“Don’t think so,” I said with a smile. “You tend to fail whenever you try to stab me.”
Wagner sighed and rolled his eyes. “This is getting really tedious. Perhaps it’s about time we brought your grandmother back onto the playing field again.”
He flicked his fingers as my heart ramped up into the next speed. Whirling, I turned to see my Grams shuffling slowly out of the shadows, her arms twisted behind her and trapped in place by a Nosferatu. Tears streamed down her face, and my heart clenched tight. She looked nothing like the murderous woman who had attacked me in England. This woman, this looked like Grams.
“Oh, Grams,” I said, choking on my words. Her tears were matched by my own. But before I could run to meet her, the vampire dropped his mouth to her neck and flicked his gaze at Wagner, as if to ask permission.
“Good. I thought that would get your attention,” he said. “It’s a shame. I thought forcing her to stab you would be a good enough of a blow to get you to back down, but you’ve proven yourself to be a worthy competitor.”
My heart thundered in my ears. “Are you saying you controlled her? With magic? Are you saying that was you all along?”
“Of course it was me, just as it was also me who was controlling the mage I sent to Boston to kill you.” Shaking his head, he continued to laugh, a harsh noise that grated on my nerves. “Did you really think that your own grandmother was trying to kill you? Come on, Zoe. You’ve shown yourself to be smarter than that.”
Sucking in a deep breath, I pressed my hand to my heart. Relief charged through me. I’d hoped and prayed that Grams hadn’t been the one to do this to me. It turned out that she, in fact, had. But she’d been controlled.
“I thought that was against the law,” I said, trying to keep him focused on my words while I took slow and steady steps toward Grams. “It’s akin to murder.”
“If I cared about breaking the law, I would not be here doing this now.” He shook his head. “No matter. Here is what you must decide, Zoe. It’s your grandmother’s life or yours. Give yourself up to me, finally, and I will let her go. If you don’t, then, well?” He made a cutting motion across his throat and smiled.
“You have a deal,” I said quickly as Grams let out a horror-filled moan, one of the most terrible sounds I’d ever heard. Heart thumping against my ribcage, I met her eyes across the graveyard clearing. They begged with me, pleaded with me, shot love and sorrow into my soul. She didn’t want me to do this, but Wagner had given me no other choice. I would not stand here and watch my grandmother die.
Just as I began to turn back toward Wagner, Grams let out a little cough, one that sounded nothing like the congestion she usually had when she’d been taken ill. It came across much more like a ‘hey’ than anything else, and I flicked my gaze back her way. She gave me a slight nod before dropping her eyes to the spot on my chest where she’d wounded me with the blade. Frowning, I glanced down. She was trying to communicate something, but what? What could she be possibly asking me to do?
And then it hit me. Grams was trying to get a very important point across to me.
I wasn’t just a shadow mage. I was an Unbound, and Wagner wouldn’t stand a chance against me one-on-one.
“Come down from the crypt, Wagner,” I shouted up at him. “So that you can see I’ve given in to you.”
Wagner smiled. “I always knew you would cave.”
He jumped down, landing before me on the cold wet earth. I stared at him and curled my hands into fists. Fury tore through me, driven by the painful pangs in my gut and the shadows that were delighting in this fight. My entire body felt alight by my powers, and I felt as though I could take on the world.
Wagner’s lips twisted into a cruel smile. He raised his fists and threw a heavy dose of magic at my gut. It was a strange blend of oranges, reds, and blacks, sparking in the dark of the night. I jogged to the side, easily dodging his blow. I was too fast for him now.
Frowning, he narrowed his eyes. “We had a deal. Your life for hers.”
I flicked my gaze toward Grams. The Nosferatu had let go of her arms, his attention too focused on the fight between me and Wagner. He was itching to see pain. He was yearning for some blood to spill. Now that I understood how vampires thought, I knew I’d be able to draw the creature in when the enticing possibility of death was on the cards.
Grams gave me an almost imperceptible nod.
That was the only encouragement I needed. Fisting my hands, I raced toward Wagner with all the speed of my vampire powers. I slammed hard into his body, knocking him off his feet and catching him off guard. We fell onto the ground, our bodies twisting together. Wagner threw power into the air, and it scraped past my cheek, slicing a deep hole in my skin.
I cried out in pain, but I didn’t stop. The wound wasn’t much worse than the constant pain I carried in my gut.
And within seconds, the wound had already healed.
I pinned Wagner to the ground. He squirmed, thrashing his legs and his arms. But I was too strong now.
He spat into my face, and saliva hit me on the chin. “I can’t believe you resorted to becoming a vampire. Your blood is tainted now. These creatures are ours to control, not a state we should yearn to become.”
Confusion flittered through me, but I kept my hands curled tight around his fists. “What are you talking about? You’re the one who did this to me. You cursed me in that English cottage.”
He let out a laugh. “I would never curse a mage to become a vampire, especially not one as powerful as a shadow. We are above them. We are meant to be their gods.”
“You’re insane,” I said, narrowing my eyes as I watched him glance around for some way of escape. But I’d heard what had happened during our scuffle. Grams had triumphed over the Nosferatu, so Wagner was all alone. The battle raged on in the distance, and none of his obedient little demons were coming to save him.
Because what he didn’t realize was that demons weren’t that obedient at all, and they hated being kept prisoner in their own bodies.
They would not come for him, even if he called every one to his side.
He tipped back his head, smearing his face against the dirt. Laughter rang out from the depths of him. The Wagner I’d met before didn’t have this madness in his eyes. Something had happened to him along the way to twist his mind into something else. Maybe it was the combination of all four coven powers. Maybe it was trying to control so many demons at once. Or maybe his evil deeds had finally caught up to him.
“What are you going to do, Zoe?” he asked through his high-pitched laughs. “Arrest me? Make me your prisoner? I’ll just escape again. You know I will. There’s nothing you can do to stop me anymore. I’m invincible.”
As I stared down at him, I heard the truth in his voice. Taking him prisoner would solve nothing. He could still have countless demons out there, bound to himself. Or other mages he would attempt to control. For the first time since we’d begun this war, I had the upper hand. And I had to kill him while I could. There was no other way.
“Ah yes,” he said as a delirious smile spread across his face. “There’s the shadow I knew was hiding deep inside your heart. I can see it in your eyes. That anger. That rage. That fury. Your shadows and your vampirism, it’s convinced you to kill me.”
For a moment, the world seemed to slow around me. Was he right? Was I only doing this because I’d fallen victim to the whispers of my powers? Had my biggest nightmare come true? It was impossible for me to tell the difference between what was right and what my shadows were urging me to do.
But then a small and quiet voice whispered out from the darkness, “Do it.”
And that voice was not one of shadows, of pain, of anger, or of rage. It was my Grams.
With a deep breath, I pulled my dagger from my belt and plunged it into Wagner’s heart.
Chapter 36
“Grams,” I shouted, jumping up from Wagner’s prone form. My body yearned for his blood, but I had more pressing worries
right now. Was Grams okay? Had they done anything to her? Did she feel alright? Did I need to try to heal her?
But when I reached her side, she merely waved me away. “I’m happy to see you, too, sweetheart, but we don’t have time at this moment for a loving reunion. You’ve got to close the veil before more mages die on that battlefield. It’ll force all the demons back into their realm, effectively ending the fight. I’ve tried to do it, but I’m just not strong enough.”
In the distance, the clash of blades and bodies exploded through the night. Grams was right. Wagner might be dead, but the war still raged on. The demons wanted this realm as theirs, and they were fighting to take it. I dropped back down beside Wagner’s body and found the Witch’s Blade strapped to his waist. He’d been carrying it all this time, forcing Grams to use it to cut holes in the veil. And now I would finally end this, once and for all.
“How do I do it?” I asked, holding the blade before my eyes. It flashed a light onto my face, singing as I curled my hands around the leather handle. And, as crazy as it sounded, I swore I felt it pulse, as if it were happy that I was using it for good.
“Like you do all your spells, Zoe.” She walked to my side and rested a hand on my shoulder. “Just close your eyes and ask your powers to do what you need them to do. You are strong enough that they’ll respond.”
With a deep breath, I nodded and closed my eyes, searching for the truth within my magic. It answered my call, rising up within me with a strength so fierce that it made my head spin. I tightened my grip on the blade and focused on what I wanted most. To close the veil. To save humanity. To banish the demons out of this world forever. Permanently. It was time for this to end.
Magic shot up from my core and into the sky, tumbling around me in a whirlwind of electricity. I clenched my jaw and held my ground, letting the intoxicating power wash over me. It was everywhere. Within my bones, within my heart, and within the very depths of my soul. And it exploded out of me with a force so strong that it almost knocked me sideways, filling the world with darkness and shadows. The kind of shadows that would save us all.
Something shook my shoulder. With a groan, I rolled onto my back as mud soaked into my shirt. I squinted my eyes and looked up at a bright new day, Grams hovering over me. My mouth was dry, and my head throbbed. But my bones sung with happiness and pride.
“What’s going on?” I asked, scanning my eyes across the cemetery-turned-battlefield. Chaos still surrounded us, but the fighting had stopped. Survivors milled amongst the fallen bodies, and the perfectly-trimmed bushes had been ripped from the ground. The grass had morphed into mud. The strangest thing, though, was that the sun had risen high in the sky. It was no longer night. “Did that spell knock me out for hours or something?”
“No.” Grams knelt beside me and smiled. “That’s not the sun. It’s the remnants of the closing of the veil. Your shadows chased the darkness away, and the light should fade in time. You did it, Zoe. You’ve closed the veil and saved us all. I never doubted you could do it.”
“Oh, Grams.” I started to cry as total exhaustion and relief poured through me. Not just because of the veil but because Grams was here beside me now. She hadn’t succumbed to the darkness. She hadn’t fallen prey to her worst instincts. And she hadn’t been the one, not truly, to stab me in the heart. And, best of all, we’d both come out on the other side alive. Together.
“I know, Zoe. I know.” She squeezed me tight, her vanilla perfume filling up my head and making me think of home, of safety, of love. “I am so sorry for everything that’s happened. And I am so sorry for everything I did to you.”
“I know you didn’t want to kill me, Grams,” I said, pulling back to see her eyes welling with tears. “That was just Wagner controlling you.”
“I don’t mean that.” She sniffled and glanced away. “I’m talking about the curse. That was me. In that moment in the cottage, I was so terrified and angry. I thought you would die, Zoe. I had to do whatever it took to stop that. So, I called upon an old rune I’d seen one day, a long time ago, and I put a curse on you so that any wound I inflicted would not be fatal.”
My mouth dropped open as I stared at my Grams. I could scarcely believe what I’d heard. In all my moments of wondering, I’d never suspected that she’d been the one to turn me into an Unbound, especially not as a way to save me. “I was convinced it was Wagner, even though it seemed like a stupid thing for him to do.”
“Because it only made you stronger,” she said with a smile. “Faster. Fiercer.”
“Oh, but Grams,” I said, voice breaking. “It’s so horrible.”
“I know, dear,” she said, squeezing my hand as tears dripped down her cheeks. “But I can undo the curse for you. I can return you to your mortal life now that the war has been won and Wagner is dead.”
My heart thundered in my ears as I stared into her bright eyes. This was something I’d never even entertained as a possibility. Dorian and I were cursed—together—and now we had the opportunity to live our eternal days side by side. It almost made the pain inside my chest bearable. The constant haunting cravings. The worry that one day I would snap.
“Let me talk to Dorian first,” I said in a whisper.
Epilogue
“Good morning, Magister,” Dorian murmured into my hair as I rolled toward him, our limbs tangled in sheets. The morning sun beamed down on us from the window, highlighting his sculpted jaw and the hair that curled around his ears. My heart sang at the look in his eye. It had been three months since the battle against the demons, and every day had been better than the last.
“Morning, handsome.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and slid my body on top of his. We’d spent the entire night wrapped in each other’s arms, but I wasn’t the slightest bit tired. And I was more than ready for round two, though by this point, it was more like round fifty.
“You ready for this big meeting of yours?” he asked.
“More than ready,” I said with a sigh. “I know everyone has wanted us to take things slow now that humans know about our existence, but it’s about time we get council members appointed. Once we do, we can finally get the coven back up and running at full capacity, starting with a training program for young witches and warlocks.”
“You are so sexy when you talk that way,” he murmured against my shoulder. I let out a laugh, a lighthearted sound that I’d rarely made until recently. Not only were the demons permanently gone from our realm, but Dorian and I were closer than ever, something I’d been terrified would change after we’d cleared the battlefield. Laura and Anastasia had made it through, as well as most of the fae and the werewolves. But many others had fallen, and the following days had been ones full of grief.
“Well, get used to it. Because that’s what I’m going to be talking about all the damn time from now on,” I said, my smile faltering for a moment. “Dorian, are you glad we made the decision we did? Do you ever wish you could change it?”
“Of course I’m glad,” he said. “Look at us. We’re happy and in love. I wouldn’t want our lives to be any other way.”
“Short and fleeting and without that intense bond we shared?” I asked. I didn’t know why, but I just needed to hear him say it one last time.
When Grams had offered me the chance to go back to my mortal form, I’d been so unsure. A part of me knew I’d be miserable if I had to live endless days as a vampire, but another part didn’t want to give up a long and happy life with Dorian. In the end, he’d been the one to make the sacrifice, joining me in my mortal choice. Our bond had been broken when Dorian became mortal, but it had done nothing but make us stronger.
“We share a new bond now, and it’s better than anything magic could give us,” he said with a smile as he tucked a finger underneath my chin. “I love you, Zoe. And this is the life I want.”
“I love you, too,” I said, my heart singing with hope.
“Now,” he said, wrapping his arms around my body. “Come here and give me a taste of that
bond of ours before you head off to your coven duties.”
And with that, I pressed my mouth onto his and smiled.
Thank you so much for reading! This was the final chapter in the Bone Coven Chronicles, so I hope you enjoyed Zoe’s tale. However, this isn’t the end of stories from this world. First up, Wings of Stone, is now available on Amazon!
Magic is dying. And I’m the only one who can stop it.
Human. Weak. Sick. That’s what I’ve been told I am all my life. But when magic hunters attack the castle where I’ve been kept hidden since birth, I discover my whole world is built on lies.
Because the hunters are after me.
Running for my life, I’m rescued by four dangerously handsome gargoyle shifters. They say they’re here to save me…but maybe they only want to save themselves.
Because, as it turns out, I’m not merely human. I am a Protector of Magic—if I die, magic will vanish from the world. And my four winged guardians will turn to stone forever.
Wings of Stone is the first book in a new reverse harem urban fantasy series full of romance, danger, and magic.
Sign up to my newsletter to get notified on future release days and receive an exclusive free story about how Zoe got her coven mark.
Want to chat about books with other UF readers and be the first to see cover reveals? Just click here to join my reader group on Facebook.
Also by Jenna Wolfhart
Otherworld Academy
A Dance with Darkness
A Song of Shadows
Protectors of Magic
Wings of Stone
Carved in Stone
Bound by Stone
The Bone Coven Chronicles: The Complete Series Page 75