Ascension

by Felicity Heaton

  He kept his back to Lealandra and spread his wings out, placing himself between her and the demon, defending her.

  The blue demon launched at him. Taig pushed off and slammed into him, tackling him to the floor. They rolled and hit the wall near the entrance, the impact making it shudder and crack, the blue demon landing on top. Taig swiftly moved his head to one side, narrowly dodging the silver streak of claws. They embedded into the wooden floor and the demon snatched them back, nicking Taig’s ear in the process. He roared at the demon and forced him upwards, lifting his weight off him so he could get his wings out of the twisted position they were in. He pressed his feet into the demon’s stomach and kicked hard, sending him smashing into the ceiling. When the demon fell, Taig was already on his feet. He grabbed Lealandra’s attacker around the throat and pinned him against the white pillar beside the kitchen counter. The demon went to swipe at him with his claws. Taig used the points of his wings to stab through the demon’s palms and fix them to the pillar above his head.

  “Who sent you?” Taig growled, verging on surrendering to his hunger to break the demon’s neck.

  The demon struggled against him and Taig kicked him hard in his shins, putting an end to any thought he might have had about using his feet to fight. Extending his claws further, he pressed each point into the demon’s neck.

  “I won’t ask nicely again.”

  He growled when the demon’s eyes shifted away from his to look over his shoulder towards Lealandra.

  His claws penetrated the demon’s throat, spilling blood in thin rivulets down it.

  “Last chance.”

  “Who sent you?” Lealandra’s voice startled Taig. He looked down at her where she stood just behind him.

  Her milk-white skin held a strange ethereal glow and her dark hair floated around her shoulders, writhing and swirling as though she was underwater, drifting across eyes the colour of blood.

  And she was naked.

  Taig stepped to the side to hide her body with his own. She surprised him by touching his shoulder. Excruciating pain erased the momentary burst of pleasure her caress brought as her power sapped his strength. He grimaced, struggling to remain standing as she drained him. What was she doing? If she kept this up, he wouldn’t be in any condition to fight the demon and get the information from him for her.

  He glared at her, his own red eyes meeting hers and silently asking her what she was doing.

  She smiled, deep rosy lips parting to reveal sharpened teeth. Her gaze was dull and glassy, distant. Something was very wrong.

  The mark on her chest pulsed brightly, sparkling dots of crimson dancing around each symbol and circle. He could see it without touching it. A shiver bolted through him. The ascension.

  A red glow lit her face, strangely highlighting it. Her fingers tightened against his shoulder.

  “Who sent you!” She turned on the demon.

  Taig’s wings slipped free of the demon’s hands as his power ebbed away, stolen by Lealandra. His vision swam with darkness, wavering even as he tried to cling to consciousness.

  CHAPTER 18

  Lealandra caught Taig as he collapsed and she hit the floor with him. She cleared the hair from his now human face and furrowed her brow. She cursed herself for going this far, for taking everything from him when he had fought so hard to protect her. His power was the only thing able to stop the change within her and she needed to get answers from this demon. It hadn’t been her intention to take all of Taig’s strength.

  She looked up at the blue demon and raised her hand. Rich red threads of magic encircled her fingers and she narrowed her eyes on the beast.

  “Don’t even think about moving,” she ground out and with a flick of her wrist, pinned him to the wall with her power.

  She laid Taig down on the wooden floor and rose to her feet, remorse weighing heavy on her heart. He wasn’t going to forgive her for this. If he didn’t wake soon or if he couldn’t bring himself to help her after what she had done to him, she was doomed. The ascension had begun and without his help, she wouldn’t survive it. The power she had stolen from him could only give her control over her magic for a short time. She could already feel it rising again. She needed blood.

  Her eyes met the blue demon’s yellow lizard-like ones.

  “Know you will die by my hand. Speak now and I will take revenge on those who sent you to your death.”

  The demon’s eyes widened.

  His mouth opened.

  Before he could speak, there was a cracking sound and he contorted, screaming as he writhed against the wall. Lealandra’s gaze shot to the demon’s legs and she frowned when she saw his body was petrifying from his feet up. A spell. Whoever had sent him, wanted him silenced. Permanently.

  She muttered an incantation under her breath. Red ribbons of magic gathered around her hand and knitted into a tight orb. She cast it at the blue demon. The moment it hit him, a bright yellow symbol flashed on his chest. It was a mark that she recognised but couldn’t quite believe she was seeing. Gregori. The leader of the coven was attempting to interfere with her ascension. A curse rolled off her tongue. He had always hated anyone who showed signs of achieving magic stronger than his own.

  This time he had messed with the wrong person.

  “Why did he send you?” Lealandra growled the words at the demon and pressed her hand against the symbol on his chest, determined to fight and put an end to it all.

  Touching the burning mark on her own chest, she unleashed a fraction of the power inside her and channelled it into the demon, fighting the spell that was killing him. She couldn’t let Gregori kill the demon before she had an answer. She ground her teeth tight together and focused, shutting out the pain and trying to gather all of her magic so she stood a chance of stopping Gregori’s spell.

  “Tell me why he sent you!” She couldn’t hold out much longer. Fighting Gregori’s magic was taking all her strength and each second that passed saw her power begin to take control. Her eyes widened when the demon’s hands became stone and the spell swept up his limbs. She redoubled her effort, desperate to get an answer. The magic was too powerful to stop when she was fighting the ascension at the same time. All she could do was slow it down.

  “Blood,” the demon whispered.

  Blood?

  “Yours.”

  There were only two reasons why Gregori could want her blood and both of them chilled her. When her ascension had begun, it had triggered a constant rise in her power. Every day, she was getting stronger, heading towards the moment when her magic reached a peak, the point at which she would go through the final process and it would mature.

  In that moment, her magic would be at a level that she would never attain again, not even after she had ascended. She was close to reaching it. If someone drank her blood from this point forward until the time when her power peaked during the final stage, they would temporarily become as powerful, if not more so, as her.

  The other possible effect overshadowed that one in the frightening stakes. If a witch drank her blood, there was a chance that it would initiate their ascension. Was Gregori after her blood purely for the sake of a turbo boost on his magic or did he want to ascend too?

  The latter sounded more like the effect he was after. He had held his place as coven leader for years and he would see her as a threat to his throne if she ascended. By taking her blood, he would have a shot at ascending himself and therefore having the strength to retain his position. If her blood didn’t trigger the process, he would at least have the power to fight her and eliminate the threat that way. Whatever way the dice fell, it was her death on the cards. She couldn’t afford to let him get her blood.

  The blue demon cried out and dragged her out of her thoughts. Her eyes widened when she saw Gregori’s spell had reached his shoulders. Her time was running out. She had to attack Gregori now while the spell still connected him to the demon.

  Closing her eyes, Lealandra screamed as she forced her hand hard against t
he yellow symbol on the demon’s scaly chest and sent the strongest spell she knew through it. The connection to Gregori shattered in sparks of twisted pain and the demon’s body exploded into dust.

  Lealandra stumbled backwards, panting and struggling to remain on her feet. She collapsed beside Taig. He was still out for the count, his face peaceful. There was no way he was going to look like that when he woke. Anger wasn’t a strong enough word for what he would be feeling. Rage seemed more appropriate.

  She pushed herself to her feet and her magic abated. She touched the ascension mark on her chest and frowned down at it. It had started, hadn’t it? She thought that it had begun but now she almost felt normal again, her magic whiling back down to its usual level. Had the magic taken control in order to get answers out of the demons, in order to fight? Confused, she stooped and caught Taig under his arms. She grimaced and hauled him towards the couch, dragging his feet along the floor. He wasn’t going to be happy with her. She wasn’t happy with herself either. Fear had made her react on instinct and that instinct had said to use Taig’s power to soothe her own and bring it back under control. It had worked, but she had hurt the man she loved. She was just like her mother, only at least her father had chosen to give his power to her. Taig hadn’t.

  It was a struggle to get him around the couch. He was heavy. Two hundred plus pounds of dead weight. She growled in frustration and wished she could use her magic but she wouldn’t risk it. Not yet. It would drain the remains of her power and she wasn’t sure if her spell had worked. The connection had broken before she could discern whether Gregori was dead. She needed to make sure that he was.

  Taig mumbled something when she was halfway through getting him onto the couch, his legs dangling off it. A frown creased his brow and his lips parted.

  “Taig?” she whispered, afraid of how he was going to react. She finished hauling him onto the couch and then brushed her fingers over his forehead. “I’m sorry. I had no choice.”

  “Do I scare you?” he muttered and his eyes slowly opened. She frowned. Scare her? She smiled at him when she realised that he meant his demonic appearance.

  “Not at all.” She stroked his cheek.

  He raised his hand and frowned at it. “Hmph. Not a demon. What happened?”

  Glassy black eyes met hers. He was still coming around. She gave him five seconds before he remembered that she had stolen all of his strength and then his mood would shift.

  “You didn’t frighten me when you showed your demon side.” She skirted around answering his question.

  His gaze searched hers.

  “That’s good,” he murmured and then frowned again. “My head is splitting. I think my brain is falling out.”

  She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “Not splitting at all.” She hesitated. “I am sorry… I really had no choice.”

  His frown increased, his eyes narrowing with it. “You took me out.”

  “I needed your power to control the magic.”

  “Did it work?” None of the anger she had expected laced his tone and only concern touched his beautiful dark eyes.

  She nodded. “I don’t think it was the ascension. I think my magic was just trying to protect me… us.”

  Taig smiled lopsidedly and closed his eyes. “Good. Now I think I need to sleep a while. Feels like I drunk half a bar and then got into a brawl with a Gargantuan.”

  Her smile faded. “There’s no time to sleep. I know who’s after me.”

  His eyes shot back open and he pushed himself up on his elbows.

  “Gregori wants my blood. We have to go to the coven.”

  He didn’t look pleased and shook his head. “You were barely in control, Lea, and I’m not exactly feeling up to a fight. If you flip again, if your magic takes command, I might not be able to protect you. We can’t storm in there like this. We wouldn’t stand a chance. We can go in a few hours when we’re stronger.”

  Lealandra stared at him, considering what she was going to do. Taig wasn’t angry now but he would be if she went through with it. Her magic was under control. It had to be now. Gregori knew that she was on to him and she was eighty percent sure that she hadn’t killed him. He wasn’t going to give her a few hours. He would send more demons or even witches after them. She had to go after him instead and turn the tables on him while he was weak.

  An apologetic smile touched her lips and she cupped Taig’s cheek. Awareness rippled through her. He had sensed her intent.

  “No,” he said in a firm voice. “You can’t go there alone.”

  Lealandra took one last look at him and said the incantation, one strong enough to penetrate the back path in Taig’s barrier. A black vortex opened and swallowed her. Only she didn’t go alone. Taig grabbed her arm and the current sucked him through with her. They landed hard in the expansive lobby of the coven building, creating a crater in the pale grey marble tiles. Taig cursed and pushed himself to his feet. Lealandra blushed when she realised that she should have at least done one thing before teleporting out of Taig’s apartment.

  She should have put on clothes.

  Taig pointedly raised an eyebrow.

  “You wouldn’t let me face demons naked but it’s okay to drag my bare arse to a building full of witches?”

  Lealandra clicked her fingers and a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt materialised, covering him. A black corset and black trousers appeared on her, encasing her body. Another click and she was suddenly wearing a pair of black knee-high boots and Taig’s heavy army boots were on his feet.

  “Better?” she said with a smile.

  “Guns?” He looked hopeful and boyish, charming.

  She pulled a face. Materialising clothes was one thing. Weaponry was a bit more difficult. It took time to make complicated mechanical items appear in their complete and working form.

  A sudden leap in her power told her that it was time that she didn’t have. He would have to rely on good old-fashioned brute strength. It would be like the old days. Her with her magic and him with pure rage. Back when they had hunted together, he had often carried his guns but had rarely relied on them.

  The sound of running feet rumbled through the building.

  They were coming.

  The room dimmed. Darkness flowed into her. A strong power. Gregori.

  Lealandra grabbed Taig’s hand and opened the vortex again, teleporting them higher up in the building to a refectory. Closer. She held on to Taig and teleported again. A barrier near the top of the building forced her to set down on the floor below in a pale corridor close to the elevators.

  “Problem?” Taig rolled his shoulders, a black look on his face.

  His power was returning. It flowed around her, a light mist that caressed her skin. She nodded.

  “I can’t teleport to the floor above.”

  Taig smiled. It quickly turned into a grin. “I guess we know where he is then.”

  Lealandra caught his wrist when he moved towards the emergency exit at the other end of the corridor.

  “Wait.” She focused above them, trying to penetrate the barrier and see just how many witches were waiting for them.

  Gregori couldn’t have everyone on his side. Some of them had to be against him, or didn’t know about this. She cursed. Gregori had probably told them that a demon had invaded their building. They would all be on the defensive. A lot of them had headed downstairs to greet her and Taig. At least she could hinder the lower level witches who couldn’t teleport.

  Lealandra shifted her focus to the elevators and sent a wave of power that way. Her magic snaked through the gap in the elevator doors and moved into the shaft. She closed her eyes and felt the mechanics of the elevator, seeking out a way of stopping it. Her power moved down and became one with machine, running through the metal and into the electrics. A motion with her mind and all of the electrical wires snapped, leaving the elevators immobile. She released her hold on them and pressed her hand against her head.

  Dealing with machin
ery always drained her and left a metallic taste in her mouth that reminded her of blood.

  She glanced at Taig and her magic surged through her, demanding that she taste him and feed it. Not now. She pushed back against her power, hoping to subdue it, but it overwhelmed her. Her knees gave and she was in Taig’s arms, cradled against his body.

  “You’re too weak for this,” Taig said and she smiled faintly.

  Whispered words crawled around her mind. Her gaze fell to his arm. Just a little blood. It would quell the magic and help her keep it under control. It would make her stronger. Taig moved and surprised her by running a dark claw-like fingertip down his forearm. Blood instantly filled the short ragged line.

  She licked her lips. A little blood.

  He brought his arm to her mouth and she moaned when she tasted his blood. Her hands moved of their own accord, tightly grasping his arm and clutching it to her mouth. She suckled deeply. Hazy warmth filled her, suffusing every inch of her right down into her heart, and her magic calmed, the darkness of its demands drifting from her mind. As Taig’s blood became part of hers, her strength returned and she stopped drinking. She lay in Taig’s arms, looking up at him. How had she ever been foolish enough to leave him when he was everything that she needed?

  Taig smiled at her, tender and full of affection, and she closed her eyes when he brushed his fingers down her cheek and then opened them again, wanting to see him.

  “Come on, sweet cheeks, let’s go finish this.” He stood with her, lifting her off the ground and then setting her down on her feet.

  Lealandra nodded and headed for the door to the stairs that would take her up to the next level. She climbed them, wary and searching with her magic, trying to discern where the barrier started. They were getting closer. Taig followed behind her, the strength of his power radiating through her and calming the turbulent maelstrom of nerves within her. She was glad that he had tagged along. She had hoped that he would, either by coming through the vortex with her or teleporting himself here.