Her Stolen Magic

by Zandra Pope

  “You’re fine if we just kill her then?” Jeremy sounded incredulous.

  I curled my fingers around the bars and pressed my face against the cold metal. “Torture her. Kill her. Bring her back and do it again.”

  Ava screamed through her duct tape.

  I ignored her. “She betrayed me. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have a sister.”

  “Well this is embarrassing,” said Baron Von Koffle with a sniff. “Would you still consider the deal if I spared your parents or is your whole family on the outs with you? Teens are notoriously hard for me to pin down on the whole liking mom and dad thing.”

  “My dad, your political enemy?” I gave Von Koffle a scrutinizing look.

  Barron Von Koffle stroked his chin. “I have no interest in harming your father. He provides me the perfect cover. His flailing antics are entertaining and he does an excellent job playing the rube to my mastermind. I’m not lying to you. Neither Jeremy nor I will touch your family.”

  I backed away from the bars. “I want to think about it.”

  “You have one night.”

  He turned to take Ava.

  “Wait,” I growled, grabbing Jeremy through the bars and pulling him toward me. “She stays with me.”

  Ava groaned through her duct taped mouth, eyes wide with horror.

  Von Koffle chuckled. “No, I don’t think so. I need her alive.”

  27

  Something hard hit me in the head. Blinking my eyes, I realized I must have fallen asleep.

  “Verity. Let’s go.”

  A male voice cut through the silence of the dungeon. I could barely make out the shadowy figure standing at the bars.

  My heart fluttered as I caught the musky scent of a wolf shifter. “Chase?”

  Light flared in the guy’s hands. Not Chase.

  Valerian.

  “Your father gave me until the morning. He promised.”

  “You should know by now that my father doesn’t keep his promises.” Valerian’s lips curled into a cruel smirk, but his eyes looked pained. He was conflicted over this. Why?

  “There’s no time for witty banter,” he said. “We need to go. Now.”

  There was something about Valerian being here and being in a rush that seemed off. If his father was in such a hurry to collect me, there were hundreds of other ways he could have done it. Rather than argue, I decided to trust my gut. With a puzzled frown, I rose to my feet.

  “I’m not sleeping with you,” I growled.

  He rolled his eyes. “That ship sailed, Greta, and there couldn’t be anything farther from my mind right now.”

  Even though I hated him, I also hated to admit that a part of my inner girl wished he would have found me overwhelmingly and distractingly attractive. I was pretty messed up. If I got out of this, I needed to look into therapy because those feelings were not healthy.

  Valerian’s hand moved over the lock and he whispered a word. With a click, my cell opened. He held the door for me and with a slight nod, extended his hand.

  The gesture caught me completely off guard. It was an act of a gentleman for a lady, a show of respect and, dare I say, friendship? I slipped my hand into his and he gave it a reassuring squeeze before tugging me forward into the darkness of the dungeon passages.

  I wished I had time to deconstruct Valerian’s actions, but I needed all of my attention focused on survival. The enigma that was Valerian could be solved later, assuming there was a later. My mind raced with ways I could fight Barron Von Koffle and Jeremy.

  I felt guilty over being so harsh with Ava. I hated her, but I didn’t want her tortured and killed.

  Valerian lead me up a flight of stone stairs. To the guard at the top of the stairs, Valerian spoke with authority. “My father wishes her to be a witness.”

  My heart pounded and my mouth went dry. A witness to what. Had I imagined the reassuring squeeze he had given me? Maybe his hand had spasmed, or he was grossed out by touching my hands. I mean, I had crawled around the dungeon floor and barfed in the corner so I wasn’t smelling like a spring morning — more like a fetid swamp in August. Who’d want to hold hands with that?

  Valerian dragged me along the corridor to a narrow wooden door. I had never been in this part of Illysian Academy before. I heard that the buildings were connected by underground tunnels once upon a time, but administration had closed them long ago citing safety concerns. Clearly they were still in use.

  Valerian placed his hand on the doorknob and hesitated. His father voice sounded on the other side. Fear flickered across Valerian’s face. Why?

  “You and your sister,” he hissed, “are being pitted against each other.” A study in contradiction, his face twisted into a hateful expression, but his eyes reflected regret.

  Confused I opened my mouth to speak, but he shook his head and I fell quiet. He opened the door to the room, and we slipped inside.

  The door opened into a long room with a low ceiling. Barron Von Koffle and Jeremy stood at the other end with a woman I had never seen before. Ava was between them on her knees, head bowed, hair pulled away from her face. A bruise bloomed on her cheek and a cut on her lip bled. My heart broke to see her like that.

  Motioning for me to get low, I followed Valerian’s lead, once again confused. I had expected that he would present me to his father with fanfare or at least announce his arrival, instead we crouched in the shadows and waited.

  Knavish strolled into view, his hands clasped behind his back. “Have you agreed being of sound mind,” he said to Ava.

  Ava took a shuddering breath. “Yes.”

  “Freely?” he probed.

  “You promise no harm will come to Greta?”

  A lump formed in my throat.

  Barron Von Koffle nodded at Knavish and Knavish responded. “None of us will harm her.”

  “You’ll let me live?” her voice broke, and she barely contained a sob.

  “Yes, though regretfully, you’ll have to leave Illysian.”

  “You couldn’t pay me enough money to stay,” she said bitterly.

  Knavish clapped his hands and a genuine smile shined on his face. “Wonderful. We have a deal.”

  I looked over at Valerian, questions written all over my face. I wanted to get Ava, to save her from what ever was about to happen, but Valerian frowned and shook his head. He pressed a finger to his lips and pointed to his watch, once again shaking his head almost imperceptibly.

  Did he just bring me here to watch them torture my sister? The pain I saw reflected in his eyes told me that wasn’t it. Was he waiting for someone else to arrive? I itched to do something, anything but watch. I had spent my whole time at Illysian standing in the shadows, watching others do amazing things.

  Barron Von Koffle pulled a pendant out of his pocket that looked remarkably like the one Hannah wore around her neck. I’d recognize it anywhere. She never took it off and constantly fiddled with it. He held it in his open palm.

  “Begin the ceremony,” intoned Von Koffle.

  “Ava, have you come here freely, of your own accord,” said Knavish.

  “I have.”

  “Tell us what you seek.”

  “Freedom.”

  “How will you do that?”

  Ava bowed her head. “Sacrifice my magic.”

  “Let it be known to all the witnesses assembled here today that Ava Verity has declared that she no longer wants her magic. She wishes to sacrifice it to save her sister.”

  My blood drained from my face. I grabbed hold of Valerian’s arm and squeezed until my fingers were white.

  The man lit a candle and drew a circle around Ava with white chalk.

  “Ava,” he intoned. “You have made your decision not just to give up your magic, but to sacrifice it. It is even more meaningful to sacrifice something. Though it will cause you pain, the good it will do for the world is immeasurable.”

  “No,” I whispered. “We can’t let her.”

  Valerian broke my hold on his arm and w
rapped it around me, drawing me tightly to him. I could barely breathe as tears stung my eyes.

  Von Koffle reached into Ava’s chest, toward her heart. Ava’s screams split the air. Her body twisted under his hand and her back arched unnaturally. The memory of Von Koffle violating my own body and will was too fresh. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, not even the sister who betrayed me. I choked on a sob and broke free of Valerian.

  He grabbed at me, trying to pull be back into hiding, but I stumbled into the open.

  Everyone gasped and Von Koffle jerked his arm out of Ava’s body. His hand was coated in a glittering yellow substance.

  “Leave her alone,” I shouted.

  Von Koffle’s eyes narrowed and looked past me into the shadows. “So the binding wasn’t strong enough, Boy?” he thundered.

  “Greta, get out,” gasped Ava through her tears. “Don’t make this be for nothing! This is my choice. I’m doing it for you.”

  “Let her go!” I screamed.

  Von Koffle sniffed and went back to his ceremony. He placed his hand over the pendant and the golden, glittering light seeped into it.

  Von Koffle once again reached into Ava. His fingers passed through her chest. She gasped and her body spasmed. Her face turned ashen and her fingers curled into fists. With the jerk of his hand, he brought out another wisp of golden light, but this time his hand was also covered in blood.

  Ava sagged. Tears streamed down my face.

  Again he raised his hand to Ava.

  She cringed and cried out weakly. “No, please. No more. I didn’t understand. I didn’t—.” Her voice stopped and her eyes rolled back into her head as the man pressed his hand through her chest once again.

  This time, Von Koffle’s hand twisted inside her chest and she screamed. Her arms went up to defend herself. She clawed his arms and struggled against him, trying to push him away, but he was an immovable stone, a building with a strong foundation that could not be demolished by a small girl.

  It was too much. I charged Von Koffle and ripped his hand out of my sister’s body. “I told you to leave her alone.”

  Startled, Von Koffle stumbled back, lost his footing and slammed into the floor. I scrambled to my feet and kicked him in the face with an animal-like cry. The pendant broke free of his fingers and skittered across the ground. I dove for it and caught the chain in my hand.

  A snarling silver wolf sprung from the shadows and attacked Jeremy. Knavish and the strange woman I didn’t recognize backed away from the fight. I dropped the chain around my neck and tucked it into my shirt to keep it safe. It had all of Ava’s magic and I wasn’t about to let it fall into someone else’s hands — especially not an evil vampire Senator.

  Ava shuddered and crumpled to the floor. Sputtering and wiping the blood from his mouth, Von Koffle grabbed Ava’s arm and yanked her to her feet. Her body was damp with sweat and her breathing shallow.

  “Give me her magic or she dies,” Von Koffle growled.

  Valerian, in wolf form, walked away from Jeremy’s unconscious body and circled me protectively.

  “I see you’ve made your choice.” Von Koffle narrowed his eyes at his son. “I’m sorry to inform you that shifting is not only illegal, but is now a capital crime, dear boy. Tomorrow’s executions are going to be epic.”

  Valerian snarled at his father and snapped his teeth.

  “Down boy, or the girl gets it.” Von Koffle shook Ava, who groaned, her head lolling from side to side.

  “Let her go,” I yelled once last time. For the first time in my life the tiny bubbles were real. They weren’t under my skin, but on it — a start. I gasped as magic coursed from the pendant around my neck and out into the room.

  Von Koffle’s expression turned to alarm as his hands involuntarily released Ava. She stumbled forward. Not hesitating an instant, Valerian leaped between Ava and his father, snarling. I wrapped my arms around her.

  “Greta, they made me,” she whimpered.

  “Shh. We’ll talk about it later,” I soothed backing away. For the first time in my life I had the power of magic at my beck and call because of the pendant around my neck. Even though I was surrounded by people who wanted me dead, hope and strength surged through me.

  The woman hissed at me. She was dripping with jewelry and looked an unnatural mix of old and young.

  “Hiss all you want,” I said to her. “I’m leaving and you can’t stop me.”

  Cold strong arms gripped me in a vice, crushing my chest.

  “I can,” Jeremy said from behind me.

  He was holding me so tight I couldn’t breathe which meant I couldn’t speak, so I couldn’t use magic to break his hold over me. Struggling against him, I watched helplessly as the vampire woman, Barron Von Koffle and Knavish advanced on Valerian in wolf form.

  Why didn’t he shift and use his magic against them?

  Knavish began speaking. Valerian fell to the floor, whining and whimpering, clearing being tortured.

  We couldn’t come this far only to lose now. I twisted and pulled, trying to break free of Jeremy’s crushing grip, but it was no use. He held me like a steel cage. I couldn’t believe I had liked him. He was such a jerk, and a vampire at that.

  Ava drew a deep breath. I was surprised she was still on her feet. She teetered unsteadily, then lunged, sinking her teeth into Jeremy’s arm.

  He yowled and lost his grip on me, swinging his arm out and sending Ava reeling. It wasn’t much, but it was enough that I could draw a breath.

  I didn’t know many magic words, and I had no practice with control, but I was the only good guy in the room who could use magic. I had to try.

  Vampires could be killed by a stake through the heart, holy water, and crucifixes. Sunlight obviously wasn’t a life or death issue for them anymore. Way to evolve, vampires, but I had so little in my arsenal that I had to try the one word I was sure I could do.

  “Light,” I shouted focusing with all of my strength on creating a blaze of light.

  Bubbles cascaded down my arms and legs, even though my hair. It felt amazing. I couldn’t help but grin, even though I was surrounded by blood suckers.

  Light enveloped the room. All the vampires dropped to their knees, howling in agony. Bingo. Knavish was momentarily distracted by the light, giving Valerian the opportunity to break from the magic and attack. His wolfish teeth sank into Knavish’s shoulder.

  “Brighter,” I called to the light.

  The vampires were completely incapacitated. Valerian shifted into human form. He wasn’t a very strong magical, but he was able to speak a word to silence Knavish.

  He turned to me. “Let’s go.”

  28

  The three of us left of building in a hurry, Valerian cradling Ava in his arms. I had no idea how I was going to get Ava out of danger. She was in no condition to flee vampires. Valerian howled into the night sky. Moments later another howl sounded in response.

  Chase materialized, shifting from his black wolf form to his human form. Worry creased his brow. His eyes shone with unspoken concern.

  “I’ll take Ava,” said Valerian. “You keep Greta safe.”

  “Wait,” I cried. I didn’t know what was doing on with Valerian, but he had been a complete evil jerk before. I wasn’t about to trust him with my sister, especially not when she was so vulnerable.

  “I don’t have time to explain everything right now, Greta,” said Valerian more kindly than I had ever heard him speak before.

  “I can’t let you take her. I don’t trust you,” I said honestly.

  He sighed and raked his fingers through his silver blonde hair. “Knavish bound me, at my father’s orders. I overhead their plan and I confronted them. My dad tried to convince me to join them, but when I wouldn’t go along with them, he forced me. I tried to warn you. I did what I could to stop you from going into the Golden Wand. I tried to make you so upset you didn’t go, but I failed.”

  Chase pushed between me and Valerian. “We’ve got to get them to safety.�
��

  I pulled the pendent out of my shirt. It was beautiful, and it felt so amazing to have magic, but it wasn’t mine.

  Ava leaned against Valerian, broken. She needed her magic to get better.

  “Here,” I said removing the chain from around my neck and offering it to my sister.

  With wide, grateful eyes she shook her head. “You earned it. You can keep it.”

  I was tempted. It would be amazing to have magic. It’s the only thing I had ever really wanted, but I had a gnawing feeling inside me that it wasn’t the right thing to do.

  Tears ran down Ava’s face.

  “If I gave your magic back to you, would you use it?” I asked her.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Knavish and Jeremy threatened me. They told me after the incident with the werewolves at the barn, that if I ever used my magic again, they would kill you.”

  I gasped.

  “I never wanted to stop using my magic, but I had to. Walking away from you at the Golden Wand Ceremony broke me. I don’t deserve to have it back, Greta. You should keep it.”

  Another form emerged in the darkness. I recognized him immediately — the Pardoner.

  “Gunther,” said Chase.

  “You two know each other?” I asked.

  “Blackwater,” said Gunther the Pardoner. Then to Valerian he said, “Did everything go as planned?”

  Valerian looked pained. “Sort of. There was a little complication. She didn’t like watching her sister being tortured, so things got a little messy.”

  Chase looked around nervously. “We’ve got to get moving guys. We can discuss everything once we get to the safe house.

  Gunther and Valerian melted into the night with Ava. I followed Chase, dropping the necklace safely around my neck. He lead me to a copse of trees and ducked into the underbrush. Moments later he emerged, pushing a motorcycle.

  “We have to leave the Slip on foot,” I protested. “It’s part of the magic.”

  He handed me a helmet. “No. The stipulation is that you can’t drive a car through the Slip. Motorcycles are perfectly legit.” He winked his gorgeous blue eye and grinned.