Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set

by Multiple Authors

  “Persephone…” Daniel had reached her side and tried to touch her shoulder, but she moved out of the way, stepping towards Malachi once more. Determination filled him, however, and he wouldn’t give up. Running ahead of her, he swung to stand in between Persephone and the enemy. He knew it was probably foolish, but he faced his daughter, leaving his back open. If he had a chance to save her, he would sacrifice himself in the hopes that the pain and shock would shake her out of the grip of the Dark Magick.

  “Move out of my way, old man.” The echoes in her voice reminded him of the final stand against Alexandria’s family, and his heart sank. The Magick was in control now. There would be no more talking.

  “I won’t let you lose your soul to the Darkness within. Your mother gave her life to make sure you were the witch she never could be, and be damned if I’ll let her death be in vain.” Just as Persephone stepped towards him to strike him down, he whispered to her. “I love you, daughter mine.” As she wavered, Daniel swung around and laid his sword in to the crowd of villagers standing between him and Malachi. Time seemed to slow right down as he cut down many people he had once known, and although it hurt his soul to slay them, he knew it would kill him if he lost his daughter. So he fought, knowing that it would surely be his last stand. He didn’t care, as long as it saved his daughter’s soul.

  ***

  Persephone felt strange. She could see Daniel in front of her, hear him, but she couldn’t do anything. She felt as though she swam in a dark, smoky haze, unattached to her body yet still in it. Something else controlled her. It was the Dark Magick; she recognized the power surging through her veins. When he whispered to her, she knew he was about to do something crazy and stupid that would probably get him killed, so she battled against the smoky haze of the magick, fighting to regain her self. She stood there, looking peaceful to all others while inside, the battle for control raged as she watched her father cut down villagers that were innocent, yet would try to kill them. All because of that pompous prick using them as weapons.

  Anger flared once more within her breast, but instead of the icy grip of rage, it was the white heat of anger, her own emotion that she could manage. Shaking herself free of the dark fog within her mind, Persephone regained her control.

  “Get down!”

  Daniel turned to her shouted command, and she recognized a slight smile twinge the corner of his mouth before he threw himself on the ground. Thrusting her hands out in front of her, Persephone blasted a path through the villagers, not using deadly force like the Dark Magick would have used, but with enough power to stun and shock the people who were in her way.

  There was now a clear path directly to Malachi, as she used shields to keep more villagers at bay. As she approached Daniel, her father stood. Tears shone in his eyes. “I knew you could do it, lass. I had just prayed that you would come to your senses before a death blow landed.”

  Persephone embraced the man she had only recently come to know as Father. “I heard you.” Standing back, she gripped his shoulders. “I do have to end this, though. You know I do.”

  Daniel frowned. “No, I don’t know. You don’t have to do anything.”

  “Father, it’s my destiny. I know it. I don’t know the exact connection between Malachi and myself, but I know there is one there. I believe I am meant to kill him.”

  Her father cupped her cheek. “I don’t want you to have that mark on your soul. Once you end someone’s life, your own is scarred. I don’t want that for you.”

  Persephone smiled at his concern. “I know, but there is no other way.” She leaned in and kissed his forehead. “I’ll be careful, I promise. I have the strength now to face him. Thanks to you.”

  He dipped his head before looking her in the eyes. “You are your mother’s daughter. You’re just like Alexandria.”

  She chuckled. “So you’ve told me. At least twice.” Persephone stared hard at him. “I have to do this. Now.”

  Daniel nodded. “I know.” He stepped back. “I may not like it, but I won’t stand in your way. If you truly believe it’s your destiny, I won’t stop you. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “I do.”

  “Well then. You better get going. He won’t wait for you.”

  Persephone took in a deep breath and lifted her head high. She tried to smile, but it felt forced. Instead, she just stared at him, trying to etch every inch of his face in to her memory before turning around and marching to where Malachi waited. She didn’t know what would happen between them, but she knew only one of them would be walking away today.

  Chapter Ten

  Persephone stalked towards Malachi, her power rippling through her yet finally under control. She knew this had to end today; she just wasn’t entirely sure how it would play out.

  As she neared her enemy, the look of dark confidence on his face shook her resolve. It was only by remembering the faces of those who had fought by her side, of those she loved, that she kept walking. Daphne, her cousin, back at the tavern recovering from injuries. William, her other cousin, nursing a maimed arm and hopefully safely returned to his sister. Rosetta, who had shown her what a mother’s love could be. Dear George, who she had loved for a short time and had died in her arms. Adrian, her first love who had died to save her. Daniel, her father who had watched over her all these years. And finally, Alexandria, her mother whom she’d never met but who had sacrificed herself to make sure Daniel survived to raise their daughter. She would not let any of them suffer in vain. It ended now.

  Reaching the bottom of the small incline on top of which stood Malachi, Persephone threw her head high and glared up at him.

  “It’s time to end this, Malachi.”

  “Indeed,” he called down to her. “Time to end the reign of Light and for the Darkness to prevail. It is time for me to avenge my family’s honor, and to avenge my sister’s legacy.”

  Persephone frowned; his sister’s legacy? The mayor had only had the one child, him.

  “You really think I was the spawn of that pathetic mortal?” he scoffed at her. “No, my dear, I was born of Dark Magick, as was my older sister. Except she turned her back on who she was supposed to be. Morrigan was supposed to be our next leader, the one to claim the world in honor of the Darkness. But then she met that damn Earth Wizard and she turned her back on her destiny.”

  Chills raced through Persephone as Malachi shouted his tale at her. Surely he couldn’t be talking about her mother? She didn’t want to believe that the Earth Wizard he spoke of was her father. But the coincidence was too much to ignore.

  “My sister should have been the greatest Dark Witch to have ever lived. Instead she left her family, she left her purpose in life, and she left her name.”

  “Alexandria.” Persephone breathed her mother’s name, no longer able to refute the truth.

  “What did you say?”

  “Alexandria. Your sister was Alexandria.”

  “How could you possibly know that?”

  Persephone squared her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. “Because she is my mother.”

  Malachi stared her down, his face red and his eyes dark. “That’s not true.”

  “Her blood, her power flows through my veins. We are family.”

  “We are not family!” Spittle flew from his mouth as he shrieked. “Family doesn’t run out on tradition. Family does not turn their back on destiny.”

  “But it wasn’t her destiny to rule the Dark. It was her destiny to give life to the one who would end it.” Cold strength flowed through her limbs as she harnessed the Dark Magick that was part of her birthright. She felt warm comfort at her back, and glanced back to see Daniel’s hands raised towards her, his Earth magick helping ground her as she prepared herself for what was to come.

  Turning back to Malachi, she took a deep breath and sent a shot of power, hitting his shoulder in a glancing blow. “I will give you the chance to surrender and crawl back to the dark hole where you belong, because that is wh
at my mother would want. But if you choose to fight, I will end you.”

  His hard, barking laughter rang out across the clearing in answer. Before she could react, Malachi threw his hand out and shot a blast at Daniel. “You’ll have to do better than that, witchling. You’re new to your power, and using an Earth Wizard as support is going to make it too easy. With that other witch fleeing for her life, all I have to do is take him out and you are doomed.” Another blast, and she heard Daniel cry out behind her.

  Persephone flung herself around, fighting to resist the urge to run to Daniel’s collapsed form. The quicker she dealt with Malachi, the sooner it was over. Letting her gaze settle on Daniel until she was sure he was still alive, Persephone then turned back to face her nemesis. She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted; Daniel’s life now depended on her staying focused and swiftly handling the situation. Persephone took a deep breath, cleared her mind, and readied herself for the flow of Dark Magick. She didn’t expect to still feel threads of warmth threaded through the cold, and that was when she realized it wasn’t just Alexandria’s Dark Magick she’d inherited, but Daniel’s Earth Magick as well. Her father’s attempt to ground her had awoken the magick within her. She had the strength and power to ground herself now, and suddenly she knew with absolute certainty that she could defeat this threat for good.

  Lifting her chin, Persephone stared up at Malachi, her heart pounding as she saw his triumphant smile. His ego was his greatest weakness, and he clearly underestimated her power. She decided that her best play was to let him continue to think she needed her father’s power backing her.

  Lifting her hands in front of her, she let her power flicker and fail, before dark fire roared to life in front of her. Persephone found it harder than she thought to keep her power appearing weak. Although she had control now with her Earth power to ground her, the Dark Magick still fought to destroy the life in the clearing. As she struggled to keep a tenuous hold on her power, she heard Malachi’s evil laugh ring out. Her plan was working.

  “You have no idea who you are up against, young witchling. I could crush you like a bug. Luckily for you, I only want to crush your spirit; you will be mine yet.”

  Keeping her face lowered, Persephone kept a hooded gaze on her enemy, waiting for the moment to strike. She didn’t want to show off her true control too quickly, and allowed Malachi to let loose a few low bolts of power in her direction as she made her own Magick flicker and appeared to struggle, knowing he just wanted to scare her into submission.

  Not on my life, she thought, her heart pounding as she readied herself. The amount of Magick in the air made her hair stand on end and goose bumps race across her skin. It was almost time. She just had to wait a little longer for Malachi to completely drop his guard and come closer. She wanted to watch the fear and regret in his face when he realized his error. The Dark Magick was trying to twist her, and Persephone knew that it was mostly the reason behind wanting to finish things close and personal. But she also knew that it was part of her own desire to make him cower as she once had, in revenge for everything the evil wizard had done.

  Throwing her hands out in front of her, Persephone sent a lightning bolt to strike the ground a few feet from Malachi before letting her power flicker one last time. Panting, she dropped her arms and feigned defeat.

  “Alright,” she called out, “you win.”

  She heard Daniel cry out behind him. Her heart jumped in delight, knowing he was still alive, but she was immediately hit with a pang of regret that he didn’t know her plan. Dropping to her knees, she continued to pant as though she was out of breath. Just as she’d hoped, Malachi took the bait and strode down from his perch, strutting towards where she crouched on the forest floor.

  “There you go, my darling dove. That wasn’t so hard, was it? You know you belong to me. It’s just so sad that it took you so long to realize. But now we can start our lives together, and you can show me just how sorry you are for all this trouble you have put everyone through.”

  Persephone stared at the ground, fists clenched by her side. She had to wait until he was right in front of her, but he was making it so easy for her to let the Dark Magick take over and blast him in to oblivion now. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she forced herself to speak subserviently.

  “I do realize now that I was a fool for running. I don’t know what possessed me to think I deserved better. Please forgive me.”

  “Persephone, don’t do this,” she heard Daniel softly call. “You do deserve more. Adrian died for you to live a better life. George died believing in you. Don’t let their deaths be in vain.”

  “Silence, you old fool.” Malachi spat his disgust as his feet finally were in Persephone’s view. “You had your chance to corrupt her, but now she understands the error in her ways. She was born to serve me, and there is nothing you can do about it. Those weak fools were stupid for thinking otherwise. They deserved to die.”

  She clenched her teeth as tears formed in her eyes. She knew they were of anger, but Persephone hoped Malachi would see them as tears of regret. As Malachi knelt and grabbed her chin, she lifted her face to look at him.

  “You,” he softly murmured, “have caused a lot of trouble for a lot of people. We’ll have to make sure you’re punished sufficiently that you know to never run away again, won’t we?”

  Persephone dropped her eyes and nodded.

  “Speak, my sweetling.”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “Good. Now let’s get you away from all the confusion and cleaned up. No woman of mine will be filthy like a pig and dressed like a man.”

  As he rose, Persephone let him pull her up by her chin. She waited until they were both standing, Malachi tugging her closer. With a sudden, stubborn gaze and a snap as she let her blood red wings stretch out behind her in all their glory, she stared him in the eye as Dark Magick roared to life in her hands, Earth Magick grounding her before the darkness could consume her.

  “I am not your woman.” Thrusting out in front of her, she drove her power in to his chest as if it were a sword. “I will never be your woman.” She twisted her hands, forcing her power to twist as well, causing more damage to the body in front of her.

  Persephone watched Malachi’s face drain of color as his eyes bulged. He glanced down to where her hands were clenched against him, black and blue flames flickering as they consumed his life force. She leaned in until she was so close to his face, she could make out the different flecks of color in his eyes. “You are the only one here who deserves to die. You are the only one here who needs to be punished. That is why these flames won’t take your life immediately. You will feel every blow ever dealt by your power, or at your command, but you will not succumb to the injuries. Not until every last one is felt. This clearing will be your prison and although you will be able to see people carry on about their lives, you will be unable to move, unable to ask for help, unable to do anything to alleviate your suffering. As you showed no mercy in life, no mercy shall be shown you in your death. So mote it be.”

  She stepped back, wrenching her power from Malachi’s body, as she heard footsteps rapidly approach her from behind. Her Dark Magick yearned to lash out, but her Earth Magick recognized her father and kept the darker power at bay.

  “Sweetheart.” Daniel sighed, relief evident in his shaking voice. “You had me scared there for a while.”

  Taking a few deep breaths, Persephone closed her eyes and waited until she was sure she had both powers under control before turning to the old man. With a quivering smile, she finally looked at him and realized just how old he was. She began to appreciate just how long he had held on for her, for his promise to Alexandria. Lifting her hand to his cheek, she flinched at how cold his skin was.

  “You’re running out of time, aren’t you?”

  “Aye, lass. Have run out of time. I’d almost given up when you dropped to your knees, and it was then that I felt the spell break. Your mother was a strong witch, but even her magick cou
ldn’t hold against the breaking heart of an old man who should have trusted his daughter.” Tears made his eyes turn glassy and his smile wobbled.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t let you know. I had to make him think he’d won. If I’d known what it would do to you, I’d have found another way.”

  Daniel fiercely shook his head, and she feared he would hurt himself as she watched the magick drain from him. “No, you did the right thing. It was the best chance to get him to drop his defenses and defeat him. I should have known you are too strong to give up, especially that easily.” He cupped her cheek, his icy skin a cool balm against the heat of the adrenalin flooding her body after the battle. “You are your mother’s daughter.”

  “I never could have done it without you, Father,” she whispered, a painful lump gathering in her throat as her heart finally realized that this would be goodbye.

  “Oh, I’m sure you could have. I just gave you a little push. You would have figured it out eventually.”

  Shaking her head, Persephone smiled wryly. “You never gave yourself enough credit. You were the one constant in my life, the one person I could depend on. It was more than a little push; you guided me all those years without me even knowing.” She leaned in and kissed Daniel on the forehead. “I love you, Father.”

  “And I you, lass.” He coughed, and Persephone eased him on to the ground as his breathing began to rattle. “You need to continue to the coast without me, love. I don’t want you to see me meet my fate. I want you to go meet yours, instead.”

  “I don’t know what will happen when I get there. What if it is a fool’s errand, and it’s just an empty coastline?”

  Daniel reached up and brushed her hair back. “Trust in your heart, daughter; your heart knows it wasn’t all for naught. Adrian told you to head to the coast for a reason. You will find the rest of your life there.” He coughed again. “Now go, please. I want to know that you are on your way to your destiny, as I leave this life.”