Finn was behind him, eyes wary as he looked at me.
“Darcy?” He called. My mouth was dust-dry.
“Yeah?” I coughed, clearing my throat.
“That was good,” Wolfe said, interrupting whatever Finn was going to say. “Think you can close it now? It’s…. rough, but what earth magic isn’t?” It was like he was talking to himself. He kept muttering under his breath as I stared at the long, crazed furrow I’d dug up. It was eight feet deep, the edges trembling still like it was holding its breath, waiting for my next order.
I tried to imagine my father down at the bottom of it, and my heartbeat surged. The power cracked through me, roaring in my eyes, the edges of the crack shuddering and then groaning as it moved toward itself.
The dirt ground against itself, rocks squeaking as the earth closed like I was doing up a zipper. I could feel how hard my heart was thudding, banging in my ears, my breath fast and shallow. Elation surged through my veins as the ground obeyed me, the fragile hold on my magic building with each breath out of my lungs. Finally, the two sides touched, then pressed into each other, leaving a small, raised ridge. I fell to my knees, exhausted, and had to steady myself on the dirt with my hands in front of me.
My stomach heaved like I was going to puke for a hot second.
I’d done it. I looked up at Wolfe, ready for him to tell me it wasn’t good enough. That I needed to do more, better, extra.
A smile had spread his lips wide, and he looked… pleased.
I let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that was threatening,” he commented, stretching his arms out in front of him before taking a cautious step along the ridge, smoothing it down with his shoe. “Don’t you think, Finn?”
Finn raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You know I think she’s about as dangerous as they come,” he replied, “wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Yes, it’s chief amongst her charms, I’m sure, lured you right into the bedroom with her deadly ability to fry the wires in entire city blocks,” Wolfe teased, walking closer to me. He offered me a hand, and I took it, staggering to my feet. It felt like all the blood had pooled in my legs. But I’d done it. I’d somewhat, sort of, controlled the innate magic inside of me. I wasn’t going to dismiss that.
“So,” I breathed, “what’s next.”
Wolfe pursed his lips and then glanced up at the multi-storied mansion like he was considering it.
“When you can cover it with a dome of dirt, I think you’ve got.”
I exhaled.
“What?” The word came out squeaky and breathless. Finn’s eyebrows pulled together as he frowned.
“That sounds kinda uh, dangerous,” he commented drily. “Can we just make sure we’re not in it when she tries?” He shot me a grin and a thumbs-up, mouthing the words that’s my girl. My heart soared upwards in my chest as I fell into his unwavering confidence in me.
“Give it a few more days,” Wolfe said, “I think with how fast you learn, and how fast you get your control in place, you should be ready.” He gave me a measuring look. “But it all depends on how badly you want this,” he murmured so only I could hear.
How bad I wanted to kill my father and get revenge on my family? I swallowed, my mouth already paper-dry from earlier like I’d masticated an entire roll of paper towels.
“You know I want this,” I said to him. His eyes searched mine.
“I should hope so.” He held out his hand for mine. I placed it on his palm, and he squeezed it tight, giving me an intense look. “You must want this with every corner of your heart. I don’t need to tell you the consequences that will befall us if you have… second thoughts. Do you get my meaning?”
“I want him dead,” I said with every bit of intention I could muster given that I was wrung out like an old dish-rag. “I want him to never darken my shadow, to never follow us again, to never show up and try to rip away the life I’ve built for myself.” The passion echoed in my voice, and it ground in my ears like I was speaking into a long cavern or gorge. I inhaled sharply. The power was vibrating out of me, pinned in every corner of my soul.
Wolfe smiled briefly.
“Then I have some hope for our success. It all ends up on your shoulders, as small as they are.” Without warning, he pulled me in for a tight hug. My face smooshed into his chest as he bound me up in his arms. “I’ll be standing right next to you,” he promised into the top of my head. I closed my eyes.
He didn’t say it, but he didn’t have to. Even if he was beside me, this would come down to me. I was the only one who could take my dad down. It made sense.
The only thing that could withstand lightning was the earth.
If my father thought he’d done me dirty by ripping my powers from me, he was about to learn how badly he’d fucked up. He’d given me the one thing that could take it all from him.
Thank you, Daddy.
Fourteen
Levi crossed his arms over his chest, or rather, his arm because the other one was still half-gone, his long-sleeve pinned up neatly to cover what he’d lost. I guessed demons weren’t like lizards and couldn’t regrow limbs if they got nipped off.
“I’m gonna be fucking honest with you lot, because as much as I want revenge on these fuckers,” his eyes narrowed as he spoke, gaze landing on me, and I met it with just as much heat. He had no idea what I’d lost in Max. He may have… done shit with her, whatever, been intimate with her, but he’d never loved her as I had. She was closer than a sister, more important than a sister. Our hearts beat as one.
“They all have to die,” I said, “it’s not just about revenge, okay? It’s about keeping what’s left of us alive.” I stepped up to him, nearly toe to toe, and he glared down at me.
“I’m not gonna be told what to do by a little witch who’s gone and lost her magic powers because she was so busy boning her-”
“You wanna stop right there, pal,” Cash said from across the room, his tone equally heated. Eli made a grumbling noise of agreement, and Cash nodded at him. “There are five goddamn good reasons in this room right now that’ll make you eat those words if you keep spitting them out.”
Charlie casually cracked his knuckles and smirked. Levi glanced at Finn and then Ace.
“What, no cute threats from you?” He asked.
“I wouldn’t bother wasting my breath,” Finn said, flicking his fingers toward me. “She can take care of herself, just fine.”
“Don’t make me open up the earth under you and seal you waist-high in the dirt,” I said. Ace laughed and then stopped abruptly, clearing his throat.
“Do not ruin my good parquet,” Wolfe sounded testy, but I never took my eyes off of Levi.
“They are going to keep coming for us, even if we back off and let things lie the way they are. This will never stop. And you know what? I want my magic back. It’s mine. He took what’s mine. It’s bad enough he stole Max from us, but now he’s taking pieces of me, and he doesn’t deserve to have them.”
“A lich like that’s a corruptin’ influence,” Cash drawled, “he’ll bring his house down around him first, and it’s like a goddamn sinkhole of evil. Everything around him for miles will turn evil. I don’t mind dealing with the occasional thrall chasing after us, but murder-rabbits? Venomous deer? You gotta think of the mundanes in the area that won’t see it coming.” My head swivelled like it was on a stick to stare at Cash.
“What?”
He shrugged in response.
“I’ve never seen it happen but heard stories. Wolfe maybe, you could tell us instead of holding the information hostage like a nun’s virginity,” he said with a pointed stare at the old vampire. Wolfe almost rolled his eyes, I could tell from the twitch of his lips, but he managed to hold it in.
“Must you be so vulgar,” Wolfe asked Cash, who shrugged again.
“Must you be so mother-fuckin’ mysterious? This is lives on the line. This isn’t the time for wavy hands and riddl
es and poems that we have to figure out. Facts, my guy, hard facts.”
I watched Wolfe cautiously. He did like a lot of theatre in how he presented us with information, but maybe it was Levi losing half his arm; it had made Wolfe seem a lot less hesitant to just say whatever it was he was thinking right out instead of cloaking it in a bunch of metaphors or long-winded stories.
“It’s a truth that you speak. I am surprised that we haven’t seen the effects of it-”
“Maybe we have,” I said, “or maybe it’s why the rest of my family hasn’t run screaming. He’s probably infecting them, if what you say is true, Cash. That he’s no good and the evil rots everyone around him from within.” I try not to think about it. My sister doesn’t live at the Llewellyn house, but somehow, they contact the Hailwards. At least Creston is dead. I don’t even want to think about what he’d be like corrupted. He was bad enough, just normal-levels of evil when he was alive.
Luca makes a musing noise and runs his fingers along the back of Daria’s hand before curling her into them. They’re tight together, hip to shoulder, and Frank hovers behind them, their silent bodyguard. They make a handsome threesome, Daria glowing between them like this is all she’s ever wanted. My heart aches. They should have the freedom to just be together instead of fighting for their lives. But this is Daria’s fight as much as its’ mine.
“Got something to add, star-boy?” Eli asks Luca, making the younger man wrinkle his nose at the wolf.
“I think our original plan of taking out the families one by one is the wisest choice. It will eliminate any supportive powers that Vail has, and I don’t think he’ll lift a finger to help them if I’m being honest. Not only is his mind in a different place than it should be, but even before… he never helped anyone when there wasn’t anything in it for him. If we take out a few of the council families, he’ll just see it as us removing possible threats to his own power.” Luca twirled a finger near his are to indicate insanity. “Turning into a lich, coming back from the dead like that scrambles your brain like an egg. I think it’s safe to say we can launch our attacks without worrying about anyone countering us from the Llewellyn, or even the Hailward homes.”
Daria’s plush lower lip trembled, but she looked firm.
“Then we go after mine first,” she said, glancing over at me. “My brother isn’t going to take my betrayal lightly, and I think that he will actually come to get us if we start picking off council families.”
“That’s my other question,” Cash piped up. “I’m no pup-murderer. Is it safe to assume that we’re just taking out the heads and leaving the children and women alive?”
“The women are just as deadly,” I say, as Daria nodded empathetically.
“They’ve had their powers stolen by their husbands, but they’ll use whatever they have left to attack us, I’m sure of it,” she added. Luca made a noise of agreement.
“I think anyone who attacks, dies,” he said thoughtfully. “Children, of course not-”
“So we’re leavin’ a bunch of fuckin’ orphans?” Cash looked incredulously around the room. “Is there anyone in here that hasn’t got a ball of wax stuck in their ears because what I’m hearing is not…” He trailed off, his face forming into a scowl.
He was right. What we were planning was a massacre. Maybe it was revenge or to save our own skins, but there was still a lot of collateral damage to happen. I tried to think of any other way to stay safe, but there wasn’t a single path that didn’t involve a lot of murder.
“There is no easy way to do this,” Wolfe said, his voice quiet and thoughtful. “You can walk away now-”
“Some of us lost a limb here, so-” Levi wavered his stump in the air, looking weirdly gleeful at the ill expressions on our faces. “Maybe a little blood for blood is just fine in my mind.”
“There are pups,” Cash spat out, glaring at the demon. Levi shrugged.
“I’ll eat ‘em, so they don’t have to cry over their mummies and daddies,” Levi offered, and that got everyone’s backs up. Five growling wolves, along with Frank, who glared at the demon-like they were about to rip him to shreds. He rolled his eyes. “Fine. No snacks for me. I give up half my arm, and what do I get? No fuckin’ gratitude.”
“We need to re-think this,” I said to Wolfe because he’s the only one who I can think of that will come up with a solution, any solution. My father can’t survive and let me live. It’s not going to happen. He wasn’t content to let me live my life, he wanted to destroy me, and he’d shown me over and over what lengths he was willing to go to choke the life out of me.
But I wasn’t willing to kill a bunch of innocent kids, witches or not. They didn’t deserve it, and if they were anything like Daria or me, they’d have been horrified once they found out the truth about the magical world and the witch’s council.
“There’s a sleeping spell,” Daria whispered after a moment, looking at Luca. “We could, if you helped me, and Wolfe-” She glanced at Wolfe. “You know the one?”
Wolfe cocked an eyebrow.
“You mean to put the whole family to sleep? Of each council member?”
“Not forever,” she said, “but you know what I’m talking about, the sleeping beauty magic, I forget what it was called, but I remember reading about it when I was like, twelve or something.”
Luca rubbed his fingers over his arm and hummed under his breath.
I’d never known of the spell, and I stood there, out of depth again but willing to hear it out. It sounded like a better solution than just… murdering people in front of their kids. My wolves had perked their ears and looked interested in the possible idea.
“So we send everyone to nap time, and go in and take care of business, and then what? Call social services? Those kids can’t be placed with mundane families,” Charlie pointed out. “And it’s not like Wolfe can take in a bunch of orphans.” Wolfe snorted and shook his head.
“I am going to say that most families don’t have young children,” I said, “our generation was the next, and most of us haven’t had babies yet.” I swallowed tightly. “We can… take hostages. Sorta. If they’re young enough to make up their own minds but old enough to survive, they can make a choice. Stop doing magic and go live in the mundane world. I did.”
Daria eyed me up.
“You put a lot of bad ideas in other witches’ minds, I’m just gonna say that. Living with the mundanes is completely romanticized because of you,” she said. I felt proud that other ways of living didn’t involve being a part of a monstrous, oppressive group of people. And maybe I’d shown that path to a few people. Not that she’d ever mentioned breaking away or anyone else doing it, but Daria had left and learned life was better on the outside. No massive mansion, servants, or all the money in the world could replace the release of true freedom.
“You know,” Wolfe said after a few long quiet moments, “if Vail, or any of the rest of the council, had thought for a moment about the lives they would be ruining, of the children they would be murdering and leaving orphaned, they might not have made the choices they did. As you can clearly see, it’s no easy thing to take lives when you actually care about those left behind.”
Something sounded deep inside me, like a bell, clear and grief-filled.
“Then maybe we shouldn’t give them the same consideration that they refused to give us,” I said, just as softly. Everyone turned to look at me, and I lifted my chin.
“Playing nice hasn’t gotten us anywhere.” My heart was hardening in my chest, and I could barely breathe out the words I was speaking. “Maybe we need to burn it all down, right down to the root.”
“I’m not killing kids,” Cash said, his line in the sand loud and clear. I trembled as I stood there, thinking of how my father would have happily slit his throat and watched Cash bleed out right in front of me.
“Then stay here,” I said, “but they’re coming for us, while we try and figure out how to be the better people, the bigger people, they’re going to come for u
s and strike us down.”
I was right, and he knew it. I could tell from the shadows in his eyes. He hated me at that moment because I was right, and it wasn’t the words he wanted to hear. I turned and left the room.
I couldn’t stand there, looking at him looking at me like that.
Like I was the monster.
Like I was the murderer.
Because a small part of me was afraid, he was right about me.
Fifteen
In the end, it didn’t matter. They came for us in the night, the boom of magic splintering marble and glass waking us from a dead sleep.
I jerked awake, the bed spilling werewolves left and right as they surged up into the darkness that was quickly turning to light and shadow. The walls of the mansion were glowing, and I inhaled, watching the wallpaper shudder and shimmer.
“Get out,” I choked, just as Ace grabbed me by the hand and hauled me out of bed. “We have to get out!” He stared at me for a hot second and then bolted as I ran after him. The rest of the pack followed, splitting off to go get the kids, and probably Levi and Landon.
Wolfe was down in the foyer as I scrambled down the stairs, bright light shining from his fingers, wafting in waves towards the ceiling. The chandelier shook, sending a cascade of dust from its anchor point.
“They’re trying to take the house down on top of us,” he said from between gritted teeth. Shock flickered through me. He was holding the roof up, all of it, however many thousands of square feet so that it wouldn’t fall onto us as we slept. How long had he been holding them back? The air smelled like burning hair close to him, and I inhaled through my mouth so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the smell. It was sickening, but not as much as the dizzy feeling in my gut as the floor buckled and bucked under my feet.
“Think we should, uh, go outside?” I asked, tentatively, because I had no idea what was waiting for us and if it would even worsen. Wolfe’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the front doors.
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