A sad and wistful expression crossed the spirit’s beautiful features. “The Water Elementals know we will likely suffer much loss, but what must be done, must be done.” She dropped into Silver’s hand a water-smoothed stone with a hole in the center, in a light shade of turquoise blue. “A hag stone for protection. Blue for hope and peace.”
Before Silver could say a word, the Undine stepped away and vanished into the pond. The splash of water sounded like a sob, and more tears trickled down Silver’s cheeks. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Fire swirled up out of the fog, rising and rising until it was over Silver’s head. Her heart beat faster as a Dragon’s head appeared in the flames. The Dragon was a deep crimson, its face all ridges and scales, its yellow eyes and features somewhat cranky looking.
“You call me, the most powerful Elemental, last?” The Dragon’s roar caused Silver to step back and her body to tremble. “You have been calling upon the Element of Fire much of late. We deserve far more respect.”
Silver fought back a small rush of fear. Fire Elementals were temperamental and demanding, and it was usually best not to call upon them too often. She lowered her eyes, before looking to him again. “You have assisted us in more ways than we can thank you for. We must call upon you again. Will you help us?”
The Dragon gave another growl and he flapped his wings in the fire. “Your requests are noble and shall be answered.”
Silver gave a tiny sigh of relief, but almost jumped when the Dragon breathed fire onto her outstretched palm. For a moment she feared the other three gifts would be charred, along with her hand, but the fire melted away and felt like no more than a warm breath upon her skin.
Except for a tiny flame that danced in her hand next to the other gifts. The small fire flickered in varying shades of red, but didn’t burn her palm.
“Close your hand,” the Dragon said, and she obeyed.
The flame snuffed out, but the moment she opened her hand again, the little fire sprang up. She smiled in delight.
“Flame for power and strength,” the Dragon said. “Red for protection.”
Silver bowed to the Fire Elemental. “Our thanks for this gift and for your assistance. For all you have done for witches and humans alike.”
The Dragon gave an arrogant toss of his massive head. “Now kick their scaly asses.”
Silver couldn’t help but laugh.
After Silver dressed, Hawk watched as she slid the Elementals’ gifts into her skirt pocket. His heart warmed as he took her hand and they walked away from the meadow, through the trees, and back toward the path.
Silver’s small hand felt good in Hawk’s, and he found himself squeezing her fingers tighter, not wanting to let her go. When he looked down at Silver, her smile was sunshine warming his soul, chasing away the graying evening. Guilt stabbed at him, that he should have any feelings at all for another woman when his heart had belonged to Davina.
Silver’s smile vanished and she went completely still, drawing him to a stop.
“They’re here,” she said, a heartbeat before rumbles rose out of the evening gloom.
Hawk released her hand. Grabbed the hilt of his sword and began to unfurl his wings. He had to protect Silver.
“I can take care of myself,” Silver said, as two Fomorii bounded out of the forest.
Hawk gave the D’Danann cry as his wings spread wide and he lifted himself into the air. With one powerful sweep, his blade met yellow scales, but bounced off the tough hide when he struck the demon’s collarbone. Hawk flapped his wings, grabbed his sword in both hands, and dove again for the snarling demon.
From behind him he heard Silver engaged in her own battle against the bastards. Her blue spellfire lit up the dusky evening, and her cries of anger met his ears. Heat raged through him that she was in danger. Godsdamn, he should have been more prepared.
He tasted anger, the lust of battle, and revenge on his tongue. He whirled in the air, dove again for the beast, and his sword clanged against the demon’s iron-tipped claws.
The Fomorii thrust itself upward in a powerful lunge. Its hot breath and rotten-fish stench blasted over Hawk. He flapped his great wings and dodged to the side, feeling the rush of air where the Fomorii had swiped with one of its claws.
Hawk swung his weapon at the demon’s neck again. The Fomorii raised one arm, blocking the lethal blow.
Hawk’s sword sliced through the demon’s arm. The limb flew onto the concrete where it crumbled into dust. Iron tips made a clattering sound as they came to a rest—all that remained of the demon’s claws.
The beast gave a bellow that echoed through the park. Black blood spurted from its stump.
In his fury and his desire to wipe out the miserable demon he was battling, Hawk made a miscalculation and dove too close to the beast.
Fomorii claws lashed out at Hawk. The iron-tipped claws caught his sword arm. Pain nearly blinded him, the iron immediately weakening him. Bone snapped and his agony doubled. His sword flew from his grip.
The yellow demon spun Hawk to the ground. He landed flat on his back. His head struck the hard ground and stars sparked behind his eyes.
As Silver launched another spellfire ball at the green multilegged demon she was battling, she saw Hawk driven to the ground.
“Hawk,” she screamed as the yellow Fomorii pinned Hawk’s wing beneath one massive paw.
Its other arm was a bloody stump. The demon lowered its head toward Hawk’s throat.
Hawk tried to flap his free wing and push the demon away with his good arm. “Run!” he said in a strangled shout.
He managed to wedge one booted foot between his and the Fomoiii’s body, keeping the demon from closing in on him. The claws of the beast’s remaining paw clenched into his sword arm and caused such searing pain, pain like he’d never felt before.
* * *
Silver dodged the green demon she’d been fighting and gathered a large ball of spellfire between her palms. Anger made her teeth clench. Rage made her blood boil. The magical fire surged hotter and hotter in her grip. Dark power flowed through her, into her hands, into the spell she commanded.
Her hair lifted off her neck.
Sparks traveled across her skin.
Still running, she flung the now-purple ball at the yellow Fomorii on top of Hawk.
Spellfire spread across the beast’s thick yellow hide in a wicked blue and purple glow. It snapped the beast’s head to the side but didn’t move it from atop Hawk.
Silver roared. Her entire world seemed to turn red and darken. That thing was trying to kill him—would kill him. Damn the demon to the depths of the world!
More fire blazed in her hands, deep purple, so dark it looked nearly black.
Her vision narrowed to nothing but the beast. She would destroy it. She would turn it to absolute ashes.
With a banshee’s screech, she hurled her ball of spellfire just as instinct made her dodge left. The green Fomorii charging her thundered by and collapsed in a tangle of its own legs and scales.
Her spellfire almost hit Hawk, but sizzled against the yellow Fomorii’s skin, brighter purple yet.
The power of the spellfire flung the beast back just enough that Hawk was able to draw his dagger. But the Fomorii pounced on Hawk again, grinding his broken arm into the hard ground.
Silver’s shoes sank into the grass as she dodged the green demon again, and readied more spellfire as she faced Hawk’s tormentor.
With a roar the other demon planted his front claws on Silver’s back. Slammed her face-first to the ground. Grass and dirt filled her mouth and pebbles scraped her cheek.
Silver spat dirt from her mouth. Screamed and struggled as she waited for the beast’s teeth to sink into her neck.
* * *
Pain ripped through Hawk as his arm lay mangled beneath one giant demon paw. The Fomorii stared down at him, grinning in a way that told Hawk the beast intended to taunt him rather than deliver a quick death.
Hawk clenched his da
gger in his free hand.
At the same time he thrust his knee into the demon’s gut, he jammed the blade into the Fomorii’s throat and twisted.
The demon-beast shrieked. Jerked its head up and away from the knife before Hawk had the chance to completely slice its throat.
The massive body slumped on top of Hawk, pinning him to the grass. Blood poured from the Fomorii’s throat, onto Hawk’s face and soaking his shirt. The rotten-fish stench was nearly overpowering.
The demon wasn’t dead, though, didn’t turn to silt. The yellow beast gurgled, clinging to life, its wound trying to heal around the dagger that Hawk kept twisting in its throat.
Trying to shove the demon off with his good arm, he looked back to Silver, fear clenching his heart.
The Fomorii who tackled her had shifted into a man. He now had Silver before him, her hands tied behind her back. She thrashed. Stomped her heel onto the man’s foot and caused him to shout out and slap her face.
Anger seared Hawk at the sight. He couldn’t even move to keep the Fomorii from taking her.
He struggled beneath the bulk on top of him. Pain screamed through his useless arm. Burning, burning, burning pain. Fomorii claws were still clenched in his flesh and he could feel the iron begin to seep into his body.
Hawk ground his teeth as he shoved at the groaning Fomorii with his legs and one hand. The body shifted slightly. The claws relaxed a little. If only he could get his hand in position again to finish the job. Then the demon would be dirt.
Hawk’s gaze tore from the Fomorii, back to where Silver had been.
She was gone.
In the distance he heard her scream echo through the late evening air.
* * *
Cursing, Silver fought the Fomorii-man every step of the way as he shoved her through the gloom across the street. She couldn’t spell him with her hands tied behind her back. Couldn’t do anything but make taking her as hard on him as possible.
Dark energy still rippled through her, flowing up and down her skin, feeding off her anger and fear. It spoke to her, urged her to damage the bastard, kill him if she could. A rock would do. A knife to the gut. Anything, if she just got the chance.
She dropped to her knees, trying to stall him. Asphalt and pebbles ground into her knees.
“Move, witch-bitch.” The monster-in-a-human wrapped his hand in her long hair and yanked her forward.
Silver shouted out her pain as he dragged her over the asphalt, scraping her skin, tearing at her blouse. Fire licked her tender scalp, but she bit her lip to keep more cries from escaping. Damned if she would let this—this thing know she was afraid and hurting.
Then new fear blazed through her at the thought of Hawk. The last thing she had seen was the demon slowly lowering his jaws to Hawk’s throat.
What if he was already dead? She didn’t sense it. Could he be dying slowly, his life force draining even as she was taken away from him?
More sparks coursed up and down her body from her magic. She caught the smell of something burning. Her hair? Her clothes? The cloth binding her wrists?
The beast-man dragged her to where a dark green car was parked. She fought him. Jerked away and stumbled. She tripped and fell backward, landing on her bound hands and knocking the breath from her. Her head smacked against brutal asphalt.
Silver cried out at the pain. Tiny bolts of gray magic were loosed from her prone form, firing into nothing as they went. The demon-man grabbed one of her legs, yelped, let her go, and grabbed her again.
Burn, she thought viciously. If I could free my hands, I’d roast you myself.
Power seemed to hover closer and closer to her. If only she could make a hand-spell. If only she could call it, use it.
She twisted onto her belly and tried to crawl out from beneath her captor. Felt her blouse shred and the asphalt abrade her flesh. Smells of oil and tar filled her nose.
The Fomorii’s fingers elongated into claws, and the nails dug into the flesh of Silver’s calves, sending fresh bouts of pain through her. The pain from those claws was nearly blinding.
She thrashed, concrete scraped her arms and legs, and her cheeks stung. He yanked her harder by the leg, and brought her to an abrupt stop next to the car. All she could see of it was a tire and part of the fender. The entire time she fought against the cloth binding her wrists. The madder she got, the more pain she felt, the more she saw the sparks and smelled that odd burning scent.
Were her bindings starting to loosen?
“Junga and Darkwolf are going to be very pleased.” The beast-man released her hair long enough to grab her by her shoulders and force her to her feet. “You’ve been a hard little bitch to capture,” he added as he jerked the back door of his car open.
“Bastard.” She kicked his shin as hard as she could, jamming her heel onto his foot. Sparks actually crackled at the point of impact.
He screamed and shoved her backward. With a cry she tumbled into the demon’s car, her head striking the unforgiving worn springs poking through the seat and scraping her back and arms.
Before she could push herself up, the man flung himself on top of her and shoved apart her thighs, forcing her skirt up and baring her nakedness below.
“Yeah, that’s what I’ll do, bitch.” He ground his groin against her belly. “I’ll take you before Darkwolf has the chance to get a taste.”
A new, hatefully dark rage mingled with terror and drove Silver into a frenzy. Dark sparks lifted off her skin to hover in the air above her attacker. He didn’t seem to notice.
The springs beneath her back and arms scraped her skin as she struggled beneath his weight. The large Fomorii-man was trying to hold her still with one hand holding down her shoulder while attempting to unfasten his pants with his other. His foul breath brushed her cheek and she fought all the harder. She felt hot all over, and cold at the same time, and oddly, more and more full of a power matching the depth of her fury.
The springs scraped her harder.
Use them, some animal part of her brain demanded.
Snarling, she jerked her arms behind her back and caught the cloth of her bonds on one of the springs.
At the same time the demon grew frustrated with his attempts to unfasten his pants. His fingers elongated into claws and he ripped apart the fastenings, freeing a large member that caused Silver to try to shred her bonds against the spring with all her might.
She need not have bothered.
The bonds were on fire, burning to ash, just like the inside of the car was burning.
Only the purple-black flames didn’t touch her at all.
The beast-man stopped moving, obviously shocked.
Screaming with the full force of her anger, Silver slammed her fist into his ugly face.
He shouted as his head snapped up, encountering the dark flames racing through the car’s interior.
His human hair started to burn.
Silver shoved him off her, giving it everything she had. She jammed her shoe against his knee at the same time.
He wailed as he slid out of the car, on fire. Silver seethed at the sight of him trying to put out the flames on his clothing and burning hair at the same time.
He fell back, and she slammed her foot against his face. His nose gave a sickening crunch beneath her shoe.
She scrambled up in the seat. By the time her shoes hit the pavement and she was standing, the car was a roaring inferno and the man had shifted back into a green demon. It snarled, saliva dripping from its hideous mouth. Purplish flames danced around its scales.
Silver watched the fire grow. Her fingers twitched. She was only vaguely aware of controlling the flames.
All her fury and all her pain went into the cold smile she gave the demon. In those mere instants she felt everything—
The loss of her Coven and her parents. Hawk possibly dead beneath another Fomorii’s attack.
The power within her magnified.
The flames were really burning the demon. Eyes wide, it smack
ed at itself, trying to put them out.
Silver’s hatred burned, too. She relished the sight of those flames, growing, growing, and growing. Vaguely she felt a call, a presence, something pushing at her mind, pushing her to raise her hands and bring the flames to a crescendo.
In the fraction of time it took her to lift her fingers, to feel the dark emotions raging through her, the demon lunged.
Silver spread her fingers and threw the whole force of her magic into the flames.
Deep purple spellfire swallowed the demon’s head. It screamed as it fell away, overpowered by her magic.
Silver kept her hands up, kept the flames hot, then paused as skin began to slough off the Fomorii’s head, revealing its skull beneath.
This time when she saw the vision of the wolf and the eye, she didn’t shrink from it. She ignored it.
The fire burned and burned just as her anger did. A feeling of satisfaction filled her as the beast shrieked and held its head as it burned away.
Its head toppled off and rolled into the empty street.
The demon’s body teetered, and then it slammed onto the asphalt.
Everything faded into black dust. A breeze swept up some of the silt and caused it to swirl in the air and vanish.
Behind Silver, the car, coated in magical fire, dissolved into nothing with the briefest of metallic clatters.
Bit by bit, the dark fire burned itself out, too. Little purplish sparks skittered over Silver’s skin, then winked away. With them went that terrible tide of emotion.
Silver’s feeling of satisfaction began to flow into horror.
She couldn’t breathe. Bile rose in her throat. A sick feeling weighted her belly like a cauldron full of hot coals.
She had called on a magic deeper and darker than she’d ever known, magic so powerful it responded to her will, not just her spells.
She’d just killed another being. Burned it to death as it screamed in agony.
And goddess help her, she had enjoyed it.
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