“They’re corporeal, Zoe,” Laura said, reaching out to pull me back before I could rush into danger. “We won’t be able to banish them now.”
“I have some Nosferatu fangs on me,” Dorian said, patting his pocket. “Picked them up when we got attacked in Scotland. Figured they might come in handy at some point, and it looks like I was right. So, I’ll go with Zoe. You two tend to the survivors.”
“They might be bleeding,” Anastasia said with a shake of her head. “No way in hell should I be the one to help those people.”
“No time to argue,” Dorian said. “Just do it, Anastasia. Come on, Zo.”
The demons still hadn’t noticed our arrival, their focus too intent on the graveyard of cars. Dorian and I ducked low and began to thread our way through the maze, making sure to keep our heads below the top of the vehicles. As I passed car after car, I couldn’t help but wonder what had happened here. Clearly, there’d been an attack, but we hadn’t passed any bodies. Were these two of Wagner’s demons? Or had the veil been cut open, allowing fully corporeal creatures to fly into our realm?
Whatever reason they’d come here, they were clearly on the hunt for something—or someone.
Dorian grabbed my arm and pulled me down as the demon’s gazes swept our way. We landed on the ground, our knees knocking as I wrapped my arms around his neck to prevent myself from falling on my face. His breath whooshed into my ear, and his hands kept me steady. There was something so right in the way our bodies fit together, my chin slotting perfectly onto his shoulder. And his hand was just the right size to wrap around my waist. The buzz from our connection took my breath away, temporarily distracting me from the task at hand.
“Careful,” he murmured into my ear. “We’re supposed to be destroying life-sucking demons, remember?”
Swallowing hard, I pulled away, but my body yearned to yank him right back. And even though we were closer than ever before, there was still something so uncertain about where I stood with him. We were bonded, yes. He’d claimed me as his, and I’d claimed him as mine. But the question that remained caused a gulf to yawn between us. How long could this last?
“How do you want to handle this?” I asked. “The demons, I mean.”
He smiled, but his expression turned serious in an instant. “There are only two of them, luckily. You distract them with your shadow powers. Do that binding thing you like to do. I’ll rush in and stab the with the fangs. We’ll be in and out in less than ten minutes.”
With a deep breath, I gave him a nod and rose from my crouched position behind the car. The gazes of the two demons immediately locked onto where I stood, and I gave Dorian a silent ‘go ahead’ signal through our bond. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him begin to weave through the cars. I held my position until he edged closer to the demons’ winged forms, holding my breath as the creatures began to stalk my way.
And then I felt the unmistakable sensation of Dorian urging me on. With a smile, I lifted my curled hands high in the air and threw my power toward the creatures. Darkness exploded from my palms in a black and twisting energy, shooting straight toward the massive winged forms. The demons watched the strands of my magic with wide eyes, and within moments, my power sliced around them. The black ribbons of darkness curled around their bodies, squeezing tight around their limbs and their wings. In an instant, they were trapped and pieces of their scaly forms began to crash onto the ground. Now was the perfect chance for Dorian to take them out with the fangs.
Dorian jumped up from behind his hidden spot near one of the demon’s thick legs, and I clutched the shirt by my heart. Fear battled with the trust I held in him. I knew he could take them on like this, and I knew he would win. But it didn’t stop the terror from shooting through my veins. If anything happened to Dorian, I didn’t think I could bear to go on.
In the distance, sirens blared through the dark city streets while bright spotlights shone down on us from above. Shit, I thought, glancing up as a helicopter flew past, cameras focused on us from a man hanging half out of the door. Frowning, I glanced back at the demons. The helicopter had caught their attention as well, and they stared at it with an intense curiosity of creatures who had never seen one before.
Dorian took the moment for what it was—the best and worst distraction in the world. He slammed the fangs into both of their skins at once. Instantly, the demons shrieked and swiped their hands at the ground. Dorian jogged back, pumping his fists in the air. I couldn’t help it. I smiled, watching him celebrate like this. It was a solid win, one we rarely got.
With a victorious smile, Dorian shot through the maze of cars to join me where I stood waiting, keeping an eye on the demons as they collapsed into flecks of dark dust. Within moments, they were gone. But the humans overhead had seen it all, and the helicopter had us in their sights, watching the remnants of dark magic sizzling on my skin.
Chapter 10
“Well, I think the cat might be out of the bag about magic,” I muttered to Dorian as we ducked between the cars. But it was too late. The helicopter had already spotted us and had most likely gotten the whole thing on film. Hell, they were probably broadcasting this entire thing live for the world to see. In the last war, the covens had managed to keep most of the fighting clustered in areas without large human populations, so we were able to keep our powers under wraps.
Things were different now. The demons were drawing us out of the shadows and smack dab into the middle of helicopter spotlights.
Anastasia and Laura jogged to us with the human couple just behind them.
“Let’s get out of here!” Laura shouted over the whir of the blades overhead. “Do your travel spell!”
I took one glance at the humans and decided I might as well. They’d seen far worse things tonight.
Two seconds later, we were in the Bone Coven conference room, and I flicked on the lights to try to chase away the darkness that the humans had seen. But they’d probably take tonight’s events with them to their graves judging by the bleached white of their faces and the fear in their eyes. They still clung tight together, their knuckles going pink.
“Hi,” I said with a smile. “I’m really sorry about what you just saw. I’m sure it was pretty terrifying and confusing. We can do our best to explain if you’d like. Or if you want to sit down, we can grab you something to drink. Though we probably only have water on hand right now…”
The man and woman merely blinked at me.
“I totally understand. You’re probably in shock,” I continued. “That’s normal. You’ve lived your entire lives not knowing that magic exists in this world, and the way you’ve found out is—”
“Zoe, they’re mages,” Laura cut in before I could finish my rambling thought. “Bone mages. The others we found were, too, but they ran off before you were done banishing the demon. They were all there because they were trying to help. And they did. They managed to get all of the humans off the street before anyone got hurt.”
“Oh.” Surprised, I dropped into a chair. That changed things. Yes, the humans of the world would still hear the news, but it made this particular conversation a little easier to handle. And I hadn’t had easy thrown at me for a long-ass time. “Well, in that case, welcome to your coven’s headquarters. I’m Zoe, an Enforcer-in-training, and this is my partner Dorian. Also an Enforcer. Thanks for helping out. I know it’s tough to face down a demon, especially one who is corporeal.”
“We heard the Magister is dead. That the whole council has been wiped out. That the Bone Coven doesn’t exist anymore.” The woman’s voice wobbled as she stared at me. “Is this true? Are we all alone?”
A deep sense of dread settled into my bones. I’d hoped to avoid this discussion until after the demons and the veil and the blade had been taken care of. One thing at a time, I’d thought. But I should have known there was no avoiding it. The bone mages needed to feel as if their coven still existed. They needed to be assured that their world as they knew it hadn’t been ripped apart.
And they needed to know there was someone out there taking care of things. Instead, they’d found themselves smack dab in the middle of a demon attack that went far beyond their powers.
“Some of that’s true,” I said with a sad smile. “There was a terrible fight. The Magister and the rest of the council members didn’t survive.”
They both sucked in sharp gasps.
“But.” I held up a hand. “The coven isn’t gone. Remember, the coven is a sum of its parts, and the council was only here to make sure those parts were taken care of. The coven is you, and me, and Dorian here. It’s the family you saw at the attack. It’s all of the bone mages who want to be a part of it. Not a few council members hiding away in their ivory tower.”
The witch nodded, her eyes shining with tears. “I hope you’re right, but everyone out there is scared. We just want to go about our daily lives, spend time with our families, and maybe use magic every now and again for fun. We’re not trained to fight demons or vampires. We thought all that was behind us. The demons were banished back to their realm. There was a truce with the vampires. Now, we’re trying to fight creatures we can’t handle. Those of us who joined the war back then are rusty now, and our younger mages haven’t been trained. We don’t want to be doing this.”
“And you don’t have to,” Dorian said, resting a soothing hand on my shoulder. “I admire your bravery in stepping forward in a time of need, but no bone mage has to fight if he, or she, doesn’t want to.”
“But you’d take on more Enforcers now, if someone wanted to train?” the man asked, looking to me for the answer.
Standing, I gave him a nod. “It’s becoming pretty clear that this is only the start of the fighting. We’re trying our best to stop this before it gets bad, but just in case? We could use some more mages on the team.”
“Then, consider us in.”
Chapter 11
After leaving the two new recruits in the conference room, I found the Magister’s office. It had been trashed just like everything else, but it didn’t look like the thief had actually stolen much of anything. Papers were strewn everywhere, but it didn’t take me long to find the directory of bone mages. Every single one who had pledged their loyalty to the coven had their name, address, and phone number logged in this book. After the discussion with Michelle and Chris, it was time to get in contact with each and every one of our coven members and fill them in on the events that had transpired these past few weeks.
Dorian filled the doorway while I sat behind the Magister’s desk, flipping through the list of names. “Well, this is certainly a strange sight.”
“What?” I glanced around, realizing exactly where I’d ended up. “Me in the Magister’s chair? Yeah, he’d fucking hate that.”
“You look good there, though. And those mages out there clearly took comfort from your words. I think your powers impressed them.”
“Not everyone will see it that way,” I said, snapping the book shut. “In fact, I’m guessing most of them will freak out when they find out the truth about my powers. I’m done keeping it hidden though. No more secrets. Now isn’t the time to be pretending I’m someone I’m not. If I’m going to get the coven through this thing, they need to know who I am.”
“Get the coven through this thing, huh?” He asked, raising his eyebrows as he perched on the edge of the desk. Crossing his arms, he twisted his lips into a smile, a look I’d seen on him before. A look he wore when he was both amused and impressed by something I’d said or done. “I’m surprised to hear you of all people say something like that. I thought you hated the politics.”
I frowned and leaned back in the leather swivel chair. “I do hate the politics. They suck ass, and all this alliance shit has caused serious problems. When I say I want to help the coven get through this, I want to leave all the politics out of it. I just want to get them through the war.”
Dorian nodded and grabbed a pen from the desk, absently spinning it in his hands as he regarded me. The smile vanished from his face, a sign that he was finally taking me serious. “I agree we should try to leave the politics out of it, Zoe, but we might not be able to avoid it completely. What if we end up needing something—like the help of the werewolves, for example—but the only way they’ll fight is if we give them something in return? And what if that something belongs to the Daywalkers? We’ll have to play the game of politics to make everyone happy.”
Blowing out a breath of hot air, I slumped back in my chair and closed my eyes. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
“Agreed.” Dorian stood and rounded the chair, resting his hands on my knotted shoulders. He pressed his fingers into the tension that had slowly built over the past few months, kneading my skin with a kind of expertise that made my body begin to hum. His scent enveloped me as his fingers did master work with my shoulders, and I sighed so loud and long that all the breath expelled from my lungs.
But even though a part of me felt intoxicatingly relaxed, another part of me was clenching in anticipation.
“You haven’t said anything, but I know you’re worried about what Oberon told you,” he murmured softly. “Don’t forget, I can feel things you think you’re hiding from the rest of the world.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned back against his chest, trying to block out the memory of Oberon’s words. Because of course Dorian was right. As much as I wanted to roll my shoulders and forget what he’d said, I couldn’t. “You’re not implying that Grams is the shadow mage who stole the blade, are you?’
“I know Grams would never want to bring demons into this realm,” Dorian began slowly, “but I think it’s a good idea to consider the possibility that she may have been involved for whatever reason. Think about it, Zoe. She’s gone, right after the weapon was taken. And it would explain why Anastasia wasn’t able to sniff out the difference between you two. You’re of the same blood. You smell similar.”
All the tension that Dorian had rubbed out of my shoulders and neck returned in a brutal tightening of every muscle in my body. “Grams would never do something like that.”
“She’d never cut holes in the veil, I agree,” Dorian continued. “But she could have thought she was helping, thought she was saving you from having to take the blade yourself.”
“Then, why wouldn’t she have told me?” I shook my head, swiveling to face him. “Why sneak around and take it out from under our noses?”
“Would you have let her take it if she’d told you her plan?” Dorian asked.
“Well, no. Of course not. She’s better now, but she’s still weak.”
“Exactly,” Dorian said. “So, she stole the blade and took it somewhere that no one can find it. Hell, maybe she knows about the spell that closes the veil for good. Maybe she’ll be the one who ends up saving us all.”
Sighing, I clenched my teeth so tight that my skull began to ache. As much as I hated to admit it, Dorian’s argument made sense. If Grams had wanted to save me from the burden of the blade, she would have taken it herself. And it certainly did explain her strange and random disappearance, as well as the letter she’d left behind. I just couldn’t understand why she would have hidden it from me.
“She’s a shadow mage deep down, remember?” Dorian added. “Just like you. And sometimes you have a tendency to keep things to yourself.”
“You’re right,” I said with a sigh. “I just feel like this is something she should have told me about. It’s not like Grams to sneak around.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough, and she can explain exactly what happened.”
“Dorian,” I said as I dropped back my head. Looking up, I searched his dark eyes for the truth. “You really don’t think that Grams is trying to help Wagner, do you? I could tell that Anastasia was suggesting that. And Oberon. It’s just…it’s not possible. Grams would never do anything that would be such a threat to this world.”
Dorian knelt before me and took my hands into his cold fingers. “Ignore Anastasia. She might be on
our side, but she sees the world much differently than we do. To her, everyone is capable of the worst things she can imagine. But we know Grams. And you are so much like her that it’s almost eerie. You’d never take the side of evil, so I know she wouldn’t either. You’re too good for that. She is, too.”
Heat flooded my cheeks as I squeezed his hand and pulled him closer, my body yearning for him, my soul begging for his. He’d said everything I wanted to hear, and I could feel through our bond that he meant every word. Grams might have pulled a Zoe and snuck around without telling anyone what she was up to, but that didn’t mean that she was on Wagner’s side.
“Okay,” I said, letting out a soft sigh at the look of yearning in Dorian’s eyes that was reflected in my heart. “Thank you. I just needed to hear someone else say what I felt deep in my gut. Logic says one thing, but my heart says another.”
“I trust in your heart,” he said. “You should, too.”
A knock sounded on the Magister’s door, and my entire body groaned. Every inch of me wanted—and needed—to pull Dorian closer and to show him exactly everything I was feeling inside. Need, desire, fear, and something else. Something I was still too afraid to say aloud. But we’d been interrupted—again. When all of this was over, I wanted to run away with him to his castle in the middle of nowhere and spend weeks holed up with nothing else in the world but him.
Maybe one day. If we all made it through this.
Hopefully, Dorian was right and Grams was closing the veil for us right now as we spoke.
“Hi, we’ve got a problem,” Laura said, popping her head around the door. Her eyes flicked between me and Dorian, and her cheeks went pink. “Oh god, I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something?”
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 64