by Jenn Nixon
“Fifteen minutes.”
“I know, Jack.”
“I think you should lower the mansion barrier only. If you focus—”
“She said all of them. She’s going to know if I try to mess around…Zorin.”
Shit. Rune ran his hand down his face.
Jack knitted his brows together. “Do you think she’ll really leave?”
“Probably.”
Then do it, Cyndra. At least this way, if she does leave, we can get everyone out of the mirror finally and figure out the next step together.
“Evie didn’t want me to let her out. Zorin doesn’t want me to remove the barriers…” Cyndra gazed off toward the staircase leading to the service room. She’d give up her powers if he’d walk down those steps right now. Covering her face, Cyndra sighed and felt Rune’s hand on her shoulder. “Two against two and of course it’s up to me.”
Rune smirked. You could do nothing. Force her hand.
“I don’t know.” Cyndra shook her head.
“It boils down to one question. Do we potentially sacrifice ourselves to keep Mergan here or do what she wants and live to fight another day when we’re stronger or at least have help?”
Cyndra stared at Jack and Rune without an answer. Without Zorin’s input, she felt lost in a sea of possibilities. He knew Mergan best. He probably knew her true plans. Perhaps Cyndra could do the opposite of Jack’s suggestion. If she siphoned enough power from Jack and Rune and if Zorin got close enough, she’d have all the elements to take down any barrier on the island, including the mirror. Her eyes roved toward the staircase again. Cyndra wiggled her fingers, not quite half strength.
What are you thinking, Cyndra?
“Fight another day,” she said, watching the hope spark in both their eyes. Sipping the last of her juice, Cyndra eyed Jack and the journal. “Any last minute tips?”
“I think we should take off our crystals, Rune.” Jack lifted his pendant from his neck, setting it on the table. He smiled at her. “It’ll be easier for you to direct our elements without them. Sometimes the crystal likes to interfere.”
Cyndra chuckled. “Saved Rune’s ass first time it happened to me. I moved a wraith using energycasting without actually doing anything. Zorin said…” Mashing her lips together, she looked off to the side so her eyes wouldn’t tear up. “The crystals would protect us…that’s not what we need right now.”
No, we need power. Rune nodded, holding his pendant in his hand. Jack plucked it from his hand and put it inside the Caster Crest box with the book, his own crystal, Cyndra’s, and the other two they had possession of currently.
“Are you sure?” She looked between the two as they both nodded and stood up. “Guess it’s smart doing it from the lighthouse, it is practically in the middle.”
Jack smirked. “And the highest point.”
“Derp, of course! That makes total sense. Easiest way to cover the whole island is a dome. I read this book…The casting point is probably right above our heads,” Cyndra said, turning to the stairs, ignoring her shaking hands. Rune went up first, followed by Jack. Balling her fingers into fists, she darted up, keeping her gaze forward and dashed through the service room to the next staircase leading to the lantern room.
Rune, already on the walkway looking up at the sky, evoked his fire power, mingling it with Jack’s growing water, easily spilling into her open siphon. The addition of their shared earthcasting power almost calmed her nerves as well as Zorin.
Cyndra exited and moved beside her best friend, bumping into his shoulder playfully as the seriousness of the situation fell on his face. “She wouldn’t have made the deal if I couldn’t bring the protections down, Rune. We’ll be strong enough, I believe it.”
“Me too,” Jack said, reaching out his hand to Rune who clasped in and in return took Cyndra’s.
A surge of their power slammed into her body. Cyndra gripped the railing as a flash of Zorin, trapped on the walkway in the mirror realm, entered her mind. Shutting her eyes so the dizziness subsided, she squeezed Rune’s hand, evoked her elements to her fingers, keeping the flames and the energy just beneath the surface.
Are you okay, Cyndra? Rune projected and tugged on her hand to get her attention.
“Good to go,” she whispered, staying the in darkness, focusing on the siphon and barriers simultaneously. Once Jack and Rune followed her lead, the amount of power coming through the siphon inundated her senses, taunting her fire and energy, which strengthen in subconscious defense. Cyndra drew her friends’ elements, understanding Zorin even more as every molecule in her body buzzed with power. She felt invincible. “If it’s too much…you have to tell me.”
“Keep going, Cyndra, focus on the casting point…”
Nodding, she opened her eyes and gaze up, above the lighthouse, and set her energy free, surprised to feel it roll off her like a wave instead of the greenish-white manifestation that usually swirled around her hand.
These ancient powers knew better than she did.
Cyndra was simply a vessel.
Her thoughts cleared with the exception of the one thing she wanted to do, remove any barriers on the island. She had the power of earth and water, fire and energy at her beck and call. All she needed was Zorin’s air.
Mergan’s cruel words rang through her mind. The tear running down his cheek, the anguish on his face replayed in a continuous torment. Cyndra tried to shake them out. A spiking pulse was the least of her problems, her energy started churning deep in her body the moment she thought of him.
Her worry for him filled every cell.
We’re going to save him, Rune said, trying to help and doing the exact opposite.
I think I took too much. Cyndra tightened her grip on the railing, practically pushing her power into the metal. The walkway shook and the lighthouse seemed to sway sideways.
“You can do this, Cyndra, focus,” Jack coaxed.
She shook her head. No one was meant to have this much power. She needed it out. She needed her siphon. Zorin.
Her eyes rolled back as four of the five elements shredded through her muscles and surged out of her hand, latching onto the casting point above the lighthouse.
Rune shivered. Cyndra?
The power spilled from her fingertips, surrounding the entire lighthouse in a gentle cushion, like touching clouds…
Zorin’s aircasting power zipped into her siphon, his energy felt strange, tainted by violence and hatred. Her siphon didn’t care, it wanted more, needed more. Cyndra took it all in then sent it into her energycasting, growing weaker by the moment.
When her vision returned, the swirling colors of the elemental power stretched upward, encasing the top of the lighthouse.
Cyndra’s right arm went numb. The power moved too fast, tearing through her body like hot spikes.
Her head spun.
She lost her grip on Rune’s hand and her footing.
Someone screamed her name as she tumbled over the side of the railing.
Chapter 27
“Oh, would you please wake up,” Mergan huffed, scraping her feet as she paced the former sidewalk. “Deadline is almost up and I’m bored.”
Zorin lifted his head from the ground, rubbing the tenderness on his chest. The only caster who had the power to damage his impenetrable body stared down at him with a mixture of humor and disgust.
Most of the power he’d siphoned from Cyndra now resided in Mergan’s body. Clenching his jaw, Zorin rose to his feet and looked down at her this time.
“What will you do when she turns you away or turns on you?”
“She won’t.”
Mergan lifted her brow in surprise. Then her face fell into a scowl. “Well, let us go see then.”
On command, he picked her up in his arms, used a nearby tree to gain height, and headed into the wind. Tilting his wing, Zorin flew higher, feeling Mergan stroking his ear again, and turned his focus to the lighthouse, trying to ignore his elevated pulse.
He cur
ved around the safe zone on the east side of the mansion and redirected toward the woods once they were clear of the barrier, something he may no longer have to do if Cyndra succeeded.
“Pray she does.”
“Out of my fucking head, Mergan,” Zorin spat, unable to hold it in longer.
She pressed her mouth against his ear. “You belong to me until I release you, monster.”
“I may do as you command, but I have never belonged to you.”
“So, you belong to her,” she mocked, pitching her voice.
“No, I belong with her. Something else you never understood, devotion built by trust and honesty—”
“Quiet!” she snapped and shuddered in his hold.
Halfway across the woods, Zorin spotted movement atop the lighthouse. He made no indication, adjusted his wings to lift higher and fly faster once he reached the field.
“Land.”
Zorin gritted his teeth and tucked his wings as he tilted downward, keeping at an angle where he could still see all three casters on the widow’s walk.
The moment Cyndra’s power hit the air his body flushed and hardened.
“Land,” Mergan barked, touching the side of his temple, feeding him her vile energy.
His gut twisted.
Zorin pitched down toward the field.
Cyndra’s power doubled, tripled, drenching the island. Then he heard her sweet voice enter his mind through the crystal bond. Zorin.
His caster needed him. Every inch of Zorin’s body returned to his control. Mergan tightened her grip around his neck and commanded him to land again. The dark urge didn’t fill his body, but he still swooped down and dropped Mergan ten feet from the ground.
With a grin on his face and her screech fading behind him, Zorin tilted his wings, rising up, feeling Cyndra siphoning his powers, creating a cast of elements, which swirled around the lighthouse, collected at the top, and shot into the air.
She found the casting point.
Cyndra’s elemental power increased toward dangerous levels. Zorin peaked and tucked his wings back diving toward the walkway. Mergan shouted from below, trying to reenter his mind with her dark energy.
Jack screamed Cyndra’s name.
Zorin gasped as she tumbled over the railing of the widow’s walk.
The entire island rumbled.
He burst forward, catching Cyndra before she fell and swooped around the lighthouse.
Zorin held her tight to his chest and created a pocket with his wings then dropped straight down. The second his feet touched the ground he tapped her cheek. Cyndra, wake up.
Her eyes fluttered, taking an eternity to open. The corner of her mouth lifted slightly. Am I dreaming?
“No, caster, I’m here, uncertain for how long. Mergan is near.”
The door to the lighthouse swung open. Rune and Jack ran out, both armed with knives and casting power.
“Let her go, Mergan!” Jack grunted.
“It’s okay,” Cyndra said softly, looking deep into his eyes, also uncertain.
Zorin shook his head feeling Mergan’s hold take shape. He set Cyndra down and stepped back. “You need to go, all of you.”
“No fucking way,” Cyndra murmured, latching onto Rune when he came to her side.
Zorin, you have to fight her. Rune pleaded with his eyes as Jack ran up behind.
“I can’t. I’ve tried.” The last of his control continued to slip away. “Leave the island—”
“You don’t mean that or is she already in your head?”
“I thought I said all the barriers,” Mergan cooed from behind, trying desperately to regain her control on his mind like she already had on his body.
“Yeah and?” Cyndra snarled.
“Only the mansion is down,” she scoffed.
Cyndra hitched a hand on her hip. “Well then maybe you have your answer. I can’t do it.”
“Oh, but you will,” Mergan said, flinging her hand at Jack and Rune, sending them flying across the ground. Rune smashed into the lighthouse wall. Jack flew through the open doorway crashing inside.
Cyndra’s elements sparked to life in her hands.
“Don’t,” Zorin said, lifting his arms and stopping midway.
Mergan’s power strengthened, piercing his mind. She moved beside him, stroking her hand across his face, taking him back under, turning his vision fuzzy.
Zorin reached out, possibly for the last time, Go, caster. I can’t break free.
“No!” Cyndra’s eyes locked on his, glazing over with tears. “I’m not leaving you.”
“Oh, ugh.” Mergan retched, pointing her finger into her mouth. “Did you honestly think he would stay, here, when I promised to turn him back if he comes with me? He knows you don’t have the power, knows how many casters it takes.”
Zorin’s heart dropped. She had said it earlier. She’d siphoned twelve casters to transform him. Taking that amount of power was practically impossible. Mergan was right, Cyndra couldn’t turn him back to human.
“Shut the fuck up.” Cyndra’s arms sparked to life with her elements.
“Too easy. I’ll reward you later, pet.” Mergan chortled. “Do you know what he said when I asked if he loved you?”
Zorin shut his eyes. He felt Cyndra’s stare through their bond.
“I don’t care.”
“What did I tell you, Zorin? Now, you have your proof.”
“Go ahead, try to twist my words. He knows me, better than anyone ever has,” Cyndra barked. Zorin’s eyes popped open. Her entire body was drenched with power. He sensed her desire and need for him, her excitable tempting energy stronger than ever. She lifted slightly in the air, propelled by all the energy and fire spilling from her. Then his caster smiled at him.
Mergan smiled, too, she was siphoning Cyndra’s powers.
He had to stop her but his body refused to comply. When he focused on Cyndra through the mental bond, Mergan slapped him across the face.
“Stop!” his caster shouted, as her wild powers grew uncontrollably.
“Do it,” Mergan commanded.
His siphon opened.
Cyndra gasped, her cheeks darkened and body trembled. “Zorin?”
Unable to answer, he stared at her, drew her energy and fire, absorbing everything inside her, filling him with her strength and lust and confusion and fear.
When he almost had his fill of her, Mergan whispered in his ear, “Now.”
Without thought, Zorin dashed forward and grabbed Cyndra’s left hand with his. Her eyes widened and she struggled in his grasp.
“Zorin, fight her, please,” she screamed, shaking, heating, and trembling from his touch. Instead of fighting Mergan’s command, he obeyed, pushing the power he collected and his own into Cyndra’s body. Mergan touched his shoulder adding her elements and all her stolen power into him. Zorin pushed it through his siphon, giving it all to Cyndra.
She screamed. The phoenix wings of red and green grew thicker, darker, and wider. Zorin, unharmed by her elements, continued to feed her, empower her.
“Release the barriers, Cyndra Raine, or Zorin will drain your friends and feed you until you explode.”
Cyndra’s head tipped back, her free arm lifted, releasing the elements. The island rumbled again. Mergan chuckled softly and increased the power moving through the connected siphon, making Cyndra’s fire and energy even darker in color and intent.
The only control he had was over his eyes, which never turned from her, despite the lighthouse swaying and hearing parts of the mansion crumbling.
Zorin’s entire body shook as the ground quaked and rippled. A thick chunk of earth shot up, knocking Mergan to her ass. If he could laugh he would, instead, he tried to decrease the siphon, but her instructions overrode his desires.
Rune ignited the fiery casterguard on his forearm. The fingers on his more powerful left hand curled upward, a sign he was closer to mastering full control.
Zorin pleaded with his eyes to knock him away from Cyndra, but
Rune’s sole focus was Mergan, attacking her by shifting the ground and calling forth protruding roots to keep her off balance and away from him and Cyndra.
He met eyes with his frightened caster, watching her uncontrolled powers overtake her body. She whispered, “I tried—”
A surge of power expelled from her body and burst into the air. Mergan laughed from behind. Cyndra went limp. Zorin pulled her to his chest instinctively. His hold released her a second later. Cyndra crumbled to the ground, again, right at his feet as he stood by and did nothing.
The roar vibrating from his chest bounced over the land. He spun around, searching for Mergan. She shifted away from one of Rune’s roots pushing up from the ground. Her new command ripped into his mind. Zorin dashed forward, lifted into the air, heading straight for her.
“Don’t go,” Cyndra murmured from behind.
Mergan kept his focus forward. He picked her up by the arm and left her dangling for a moment as he rose higher in the air. The prickle in the back of his head increased. Zorin tugged her up, cradling her body as he soared away from his friends, from Cyndra, locked in Mergan’s dark embrace, with no way to break free.
“Now we retrieve the crystals, my pet. It’ll all be over soon.”
Cyndra sat on the ground, staring into the night, cold and weak, and leaned against Rune’s shoulder when he dropped to his knees beside her.
You were right. She’s too strong. I’m sorry, Cyndra…
What else was there to say? It didn’t matter how strong they were as a group or how unbreakable her connection to Zorin was because Mergan’s power conquered all.
“Shit, Jack,” Cyndra grunted, taking Rune’s help getting to her feet. Halfway to the lighthouse, he staggered into the doorway with a cut brow and bloody nose, but thankfully in one piece.
They shared a collective hug.
Cyndra kissed both their cheeks and squeezed them tight. “She got what she wanted, the barriers are down…hope she leaves.”
They broke apart, except for Jack, he continued to rub her arm, the concern firmly on his face. She knew what he wanted to ask, the one question she wasn’t ready to face. Cyndra spun around, walking back to the lighthouse, albeit slowly, with Rune a step behind. None of them said anything until they reached the bottom step and she almost collapsed against the wall.