by Sierra Cross
Liv wove her way to the front, clearly trying to get to the smoke that was now about halfway into our realm. At the sight of Kavon, tethered in place, she shifted her aim, firing at the Omni instead of the smoke. Her first golden fireball hit the small nick in the chain that my magic had made earlier. Kavon grunted and thrust his chest forward, expanding the tear but not quite breaking the chain. Looking annoyed, Liv launched a dense cluster of bolts at him, but Neqs threw their bodies in front of the blasts. The blur of motion around me made my head spin. Blasts surged past, narrowly missing me. I felt the radiant heat of Liv’s magic as it swished by.
That was it. Liv’s magic! Absorb it like a punch, Asher had said. The blasts that sailed wide of the Omni were hitting the wall of the cave near me. How could I make my body move to get in front of one of those? I leaned into the ethereal walls that held me, and for the first time I felt some give. Was Tenebris’s hold lessened because he was expending his energy trying to cross the remainder of his essence into this realm? I pushed again. My body lurched and sprang back upright. I watched the rhythm of Liv’s throws. If I timed it just right I could do this. Her arm raised. I focused with every ounce of willpower I had and my body flung forward—right as Liv’s blast reached me. Ready to absorb the power.
My heart almost stopped. Daria had worked her way through the crowd and was only a few feet from Liv—pointing her weapon right at my coven sister.
“Daria?” Liv sounded as confused as I felt. “You know we’re innocent.”
“You may be. I’m not.” Daria shrugged, but underneath her cynical expression I sensed deep sorrow. “Your friend was supposed to get arrested, so I could deliver her from a prison cell to Tenebris. That plan never materialized. Guess I have to impress him some other way.” The realization was like a gut-punch. Daria had been part of the plot against us all along? Asher’s Fidei pal—our source on the inside, feeding us information, alerting us to danger—was among the hooded humans in the demon lair.
Desperate, I looked to Asher for a deflecting blast but he was twenty feet away dusting Neqs. Kavon continued to thrash against his chain, gaining greater range of movement with every thrust. Meanwhile Larch and the other Fidei agents had barely breached the mouth of the cave and were busy raining bullets down on the plain-faced Caedis. Though they rolled off him like water drops, his body flinched with each projectile he deflected. The next thing I knew, there was a puff of white smoke and then Paul the Caedis was gone. The coward had spellbeaded out of here. So much for his being a loyal lieutenant to Tenebris.
Matt broke through a cluster of demons and appeared just behind Daria. His daggers were raised, fending off green bolts as he moved, but the sight of Daria’s gun trained on Liv stole his attention.
“Would Tenebris really be impressed by you killing her?” Matt spoke up. He was always cool in a crisis. “A novice witch.”
“Fair point.“ Daria’s gun wavered between Liv and Matt while she deliberated. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would burst out of my chest.
“That’s right,” Matt said. “I’m your target.”
A Neq victory cry rose above the din. Tenebris’s smoke had completely crossed into the earthly realm. Its molecules drew together, compacting to a point that veered toward Kavon. Leonard, hood down, had pushed his way to the center of the action, watching the amorphous Caedis with a look of awe. Or was it envy?
Daria aimed her gun at Matt. At the edge of my vision I saw Asher rushing toward us. But he was going to be too late.
“Sorry, man, you seem like an all right dude.” She pulled the trigger.
Kavon pitched forward, shattering his magical tether. With split-second timing he screened Matt’s body, landing in front of Daria’s bullet. It hit him in the thigh, and I winced. Kavon howled and crashed to the stone floor. Blood pumped from the wound with the rhythm of his heartbeat—it must have ripped through an artery. Matt’s face went ashen. Larch spun toward the gunfire, turning just in time to see Kavon fall. As his body thrashed in pain, it began the erratic shifts through all its recent forms—crow, Jason, eagle, Jason, crow, Jason. And then I saw his body shift to my likeness, glowing orange eyes glaring up at me from my own face. A horrified look lit up Larch’s face. In a flash, her expression changed to understanding.
“Hold fire on the coven!” she shouted from the back of the room. “Repeat, hold fire on the coven.”
The trail of red smoke hung in the air, having missed its intended target. But it wouldn’t take Tenebris long to regroup.
The part of Liv’s blast that hit me wasn’t enough to break the green magic’s hold on me. But it was enough to give me some control. I felt my magic reconnect to my coven’s circle. Larch was distracted just long enough for me to get Asher’s attention. “Cover him,” I croaked, pointing at Kavon.
Asher looked at me like I was deranged. He thought I was still under Tenebris’s sway. I had to make his see that Kavon wasn’t the villain he seemed. That he needed our protection. “Asher!” My voice was a plea. Time was running out. “Trust me.” I did my best to focus, to become fully present in our coven bond. “Cover him.”
My focus must have worked. Asher gave a slight nod and threw a deflection blast just in time to thwart Larch’s bullets. The warlock was a whirling dervish, deflecting bullets on all fronts. Matt sliced through the Neqs like butter, dusting demons all around him but leaving the Wonts to cower at the fringes of the battle. Liv took advantage of the opening Matt had created and inched closer to me, a look of determination on her face.
“Liv, fire!” I yelled, smacking my own chest, desperately hoping she’d understand because it was all I could eek out. Confusion crossed her face before she finally got it. She swallowed hard and aimed a blast directly at me.
Tenebris’s red smoke was shifting back and forth frantically, searching for its skinsuit.
A squat green-skinned Neq scooped the amulet off the floor, no doubt in preparation to hang it around his lord’s neck.
Once said lord had a neck.
Asher sent a blast toward the loyal Neq, just moments before one of Matt’s throwing stars whirred toward it. Asher’s blast hit first, dusting the demon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leonard diving for the falling amulet. Of course he’d be that greedy. Matt yelled, his eyes widening as he saw what I saw. The mage’s arc was landing him squarely in the path of Matt’s throwing star. The blade caught him on the side of his neck, drawing a deep jagged slash from ear to ear. Blood exploded from his body. Leonard was dead in three heartbeats.
I didn’t have to look at Matt to know how utterly devastated he must be. He’d broken the most sacred of all his vows. He’d killed a human. By accident but still, this was Matt. Add it to the list of things he’d need therapy for, if such a thing existed for magicborn warriors.
Assuming we got out of this battle alive.
I managed to bang my chest and shout, “Again!” Liv fired another blast—directly at my center. Internally, I brawled against the green magic that urged me to get out of the way and forced my body to stay stock still. In slow motion, the outer edges of the fireball hit my body. The searing heat shocked my senses. Ignoring the pain, I pulled it in, drawing it to the golden magic already pooled inside me. Wham! The two sources of witch’s magic collided like two raging rivers meeting.
The lump at my core was smashed to smithereens upon impact. A puff of black smoke seeped from the skin above my navel.
Tenebris’s hold over me was gone. He was powerless to affect me—and in danger of losing his skinsuit.
While his smoke was darting above Kavon’s severely wounded body, golden magic sloshed up inside me, larger than the space it occupied, forcing out all the green. With a woosh, witch’s magic was all that filled me. It surged and ebbed, then settled, ready for me to call it. Opening up so fully to receiving the power from Liv had expanded my capacity to hold my magic. It had forged new depths in our coven bond. I was more full of witch’s magic than I'd ever been. It was doing
its uniquely Alix thing of glowing all over my body, more like a guardian than a witch, and for the first time, I loved it. For the first time, I felt it was beautiful. I embraced my power and every drop of magic I possessed.
A panicked screech pierced the air from the red smoke that was Tenebris’s essence. Finally, getting its bearings, the smoke curled itself toward the wounded Omni, reaching for him. The smoke danced upon his open lips. Kavon closed his eyes. It’s about to end right now, I thought. Kavon began to inhale and the smoke abruptly shifted. It retreated, diving at Leonard’s freshly dead body. Was Kavon’s wound too grave? Or did Tenebris sense danger?
No, he chose the body with the amulet.
The war raged on around us, no one knowing the battle that was just lost. Leonard’s ruined body healed before my eyes. The wound on his neck knitted together back to smooth skin. Light returned to his lifeless eyes. Color returned to his face. The amulet’s dome of protection rose up around Tenebris’s new skinsuit, encompassing several of his followers who were near him. One of them was Daria, causing Larch to do a double take.
Leonard was clearly not Leonard anymore. The mage’s body stood at its full height now, like Tenebris was inhabiting every inch of it. He was taller than I’d thought. The same muscle and sinew hung on the skeleton, but its appearance was vastly different.
His “resurrection” was so shocking that it took me a moment to call my magic to my fingertips. I flung golden fireballs but instead of hitting Leonard, they connected with the amulet’s dome and ricocheted back at me. I threw another blast out of frustration, knowing I’d have to duck as it bounced back at me. My coven was smart enough not to join in the assault.
The Fidei soldiers aimed their weapons at him, but Larch—having seen what had just happened with me—barked, “Hold your fire!”
“We can’t just let him walk out of here!” the agent closest to Larch yelled at her. Larch shook her head in resignation, but let her order stand.
Tenebris seemed to be taking a minute to acclimate to his new body. His shoulders expanded and his jaw set. Power radiated from him as he stalked onward, fully shielded by the protective dome. His minions matching his pace.
“Daria!” Larch’s voice was raw, a rare surge of emotion coming from the woman I’d come to see as a Fidei machine.
Tenebris’s crew continued unimpeded toward the exit, stepping over bullet-riddled Neqs and piles of dust, past my coven, through the ranks of Fidei, and walked right out.
There was a stunned silence and all eyes were on the empty cave door, none of us could believe Tenebris had pulled it off. Amidst the bodies of the fallen Neqs, wounded Fidei, and crying Wonts, Kavon grunted softly and rolled to his knees, clearly unable to stand. Would they execute him for his crimes? His orange eyes locked on mine. And then suddenly there was an eagle before me, a gaping bloody hole on its leg. It faltered but righted itself and took off, its wings beating a zigzag path out of the cave. Fidei bullets bounced off the cave wall, missing their flailing mark.
“Son of a bitch!” Larch yelled and marched at me. “That asshole killed Jason.”
Larch kept staring at me, and I felt like I should say something. Tell Larch I was sorry for her loss. But I couldn’t even begin to process what I felt about Kavon. He’d lost so much. Was I right in not reporting him in the first place? The only thing I was sure of was that he wouldn’t get a fair trial from the Fidei. And he had the kids to take care of.
Finally, Larch said, “So, it’s pretty clear it was the Omni that killed Marley and the others.” With a gulp of emotion she added, “With the help of a double agent.”
“That’s how it seems, yeah.” Why did I feel like a traitor, answering truthfully?
“Well, it’s all over but the paperwork. I’ll call you in next week to be debriefed.” Larch barked orders at her team to clear the cave.
Matt stood beside me. Asher and Liv came up behind me. Our coven magic swelled and pulsed around us.
“We’re going to stay behind to knit the wards,” Matt explained to Larch. He made it sound as if his magic wasn’t a part of what made that possible. “And then we’re leaving.”
“See that you fix them properly this time.” Larch had just checked us off her to-do list and was moving on.
I turned to my coven. “All right, let’s do the Demongate ward first.”
There was an awkward moment. Matt and Liv looked at me with sympathy.
“Uh, no,” Asher said with his usual directness.
“You need to sit this one out, Alexandra.” Matt resheathed his blades and turned toward the charred walls.
“Hey, wait a minute.” The demongate was as much my responsibility as theirs. My entire being wanted to help make it right. I was truly rid of the green magic. How could I prove it to them?
“I know we have things to discuss, but right now there’s work to do.” Matt let his gold magic rise to the surface.
“Stop. Don’t do this without me.” I grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. “Tenebris’s magic is gone. Really gone.”
“We believe you,” Liv said. “It’s just—”
“Not that I don’t trust you, but we’ve been down this road before,” Asher said. “I can run some tests when we get back to Talisman—”
“I have a better way.” I reached for our coven bond and sensed their magic, warm and strong. It was the closest thing I'd felt to home in thirteen years. I tugged at each of the three threads of magic, connecting it to my own, pulling us together. Something in the way my magic had surged back inside had caused me to level up, gave me more control. Liv let out a small sigh. Family. My eyes shut in response to the rich emotions that washed over me.
“What are you doing to us, witch?" Asher asked, but he didn’t sound unhappy.
“I'm letting you into my magic. Tenebris is really gone."
“You’re right. I feel it.” Matt’s voice was full of relief.
We stood for a moment, our magic swirling between us, connecting us. I relished the feeling of our bond—of all that I’d almost lost. I knew that the dominion gene had gotten me into this trouble, but I also knew it could make me stronger. I vowed to figure out how. But right now we had work to do. “Okay, let’s do this thing,” I said.
Liv turned, calling her magic to her fingertips. I felt a tug on my power as she closed the metal gate and started repairing the inner ward.
I wished fixing the wards was the only work we had left to do.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
We stepped into the gleaming chrome and vinyl interior of Ruth’s Diner just as the breakfast rush crowd was thinning. The few empty tables were all two-tops, so we stood in the entryway waiting for a larger table to clear until Ruth herself peeked out from the kitchen.
“Why don’t you come sit up front?” She motioned to the lunch counter, where we took our seats on the spinning stools.
Ruth set down a cup of English breakfast tea at Asher’s elbow and leaned over to pour coffee for Matt, Liv, and I. My senses picked up her springtime scent, as always, and the effervescent magic I could never seem to place. I knew she was a magicborn, I just didn’t know what sort. Fae, maybe? The only thing I knew for certain was that she was quite a bit older than the mid-thirties she appeared to be. Though, between the quirkiness and high turnover of this neighborhood, her clientele didn’t seem to notice her lack of aging.
We didn’t need menus, we knew the offerings by heart. Unlike other wannabe faux diners, Ruth had been cooking these unadulterated recipes for many a decade. And the home style flavor never disappointed. It was a comfort in the storm of my life.
Matt pulled his phone from his back pocket. He read the screen and smiled, then passed it to the rest of us. It was a text from Chris.
Hey man. Larch’s report just hit HQ. Your coven is cleared of all charges. Expect my report to be glowing.
A second text popped up as I was reading.
You ought to visit sometime. Meet my family. I’ll introduce you around the loc
al guardian community. Never know, you might meet someone.
A wave of jealousy flashed inside me. The thought of Matt meeting some hot Spanish guardian woman made my blood boil. His fingers brushed mine as he took back the phone, reminding me of our powerful connection. He wasn’t going anywhere.
Asher pointed at Matt’s phone. “You know, I think Daria put a tracker on your cell phone when she gave you the list of witches. That Wont.”
“I was wondering how the Fidei knew how to show up at the cave,” Liv said.
“She was always a handful.” A sly grin formed on Asher’s lips. After all this he was still turned on by her?
“Dude.” Matt gave him a grow-up look. “There’s a difference between a bad girl and one who’s…evil.”
Asher shrugged, seemingly unfazed. But I’d seen his softer side. I suspected this was just bluster covering his embarrassment over having been played.
Matt didn’t want to let it go. “She may not have done the dirty work herself, but she certainly had a hand in facilitating Honorata’s murder.” Matt was in full-on righteous mode. “And framing us.”
“You’re right.” Asher stared into his tea cup. “I just never saw it coming.” It might have been my imagination, but it looked like he was about to be overrun by emotions.
“I propose a toast to the fallen.” Liv raised her coffee mug, momentarily deflecting our attention from Asher. “And to Marley, a witch among witches.”
I stole a glance at Asher. I could tell Liv was speaking from the heart and despite our warlock’s typically shallow demeanor, it was clear he was touched.
“Ironic, isn’t it?” Asher said sadly. “Marley was haunted by visions of her own death. That’s why she kept upgrading her wards and protections.” He took a sip of his tea, more to swallow his emotions than anything else, I suspected. “It was a self-fulfilling prophecy. In buying the amulet, she assured her own death.” He shifted in his seat, clearly wanting to change the subject.