Shifters And Glyphs

by Bauer, Christina;

The silver prison surrounding the Shadowvin disappears entirely. A jolt of worry moves up my spine. There’s no time to worry about the Colonel now.

  The Shadowvin are free.

  I try to move. Again, all I can manage is to twitch my limbs. I call down to the power that swirls about my feet.

  “Void, can you help us?”

  The answer appears in smoke hieroglyphs. “Speak my words to begin. Then I shall focus your power and count down to the end. That is all I can do.”

  In other words, I’m on my own.

  With three Shadowvin.

  And Elle stands unprotected.

  Things just went from bad to terrible.

  Chapter 34

  Moving fast as a heartbeat, all three Shadowvin fly at Elle. With a burst of dark mist, the trio of dark forms zooms straight into her chest. Bands of fear tighten around my throat. I watch in horror as Elle becomes an all-silver figure, twisting against the overlapping outlines of three gray ghosts.

  No, no, no.

  I saw this happen once before with Knox. Back then, the Shadowvin possessed my mate. Now these evil creatures are trying to do the same thing to my best friend. Like Knox, she’s fighting back. But for how long?

  “You can do this!” I cry. “Keep fighting!”

  Elle’s face contorts in pain and terror. A scream tears from her mouth, the sound ripping through my soul.

  Please. Somehow, let Elle fight this possession.

  After that, Elle stills. Every cell in my body goes on alert. In some ways, things have returned to how the ceremony should be. Elle still has her arms raised, so they keep making the proper V shape as before.

  But something has changed as well.

  Elle’s eyes have transformed into a swirling shade of gray. No irises. No whites. My heart cracks. This is what happened before to Knox.

  Swirling gray eyes.

  Unnatural stillness.

  Possession.

  When Elle next speaks, her voice sounds like dozens of old crones combined into one. “You should have agreed willingly, Bryar Rose.”

  I can only manage one word. “No.”

  The lines of Alec’s ruby face tighten with worry. “Elle!”

  Knox’s all-golden gaze stays locked in my direction. His mouth pulls down into a scowl. My mate doesn’t say a word, but I know what he’s thinking. This is really bad.

  Inside my soul, my inner animal whimpers with fear. “We need to help our friend.”

  I try to move. I still can’t even so much as twitch, let alone race off anywhere. When I answer my wolf, all the sadness in the world echoes through my soul. “It’s too late for that now.”

  But if there’s one good thing about this situation, it’s that the Void said he’d help me through the ceremony. Maybe he needed a more serious threat to rally. I speak to the swirling mists around my feet.

  “Need some ideas, here.” I say to the Void. “I’ve got a possessed warden on my hands.”

  Glyphs rise from the mist: “Speak my words to begin. I shall focus your power and count down to the end. That is all I can do.”

  “All you can do? Really?” I can’t help the note of desperation in my voice.

  The same response appears.

  Thanks for nothing.

  Instead, I scan my wardens, looking for ideas. Knox appears grim as he tries to break free and move. Alec keeps staring at Elle, his eyes wide with desperation. And my best friend?

  Shadowvin-Elle gives me an inhumanly large grin.

  Whoa.

  Even when Elle became all silver, she was still my best friend. Her inner energy stayed joyful. Familiar. Heartening. Now, every movement from this possessed figure seems calculated, chilly, and downright terrifying.

  “I designed the Codex Mechanica,” says Shadowvin-Elle in her many voices. “And these pyramids, too.”

  “You did?” I ask. “I thought the First Wardens did that … and I believe there were three of you.”

  “Three?” asks Shadowvin-Elle. “No, there’s only ever really been one of us with any plan or power. Me.”

  With that, I know one thing for certain. The other Shadowvin may be part of possessing my best friend, but only one is in charge.

  Quetzali is running the show. Or I should say, Quetzali-Elle.

  “You found my Codex Mechanica,” says Quetzali-Elle. Her gaze flicks to the beaming spheres atop the obelisks. “After I became a Shadowvin, I loaded those discs with special spells that engage once the next fountain starts the ceremony. Why do you think I cast a spell to destroy the rest of the device once things started? I didn’t want you asking questions and discovering my schemes.”

  My heart sinks. I remember how the Codex Mechanica fell apart. It sure seemed suspicious at the time. Guess that was right.

  “Do you have any idea how many centuries it took to cast all the spells for today?” asks Quetzali-Elle. “Or how hard it is to speak an effective incantation without a physical form?” She sighs. Evidently, it isn’t necessary for me to answer any of these questions. Quetzali-Elle keeps right on talking. “I had to find women who looked as I did when I was alive and then possess them. It was exhausting.”

  My skin prickles over with gooseflesh as I realize what her words mean. “The many voices inside you …” I shake my head, not believing anyone could be so horrible. “When you possessed those women, you took on their souls somehow. They’re imprisoned within you.”

  Quetzali-Elle lifts her chin. “It wasn’t only me. All three of the First Wardens did the same. Now all of us speak with many voices.” She sighs once more. “I made so many sacrifices for this day. I couldn’t take any chances. Why do you think I led you all here, step by step?”

  Her words ring through my mind. I led you all here. Translating the papyri … finding the Codex Mechanica … and discovering the truth of my identity in Italy. Quetzali planned all this from the start, and I played right into her schemes.

  A realization settles into my bones, heavy as granite. Everyone I love is in this dangerous spot, and it’s all because of me. The Colonel lies collapsed nearby, unmoving and possibly dead. My mate groans with pain as he tries to break free and fight. Alec stands unmoving as he watches Elle, his gemstone face frozen in torment.

  “Yes,” says Quetzali-Elle slowly. “I was the one who led you all here, and now I can finally cast the final part of the spell set. At last, I will link the magic I placed on the discs with the ones I so painstakingly loaded in the pyramids.” She looks at the top of the obelisks. Lowering her head, Quetzali-Elle murmurs a low string of words.

  Another incantation.

  My breath catches. New magic from Quetzali-Elle? Talk about your red flags. Atop the pyramids, the trio of discs shines more brightly. Fast as lightning, the three discs lower until they hover at chest height, forming a direct line between me and Quetzali-Elle.

  What happens next takes place so quickly, there isn’t time to react, even for those of us with shifter reflexes. The cords of power between me and Alec vanish. I’m now a lone figure in the center of this little scene, no magic pouring out of me at all.

  In other words, I’m a sitting duck.

  Magic comes alive inside my soul, rattling and ready to be released. Meanwhile, the discs stay hovering at shoulder height, about ten feet apart. It strikes me that they’re forming a crazy sort of connect the dots between me and Quetzali-Elle.

  In a single burst of light, my magic breaks free. Lines of silver, golden, and red power zoom off my body, move across the line of discs, and rocket straight into Quetzali-Elle. Her grin becomes wider, which I didn’t think was possible. Sadly, that’s exactly what’s happening.

  Quetzali-Elle smiles as she realizes her dream: stealing all my power.

  And she’s making my life into a new kind of nightmare.

  When I chose to be drained of magic, it didn’t hurt at all. But having power dragged out of me? It’s as if I’m being torn apart, cell by cell. A memory flashes through my mind’s eye. I’m back in
my dreams from New York with the Shadowvin. Before, they had been pressuring me to vow that I’d help them. To convince me, they pulled some wispy lines of magic from my soul.

  That hurt like hell.

  This is so much worse.

  My only consolation? Knox and Alec are now free. Even better, they look like regular humans again. No more all-gold or gemstone bodies.

  Inside my soul, my wolf whimpers. “Our mate can escape now. He must run, even if we can’t.”

  “Agreed,” I reply in my mind.

  Knox races across the desert, grips my hand, and tries to pull me away from my connection with the discs and Quetzali-Elle. Lines of power snap free from our mainline link and zap right into my mate. Long fingers of silver, gold, and red power knife into Knox. The power of those magical strands sends my mate flying across the desert. Fear constricts in my throat while my body trembles with pain.

  “You need to run,” I grit out through the hurt. “Take the Colonel and Alec with you.”

  “Not happening,” says Knox.

  Instead, my mate races back to me. His T-shirt has burn holes in it, the magic was so fierce. He paces a line nearby, his face drawn into a scowl. Alec waits behind him. Quetzali-Elle watches the scene with a look of pure delight.

  “I got a way to fix this,” says Knox. My mate turns to Alec. “Remember that time I killed forty Denarii in Tel Aviv?”

  Alec’s gaze stays locked with Quetzali-Elle. “What?” he says absently.

  “The Denarii. Tel Aviv. They’d gotten some spell where they turned into ghosts,” says Knox. “You healed me. We took them down. Remember?”

  “Ghosts?”

  Knox stalks closer to Alec. “Get your head in the game, Mister Wizard. Here’s this plan.” Knox whispers something to Alec. I can’t hear what he’s saying, but I’m hoping it’s a plan on how to run for the hills. This situation’s too risky for heroics. They have to run!

  “Simple Bryar Rose,” says Quetzali-Elle in her many voices. “I can tell what you’re thinking. It won’t work, though. It doesn’t matter if your little friends scurry away; I won’t let them get far.” She shakes her head slowly. “Ah, if only you’d listened to me. You could have died like Calibur. His end was swift and pleasant. Yours will be extremely painful. Of course, Calibur died when I was young and foolish. I loaded his power into obelisks instead of trying to keep it for myself.”

  For a moment, Quetzali-Elle trembles. I see the other Shadowvin flicker inside her. There’s a blue fairy and a large man. Those are the same wardens I saw with her from my trip through time.

  “Having trouble with your friends?” I ask.

  “No,” snarls Quetzali-Elle. She taps the center of her chest; it’s as if she’s poking the other Shadowvin inside her. “Of course, I’m gathering power for you two as well. Now be quiet and let me cast.”

  Lowering her head, Quetzali-Elle murmurs another spell. More strands of magic are torn from my soul. Red, silver, and golden—all kinds of lines of power zoom along the connection between me and Quetzali-Elle. Agony burns through my limbs.

  My knees buckle, but I don’t fall over. The line of energy between me and Quetzali-Elle keeps me stuck to the spot, like an insect on a pin.

  “Not much longer. I’ve almost drained you.” Quetzali-Elle focuses on the spinning clouds around my feet. “Did you hear that, Void? I’m draining your precious fountain.” She cups her hand at her ear in a motion of mock-listening. “What?” She laughs too loudly. “You can’t even count down the ceremony? Poor little monster. My spell locks you up as well. How brilliant of me.”

  My eyes widen with surprise. She trapped the Void, too? It’s not like the guy was super-useful after the ceremony started, but locking him up now? That’s just cruel.

  Quetzali-Elle focuses on me again. “Once I have all your power, I can take human form again.” She slowly licks her lips, like the thought is delicious. “Soon, I’ll break this cursed existence as a shadow creature.”

  White spots dance in my vision as I try to process her words. Quetzali and all the wardens lost their bodies when they tried to drain magic for themselves. That was the ceremony I saw in the past. At the time, magic punished them by blowing up the pyramids and turning the three wardens into Shadowvin. Now Quetzali wants her body back, as well as control over massive amounts of magic.

  Sadly, it looks like she’ll get it.

  More lines of power are ripped from my soul. It’s like I’m being shredded from the inside out. My eyelids flutter closed. A single thought overtakes my mind.

  This is what it’s like to die.

  Across the desert, the Colonel stands up once more. I’d be excited for that fact, but the old fae shouldn’t be helping me now. I’d rather the Colonel ran for his life.

  “Hello, sugar plum,” says the Colonel to Quetzali-Elle. He even adds a little wave. “Guess who cast a healing spell over me? My good friend, the little wizard.” The Colonel gives Alec an approving nod before turning to Quetzali-Elle. “We’ve got business, you and me.”

  “I’ve taken the body of a friend of yours,” says Quetzali-Elle. “You won’t hurt me.”

  “Don’t worry your ugly little head about Elle. I can take care of you and keep her safe.” The Colonel chuckles. “I’m so not done with you.” He hitches his thumb at Knox and Alec. “Neither are they.”

  I force myself to focus through the hurt. Alec, Knox, and the Colonel have teamed up; now they’re trying to save me and Elle. This is a terrible idea. When I speak again, my voice is a hoarse whisper. “Please. Go.”

  The Colonel shakes his head. “Not this time, darlin’.” The old fae lifts his arms. Lines of silver magic curl around his hands. A heartbeat later, the Colonel sends power shooting into Quetzali-Elle. At the same time, Alec raises a massive ruby in his fist. Crimson light peeps out through his fingers. No question what that means.

  Alec is about to cast a spell, too.

  This is too much. I try to warn them all one last time, but the words get stuck in my throat.

  Across the desert, Alec rounds on Quetzali-Elle. “You want a physical form?” he asks. “You got it!”

  Lines of power and magic shoot out from both the Colonel and Alec. The energy winds around Quetzali-Elle. A moment later, there’s no longer one figure standing across from me.

  There are four.

  Elle, Quetzali, and the other two wardens.

  All of them are passing out, stunned by the spell.

  My lines of magic vanish. No more power rushes from my soul to Quetzali-Elle. For a moment, the three discs hover in the air; only there is no mainline of energy to keep them in place. After that, they drop to the desert floor, all signs of light and power gone from their circular forms. Around my feet, the mists of the Void disappear.

  With that, it’s official.

  All signs of the ceremony have stopped.

  I feel like a marionette whose strings have been cut. Without magic to hold me up, I collapse to my knees.

  Emotions battle it out inside my nervous system. I’m proud of my mate for coming up with a plan to fight ghosts who want physical form. Knox had Alec give them exactly what they want: a body to hurt. However, I’m also shivering with worry. I doubt those Shadowvin will stay passed out for long. A big battle is coming. Are any of us ready for this?

  Alec’s obelisk stops spinning. Silence falls over the desert. The air crackles with magic. The faint scent of ozone reaches me, like the calm before lightning. Me, my wardens, and the colonel … none of us move.

  “My wolf,” says Knox. “He’s going crazy. Something’s coming.”

  The Colonel turns to me. “That Quetzali pulled out some of your magic. What happened to it all?”

  I hug my elbows. “I’m not sure, there—”

  All of a sudden, colored lights burst around me: red, gold, and silver. Crackling sounds fill the air. The scent of ozone turns intense. Lines of power materialize around me. Thousands of magical threads wind into my body, appearing in
the nearby air and zigzagging into my skin like reverse bolts of lightning. Pain bursts through my limbs—it’s like countless knives are cutting into me at once.

  Then it ends.

  I close my eyes, seeing the magic once again inside my soul. “My powers are all back.”

  Alec nods. “When we knocked her out, we must’ve ruined her spell.”

  “Couldn’t happen to a nicer creep,” says Elle.

  Speaking of “that creep,” I scan Quetzali. She’s lying on her back, still passed out on the desert floor. Her body seems to vibrate, and I quickly realize why—she’s not one person.

  While she was a Shadowvin, Quetzali spoke with many voices. Now, her physical form is morphing through a dozen old women at once. Sadness weighs down my bones.

  Those are all the spirits of the women Quetzali possessed to cast her spells.

  Beside Quetzali, there lie her two other wardens: the blue fae and hulking shifter. None of them look like a single entity. Instead, they’re a blur of faces and bodies. Wow.

  Alec leans over Elle, who has passed out on the desert floor, another gemstone gripped in his palm. My bet? Alec is about to casting a healing spell on my best friend. He starts to murmur something, but there’s no time to find out what.

  Quetzali is standing.

  “You have ruined nothing,” screams Quetzali. “I’ll recast my spells to take your magic.” She turns to Alec and raises her arms. Dozens of rubies fly from his pockets and right into Quetzali’s hands.

  “Hey,” cries Alec. “Those are mine.”

  “Alec?” Elle blinks her eyes open. “What happened?” Alec goes back to helping my best friend, which leaves Quetzali with me and the Colonel, considering how the other wardens are still passed out.

  We can take her.

  Hopefully.

  Quetzali clasps the stolen gems in her fists, ready to cast another spell.

  But my mate is ready for her. Knox leaps into the air. When he lands again, he’s in his full wolf form: a massive black beast with paws as large as saucers and canines longer than my forearm. He tears across the desert, making right for Quetzali.

  Good choice.