexus needed his full attention.
In a slightly more advanced move than the ones she’d showed her class, Zee twisted her wrists and brought her elbows tight against her body. Chad followed, unwilling to let go, and she slid a leg between them to kick him off of her.
He lost his grip as he tumbled to the side. She jabbed the knife out toward his stomach, but he pulled his shield up in time for it to deflect harmlessly. As long as he was using the elemental magic from the Wood to reinforce his shields, she couldn’t do any damage. Zee leapt to her feet as a flood of frustration slammed into her from Ryan.
She forced herself not to look at him, but her mind busily scrabbled to find the source of his impediment. Her connection with Ryan allowed her to scan the break, and she found a small spell, hidden among the rushing currents, holding it open. Ryan’s confidence wavered and his fear rose. She could feel the Wood beginning to reach out for him. Without faith, the Wood would see Ryan’s magic as another irritant.
There’s another spell in the way. You have to remove the block first. Like you did with me. I can’t defeat Chad without you. You have to fully embrace your magic, Ryan. Anything less and the Wood will seal you too.
Ryan’s concentration faltered, and Zee knew full well what she’d just told him. She’d given him a choice between getting his most fervent desire or her. He didn’t hesitate. A surge of magic pushed through the blocking spell, and a thought like a caress touched her.
Love, overwhelming in its chaos, engulfed her for a moment, and Chad moved closer in her distraction. He used his magic to yank the knife from her grip and into his hand. With blinding speed, he ripped a gash across her upper arm.
Zee hissed
in pain, as her blood flew out in an arc from the tip of the knife. She brought her other arm up to block the second swing which left another long slice on her forearm. Rage from Ryan pounded into her at about the same time he tackled Chad and Jake and Sera erupted from the trees.
Chad didn’t seem to notice them. Or he didn’t think two humans were much of a threat. Probably the second. Zee felt Sera pull on her magic but nothing happened. Unfortunately, if the Wood had sealed Sera, Chad was right. They weren’t a threat.
Zee sent a message to both Jake and Sera as she sprinted toward Ryan and Chad. Stay back until the last second. When the Wood is healed, you’ll get your power back. Throw a shield around Ryan as fast as possible.
She didn’t wait to see if they listened. The two men grappled back a few steps then Chad tossed Ryan over his hip. Zee cursed as fear surged through her. The bond assured her he was alive, but he wasn’t moving.
Ryan, you need to get up. Finish healing the Wood. No matter what happens, finish it.
Chad grinned at her and spun the knife in his hand. “Your boy toy is out of practice.”
“I’m not.” Zee came at him with a high kick he easily dodged, but it worked to back him further away from the stone. Fury and determination powered her. Without sucking Ryan’s magic away to use as a shield, she needed to keep Chad’s dagger out of arm’s reach. And he sure as hell wasn’t getting close to Ryan again.
Blood dripped down her arms, and the cuts ached, but the elemental power under her was building to a crescendo. Move, Ryan!
Ryan groaned from the ground, but he crawled over until he crouched over the stone again. Zee felt the magic begin to flow, but she didn’t take her focus off of Chad this time. They circled each other, feinting and testing.
“You put a spell in the break to hold it open. All of this is your fault.” Zee only needed to keep him occupied a tiny bit longer but his sly smile put her on edge.