As the Shadow Witch approached Talia, she flicked her hand toward Ian, Hope, and Faith, and without warning all three of them were flown backward up against the stone wall, rendering them unconscious and leaving Talia alone to face her mother. The woman circled her like she was her prey and dragged the tip of her ice-cold fingers along Talia’s cheek.
“I see love’s glow on you. I’ve kept my end of the bargain, daughter, but from the looks of things, you did not. Where is your mate?”
Talia pulled her face away from her mother’s touch and narrowed her eyes at her.
“Thanks to you, I do not have a mate. I have kept up my end, but you are early. The moon has not completed its cycle yet, so why are you here?”
The Shadow Witch gripped Talia’s chin in her bony hand and brought her face down to so that the women were eye to eye.
“I am here because I saw you!” she spat. “You broke our pact and coupled with that tainted Empath! I am here to do what I must to cleanse you of his gift before I send you back to the Veil—to save our kind because you refused to!” The Shadow Witch released Talia’s chin and walked over to the three motionless bodies of her friends. “I wonder…if they had known what a whore you are if they would have saved you to start with.”
“You should not trust everything you think you see, Mother.”
“I know what I saw, Talia.” Her cold voice came as a near whisper as she turned her back to the three bodies. “I doubt very much that your mate was simply holding you while your legs were tightly wrapped around his torso…What I do not understand is why. You knew the consequences. My warning was not false yet you chose to risk the lives of every gifted so that you could roll around with a man who is incapable of love.”
The Shadow Witch slowly glided back over to stand in front of Talia, her eyes filled with judgment and disapproval. Behind her, Talia caught a glimpse of Ian. His smile was weak, but the twinkle in his eye told her everything she needed to know. He was ready and all Talia needed to do was keep the Shadow Witch distracted.
“So what if I am a whore?” Talia began, knowing that her best bet was to make her mother angry so that her focus would be solely on her. “What could possibly be wrong with finding a big, thick cock to give me pleasure? I’m not the only woman to feel that way and if my coupling ends magic as we know it, who gives a fuck? The gifted community is tainted anyway. The purity that it once was has been long gone and it needs a good cleansing. Get rid of us all and start fresh and if magic itself does not survive, then perhaps everyone is better off without it!”
As the Shadow Witch’s hand came up and found a home across Talia’s cheek, leaving a bright red mark and a stinging sensation, tears of pain blurred her vision.
“You ungrateful wench! How dare you speak of the gifted in such a manner. The only taint that plagues our kind is brought on by those such as yourself, greedy and selfish, never looking out for others but purely out to please yourself—I am sickened that I have birthed and raised such a wicked creature!”
“You should not be shocked, Mother. My actions are a reflection of you. I watched you, as I grew, take men to your bed and discard them at day break—use your gift for your own selfish needs and purposes and twist the opinions of the Council to suit whatever warped plan you had in play. How else did you gain permission to sentence me to the Veil? Or transform our beloved home into a dark and dreary prison? I am simply acting in a manner in which you raised me.”
The Shadow Witch began circling her again, the crazed look of insanity flickering on her face. “I think that you have been freed long enough, daughter. You’re starting to forget that you have obligations—that your life is not important, but it is simply your gift that keeps you alive. It is time for you to go home.” With that the Shadow Witch slammed the metal tip of her staff against the stone floor. Thick black tentacles shot up and wrapped themselves around Talia’s body, their tarlike texture burning her flesh as they confined her movement, leaving only from her shoulders up free of their hold. The familiar pain sent panic through her mind, but she had to hold on. Ian would not let her down and she would only have to suffer for a little while.
As she anxiously awaited Ian’s move and the tentacles continued to melt into her flesh, Talia tried to bring forth pictures of Hunter. His continued absence still worried her and knowing that Faith seemed to be a culprit was cause for greater concern, but for now she just needed to see his face. His dimpled smiled and dark chocolate eyes gave her comfort and if all went wrong, at least she could take the memory of him with her back to the Veil.
Through her blurred vision, Talia could see that her mother had removed the Blood Diamond from the gold mount on the staff and was rolling it around in the palm of her hand. As she did, the Diamond began to glow, as did the fire in her eyes. With her other hand she reached out and flicked a finger and Talia could feel the tentacles loosen their grip, giving her a moment of relief from the searing burn. The Shadow Witch then reached into the goop that had engulfed Talia’s body and pulled free one of her hands, holding it out with fingers spread and palm up. With another flick, the goop retightened its hold and the burning sensation was triggered anew. Tears streamed down Talia’s face as she tried to fight back the pain.
“This time, I will make sure that not only can no one find you, but that no one will have the power to awaken you. You will never again walk these halls—or risk our survival because of your selfish behaviors.” As her mother brought down the pavilion of the Diamond to plunge into her palm, a shimmer appeared and Ian stood, holding the Witch’s hand, using all of his strength to stop her.
Chapter Nineteen
Ian had watched and waited, patiently looking for his opening. With Talia restrained within the freaky black tentacles that had come from the ground and the Shadow Witch reveling in her glory at recapturing her daughter, his time was now. His heartbeat quickened as he committed himself to the task at hand. He had never been this close to breaking his curse and although he knew that Hope would mourn him, he also knew that she would be better off without him. He brought her nothing but misery and even though he knew that she loved him, she would find true happiness with someone else.
Still lying beside her, faking his state of unconsciousness, he slowly reached out his hand and trailed his fingers across the soft flesh of her cheek. She was the most amazing woman he had ever met, and the love that she had given him was more than he knew he deserved. The best gift he could give her in return was her freedom. “I love you,” he whispered, and before he went after the Shadow Witch, he carefully pulled a locket from the pocket of his pants and slipped it into her motionless hand. “You’ll thank me later, I promise.”
Satisfied with his good-bye, Ian steeled his resolve and scanned the interaction between the Shadow Witch and Talia. He was about to run out of time and he needed to act. The Witch had reached into the thick black goop that had sealed itself around Talia and had pulled free her daughter’s hand, readying it for the now glowing Blood Diamond that she rolled around in her palm. The red glow that filled the Shadow Witch’s eyes caused a brief moment where Ian second-guessed his ability, but before the doubt could settle in, he forced himself to fade. Within a single breath, Ian faded from his position next to Hope and now stood in between Talia and the Witch, the witch’s wrist gripped tightly in his hand as he prevented her from sealing Talia’s fate once again.
With his free hand, he quickly gripped the Diamond, the pavilion digging into his flesh and drawing blood. Without giving the Witch time to register what was happening, Ian faded out, taking the Diamond with him, and focused himself on reappearing on the balcony. During all of his planning and calculating, knowing when to strike and where to fade, Ian had been most aware of the magic of the Blood Diamond. There was very little magic that was considered a threat to a Phase, let alone a Phase as skilled as Ian who lived in an enchanted prison where gifted lived beyond normal years. He welcomed the poison from the Diamond as it flowed into his body, his mind suddenly a
blur. As he felt the normal flow of his gift dissipate, his body stopped in midfade, and instead of feeling the floor of the balcony as his feet firmly landed, he felt his body falling through the air, plummeting into the unknown.
Ian’s awareness of his surroundings began to fail him and as his body fell to the cold stone floor, he briefly recalled a sensation of pain accompanied by longing as his eyes met, for the last time, the violet stare that had weakened his knees on a daily basis.
* * * *
There were no words that would come to her, and as she watched in stunned silence the events that were playing out before her, Hope questioned whether she was still unconscious. Ian was a Phase, and simply put, he was unstoppable. He was always a step ahead of any threat that came for him and he could fade in and out before Hope could blink an eye, so to see him fail in midfade, to watch as he missed the balcony and plummeted to the ground below was simply impossible. It was also devastating. When his body hit the floor, the breaking of bones echoed through the library and the blood that trickled from his nose burned bright red in her vision. She wanted to run to him, to scream out his name and make it all better, but the look in his eyes was firm. Even in his last breath he was bossing her around and Hope would have it no other way. He looked from her down to his hand and she watched as he released his grip on the Blood Diamond, nodding for her to take it. She looked over to see the Shadow Witch.
Anger had exploded from her and a dark red aura began to fill the air around her. Hope felt completely alone. Talia was tied up within some kind of black slime, Ian lay lifeless mere feet from her, Faith was still unconscious beside her, and Hunter had not made an entrance. It was up to Hope to either end the threat or let the damn Witch take Talia and be done with it. Her eyes fell back to Ian. The man had held her heart in his hand for the last century and though he had bruised it, it was never intentional—he just had a tendency to be a little clumsy. She could feel the hole in her heart begin to grow as the realization found hold on her and settled in that he would not be getting up. Tears filled her eyes and she knew what she had to do. She would not let Ian die in vain.
Disregarding the pain that pounded in her head where she had come in contact with the wall and the ache in her soul from being separated from her mate, Hope gathered herself and steeled her resolve. She turned her heartache into strength and allowed everything that had gone wrong in her life or that had caused her pain to bring her power. She wiped her tears, took a deep breath, and slowly crept over to Ian’s body. When she was close enough, she reached out, dragged her finger gently along the cooling flesh of his hand and carefully lifted the Blood Diamond, cautious of the tip of the pavilion. The angry red wound in the palm of his hand made Hope ill and she quickly pulled her eyes from it.
“Hope?” From behind her, Faith’s voice came to her, weak and confused. She had no time to tend to her sister. If she had heard Faith, the Shadow Witch was certain to as well, and when she glanced up to see the Witch staring in their direction, she feared that her opportunity was lost. She gripped the Diamond, the sharp pavilion pointing out from her palm, stood, and screamed as she ran toward the Witch. All reasoning had been lost during those few moments and when she slammed her body into the confused Witch, they both tumbled to the floor in a heap. As quickly as she could take in a breath Hope reached her hand up and slapped it to the woman’s face, releasing her magic and triggering an extraction to pull out the woman’s gift. Hope had never used her gift to restrict someone else’s but her instinct had kicked in and her logic had stepped aside to make room for her desperation. She allowed the Shadow Witch’s gift to flow into her and as the dark taint of it filled her, the tangy threat of vomit teasing at her jaw, Hope lifted her other hand high in the air and brought it down in swift motion, piercing the Witch in the temple with her own beloved Diamond.
The Shadow Witch screamed out in agony and twisted her body as she tried to fight herself free of Hope’s grasp. Blood dripped down her temple and the glow of the Diamond intensified as its poison flowed into her. Hope straddled the struggling woman, holding the Diamond firmly in place as she continued to drain the Witch of her gift. She wanted to let go, to release her grip and stop the extraction, but the two had become fused and black tears began to flow down Hope’s cheeks as she struggled to keep from losing herself.
As she felt herself slip farther and farther away from herself, a sudden burst of life flowed through her body and Hope was able to pull her touch from the Witch and drop the Diamond. Behind her, covered in red burn marks from the tentacles, Talia stood, her hands firmly placed on Hope’s shoulders as she filled her with her gift.
“Get up, Hope,” Talia whispered. “You did it.”
Hope turned and stared in silence through blurred vision, the taint from the Shadow Witch still streaking her cheeks but no longer invading her body.
“I–Ian,” she cried. “Talia, she killed him!”
Talia pulled Hope up from the Shadow Witch and into her arms. As she offered her comfort, Hope could feel Talia’s gift continue to flow into her, soothing her heartache.
“Go to him. I’ll finish here.”
Hope stepped out of the embrace and ran to Ian. She fell to her knees by his side, her own tears now flowing and washing away the taint. He lay there, motionless, eyes still open and staring down at his empty hand, the blood from his nose drying on his cooling skin. She reached out and closed his eyes, folded his arms upon his chest, and curled up beside him. Emptiness filled her and her mind began to play back memories of their life together. All of the times that he had held her hand, had kissed her, had held her—even all of their stupid fights bounced around in her thoughts. As she watched the moments play out, she saw him in a different light. Everything he’d ever done, he’d done for her. He scolded her for her own good, yelled at her when she was being overly dramatic, and even sacrificed his own desires to make her happy. She reached up and wiped the tears from her face, and from the corner of her eye she saw Faith sitting with her back up against the wall, knees bent and pulled to her chest with her arms wrapped tightly around them. Her eyes were locked on Ian and she silently shed her own tears in mourning for him.
The need to be in her twin’s arms became overwhelming and Hope pulled herself to her knees and began to crawl to Faith. As she grew near, a shimmer caught her sight and her eyes fell onto a necklace that lay by itself on the floor. With trembling fingers she picked it up and held it up to the light. It was beautiful. Hammered gold formed into the shape of a heart, and in the center of it was fastened a small black diamond. A small hinge on the side told Hope that it opened so she slid her finger nail gently along the edge until she heard a low click. When the heart fell open, pink sparks burst out and music filled the air around her. It was a love ballad that Ian had written for her during the years he had pursued her. Realization sank in. He had known that he would not survive this fight and the locket was meant to give her a small piece of himself that she would never forget.
Slender fingers slowly lifted the locket from her hand as Faith pulled it up and hooked the latch so that the necklace hung around Hope’s neck, the heart resting just above the line of her breasts. Ian would be with her always, and Hope fell into her sister’s arms and wept for the loss of her love.
Chapter Twenty
Talia knelt beside her mother, mesmerized that this woman had given her life and yet was so willing to take it. The poison from the Blood Diamond that had betrayed the Witch had paralyzed her, and as she lay there and blinked up at Talia, a single tear fell down her cheek.
“You brought this on yourself and I have no sorrow for you. If you had just trusted me—believed in me instead of prophetic words in an old book then things would have been different. You could have loved me and in return, I would have loved you. You would have known unconditional love from the one person who would have never turned their back on you, but you never gave me the chance. Instead you raised me at arm’s length, always just out of reach of a true relationshi
p, and when push came to shove, instead of saving me, you imprisoned me. You let your greed for power and immortality rule you and you sentenced me to a life alone, wandering and scared. Even now you are willing to throw me aside instead of taking a chance, but this time it is not only me that you have hurt. For your crimes, you have earned your time in the Veil. The difference will be that you are without your gift—Hope made certain of that. No one will be able to find you or save you and you will be powerless. You will never know freedom again, and in the night, when the darkness chases you and hunts you like prey, you will have no means of escape.”
The fear that filled the Shadow Witch’s eyes gave Talia a sense of deep satisfaction. She could have killed her, ended her life and simply been done with it, but the vengeful side fought the battle and won. The Veil was suitable punishment and Talia would make sure that her mother did not escape. She reached out and picked up the Diamond that Hope had dropped and rolled it around in her hand.
“Now, how did that spell go?” With slow, purposeful movement, Talia laid out her mother’s hand, palm up, fingers spread and repeated the words that her mother had said over her so many years ago. The Shadow Witch would sleep as her soul ran in fear in the Veil, and as her mother’s eyes closed to never again be opened, Talia smiled and felt relief that she would no longer need to live in fear.
She stood, brushed the wrinkles out of her dress, and walked over to the Hope and Faith. It was hard to be angry with Faith as she watched her give great comfort to Hope, but this story was not done yet and Talia wanted to know where Hunter was. She placed her hand on Faith’s shoulder and when the woman looked up at her, shame and guilt flashed in her eyes.
Waking Beauty [Windsong Keep] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 14