Dark Illusion

by Feehan, Christine

  He was locked out of Julija’s mind. Isai couldn’t reach her and had no idea what was happening to her. He knew the moment she had fallen to the ground beside Barnabas, and that her intent had been to use the dagger on him, then he was completely closed off from her. Barnabas had constructed some kind of spell. Isai wasn’t mage, but he had mage blood running through his veins. He had no doubt he could find a way to reach her. It was imperative since he couldn’t tell what was happening to her.

  Dividing his attention could get him killed. He was dragged along the ground right through the thick of the hellhounds. They went after him as if he was a fox and they had been let loose to exterminate him. Better Anatolie had killed him outright. He had all of his weapons and even as he was dragged, he continued to shoot arrows dipped in hyssop oil straight into the eyes of the hellhounds.

  His mind raced. He needed to open communication with Julija. He didn’t fight the whip. Anatolie’s attention was riveted to the wild ride he was forcing the Carpathian on. His sense of power was growing the longer he wielded the lightning, something only Carpathians did. Isai gave him that. Anatolie was a powerful mage, dark and dangerous. As long as he was concentrating on keeping the whip under his control, he couldn’t think of other, much more perilous spells.

  Anatolie’s wild laughter echoed through the battlefield. Around them, the snow thickened. The wind howled, spinning great funnels of snow into columns. Isai felt them at once. The brethren had arrived. His brothers from the monastery. They were already wading into battle with the hellhounds.

  You should have called earlier, brother, Ferro reprimanded. Why save all the fun for yourself?

  All of the brethren were large and muscular with ropes of defined muscle. They each had long, salt-and-pepper hair flowing down their backs, the result of all the centuries spent battling. All had scars to prove they had been wounded mortally on more than one occasion and yet had survived. Each had the tattoo of their creed flowing down their backs, but that was where the similarities ended.

  Ferro was the most intimidating of the brethren. He had unusual eyes the color of iron complete with rust running through them. It gave him a stare that was mesmerizing. He was quiet in most situations, but of all the brethren, Isai considered him the most dangerous.

  I am grateful you are here. The high mage put a spell on the hellhounds. They want to kill me and as many as I kill, more arrive, Isai explained.

  With the snow thickening and throwing itself in every direction seemingly at a capricious whim, Anatolie’s vision was completely cut off. He could no longer delight in his prisoner being eaten alive by the demonic hellhounds.

  I have come to save you, brother, Sandu weighed in. It seems this is to be my lot in life.

  Sandu had eyes as black as night yet a red flame burned deep in their depths, giving one a glimpse into the fiery volcano inside of him.

  Someone has to give you a little work. You were becoming lazy.

  Isai shot two more of the hellhounds, and this time, Petru, with slashing eyes of mercury, sliced off their heads.

  Do you plan on riding that hellhound back to hell or are you going to get off your butt and help out? Petru inquired.

  Isai placed his exact weight in the noose of lightning and freed himself, allowing Anatolie to think he still had his prisoner. It appeared to be so when Anatolie managed to glimpse the Carpathian warrior being dragged over the ground. Carpathians could produce illusions as easily as a mage.

  Benedek, with his unusual dark eyes and long flowing hair, came out of the blizzard and signaled to him to go east. He circled around to the west to get behind the high mage. Anatolie would know in a few moments that Isai had tricked him and that others had joined the battle. He didn’t want to fight toe to toe with a high mage. If the man chose to cast spells and then run, which Isai was certain he would do, he might succeed. However, if Isai could catch him unawares, he had a chance to kill him. The last thing any of them wanted was a powerful mage coming at them from behind when they went after Barnabas.

  Anatolie had done what Isai would have predicted, given that his son Vasile had chosen the same method to protect himself. He was in a sheltered alcove of rock, a small fortress surrounded, Isai was certain, by a powerful grid that, moving through, would trigger the same types of traps Vasile’s defense system had. Isai didn’t have the time to take them all down.

  Rising as vapor, he streamed over the defense grid, warning Benedek. He felt his way carefully, knowing the air could be protected as well, although Anatolie didn’t have a lot of time to spend on his own defense, not when he’d gone right away on the attack.

  The high mage had to step outside the grotto-like fortress in order to wield the lightning, but as long as he had his enemy on the end of his whip, he wasn’t worried. Isai came in from his left side, dropping low. As he did so, the shadow cats leapt from his back. The six cats distracted Anatolie as they emerged from the snow, coming straight at him.

  When he looked up, Isai was in front of him, his face set in an expressionless mask. Benedek was at his back, just as stone-faced. Isai plunged his hand through the chest wall and got the heart while Benedek took the mage’s head with one slice of his sword. It was Isai who called down the lightning to burn the body.

  “I will make certain that Julija removes the spell to replenish the hellhounds once I find her. Thank you for coming.”

  “The others are guarding the compound in case there is trouble there. Elisabeta was very uncomfortable. All of us felt your need.”

  Isai nodded. They had been together so long, when one was in trouble, often the others knew and immediately set out to find them. “Good hunting, my brother.”

  Benedek nodded. “Same to you, ekäm.”

  Isai took to the skies, allowing his brethren to fight the hellhounds. In the many centuries each had lived, they had encountered the demonic beasts and learned the best ways to kill them. Unfortunately, as he had learned, these creatures were spellbound and replenished when one went down. They would try to follow him because they were programmed to kill him, no one else. Barnabas hadn’t counted on the brethren coming when they felt his need.

  Isai took the form of a snow flurry as he neared the place where he had left Julija destroying the book. Occasionally, he caught a glimpse of one of his cats, but mostly their bodies were transparent now, as they were hunting, just as he was. He spotted Barnabas bending over Julija’s limp body and plunging a dagger into her. Each time he did, he made shallow cuts and licked at the crimson drops.

  Isai pushed fury away. He couldn’t allow anything of himself to get in the way of getting his lifemate back. Before he could decide what to do, he saw Julija’s gaze shift to one of the cats. She was not only alive but thinking. Gathering her strength. Deciding what to do. She had a plan. More than anything he wanted her to throw Barnabas out of her mind, but that wasn’t the most critical thing for her to do.

  “You didn’t take my voice, Barnabas.”

  “Your screams are delightful, my pet.” Deliberately Barnabas bent his head to kiss her eyes and cheeks and then down her throat, the dagger poised in his fist.

  Earth unbind me. Air set me free.

  Thunder away. Lightning may I see no more.

  Fire now burn, releasing this spell.

  Water I command you to become a wall.

  As water’s wall is built, I bring forth fire for steam,

  Separating all so none may be seen.

  Julija whipped up both hands and stabbed her fingers into Barnabas’s eyes, immediately rolling out of his hands to land on her hands and knees in the bloodstained snow. Barnabas swore repeatedly, his hands coming up to his face where his eyes were streaming. He murmured a quick spell to relieve the pain and damage.

  Harm sent to me by sacred steel.

  I now reverse your direction seeking only the evil that yields.

  Julija staggered a few feet from Barnabas, and instantly Blue leapt out of the shadows and sank his teeth into Barnabas�
��s neck. Belle attacked from behind him. Comet and Phaedra assisted in pulling him down. Even as they did, he shouted out a spell and the cats fell to the ground panting. Before he could retaliate against them, Isai was there, driving Barnabas away from them—and Julija.

  She tried to reach out to him, to merge mind to mind, but Barnabas’s spell had forced a separation. Immediately she countered it.

  That which dwells in darkness,

  I banish you from my mind.

  Allowing only that which is tied by love,

  To merge within my mind.

  As Isai slammed his fist deep into Barnabas’s chest, the dark mage struck hard, using a spell to splinter the ancient Carpathian. Isai’s body separated into what appeared to be numerous life-sized paper dolls. Barnabas smiled his most charming smile and blew on the one closest to him so they fell like dominos almost at Julija’s feet.

  “You shouldn’t have made me angry, pet,” he advised. He turned his right hand palm up and began to make a circle with his left over his palm. As he did so he began a little singsong chant. Orange and red flames licked at his palms, forming a ball that grew and grew.

  Julija’s heart pounded so hard it hurt. She took a deep breath, not daring to look away. As Barnabas casually tossed the ball toward Isai’s splintered body, she whispered her counterspell.

  I call the clouds above,

  Bring forth your waters, stopping fires hold.

  Let droplets of water dissipate and drown that which would burn,

  Returning it all to ground.

  Isai rolled, the splinters bonding together as he came to his feet. Both Barnabas and Julija stared at him in shock as he faced the dark mage, his body slightly in front of hers. He bowed toward Barnabas.

  “Surely you did not think you were the first to ever use a splinter spell.”

  Isai touched Julija’s mind. She felt him come into her and she nearly lost it, wanting to cry with relief. He sounded the way he always did. Confident. He looked invincible.

  “Very few know it,” Barnabas conceded. He glanced toward the blizzard of snow. He couldn’t see the battle taking place, but he could hear it. No hellhounds had come to kill Isai, their primary target.

  Behind Barnabas, Julija caught a glimpse of the cats moving in the shadows behind and to the right of the high mage. They waited for Isai’s signal to attack. Having Isai there and knowing the cats were close and willing to aid them gave her the necessary strength to face her worst nightmare.

  “Very few alive know it,” Isai qualified. “Your hounds are occupied at the moment. Julija, I need you to counter the spell that replenishes them. The brethren are having fun, but it will grow tiresome over time.”

  Julija immediately responded.

  Those who have arisen from earth’s deepest core,

  When one is banished, you may reproduce no more.

  Though your mind is as one,

  May your memory be lost,

  Banishing all thoughts of your targeted host.

  “Who are you?” Barnabas asked. “Do I know you?”

  “I knew you when you used a different name. You were called Barna all those centuries ago, son of Xaviero. You were chosen over Anatolie, son of Xavier. Why?”

  Barnabas shrugged. “You saw him. His ego grew faster than his skills.” He indicated Julija. “He had exactly what he needed, but he didn’t recognize it. He used her as fodder, when she is the main prize. I cared nothing for the book. I saw every spell my uncle chose to include, I learned them and put them aside. Anatolie wanted to destroy your species. I would much rather keep all of you alive.” Again, he flashed a smile, his white teeth mocking them.

  Julija’s stomach tangled into a thousand knots. Barnabas was unfazed that he faced her, Isai and the shadow cats. He didn’t care that Isai’s brethren fought the hellhounds and were at that moment destroying them. She wanted to shove Isai behind her, to caution him to be careful. Barnabas was up to something.

  “You wanted Julija.” Isai made it a statement.

  “I want my little pet back. She belongs to me. She knows she does.” He held out his hand toward her. “If you come with me now, I will spare your lover.”

  The way he said the last two words told her everything. Barnabas planned to kill Isai no matter what she did. Beneath his calm exterior, he seethed with rage. Whatever he was planning was going to be spectacular. She began to form a defensive grid in her mind, building it up. To her astonishment, Isai joined her, taking it over, meticulously building the barrier against the dark mage from the ground up. Soon it surrounded them like an invisible fortress.

  Isai called to the cats with a silent command, stretching his arms wide indicating for them to become part of his skin immediately. One by one, the cats obeyed. Blue was last and he appeared reluctant, but in the end he did as Isai demanded.

  “Very clever of you to turn the shadow cats,” Barnabas praised and slowly allowed his hand to drop by his side.

  Julija kept watch on his hands. He could murmur a spell under his breath and she might not see, but if those fingers began to move against his thigh, or he sent a blast of air at them, she would know.

  You are Carpathian. You are mage. Your power is equal or more than his. Why do you think he wants you back? This is not about a sex slave escaping him. He could enslave any number of women. This is about your power, Julija. You can defeat him.

  Just as they had merged their blood to destroy the book, she thought their strength was in the way they were together.

  Barnabas’s hands moved fast, too fast for her to follow the patterns, but she heard the roar go up and the ground shook. Giant paws thundered as they pounded into the earth. The sky opened up and rained insects.

  I call to alloy, carbon and steel,

  Build us a dome to withhold and repel.

  The moment they were safe from the thousands of insects, Julija sent up a small prayer for forgiveness. She’d never used her magic for anything but good.

  The hellhounds came at them, a good dozen, trampling every bush or tree in sight, flattening the grass the snow hadn’t already covered. Barnabas whirled into their midst, his hands clapping like thunder, shaking the earth so that it was impossible to stand. Isai simply floated up, gripping Julija’s arm as he did so. The moment she was safe, he left the shelter they had constructed together. Julija couldn’t wait to see what he did. She hurtled the spell at Barnabas, hoping to ensnare him in his own dark magic.

  By the power of three times three,

  May all you have done return back to thee.

  Let all harm and hate be returned tenfold,

  So that you may suffer pain both new and old.

  She cried out Isai’s name, reaching for him, uncertain whether or not her spell had been enough to turn the tables on a high mage. The hellhounds were horrific, great, lumbering demonic beasts. Ordinarily she felt sorry for creatures twisted by the mages, but these were killing machines, eagerly looking for flesh to devour.

  Barnabas went under what appeared to be four or five ravenous beasts. Their red glowing eyes looked like hot coals. She saw the mage’s coat torn and striped with blood, but it seemed impossible that his own hellhounds could have killed him that quickly. He was too powerful. Too good at what he did.

  She looked around in alarm, checking every direction. The storm had let up, although it was still snowing, blanketing the world in pristine white when blood flowed so fast there on the meadow floor.

  She’d never seen anyone move as fast as Isai. Arrows flew, and she could see the flash of swords. His brethren joined him, occasionally tossing a sword through the air for another one to slice off a head.

  Very slowly she put her feet back on the ground, testing it, making certain there was no sign of the high mage. If he was dead, would the hounds have left a body? They didn’t have time to consume him before the brethren were there, killing them one by one. They were machines, mowing down the slavering beasts.

  Then, without warning, there was absolute
silence. Not a single hell-hound still lived. Isai slowly straightened up and looked at his brothers. They saluted him and turned their attention to the battlefield, to mop up.

  “Is he there? Barnabas? Is he there, Isai?” It was more than she could have hoped for, but still, it might have happened.

  “His coat, nothing else. No body.”

  She closed her eyes. Of course he’d escaped. She could destroy a hideous book that should never have been in the first place, but she had no idea how to kill a mage like Barnabas. Maybe no one did. “I’m sorry, Isai. I stopped him for the moment, but he’ll come back.”

  “Carpathians have lived with enemies for centuries, Julija, and we will live with them for centuries more.” He was pragmatic about it, just as he was about everything else. “I want to take you home. We have to clean up here and then we will have to go to ground. The sun is coming up and none among us can take the sunshine.”

  “I can guard all of you,” she offered.

  “There is no need.” He took her hand, his thumb sliding over the back of it, making her shiver. “Come meet my friends.”

  His friends were calling down the lightning, sending the hellhounds back to their resting place with a fiery inferno. She thought the send-off was very appropriate.

  21

  The house Isai took Julija to was small and set well back from the main house of Tariq Asenguard’s compound. He had explained to her that the ancients were looking into purchasing a large tract of land with several homes on it, just along the lakefront and bordering Tariq’s land on one side. In the meantime, they could use the little house that was on his friend’s property.