She stopped at the mirror. Her hair was tied up, out of her face. The sundress she wore, was one she knew he loved.
The phone rang, and before she could turn the doorbell rang. She ran to the door, thinking Robert was trying to surprise her.
His eyes lingered on her cleavage when she opened the door, and her skin crawled.
It wasn’t him. Deep down she knew it wasn’t him.
“Aren’t you going to let me in?” His eyes never traveled up, even as he brought the roses from behind his back. Roses which she had an aversion to since before she came to them. Robert knew why. It was one of the few things she told him of her youth.
I’ll grab the talisman and send him through the portal. I’ll be done with him, and then I can examine my wards. She managed a smile. “Sure.” She took a step back and the phone rang again.
Turning on her heel, she hurried to the kitchen. Before she got there, something hit her head hard. The floor was then coming fast to meet her face.
* * * *
James knew he didn’t have long. Liz wasn’t buying the act. She never fell for his disguises in all the years he’d known her. She was the only one who could figure it out.
The phone rang again, and she hurried to get it. It was a good bet that it was Robert calling, and he couldn’t have that. He followed on her heels, and grabbed the tome sitting on the counter. He slammed it against her head and she fell.
Maybe my dear brother will come in while I have my fun. I’ll remind her what my uncle did and then drain her dry before his very eyes. Taking Emily from him was the last straw.
He picked Liz up and carried her to the dining room table where he arranged her so her feet were tied against the legs and her arms were above her head. He was tempted to drug her, but without a way to touch him he should be safe from her spells.
Once she was secure, he waited until either Robert walked through the door or Liz woke up. Either way would inflict pain on both of them, and right now he was feeling particularly cruel.
Her head rolled to the side and he moved closer to bend over until he was eye to eye with her. “Oh, Liz, I’m going to have fun with you.”
Her eyes went wide as he stood up and unbuckled his pants. “James, you won’t survive intact if you do this,” she warned.
“How is it you always know?” he asked as he dropped his pants and briefs, letting his cock free. He licked his lips before walking around the table to lean against her thighs.
“You’re too much of an asshole to ever be your brother.”
He trailed his hands up her thighs, pushing her sundress out of the way as he went. “I’m going to enjoy ruining you.”
“I’m pregnant with Robert’s baby. Can you really do this when I carry your own blood?”
“You what?” he screamed.
Her eyes flashed as she raised her head to glare at him. “You’re going to be an uncle.”
“Oh no. Not after Robert took Emily from me. I’ll make sure you aren’t.” With that he walked into the kitchen.
* * * *
Liz heard the slide of metal and her heart started racing. She forced herself to think through her throbbing headache.
His voice was cold, pure evil lurking. “I’ve been waiting to remind you who you were for far too long. He grabbed her panties, and tore them from her body.
“Go to hell.”
He laughed. “I can fuck you now, and take the baby later, or take the baby and fuck you while you bleed out. Your choice, Liz. Either way, you’re not walking away from here.”
“Trust me, James. I’ll make you pay if you touch me.”
“I’d like to see you try,” he sneered as he placed the head of his cock against her opening. She focused every ounce of magic into him. She heard the sizzle and crackle before he jerked away from her.
James leaned heavily against the wall, his hand over his dick as he stared at her with pure hate.
“I know what my uncle did to you. I saw it with my own eyes. The way he tore into your body. You killed him, but I’m not so easy to kill.”
He snatched the blade off the table and plunged into her abdomen. She screamed and he did it again, and again.
She couldn’t travel from one point to another like Robert, but she could do something to buy a little time. Holding her breath, she closed her eyes, shutting out his grunts, the pain, and all sound until she phased through the table, landing on the floor in a thud that sent a wave of agony through her. Black spots winked through her vision but she held on.
Liz barely managed to sit up and knew she did more damage to herself, to her baby, but she had to stop James.
“Oh, Liz, don’t make this worse,” James cooed. “I can’t put you back together again if you do too much damage.” He crouched down, the bloody knife in his hand.
She shot forward, twisting the blade out of his hand. He laughed cruelly but she didn’t go for his chest and throat which he expected.
Liz took the blade and jammed it into his cock. As he screamed she envisioned the blade twining apart, which it did at her silent command. She yanked, shredding his dick before she crawled away.
He hit the floor hard, probably passed out from the pain, because he was hardly breathing at that point. She crawled to the kitchen and found one of the charms Robert had made for her.
She threw it at James and whispered the word. A whirling white vortex opened up and sucked James and the blood out of her dining room.
The pain made her vision fuzzy, but she dragged herself to her room. There was so much blood. She knew she had lost the baby, and it would be a miracle if he hadn’t hit a major organ. She leaned against the wall and covered her stomach channeling all of her energy into sealing the wounds.
She was by no means healed, but she was no longer in danger of bleeding out. Through sheer force will she managed to change into a silk nightgown and fall into bed.
She didn’t have the energy to call for help. She needed sleep.
* * * *
Tremaine walked into the Silver Council Headquarters in Seattle. He needed to look into what it would take to get Liz a leave of absence. Though, if he could talk her into retirement, he would in a heartbeat.
He was sick and tired of the political bullshit that got deeper and deeper as that little shithead Jarvis climbed the ranks.
After Maynard died, his kid stepped into the role of lead investigator for the Silver Council Internal Affairs. The public side of it at least. It still didn’t make a damned bit of sense when Maynard and Jarvis weren’t the only shady Hendricks mages in the Council’s history. Their whole family was notorious for dealing with Dark mages, and smuggling illegal magical devices.
Before Tremaine made it through the lobby, James flopped onto the floor with a grunt, his hands over his groin. Tremaine saw blood, strips of ruined flesh and veins.
He had a momentary pang of sympathy before he realized what was ruined and a million questions swarmed through his mind. James was supposed to be across the country.
Tremaine crouched down and rolled James onto his back. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked sharply.
James wasn’t answering with anything coherent. Security shoved Tremaine out of the way as they examined the fallen mage, and before Tremaine could walk back out to check on Liz, Draecyn appeared and called him down to his office.
Chapter 12
Emily was finally settled into her home in West Seattle. It was a nice home on the water, and was in a quiet neighborhood. She had finally calmed down, and was sleeping.
Robert stepped out of Emily’s room, and translocated into the room he shared with Liz. The scent of copper permeated the air. Liz was in the middle of the bed, curled into a ball. She never wore a nightgown to bed, but she wore one now. The cream silk had splotches of crimson, and blood was pooled between her legs.
Panicked, he rushed to her, and knelt on the bed. Something was wrong, there was no way that was just monthly blood.
Being gentle, he pushe
d her gown up but she jerked away, shoving at his hands.
He felt the shock but tried to catch her wrists. “Liz, it’s me, love. I’m here.”
“No. James, no.” Her pain filled cry tore at Robert’s heart. She shrank away from him, covering her stomach as tears filled her eyes.
“What did he do to you?” He whispered as he reached out to brush the tears from her face.
“No,” she screamed as she launched herself at him, planting her lightning covered hands on his chest and his ribs as she shoved.
The voltage slammed into him, he felt his shirt start to burn as he fell. All he could think of were ways to kill his brother for hurting Liz.
The world went black, but he could hear her sobs and pleading as she landed on the floor beside him.
* * * *
Robert lay on the floor beside her. Liz could hardly see through the tears as she stared down at the only man she had ever given herself to as he lie there dying.
“No, please no,” she whispered as she tore his burnt shirt away. Blisters were already forming around the charred flesh in the shape of her hands. “You can’t die,” she pleaded, placing her hands over Robert’s ruined flesh and pushing her life force into him.
She envisioned his skin whole and perfect. The blisters melted away, the crisped layer of skin smoothed out and mended. When she opened her eyes she saw a shiny white scar over his heart, and one on his ribs.
He was breathing though, he was alive. She scrambled back, hugging her legs to her chest as she stared at him.
I nearly killed him. Guilt and shame wiped out all other emotion. How did I think my sweet, gentle Robert was ever James?
When she looked down at herself, she remembered the night before and let the tears come. Her child, their little baby was gone, and she couldn’t trust herself with Robert, not after nearly killing him.
She stumbled to her feet and made her way to the bathroom. A look in the mirror and she knew why he was worried. She looked like something from a horror movie. Fighting back the wail of pain, she climbed into the shower with the gown still on and collapsed to her knees
* * * *
Sobs from the next room pulled Robert back to reality. He sat up, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. He ran his hand over his chest and felt a smooth scar. He looked down to find her handprint over his heart.
It wasn’t a dream. He shot to his feet and ran to the bathroom. Liz was on her knees, her hands covering her face as her whole body shook with cries.
“Liz, baby, look at me.”
Her big hazel eyes glowed as her gaze found his. “I’m sorry, Robert, I’m so sorry.
“Shh,” he whispered, before climbing in with her. He pulled her to his chest, holding her tight. “I’m fine. You healed it, I’m fine. “What did James do?”
She shook her head. “No, don’t ask,” she begged.
“Whatever it was, I’m going to kill him,” he vowed. In all his years, he’d never seen Liz so broken over anything. “I’ll end him.”
“No. I will,” she whispered. “I will make him pay.” She sat back, and he saw fury in her eyes. “I’ll make him pay, Robert. Me, I swear it.”
He took her face in his hands. “I won’t stop you. I only want you safe. I love you no matter what, Liz.”
She buried her face against his chest and he pulled her tight against him.
“I’ll make this right,” he promised her.
* * * *
The medic mages couldn’t do much for James. Liz had done so much damage they couldn’t fix all the plumbing. He stared down at his limp dick. It looked like a swollen jigsaw puzzle. Every movement he made sent a jolt of pain up his spine, leaving specks of light in his vision.
Another mage came into his room and looked him over. This one winced when he got to his penis. “And how did you manage that?”
“One nasty spell,” James muttered. He’d never seen anyone turn a blade into a shredding device, but it was sure as hell effective. “Look, I was attacked unaware, and didn’t see who cast it. I don’t even know how I got here.”
“Yeah, can’t imagine you remember much after that.” He nodded to James lap before turning back to the door. “You’ll be out of here once someone comes to pick you up.”
He didn’t have time for that. He was going back to Liz as soon as he was out of here, which was now. He walked up behind the mage and covered his mouth. With a deep draw, he pulled the other mage’s magic and memories.
In moments, the mage was slumped on the floor. James stared down at the man, studying the mage. He felt his bones and face shift to match the other man’s appearance, including clothes.
On his way out of the Medic’s wing, he stopped by the potions cabinet and swiped the most potent pain blocker.
* * * *
Robert stood at the closet door, his hands splayed on the wood, his head against it. “Please, Liz, let me see what’s wrong. I can take you to Emily. She can heal whatever it is.”
“I already told you no. I won’t bother her with this. Just drop it,” she pleaded.
He didn’t know what else to do. She wouldn’t let him in, she refused to let him see. He wanted to stop her from going after James, but he knew that wasn’t an option, so he wouldn’t let her go alone.
His mind raced, trying to figure out what James could have done. After he found out about Emily, he couldn’t put anything past his demented brother. Emily pleaded with Robert to leave James be, and he did. Now he regretted the decision.
The phone rang and Robert picked it up. “Yes?”
“Robert? What the fuck is going on?” Tremaine asked with a quiet force behind his words.
“I wish I knew, but Liz was in bad shape when I got home. She just received a call from James about the old warehouse outside of town. She’s going after him, and I’m coming with her.”
“What did he do?” he demanded.
“Liz won’t let me see. She won’t talk about it. I don’t know, Trem, but I won’t let her out of my sight.”
“Don’t. I’m coming, but I was sent on some damned research mission, and I’m still an hour out.”
“You know me better than that. I’m going to be with her every step of the way.”
“You better be. She’s going to need you after this,” Tremaine warned before hanging up.
* * * *
“You want me to do what?” Emily asked in a panicked whisper. She didn’t know how James knew she was back, or how he got her new number, but he was on the phone with her anyway.
He called with directions to meet him in an hour, at some old warehouse. She wanted to tell him that she was done with him. She couldn’t. He was family, and no matter what he’d done to her in the past, she couldn’t walk away.
She needed to finally confront him and tell him how wrong he was. She needed to fix him, if it could even be done.
While she was in Switzerland, Emily had found a spell to imprison him in his own head. She could then use hypnosis to alter his personality. It would take years but she wanted to save him.
Now he needed her help with something. If she denied him, he would know something was up. This was her only chance to attempt this. She had already earned his wrath for disappearing for months. Emily needed to do this before Robert found out about the years of abuse.
Robert only knew about the one time, but that was only the latest incident. He would never let James live if the truth came out. Emily wasn’t sure she could live with herself if she didn’t attempt to redeem her twin
* * * *
James was out of breath, pain shooting through his body with every movement. The potion hadn’t done a damned thing to help. Even after fully draining two mages, he felt weak. Whatever Liz did to him further severed his connection to his own magic.
He heard wood splintering and looked up to see Liz storm through the door in a maelstrom of flame and energy. Her colorful hair danced around her as if in a windstorm.
Robert followed with
a dark look on his face, his fury aimed at him. He kept his distance, letting Liz take the lead.
Raising his hands, James started chanting. He threw fire bolts at Liz, but she knocked them back with a flick of her wrist. He barely got the shield up before his own spells fizzled out against the barrier.
Liz walked right through the shield, her own magic sizzling through the barrier.
James looked to Robert, but he shook his head, his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re on your own. I won’t stop her.”
“You fucking bastard,” she screamed as she closed the distance. Her eyes were full of hate as her hands shot out, reaching for his throat.
Focusing his power at a burst of force, he pushed back, but she kept coming, completely ignoring the spell.
“You had to knock me out to get past my defenses. You stole everything, and now you’ll die.” He hardly recognized her voice for the wild power channeling through her.
He threw another desperate fireball that fizzled as it collided with her magic.
Her hands closed over his throat and his skin instantly blistered under her touch. There was a hiss as his hair caught fire, his clothes burning, and then the flames flashed across his entire body as he fell.
Liz followed him down, her knees landing on either side of his chest as he was engulfed in an inferno that danced over her without harming her. She wasn’t even sweating.
As much magic as she pushed into him, he couldn’t glean any as the air exploded in his lungs and his eyeballs melted.
“Go to hell, James.” There was no emotion in her voice as she took his life. That was the last thing he heard as he slipped away.
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