Below the Surface

by Marie Harte

  Calling on Tanselm’s vast stores of the life-giving water he called his own, Marcus pushed the waters from another plane altogether. His vision turned blue and he felt at one with his element, strong and surprisingly at peace. From his mouth, nose, eyes and pores streamed Tanselm’s vengeance. Like a living tap, he provided the conduit of justice his world needed to restore balance.

  “Holy shit,” he dimly heard Cadmus murmur. Aerolus called his name, but he was aware only of Tessa and the sorcerer who threatened all she could be, all Tanselm could be. Time faded as he washed ‘Sin Garu’s wraiths into the Next, where they would be judged accordingly.

  Panting after his exertions, he nevertheless felt more energized than weak after expelling so much force.

  “Very impressive, water bringer,” the sorcerer said calmly, as if he weren’t struggling to find breath beyond the film of water that fought to seal his fate. But fight he did, despite the terrible winds and raging quakes that shook him.

  “Deal with that, if you can,” ‘Sin Garu snarled before dissolving into fits of coughing.

  Before Marcus could decipher his meaning, something grabbed him from behind and knocked the breath out of him. Slammed up into the ceiling and held there, he fought to turn himself around using every ounce of power he possessed.

  “Mother of Shadow,” Jonas whispered below him, staring at something beyond Marcus’ very imagining.

  “Let’s see you defeat a Nocumat,” ‘Sin Garu said through strangled breath, his laughter threaded with madness.

  A red puddle of liquid gelled on the floor below Marcus. At first a drop, it grew steadily until it was at least ten feet in diameter.

  “You do not defeat a Nocumat,” Aerolus spoke in a low voice. The puddle began to rise, a large shape morphing out of the sluggish substance. Hands appeared within it, growing from the puddle. Like a bloody outreach, they pointed in Marcus’ direction. “Nor do you control one.” He turned to ‘Sin Garu. “Have you forgotten all you once learned from the Great Hall?”

  ‘Sin Garu’s smile shriveled and his eyes narrowed on the body now growing below Marcus. The body had taken Marcus’ shape and face, though its dripping red flesh made it look like a wax mould of Marcus that stood too close to flame.

  “It makes you think you can control it, but you can’t,” Aerolus whispered, moving closer to Marcus. “Only at the end of everything can it be contained.”

  “End of what?” Tessa slurred and stumbled to her feet behind the couch.

  “Tessa, no,” Marcus shouted, fear for her enabling him to break through ‘Sin Garu’s hold. He dropped to the floor, lying in the pool that was the Nocumat, and fought the pinpricks of pain that suddenly needled into his skin as the hands grabbed him, and the red image of himself leaned close.

  * * * *

  “Marcus?” Tessa shook her head and stared wide-eyed around her. “Cadmus, Aerolus?” Then she caught sight of Jonas. “Oh, my God, Jonas. You’re a Djinn!” But his flaming body had nothing on the bloody mess in front of her.

  Marcus lay in its many-handed clutches like prey about to be devoured, his face pale and pinched with pain while a wax-like body loomed over him. At least it wasn’t a wraith again, she thought hysterically, trying to convince herself this nightmare was nothing more than a bad dream.

  Aerolus and Cadmus tried in vain to free him, and became just as contaminated by the red goo that acted scarily alive. Aerolus muttered under his breath, his forehead streaked with sweat as he closed his eyes and waved his hands as if conducting an orchestra. His spell slowed the Nocumat’s progress, forcing several of the hands, if not the large body, to release Marcus and let Cadmus go. Now it crept instead of flowed over the Storm brothers.

  Cadmus shook, his brown eyes black with pain as his skin suddenly flashed to gold and back again, black flames surrounding him in an almost mirror image of Jonas. Her eyes bulged. Was he turning Djinn?

  She blinked rapidly, unable to process everything at once. Jonas, her boss, looked like a man covered in flame, but she could see his face amidst the fire, no skin, just bright, white-gold light—and Cadmus could have been his twin. Aerolus, at least, looked like himself, only more intense as he battled with the red ‘man’, for lack of a better term, on the floor.

  But Marcus…he appeared almost dead. She held the back of the couch in a death grip. “Marcus.” She felt helpless and weak and achingly lost at thoughts without him—and that vulnerability seriously pissed her off. “Tell me what to do.” Her eyes flickered to ‘Sin Garu, who by now had shed himself of the waters trying to drown him and stared from her to Marcus with murderous delight. He took a step in her direction.

  Jonas intercepted him with a blast of what looked like vaporous black mist, diverting the sorcerer’s attention.

  Marcus’ eyelids fluttered. “Take it, Tessa. Take all of it,” he rasped as water rushed from his body to free him from the red monster caging him. He lay on his side, one arm buried in the Nocumat while with his other he tried to escape with a tide of water.

  Glancing up, he saw her and most likely ‘Sin Garu battling Jonas over her shoulder, and stopped. He thrust his elemental and psychic energy into her, and they immediately took root in her being, the taste and touch of Marcus now a piece of her. “Use it to defeat ‘Sin Garu,” he said hoarsely, sliding deeper into the red ooze. “Once he’s gone, the Nocumat will follow. It has to,” he muttered, sounding desperate. “Do it, now, before I’m unable to help you.”

  She knew he’d seen ‘Sin Garu’s murderous intentions, knew too that he could have used his powers to free himself and then helped her to ward off the sorcerer since Jonas had him occupied.

  “Get out of there, Marcus. Jonas and I can hold off ‘Sin Garu until you’re free.”

  “No.”

  Shocked, she blinked at him, astonished at how arrogant and authoritative he’d just sounded with a single ‘no.’

  “I won’t have you battling ‘Sin Garu, not while I’m still breathing. I have to do this, Tessa. I left you to him once, I won’t do it again.” He groaned as one of the red hands seemed to reach into chest. “Aerolus, stop dicking around. Grab Cadmus and protect Tessa.”

  Aerolus quirked a brow, still calmly chanting under his breath as he calmed the flames around Cadmus while stopping another of the Nocumat’s hands from wrapping around Marcus’ neck.

  Tessa shook her head, in disagreement with Marcus’ order of protection and in disbelief, that Aerolus hadn’t lost it yet. Despite freeing one brother and working to save another, he too was ankle deep in the Nocumat, a creature that seemed more ominous the larger it grew. Though its many hands clutched at the Storm brothers, its body seemed curiously content to stand there, as if watching the spectacle.

  “Damn it, Tessa,” Marcus swore. “Use what I’m giving you, affai.” His voice grew alarming weak and the giant red body looming over him cocked its head. “Work with me, and I’ll be happy knowing we’ll have saved those I love most in the world: Tanselm, my family and you.”

  What he really meant was “I’ll die happy” not “I’ll be happy.” The arrogant, overbearing jerk she loved was actually planning to die to save her. She stared at him, knowing she had precious little time to act. “You want to be a hero.” She sneered, taking comfort in her anger. How like a prince to make all her decisions for her. “Fine, be a hero. But you’re not dying until I’m good and ready to let you.”

  Finally accepting the great power he’d given her, she consciously sapped more from those in the room, including ‘Sin Garu. Releasing the hold over her control, she let the rage of repressed vengeance, the bitter need for justice to swell within her. What ‘Sin Garu had done to her the past few hours, what he’d done to Marcus’ people, to his lands and his father stirred a mighty wave of fury that wouldn’t be stopped.

  She channelled the Storm brothers’ pain and ‘Sin Garu’s sick pleasure into an unadulterated mass of chaotic energy. The taste of purity, of Tanselm’s essence filled her and her world turne
d hazy blue.

  Dimly aware of Aerolus and Cadmus battling to save Marcus, she turned to ‘Sin Garu, now standing over a prone Jonas, and smiled. “You’ve taught me so much in so little time. Now it’s up to me to return the favour.”

  The next few minutes blurred for Tessa. Crackling, booming thunder and static filled the air in and around her, as if she stood in the heart of a massive storm. Water and wind crashed over ‘Sin Garu like an extraordinarily well-contained monsoon.

  The sorcerer shrieked and cursed, his words whipped away by the winds pulling at his hair and clothes. Psychic energy thrummed, pushing against the narrow walls of Davis’ apartment until the drywall actually buckled. Wood splintered and sparks flew as electrical wiring snapped and sparked, sizzling with the threat of shock under the cascading waters that splashed over everything.

  Yet Tessa could only ride the wave of power, completely oblivious to the hazards of Marcus’ gift.

  ‘Sin Garu snarled and pointed a finger at her. She couldn’t make out what he said, but the spell was enough to shock her waters to stillness.

  Breaking her concentration, the sorcerer shook himself and suddenly stood tall and completely dry, his expression one of mild displeasure. “I’m sorry we couldn’t see eye to eye on this. We would have made an unbeatable team,” he said and sighed.

  Jonas groaned but the sorcerer paid no attention. Tessa, however, saw him trying to tell her something. He motioned to the sorcerer time and time again, until Tessa understood what he wanted.

  ‘Sin Garu pulled a large red glowing saber out of thin air and pointed it at her.

  “Get back, Tessa,” Cadmus yelled from behind her. But he was too late.

  Using the last bit of energy she had left, she shifted Jonas close enough to grasp ‘Sin Garu’s leg.

  The sorcerer froze and stared down at Jonas, his mouth open in shock.

  “I think you and I have taken enough of their time, don’t you, Van Nostren?” Jonas rasped. The black flames surrounding him engulfed the sorcerer’s leg, slowly travelling up his body.

  “Release me,” ‘Sin Garu ordered coldly. “Or die very, very slowly. I’ll bend the light around you, I’ll immolate you in the fires of the Next,” he threatened before black flame danced from every orifice of his face.

  “I’m glad I got to know you, Tessa,” Jonas said shakily. “And I thank you for weakening him enough that I can do this last thing. Take care of the River Prince.” He started to fade, his flames growing darker and darker until both he and ‘Sin Garu disappeared into a black void in the middle of the room.

  “Wait, Jonas,” she said before a shout behind her drew her attention.

  Marcus lay completely submerged in the Nocumat save for his face. His eyes were wide, his mouth open as he gasped for breath. Then the whites of his eyes started to darken, crimson slowly streaking the orbs as death reached for him in the guise of the Nocumat’s giant red body.

  Tessa ignored the loud explosion behind her and would have run to Marcus had she been able, but at that moment her strength finally gave out and she collapsed to the floor.

  “Marcus,” she cried weakly, reaching out her hand. She had nothing left to save him, no power within her but love to bring him back.

  When her vision dimmed and finally blocked all sensation, she welcomed the darkness.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “It’s too late, Aerolus,” Cadmus said in a thick voice. “He’s almost gone.”

  “It’s never too late,” Aerolus snapped, his control frayed so badly he feared he’d never get it back. Losing his father had been traumatic enough, but losing Marcus would be like losing a part of himself.

  He should never have brought the three of them and Tessa to match ‘Sin Garu. But in his arrogance he’d wrongly compared himself to Arim, believing in his strange dreams when he knew he was a fledgeling sorcerer. Instead of conferring with Arim on the matter, he’d blithely accepted his powers as infallible. And now his brother lay on death’s path, the Nocumat bending low to take him in its arms for one final kiss before the Next.

  “Dammit, Aerolus,” Cadmus yelled, trying to destroy the red giant hovering over Marcus. “Do something!”

  The shock waves and pounds of earth Cadmus shot at the Nocumat had no effect. Its red substance absorbed every slap of force and deflected the soil to the ground around it.

  “Nothing’s working,” Aerolus said, tired and sick and despairing, wishing he could trade his life for his brother’s. Tessa lay sprawled on the ground a few feet away, and her heartfelt plea for Marcus before passing out had shaken him to the quick.

  He felt his brother’s life sputtering and gathered the most dangerous spell he knew within him. Praying it would save Marcus, he knew he, however, would not survive its aftereffects. Then a flash of white light blinded him.

  “Enough already, Oxcen,” a feminine voice spoke, a voice both familiar and strangely alluring.

  Aerolus couldn’t understand how, but he heard the Nocumat answer. It used neither words nor thought, yet still it spoke to the woman. He watched in stunned disbelief as she appeared next to Tessa, a vision garbed in white and shining like the sparkle of sun off clear glass.

  She looked at Aerolus. “All you had to do was call him by name.” Stepping neatly over Tessa, she walked through the pooling Nocumat before he could warn her away.

  Amazingly, the Nocumat, Oxcen apparently, protested her presence like a sullen little boy but did nothing to harm her. Aerolus could almost see it shuffling its globby feet petulantly as it voiced strenuous objections to returning home.

  “I don’t care. You shouldn’t have encouraged the fair one to call on you. And wait until I tell your mother what you’ve done. She hates the Dark Lords.”

  The Nocumat quickly lost shape, its man form dripping into the puddle from which it had grown, and soon withdrew altogether from the floor, rolling back into itself until only a drop remained before it, too, disappeared.

  Marcus dropped like a stone the last few inches to the floor, no longer held by the viscous Oxcen. Cadmus did nothing to catch his brother. Instead he stood frozen over him, as if unable to see or hear anything.

  “He can’t hear us or move,” the woman in white said. Her face and form were ethereal, stunning and regal in bearing, reminding him a bit of his mother. She circled him, staring at him from head to foot, until his shock grew to annoyance.

  “I don’t know who you are but—”

  Her ageless features brightened, their fierce perfection slowly morphing into a younger woman, one of flesh and blood with softer features, and one who made his blood roar as the bright glow around her faded.

  “Yes, you do.” She circled to his front again, a broad smile on her full, red lips. “And I’m tired of waiting, Aerolus. But I admit the view’s been nothing but pleasant.”

  Her gaze ran slowly over his face to his chest and lower, lingering over his groin.

  To his dismay, he felt direct, intense sexual need that lanced something inside of him he’d held distant for so long.

  “Finally,” she said, her mouth curled into a knowing grin.

  He flushed, his erection evident and entirely inappropriate considering what he’d been through tonight.

  “I appreciate what you’ve done with the Nocumat,” he said, though he didn’t understand it, “but my brother is—”

  “Waking up from a bad dream.” She shuddered, and he felt like a sex-starved fool for noticing the full shape of her breasts as they pushed against her fine white robe. “I’d have nightmares too if Oxcen wrapped his greedy little hands around my neck. That boy needs a firmer hand.”

  “Boy?” He stared at her incredulously. “Dream?” His gaze flew to Marcus, expecting to see the worst, and he caught his breath when Marcus groaned and rolled his head on the floor.

  “Tessa?” he murmured and reached out a hand. “I had the worst dream…”

  “Oh, and don’t worry about Tessa. She’s sleeping it off, I expect. Quite a woman,
” she said brightly, a gleam of approval shining in her violet eyes.

  “Who…what are you?” Aerolus stared, conscious of the tremendous power radiating from her slight yet womanly frame.

  “Tsk, tsk, Aerolus. What, indeed? How rude. Whatever would Ravyn think?”

  He stared, growing more and more aroused, and just as uneasy, as she neared. “What do you know of my mother?” he asked coolly.

  She grinned, a dazzling expression that confused the hell out of him. Emotions and sensations coursed through his blood, and the normally unflappable Storm Lord had the overwhelming urge to throw her over his shoulder and show her how rude he wanted to be.

  “Aerolus, I know everything about you.” She sighed. “I have to go. It won’t be long before Oxcen lets slip the queen has been here. And since she’s in council, they’ll know something’s wrong.

  “I’ll be around, but if you really want to find me, look for me the next time you cross planes. And whatever you do,” she paused as her face turned serious, “don’t tell Arim or the others about me. They won’t understand, and you and I aren’t nearly ready to convince the Aellei to leave the Storm Lords alone. It’s bad enough one Dark Lord has them rethinking their position on interfering. But then, maybe it’s not just one.”

  “What?” The ‘All-ay’? Dark Lords?

  Her face screwed in irritation. “You know, this would be a lot easier if I had help. I changed my mind. Stop playing around and find me, mage. I’m getting tired of watching and sleeping alone.”

  Aerolus blinked but before he could demand answers, she flared to a brilliant white again and vanished.

  As if time had not just stood still, Cadmus swore in disbelief. “What the hell happened? Two seconds ago he was covered in Nocumat shit, and now he’s asking for Tessa?”

  Marcus opened his eyes, confused. “Why the hell are you leaning over me? Where’s Tessa? And why am I on the floor?” He sat up slowly with Cadmus’ help. “I feel like I’ve been beaten with a stick.” He stared suspiciously at Cadmus, then frowned. “You look terrible.”