Flare of Villainy: The Imdalind Series, Book 10

by Ethington, Rebecca

  “Ilyan!” Her voice was a wave of power, the strength crippling me with a million emotions.

  Her arms wrapped around me as she lunged into my arms, head burrowing into my neck as her hair billowed around me.

  She felt the same as my dreams.

  She smelled the same as my dreams.

  She was the same. Except this wasn’t a dream. This was real.

  “Joclyn,” I whispered into her hair, my heart swelling as I turned into her, to the familiar smell of roses and smoke, and pressed my lips against her for the first time in years.

  Her skin was hot, it burned against me, but the spark was gone, the connection was gone.

  My magic was gone.

  I wasn’t the only one to notice it.

  She turned toward me, pulling away just enough to look at me, her hands cupping the sandpaper growth on my chin. She looked at me intently, the look in her eyes making it clear she was attempting to speak into me, right into my mind, as we had before. But there was nothing, nothing but the intense gaze of her silver eyes, nothing but the pool of tears.

  “It will be okay,” I whispered, trying to ease the fear that had quickly taken over her. “It will be okay.”

  I didn’t know how to fix it, I didn’t know how to return the magic as I had been told I could. But, as Ryland’s anxious hissing near the door was pointing out, now wasn’t the time to figure it out.

  “They are headed right for us,” he gasped, a wall of yellow bursting from his hand as he shielded the door. “We need to go now.”

  The powerful man before me was so different from the scared and broken boy I had last seen.

  Staring at him, at Joclyn, as she too prepared to fight, made me realize just how much time had passed, how much had changed.

  How much they had grown.

  There was an ache that ran through me, pushing against my heart in a longing for the lost time, for the disconnect that was threatening. The emotion was only there for a moment, the passion stronger as it filled me with a pride, with a connection to both of them.

  “Ilyan’s magic…” Joclyn whispered, her intense stare igniting my soul before she turned toward Ryland. “His magic is gone.”

  “Causing problems already, brother?” he asked with a smile, his focus clearly on the footsteps that had begun to pound through the hall, his fingertips sparking in eager anticipation.

  “No problems here,” I sighed, throwing the blankets back, “but I might need a little help.”

  Joclyn turned back to me, eyebrows arched in confusion before she looked down to my spindly legs and the massive bands that held me down. The determination for battle faded from her face, leaving a horrified ‘oh’ that made it clear she was ready to kill someone and not just the man who remained crumpled on the floor.

  “What have they done to you?” Her voice was a growl of anger as her grip against me increased, her anger flaring much the same way mine had years before.

  With a shock, I realized why.

  The imposter had told me that my magic was still alive, that it was living inside of my mate, and looking at her now, I could see it.

  I could see my power, but I could also see her own. It was amazing. It was -

  “Beautiful,” I said aloud in Czech, the one word sparking across her face in a wide smile.

  “I could say the same to you,” she quipped in my native tongue, the language a beautiful song when whispered from her lips. The use of it caught me off guard, she hadn't even begun to master it all those years before.

  Now it was perfected.

  “Will you two stop flirting and get out of here!” Ryland suddenly yelled as the door shook, the heavy thud echoing through the momentary calm as the soldiers worked to bring down the door.

  Joclyn turned from me in a fan of hair and power, jumping from the bed as she flexed her hand once toward the shivering wood. Screams filtered from the hall as her magic sent soldiers to their knees, although in death or injury I had no way of knowing.

  “If you think I am leaving you alone here, Ry, you are terribly mistaken. You can’t take them alone,” Jos snapped at my brother, he just rolled his eyes.

  “She will be here any minute, Joclyn,” Ryland interrupted her, the confusing conversation sending my focus back and forth. “You can’t expect her not to have followed.”

  Their voices roared above the increasing threats of battle that came from the other side of the door. Shouts, yells, and the heavy thuds against wood joined together into a cacophony that drowned out everything.

  The sound was making me anxious, but not in the way you would expect. I was anxious to fight, anxious to destroy those who had hurt me. Mostly, however, I was anxious to get out of here, find someplace quiet and just hold Joclyn against me.

  “Who are we talking about?” I yelled above the noise, the bickering friends turning toward me with differing levels of frustration on their faces. I don’t think they heard me.

  “She will be here,” Ryland said, not looking at me as he continued to plow on, his voice rising above the sound of the now splintering wood. “You need to go.”

  “Bu…”

  “Don’t fight me Joclyn,” Ryland roared, the level of his voice even silencing the army outside. “You can always come back. But if he has no magic…”

  Joclyn’s lips were a tight line as she turned back toward me, her hand held out in the same offer as before.

  “What will happen to you if we stutter?” She asked, her voice soft as she stepped closer. Her arms were strong as she helped me to stand, although my frame was much lankier than hers.

  “I do not know,” I answered as honestly as I could. Although I knew it was nothing good, I was desperate enough to leave that I was willing to try.

  Judging by the glimmer in Joclyn’s eyes, however, she saw right through it.

  “Then we will fly,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around me as her powerful magic lifted us both off the ground, leaving us to hover in nothing. “And this time I will carry you.”

  Her smile was kind, loving, and it was that I looked at as the world shattered.

  The window shattered as Ryland’s magic exploded, the door flying to pieces around us as an army streamed in one way, and a woman with long blonde hair soared through the other.

  For a moment I could have sworn it was Ovailia, my sister had haunted me enough over the past few years, but she was younger, far more punk rock than enchantress.

  “You are in so much trouble,” she yelled to nobody in particular, as she began to fight by Ryland’s side. The man only laughed as he easily felled five of the heavily armed men.

  “How can I protect you if you keep leaving me behind?” the new arrival yelled as she continued to fight.

  “How can I protect you if you keep following me when I tell you to stay?” Ryland countered, although he was clearly trying to hide a smile. “Just shut up and kill the Republic scum.”

  “Fine.”

  “Hold on tight,” Joclyn whispered as we began to move, her magic flooding me as my body disappeared and, absorbed by her magic, we soared through the air and away from the hell that had been my life for so long, and right into the dream that I had longed for.

  25

  Ryland

  He was there, my brother was right there.

  His hair was shorter than I had ever seen it, that alone made him look like a shadow of himself. Although, the dark circles under his eyes weren’t helping. He looked as though he had been punched, starved, and was one good fall away from death.

  But he was there, after so many years of looking, we had found him.

  Of course, if we didn’t move fast we were also going to lose him.

  The army that we had originally stuttered into was already headed this way. They had recognized us, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why we were here.

  “You need to go,” I said as the floor began to rattle. Not many of the soldiers that were stampeding to us had magic, but I could st
ill feel them approach like they were some kind of swarm of rats.

  “Bu--”

  “Don’t fight me Joclyn.” I gave her a look from where I stood by the door, she was still helping a very frail Ilyan to his feet. He wasn’t going to be able to fight let alone get himself out of here. Joclyn needed to focus on him. I had gotten myself out of worse. “You can always come back. But if he has no magic…”

  Whatever I had been about to say faded off as the pounding on the floor grew closer. They were here.

  “What will happen to you if we Stutter?” Jos mumbled to him from behind me.

  Their voices were drowned by the yells of the soldiers as they beat against the wall of fogged glass that made up the entire north side of the room.

  Whoever had designed this room had clearly thought ahead on how to easily stop anyone from trying to take their ‘God’. One smack from the butt of a gun against the glass and it was already cracking.

  Odd, with all their knowledge of a God, however, they hadn’t really planned that far ahead. It wouldn't be that hard to keep the glass intact after all. I let my magic stretch as Joclyn lifted Ilyan, pushing the barrier against the glass in a shield even as something began to blink on the other side.

  Shit. A bomb. Probably one of those lightning ones too. Okay, they had planned ahead.

  “Get out--!” I turned, yelling to them just as the bomb on the other side of the glass exploded and shards went everywhere. Not just from the glass wall in front of me, but from the window behind.

  The army may have broken through the wall of windows on one side, but a very angry Míra charged her way in through the other.

  “You are in so much trouble,” she snapped as she flew right to me, already flaring her magic toward the dozens of angry soldiers that had broken through. “How can I protect you if you keep leaving me behind?”

  “How can I protect you if you keep following me when I tell you to stay?” I countered? My anger was flaring, even if I was happy to see her. She was grinning at me as she waved her hand and took down two of the soldiers with one spark of her magic.

  “Just shut up and kill the Republic scum.” I would have to handle this later. Again.

  “Fine.”

  “Hold on tight,” Joclyn yelled from behind us as she carried Ilyan through the now shattered window, her magic wrapping around them and vanishing them from sight.

  Ilyan was safe. I should be rejoicing, but now Míra and I were here, facing a wall of soldiers as they streamed in toward us.

  “Let’s have some fun!” Míra yelled, her shoulder against my arm as her magic flared, knocking down one man after another.

  They didn’t have magic, so they fell just like Dominoes. They tumbled one after another as they were knocked unconscious when our magic hit them. It took far less time and energy than it should have to take them all out.

  In a matter of minutes the flow of soldiers had stopped coming, and Míra and I stood in the center of dozens of unconscious men.

  “Why do I have a bad feeling about how easy that was?” Míra whispered, turning to stare through the window Joclyn had taken Ilyan through. “I mean, do we know that was Ilyan?”

  She brought up a good point, except the greeting really was restricted to something that would only happen between Ilyan and Jos.

  I nodded. “We’re sure.”

  “So why guard their stupid ‘God’ with minions? Even the guys in Trafalgar Square had magic.”

  She was right, they had. I hated how spot on she was. This whole thing stunk.

  “Where is Thom in his attack?” I asked, but she just shrugged.

  “No clue, I left when you guys did. They should just be getting there though.” She looked at her phone, clicking the clock on before she pocketed it. Her eyes were wide as she looked at me. “That's where the Kyō army is.”

  My heart felt like a rock in my chest, every muscle coiled as I tried to temper the rage and panic that was weaving through me.

  “What do you… how?” I stuttered in a building panic.

  “They knew we went to the SSU after Ilyan. They knew we would come for him, and they didn’t expect us to find this place. So, yes, best guess, every single member of their army with magic is in Tokyo. And Thom is going to face them all.” Míra gave a low whistle. Damn I picked the wrong battle. All the good stuff is happening there.”

  “I would refrain from calling all of our people going in against a massive magical army ‘the good stuff’.” I raised my eyebrow at her, but she just looked at me with all the beautiful smug glory she usually had.

  “We can argue that stuff later, but for now what do you say we go and join the party.” She held her hand out to me. I didn’t even look at it.

  “If you think I am going to let you Stutter me over there, you have another thing coming. Have you forgotten what happened last time?” I was firm, even as her smile was spreading. I wanted to grab her shoulders, to find a way to keep her here and safe, but I already knew that was impossible. Besides, I had a good feeling that if I touched her she would just try to pull me into a Stutter with her anyway.

  “I survived.” She shrugged, and I thankfully restrained the irate growl that I wanted to direct at her. “I did though! Yes, it took me a bit to wake up, but I did. And if you have taught me anything it’s that magic only gets better with practice.”

  She jutted her hand at me. Of course she would turn my words on me. I couldn’t help but be exceptionally proud of her and thoroughly annoyed at the same time.

  “If it fails, Ry, you can just fly me out of there. But if it doesn’t, we can help Thom.” Her voice had gotten soft. I knew she wanted to get to the fight, but I think part of her wanted to help Thom and the others just as much.

  Family still trumped her bloodlust.

  Which is probably why I still didn’t take her hand. I just stared at her, awed by her, and also desperately needing to find a way to protect her.

  “Come on, Ry! At the very least we need to help them. I’m not leaving you here, so unless you plan to stutter out of here yourself…” she was prodding, and she very clearly thought she had won.

  Any other time, she probably would have. She was definitely right, you didn’t get better at magic without practice. I needed to get there, I needed to help my brother, and there really was only one way to do that.

  “Yes, I will,” I said, letting all the rage and volatile energy of what Thom was walking into float to the surface. “I will Stutter out of here.”

  I was serious, determined, even if my entire stomach was threatening to turn inside out and explode over everything.

  “You can’t be serious,” Míra said, clearly not believing me.

  “I’ll see you there, Míra.” I grinned, tapping her nose as my magic surged. Even through the wave of nerves, I straightened my shoulders, muscles flexing in panic as I did as Joclyn had instructed me a hundred times.

  I focused on my destination. Focus on the place, or the person, and let yourself step into them. Into the suffocating blindness of a Stutter.

  For the first time, I did, and I did not look back.

  26

  Wyn

  “We will be flying straight there and into battle. There will be no prep, no marching. Just go in and start taking them down!” Thom’s voice echoed over the stone hallway as I raced toward him. The deep, grumpy snarl that was distinctly his somehow fit his current role as a military commander perfectly.

  I turned the last corner toward the main hall where everyone was supposed to be gathering and immediately hit a standstill. The halls were just as clogged with people as the main room was, so many people were ready to leave. Ready to fight.

  Thom had only sent the call to battle out five minutes ago. He was right, they were antsy.

  And I was really freaking jealous.

  “Stay with your regional leaders. Be smart. Be safe. If you get hurt, come back to Imdalind. Now go!”

  You had to hand it to him, he didn’t beat around th
e bush. He got everyone in there in record time, and now they were all racing out the main exit so fast that in only seconds I was able to make it into the main hall.

  Thankfully, Thom was still there. He stood on the bit of raised rock I had left in the center of the space. There used to be a statue there years ago, but now there was just Thom, talking to two of the Skȓíteks before they too took off. With how fast everyone was moving they would be to Tokyo in minutes.

  “Hey! Got room for one more!” I yelled up to Thom as I reached the base of the rock. He turned, clearly ready to welcome anyone into the fight. His face fell the second he saw me, however.

  “We talked about this, Wyn.” He jumped off the rock platform, already making his way toward the large stretch of rock that everyone else was vanishing into.

  “Yes, we talked about it last night when I was sick to my stomach. I’m fine now. I don’t want you to be out there alone.” I grabbed his arm, pulling him around to face me. He didn’t look upset, he looked worried. His hand was far too cold when he put it over mine. I must be running a fair bit hotter than I usually did.

  Yet another reason why I needed to be out there.

  “I’m not alone, I have thousands of the Chosen with me, and Míra, wherever she went...” He was a fool if he thought he was going to get away with it that easily.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Wyn. We talked about this.” He moved his hand from my arm to my belly, his lips pulling up into a pained smile.

  Damn it. Why did he have to play the uterus demon card?

  “This is the last war, Thom, I want to--”

  “I’ll make you a deal. If, in a hundred years there hasn’t been another good battle, I’ll start a land war for you.” He was dead serious. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “You’ll start a war, just so I can go kill people?” Why was his irrationality so adorable?

  “I love you enough to start a war, Wyn. But don’t let that go to your head.” He grinned, leaning forward to kiss me as his hand grew warm against my stomach, whatever magic was inside of me swelling to find his. “Besides, in a hundred years you and little Cail can go off and fight together.”