“Leave. Now.” Colin searched deep for that calm focus he needed. Catrina held onto his hand, squeezing so hard, like she was trying to find it for him.
Tanzea had no plan of leaving. Mothball woman smirked and let her cane drop to the ground. Her own body began to contort, and shift.
He hadn’t realized she was one of them too.
His choices were to fight, or flee. But he could not calm himself enough to flee, safely.
Before she joined the others and he lost the ability to recognize her from the others, he needed to attack and take her down. He lifted his palm but gasped when a spell whizzed right past his head.
Catrina.
She tossed him a look of, I’m not completely helpless. And of course she wasn’t.
And in that realization, he sank a little deeper into the calm his magic needed.
The spell had only knocked Tanzea over. She was back on her wolf-like feet a moment later.
“I don’t want to hurt your friend,” Catrina said. “But we have to fight. We have to try to escape.”
Colin nodded. They could fight, without killing.
But he’d do it on his terms, not hers. In a mere thought, the lighthouse vanished and they were outside, in the winter wind, balancing on the jagged rocks.
The Scratchers pumped their wings and took off into the air, circling over Colin and Catrina.
“I’m sorry, Jae,” he mumbled to himself, praying he wasn’t actually here and Tanzea was tricking him. He waved his arm over his head and a mass of the winter wind pummeling the island surged upward, sent the flying beasts flailing to keep airborne. With every few seconds that passed, Colin began to regain more and more control. Until all of a sudden he was stretching his eyes, and unable to get enough air into his lungs. His hands went to his throat, his body fighting some invisible thing, which made his body want to shut down.
Catrina gasped as she saw it. A fine dust swirling in a downward spiral, surrounding Colin, getting sucked into his lungs. Pumping into his blood.
Tanzea had some of that Projector bone dust. Not from Jasper, because his was inside the lighthouse, wherever that was now that Colin had magicked it away. But if they didn’t get out of here fast, Colin was going to be poisoned by this bone. Catrina shot off a series of spells. Some hit. Some did not. None did much damage to the Scratchers.
Colin fell to his knees, breaths getting shallow and black splotches getting larger each time he blinked.
He watched one of the Scratchers’ bodies lowering. It’s deadly wings aiming for Catrina.
He fell to his back, the dust creeping into his blood, effectively shutting him down. Making him useless.
A tall figure appeared out of nowhere. Cloaked. A cloth or mask covering most of his face. Colin’s eyes couldn’t really focus and tell for sure.
He heard the words, “He’s mine,” and thought he saw the figure fighting the Scratchers.
This is how it all ended.
Perhaps he could die. And this was the moment it happened.
“Please don’t hurt Catrina,” he wanted to plea. But it came out in a slur of incoherent grunts.
He’d messed up, let his guard down, and the hunters had descended.
His eyes opened to see Catrina staring down over him, the fear of imminent demise swarming there.
The cloaked figure fought off the flying beasts swiftly.
With a fleeting glance, he saw that Colin was in rough shape. But damn it, this bone poison wasn’t something he could handle. He shouted to the girl trying to protect him.
“You need to get the poison out, or he will be paralyzed. Or die.” He continued his attack on the Scratchers.
Catrina spent one eternity lasting second as what this stranger claimed, sank in, followed by the knowledge that they were there to help.
A blink, and breath, and gasp, later, she and Colin were no longer on Freyne’s island. The stranger had magicked them away. The battle was nowhere in sight. The sounds of it, gone. But they were alone and she wasted no time.
“I’m sorry,” she told Colin. She was almost certain this was going to hurt. Because the only thing she could think to do was use magic to suck the poison out of him.
She passed her hands over him, letting her magic draw out each granule of bone, trying to ignore the cries and ragged breaths and chokes and convulsions as each poisonous granule dug its way out of him.
And then it was over. The pile of bone dust hurled out to sea to float away with the tides.
She leaned over him breathlessly. “Don’t try to move. Or talk. Just rest for a minute.”
He could only obey as his body was healing itself, and his mind, trying to reconnect with not only his second soul, but reality, in general. It was a bit like his mind and body were disconnected and trying to sew themselves back together.
Catrina tried to figure out where they were. This man who’d saved them had sent them away. He was powerful, and had saved their lives. It looked like he’d sent them to shore. Far enough away to be out of harm’s way.
Catrina’s breath caught when the magical protection cloak encircled them again.
Colin sat up and motioned for her. She slid over, embracing him.
“I’m so sorry,” he repeated a few times. “Are you okay?”
“Fine,” she whimpered out. There was no holding back, or hiding the fear she’d felt, or relief that by some miracle they were okay.
Was this their life now? Being tracked and hunted until someone succeeded in taking him down? He was shivering. So was Catrina. They were not dressed properly for this winter night. And something about nearly dying would give anyone the shivers.
Colin got them to their feet and into the woods not far away. Once there, he made sure the temperature inside their magical bubble was warm, and they plunked down, leaning against one of the trees.
“I don’t know where to go,” he admitted a minute later. “Where can we go that they can’t find us? I will mess up again.” It was inevitable, wasn’t it? And who was the cloaked figure who’d helped them? They might not get so lucky the next time.
He’d never in his life, felt more powerful, or more useless.
He was Colin Jacoby, Projector. Feared. Had magical abilities others only wished they had.
And he was still being hunted by bullies and needing to be saved by others.
CHAPTER 13
Juliska had been summoned from her room at Fazendiin’s estate.
He’d taken her to one of his secret hidden fields and was only partially stunned to see the Immortality Stone sitting there. And only a little more surprised to see the decaying carcasses of recently slaughtered Mazuruk.
“I find myself with a timing problem,” he told her after a minute.
“You?” she retorted, thinking that wasn’t actually possible.
“It’s rare, I admit. Nonetheless…” He strode over to the Stone. “I need just a little more magic in this Stone to accomplish my next task.”
“Even with all we’ve harvested from the Svoda, so far?”
“Yes. I thought once the other Grosvenor were dead and their immortality returned to the Stone, it would be enough. But I’m just a bit short.” His eyes landed on Juliska.
She did her best not to shrink under that telling gaze.
She got the point loud and clear.
“I just need to borrow it for a time.”
“How will giving you back my immortality make the Stone strong enough?” Juliska had to ask.
“It takes a lot of magic to make someone like you, immortal. Let’s put it this way. One of you, immortal, would equal fifty of the average person.”
She got a sinking feeling about just who he was planning on giving this immortality to.
As if summoned, himself, KarNavan strode in. She’d give almost anything to permanently wipe that pompous simper off his face.
“Are you ready?” Fazendiin questioned.
“Yes. Master.” He bowed in a sudden obedience.
A flutter of something she had not felt in… who could even track the time… but it was an emotion she’d long suppressed.
Shame.
Guilt.
Very human sorts of feelings.
She attempted to burn them up. She wasn’t giving in. Not to another betrayal. Or trick. By anyone. She caught a whiff of something. It lined the back of her throat with bitterness.
Lies… that’s what it was.
Like always, Fazendiin wasn’t telling her everything.
There was something else behind this removal of her immortality. It wasn’t just because he needed the magic. The seed of doubt Eddy planted in her mind started to dig a little deeper. Its first root, taking hold.
CHAPTER 14
Colby stepped into Juliska Blackwell’s fortress to find her assistant waiting.
“Hollee,” he greeted coldly.
“Hello. Can I be of some assistance?”
“No. I can manage on my own.”
Hollee wasn’t so sure about that and was stunned when Colby made his way around like he owned the place and knew exactly what he wanted. He was heading up the stairs to the topside pavilion, where he could get a view of the entire island.
“Juliska is not in,” Hollee pointed out.
“I am aware.” His short reply also stating, he did not care. “And your services are not required.” Meaning, stay put, do whatever you were doing, and stay out of my way. Elisha hissed out her agreement and followed him.
“These people do not treat you as they should, Master.”
He was starting to agree with her.
Colby reached the top of the fortress and made his way out to the mid-morning sky of doom and gloom. He stared out over the island which had once been a bustling village full of life. He’d spent the early part of the morning meandering, alone, around the island, looking over Juliska and the Striper’s handiwork. If he was being realistic, it was his father’s; they both answered to him.
What was he to do here?
What power did he truly have?
His father had told him to remind everyone who was in charge, and that was him.
But didn’t he still have to abide by his father’s wishes?
Did he dare pull a few strings of his own?
Hadn’t he already, when he’d shown Meghan everything in his head?
The conflict pinged back and forth, neither side taking a winning shot. Just bouncing around and around and around.
A shadow flew closer. Colby smirked pompously as it flew downward coming in for a landing.
“Good morning, Jae.”
Jae’s Scratcher body contorted until he was himself again. He didn’t return the greeting as there was little good about it. Other than Juliska still being out of the picture, his future was bleak.
“What are you doing, Colby?” Jae’s questioned was loaded with many meanings.
“What my father told me to.”
“Have you ever thought about telling him, no?”
Colby’s gaze darkened some.
“I did it once. My father was never so shocked in all his life,” Jae explained. “My mother didn’t even know what to do. I half-expected one of them to turn me over their knee or something.”
“People don’t tell my father, no. Not even me.”
“Who says?”
Fear… is the one answer that Colby’s mind rolled across.
Fear of losing his father. Fear of losing the life he’d been given. Fear of what was to come. Fear of everything he’d just say yes to, blindly. Fear of never seeing his mother, or grandmother again. And even the annoying, never shuts up, sister, that had somehow made him care about her. Fear of the consequences, of saying no to his father.
Jae leaned against the stone wall.
“I know my fate is sealed and my life is doomed, but the way I see it you still have a choice. A way out, if you wanted it. Why did you really let me out of that cage? Was it just to show off to a pretty girl? Piss of Juliska? Prove you’re in charge? If you are truly your father’s son, you would have left me there.”
“Why do you care, Jae? You’re free. For whatever time, until Juliska comes back. Have a little fun.”
“Fun? Does this look like a fun time to you?” his arms aimed out across the island. “These people are all suffering because of your father. Because of some plan he has to take over the damn world. And let me guess, he promised he’d share it with you. This, is not fun. And if you think it is, then I feel sorry for you, and you are even more messed up than I am.”
Colby scowled.
Jae continued. “Of course, I can’t imagine with a father like yours you were probably allowed to have any fun. And really, neither was I. But I sneaked it in when I could.”
“I know what my father is,” Colby bit out. “You can spare me the boring, smug know-it-all lecture.”
“Fine. But from one prisoner, to another, living inside a much bigger cage, the prison will only get smaller and smaller. Until you’re suffocating from the weight of it pressing in on you.”
Colby’s teeth ground together but he said nothing.
Jae edged closer, he ignored the hiss slithering out of Elisha. He had nothing to lose at this point.
“If any part of your soul still belongs to you, Colby, I would beg you a single favor.”
He flipped his conflicted gaze directly at Jae.
“Hide my family. Somewhere I can never find them. At the least, my sister.” A tear fled down his cheek. “I can’t do it. Katana was right. I cannot look my sister in the face and end her life. I can’t kill my sister.”
Colby’s first thought, neither can I. Which is effectively what he’d be doing if he continued with his father’s plans. The conflict raging through him was like a freight train of energy that needed to be released.
“If you need me to beg, I will.” Jae really had nothing left to lose. This might be his only chance for some small solace, or redemption. “Please make it so I don’t have to do this one terrible thing.”
Conflict simmered in Colby’s veins like water about to boil.
The Magicante hummed like electricity about to explode into a storm.
Jae realized something wasn’t right and stepped back.
Elisha was calling out to her Master but his mind cut off from hers. Swimming in a pool of emotion he had no way to contain or stay at the top of. His entire body screamed in some silent torment.
A door swung open to the pavilion and Colby spun to see Hollee entering, no doubt to try to get him out of Juliska’s fortress.
She was the first casualty.
Her neck snapped to the side, and she plunked to the hard stone.
Jae blew out a silent line of obscenities. When would he learn to keep his mouth shut? He was trying to save his sister, and instead, he’d set off a bomb named Colby. Jae was trying to do the right thing, and again, it backfired.
But Hollee was a Scratcher, like him, so she wasn’t truly dead. And like he cared.
But surely, wherever Juliska was, she had to feel the attempt at ending one of her creation’s lives. Which meant she might return.
Colby’s breaths were deep, and filled with a focused intensity. He stared down over the island and lifted his arms. Jae made to try to contain whatever he was about to do, when Colby shot him a severe stare.
“You want them all saved? Then leave me be.”
Jae stepped back. Colby closed his eyes. He felt the power rising inside himself. The simple request building in his mind. He pictured every Sovda, man, woman, child, and beast that belonged to them, no longer on this island. There was only one place he thought to put them all, and that was with the banished Sovda. They’d be their problem now. And they’d not be dead, which is how they’d all end up if they stayed here.
&n
bsp; Colby’s arms came smashing together and a ricochet of electricity slammed out over the island. The magical shield protecting the island broke apart in a blast of light and smoke.
The magic surged through Colby like he’d just discovered some vein of gold. Something sought after. Something he’d fight to the death, to get more of.
In the distance, Jae heard shouts. He jumped up onto the side of the pavilion and jumped over the side, his body transforming mid-air. He flew out across the Isle to see Stripers emerging, shouting, and cursing.
Their prisoners were gone. Just vanished off the island.
Jae saw Katana and Ardon and came in for a landing. He transformed and they strode toward him.
“What’s happening?”
“I happened.” It was Colby. And he was standing just a few feet away having appeared out of nowhere. There was something rigid in his eyes. Some inner struggle trying to break free. Or perhaps it was magic, trying to break free. And Colby was attempting to contain it. Jae had learned a few things about Projectors while helping Colin.
Colby was not stable, which meant any insane thing the guy could imagine, was possible. He ignored the shouts from the Stripers, demanding to know what was going on.
Jae ordered Ardon to make them stand down. His entire being, a warning that Colby was about to go full blown crazy if they attempted anything stupid.
Ardon obeyed, until she understood what was happening.
One lone figure came walking down the street with a bewildered look on her face. Not everyone had left the island.
Jae almost fell over.
“Mireya.”
“You won’t hurt her,” he heard Colby tell him, his voice flat. “Tell her she’ll be with the rest soon. They are with the banished. Tell her, to tell the others, they need to move. My father knows where they are. They are not safe.”
Jae ran to his sister.
“Jae?” she ran to him. “What’s going on? Everyone just disappeared.”
He got down on his knees and hugged her like it was the last time he’d ever see her. Then, he pulled back and looked her straight in the eye. “I don’t have much time. You’ll be with mom and dad in a few minutes. Where you’re going, you’ll be with the others, and you’ll be okay. But you need to tell the ones in charge to move the camp. Because the enemy knows where they are. When you get there, you seek out Arnon Jacoby, or Kanda Macawi, or Billie, if you see her. You make sure to tell them I told you to move. Don’t take no, for an answer.”
Sacrifice (The Wayward King, The Projector's Mother, and A Prophecy Reborn) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 9) Page 12