“Signore wouldn’t ever do anything like that.” I reached back and dug my nails into my shoulder, following the lines of Drake’s initials. I felt pain, but no connection. I wasn’t exactly surprised. Zach? I hauled up the massive skirt of my wedding dress and carved my nails into my hip. That throbbed a little bit. Was it the bond or good old fashioned pain? I did it again, going over the ugly Stoneburrow logo again and again and again until my skirt was speckled red. Was there something about Drake because my father played with him that kept me from reaching him even though there was a flicker of Zach? I touched the ring with bloody fingers. Haleson.
If I called him, put that ring on my finger, he’d give Drake the debts, but would he save me? That hadn’t been part of our agreement. I couldn’t make wild assumptions about my husband wanting to save me instead of hurting me, particularly when he’d been fighting against Drake and Zach when Scratch stole me.
What could I do? I pulled my phone out of my boot and turned it on. The battery worked, but there was no signal. I went to contacts and saw Poppy’s mad smile.
“What am I supposed to do now? I’m in Darkside, but Signore hasn’t killed me. What if he can’t? What if I’m stuck with my psycho father? What if…”
I closed my eyes and thunked my head against the stone wall. The energy buzzed me, its energy woven through the stones like I crafted into clothing and hurters. I tugged on that energy. I couldn’t break it, but could I move it, twist it, tie it? I had nothing else to do but try.
Chapter 30
Mage
Everything was going so well until it didn’t. Signore actually let go of her. I was fighting the son of Hale who was incredibly pleasant. He knew how to put on a show, to display his prowess and mine in equal measure. Perhaps a little to equal, but at any rate there we were, me with my firesword and him with his axe and whip when he froze, almost letting me chop off his leg before he spelled through me and Zachary, coming out in the center of the chapel as though no spell could stop him.
He roared, swinging his axe at Signore. Signore growled and crouched, looking like a madman, a madman who didn’t have Penny. Hale’s son roared one more time then vanished along with the rest of his army.
I blinked and had Signore by the throat.
“Where is she?”
Zach yanked me away from him. “Something else took her, the Scratcher probably. Creepy thing. Signore only let go of her for a moment. He regrets it, don’t you Signore?”
Signore stared at me with those black eyes surrounded by red then dissolved in ashy black flakes.
“Excuse me,” Zach said in a loud voice that pierced the confused group of ready to kill guests. “If those of you who are so skilled will assist in repairing the schism, I would appreciate it. It doesn’t look like there will be a wedding today.” He walked briskly over to his father. “You should reset the protection spells. We’ll move this party elsewhere.”
“Where is she? You have her bond, don’t you?” Stoneburrow asked with a concerned frown on his round face.
I held my breath while I ran my fingers lightly over my chest, trying to feel her while Zach circled his wrist for a moment then shrugged. “She’s not in this world. Apparently, we should have eloped. Why didn’t the spells entrap him?”
Stoneburrow said, “He wasn’t actually here, just a manifestation using one of our guests for a sounding point. Diabolically clever.”
“That’s not entirely unexpected. Drake, meet me in my room.” He stepped Throughside leaving me aching and gnawing with nothing to rip or destroy. I blinked repeatedly to clear the green out of my vision.
My father grabbed my lapels and scowled at me. “Get it together, son. If you rip apart that world, you’ll rip her apart as well.” He shook me, which helped a little. “You will find her. Hopefully before the Prince of Darkness. She’s in his world now. Find her. Break the curse. Marry her. She might be worth worlds, but to you she’s more than that. You will succeed. You have never disappointed me.”
I flinched at those words, the words that brought back my mother’s memory, her arms holding me while she wept. I’d killed her. Hadn’t I?
“You gave her something to live for, something to hold onto. You gave her years.” He gripped my shoulder until it bruised then let go and stepped Throughside. Right. I inhaled shudderingly then stepped throughside, coming out in an alley then stepping again into the hall outside her door. Lilac Stories. Was there any place more beautiful?
I walked inside without knocking. It was already crowded with students. Penny’s Chem girls were huddled next to the purple amethyst fireplace while Viney leaned against Penny’s door, scowling at absolutely everyone who dared look in her direction. She was still wearing the black skirt she’d had for the wedding. She had a few gashes across her face from the bats, probably.
“Good, you’re all here,” Zach said, coming out of his room. He wore a mech suit and had an energy drink in his hand. “We need to defeat a deception sorcerer. Thing is, he’ll get inside your head. Anyone who wants to fight will need to swear fealty to Huntsman.”
He shot me a cold smile that I returned with a grimace. More voices in my head.
“I’m not swearing fealty to any mage,” Viney hissed.
“Then you’re staying home.” Zach shrugged. “It’s non negotiable. I’m not going to take the time to put you to sleep when you start acting nuts.”
“Did you swear fealty to him?” she demanded.
Zach stiffened then looked at me again. He had something kind of mad in his eyes. Very mad. He was about to lose it in a terrifying way. “Drake, I swear fealty to you.”
I nodded and it was done, the connection, his horrible screaming inside my head, and my own dragon’s roar over him. “Good times. I’m unswearing you the second we get Penny back.”
He grinned sharply. “If you don’t have other things to do at that particular moment. Who else?”
No one moved for a second before Rhoda lifted her chin and walked over to me. “I swear fealty.”
I winced before I put my hand on her face, took her will and made her mine. She was much more panicked than she looked. And now it was in my head.
“Great.”
“Do we need to swear fealty? How exciting.”
I turned to see Ian in the doorway, Teddy close behind. They looked so nice in their dark suits. Far too nice.
“No. I wouldn’t take your fealty if you paid me for it.”
“Me. I’ll swear fealty,” Pete said, dropping down on his knees, head bowed.
“Yeah, okay.” I grabbed his face and then the next kid, Barry whose thoughts about Penny made me want to shove a dagger somewhere delicate. At least Pete kept his thoughts on the sweet little mouse. Most of the time. Then he thought about Penny and I growled, letting the slightest curl of smoke out of my nostrils.
I couldn’t do it. Zach was still screaming. That was the proper response at a time like this, not lust. Lust. I glanced at Ian who smiled warmly like he couldn’t step up and take some of the madness. Oh no, he’d leave all of the fealty to me.
“I’ll swear fealty.”
I stared at Oscar, the tall, dark-haired mage with pale skin. Viney gasped, but she didn’t try to stop him. He didn’t kneel so that was slightly less irritating. He spit on me instead.
I frowned at him. “At least you didn’t bleed on me.”
Viney edged closer, arms still crossed. “You’ll release us after this is over?”
“Yes. Whether you want me to or not. At the same time, I’d rather you held back. Someone should stay here in case she wanders home on her own. Now this plan, Zachary?”
“We attack him in his own land with what forces we can muster while a small group infiltrates deep inside and rescues her. Can you feel the bond?”
I stiffened up while Viney edged closer again. “No. Nothing. You?”
“Yes. It’s distant but definite. I must love her more than you.”
I gritted my teeth. Was that true? He w
as letting me have her. Again. Maybe he did love her more. Did that mean I should let him have her? No. He was messing with me. And still with the screaming inside my head. Would he shut up?
I growled at him. He smiled a hard smile that didn’t touch his eyes.
“I swear my fealty,” Viney whispered.
I nodded but I didn’t need to do much. She’d been in love with me for so long, the cord of energy spread through us, and her thoughts mingled with mine. There were no surprises, other than how much she worried about Penny. And Oscar. She really did like him. Love him maybe. Yep, that was love.
I smiled at her. “He’s a good mage.”
Oscar dragged Viney away from me, scowling. “Stop smiling at my girlfriend.”
Girlfriend? Really? Viney got all prickly, but she didn’t correct him. Her thoughts bloomed in my head, delight and embarrassment mingling together.
The other students either swore fealty or left. After that, Zach dragged me into his room, closing the door behind him. An enormous globe of Darkside spun in the center of his room. Small lights glowed across various masses. There was Deadside. Right there was a bright light where I’d tracked the Deception Sorcerer. There were too many lights. Too many possibilities. Dozens and dozens of places Penny could be, and that was if he’d hidden her away in his own lands. Perhaps he’d tucked her into the Darkness beneath Signore’s nose. Signore. He was already hunting her. What would he do with her once he found her?
I shook my head and forced my claws back into fingers. “So, you can track her? Where is she?”
“Here.” He touched a spot with only a few flickers of light. A very small holding. “Sooth is currently here.” Sooth was on the other side of the world from where he’d put Penny. “He’s fighting the Prince of Darkness as we speak. Very visibly.”
“So we send all the Rosewood students, some wearing our glamours to the battle? Meanwhile, we hunt down Penny and rescue her?”
He hesitated then nodded. “Almost. I rescue her, you lead the Rosewood students.”
I growled at him. “You don’t know Darkside like I do.”
“You are the leader, Drake. They’ll follow you. You’ll lead them to victory like you always do. My wrist has started aching. She’s been doing some serious damage on our bond for it to feel like that. I can find her. I know I can’t do much, but I can do that. I have no other goals in life, no other aims, no other interests. She’s the only thing for me. I won’t be able to see any other distractions or deceptions.” He put a hand on my shoulder and stared at me with those lightning eyes. The screaming in my head dulled to a low growl. “I’ll find her, Drake. I’ll bring her home.”
There was a knock on his door and Viney poked her head in.
“The morsel wants to talk to you. Also, some guy named Carl?”
Zach shook his head. “No way. The humans will get killed. They’re Penny’s friends. She’ll kill me.”
I scowled at him. “They’re my friends. If they’re here, they might have something worth hearing. Particularly Missy. She’s diabolical. Send them in, Viney.”
Missy and Carl came in, neither looking particularly nervous. Missy’s eye fastened on the globe and she went closer. “Where is she?”
“What do you want?” Zach snarled.
She blinked her one gray eye at him. “To find her, like you. Where is she?”
I walked over and waved my hand until the globe whirled around to stop where she was. “Here.”
“Good place to hide something. That’s at the gates of Hale. Do you have access to his domain?”
I frowned at her. “No.”
“That’s okay. Narcollo can distract Hale while we sneak in. Did you know that Hale’s Son is fighting with the Prince of Darkness against Sooth? It’s going to be a good battle. You should be there,” she said, pointedly at me.
I scowled but Zach only nodded.
“If you aren’t there, Sooth will want to know where you are. Go ahead. Lose your temper. Rip stuff apart. I’ll find her and bring her home. I swear it.”
The battle raged when I stepped Throughside, Ian and Teddy flanking me while the Rosewood students fanned out behind. I could clearly see the flaming figure of Hale’s son to the right, then on the left the Prince of Darkness in the midst of his red-clothed assassin warriors. There was room for me in the center with my armies. I walked forward, skipped a mile or two and came out between the two forces, my armies taking shape behind me, shifting the other groups to the sides.
A mage slashed at me, his face vicious and haggard. One of my former commanders. I wanted the green to consume me. I needed to attack the Deception Sorcerer and rip his forces to shreds, but this man was still my responsibility. Even if he’d refused to swear fealty, it was his association to me that had ruined him.
My spellwork with Revere had been extensive, much of it defense against deception and illusions. I inhaled deeply and filled myself with the scent of them, Dayside mages and their human blood.
I stepped forward and the ground shuddered under the force of it. Spellwork. I sang as I danced around the mage, my voice echoing among the men behind me, my men and Rosewood students with counterpoint and harmony. Oh, they were good. Ian and Teddy had extremely pleasant voices and the magic threaded through us, one body, one voice.
I sounded so good. Penny should hear me. Maybe someone was recording and she could watch after we were finished. In between Telenovela episodes. We could watch from my bed. Or hers. Or not watch anything at all. Penny.
The spell was multi-faceted, like Sooth’s would be. I had to unravel all of his spells and replace them with my own. I could make them all mindless soldiers. It would be much more pleasant than letting them have their wills, their own voices. Some of the mages would choose to fight me, to destroy me. And they would die.
The focus and concentration it took to cast spells while fighting was exhausting, but I had a great reserve of energy behind me. And the dragon. It wanted to fight. Soon. It took a half hour of fighting while spellcasting before it was set. We sang, not missing a beat, one tune to another in perfect time until that last thread was set, tied, and then set into motion.
The world shimmered green and then gold with an undercurrent of black as the other dragon mages leant me their energy, their force. Our opposition wasn’t instantly extinguished, but about half of my men turned to fight the others. How quickly could Sooth reset the spell? Would we be doing this all night? Our side their side, our side, their side? We should make a line dance to go with it.
To my right, Hale flickered, flames that danced among Sooth’s loyal fighters. How odd that he had some of those. To my left Signore moved, a slashing red death that never paused, never faltered. His men, many of whom were women, weren’t too bad, either.
“Where is Penny?” Signore asked, somehow right by my elbow.
I edged away from him but there on my other side was Hale, heat coming off of him uncomfortably. “I don’t know.”
“If we destroy Sooth, she dies. I cannot let him keep her in Darkside.”
I glared at him. “Then you shouldn’t have let go of her.”
“It was your duty to protect her in Dayside,” Hale said, twisting his axe mid-swing and lopping off an opponent’s arm. The blood didn’t stick to him. Such a tricky mage. Maybe if my father were a sorcerer, I wouldn’t have to rely on the dragon so much.
“Duty is the wrong word. Pleasure, purpose, delight, bliss, those words belong to Penny, not duty. There is nothing grueling and plodding in being her mage. It’s almost a pity.”
“She’s a monkey,” Signore said with a nod before he reached in his coat and pulled out a swirling pink hurter. He hurled it into the crowd before us.
Drake and Penny in lightning shot, a wolf twining around a witch, so many delightful things in volley after volley of destructive energy.
Things were going rather well, our armies cutting through the deception sorcerer’s until we saw him where he fought. I’d assumed that his fighti
ng was weak since he’d used it so rarely, but instead he was immaculate in form and function. He fought without the grimace of ecstasy most mad mages had. No, he killed without any compunction whatsoever. He was out for a dull game of golf. Maybe he was mowing the lawn. He didn’t care for the lives or deaths around him. He didn’t engage emotionally in the violence. It wasn’t his passion, his interest.
It was tricky because we couldn’t directly engage him, not without it hurting Penny. I began casting a spell that would bind him to the debts, but I wasn’t a tax collector or the Darkside equivalent. Did they have IRS?
I worked with those two Darksiders, spelling and counterspelling, disappearing and reappearing, fighting multiple mirages, that sort of thing. At least I could kill the lies that wore Sooth’s face.
How was Zach doing? How long would it take to get her and escape? What if he couldn’t find her? He had to. There was no other option.
There it was, my opening. I would bind him, force him to undo Penny’s curse, and tie him to this world so he could never touch Penny in Dayside again.
Sooth lifted his head like he heard something from far away and then he vanished.
I screamed, for a moment losing the song, the melody. Signore gripped my collar and stepped Throughside. We came out at Rosewood where the Delivery truck was parked. I stumbled then whirled around, my sword blazing.
“What’s your problem?”
“The same as yours. Sooth. Where is she? We have to get to her before he shreds whoever you sent to retrieve her.”
I licked my lips. “You aren’t her friend.”
“On the contrary. That’s precisely what I am. That’s what she needs from me, so that is what she’ll have. If she needed a master assassin who could tutor her in the death arts, I’d be that. If she needed someone who could tuck her into the dungeon every night…”
Deadly Morsel: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 5) Page 28