My gaze darted toward the bluff. Aaron, Kai, and Ezra, with Olivia behind them, were locked in combat halfway to the circle, but they weren’t fighting two rogues anymore. They were battling two rogues and two shadowy beasts—one that resembled an ox on two legs, and something small that flitted around on blurry black wings.
“What the hell are those?” I demanded.
Odette tugged on her hair, still in my grip. “Red Rum’s witches have enslaved familiars. They’re darkfae that would normally be too powerful to … to … to …”
She kept repeating the word, her voice growing fainter. Her throat bobbed as she mumbled “to” over and over, her bugged-out eyes fixed on something in the trees behind me.
Releasing her hair, I spun around.
At first, I saw nothing. Then the air shimmered, rippled, and melted. A shape materialized from the darkness.
“Such fascinating chaos, brazen one.” The otherworldly voice whispered across my senses as the creature’s form solidified. It was a fae.
A fae I recognized.
Flowing garments in unfamiliar fabrics draped his lean body, but that wasn’t the strangest thing about him. No, that would be the black dragon wings rising off his back, the long tail slithering along the leaf litter behind him, and the dark talons that tipped his slender fingers.
“Echo?” With effort, I closed my jaw. It had been weeks since my first and only glimpse of the dragon wyldfae’s humanoid form. “What are you doing here?”
“I have answered your summons, as promised.” He glided closer, silent on the forest floor. Halting beside me, he gazed toward the ocean and the dual battles—one between my mages and the rogues, and one between the leviathan and the ritual circle. “A most unpleasant night, I see.”
I stared at his flawless skin, so close. I wanted to touch his delicately pointed ears and feel the texture of his braided black hair, shining with blue and purple streaks, that hung over one shoulder down to his waist. He didn’t seem real, more like a dream than a living creature.
Another enraged cry from the leviathan snapped me out of my daze. “I didn’t call you.”
His large, dark eyes turned to me. Crystalline, pupilless, and with a hint of swirling stars in their depths. “You touched my mark upon your arm and called my name.”
“No, I didn’t. I touched my arm but I—I only thought your name. Silently.”
His lips curved in an unsettling smile, and I remembered a certain druid’s warning to be very careful around this wyldfae.
A purplish glow blazed across the foreshore. The leviathan had reached the circle, and its lines pulsed with light. Contorting its thick, powerful body, the sea fae screamed as it was dragged toward the rogue in the center.
“Great fae!” Odette gasped, her voice shaking so badly the words were nearly incomprehensible. “Oh, noble lord, please, I beg you. Intercede in this black ritual and save your kin.”
Echo didn’t react to her plea. He studied the struggling leviathan, then appraised me with the same disconcerting focus. “You called, and I have answered. What aid may I give you?”
I pointed. “Can you stop that?”
“No longer.” His leathery wings stretched wide, brushing the nearby trees, then folded against his back. “Llyrlethiad is already bound. All that remains is for the witch to enslave him.”
My stomach dropped. Aaron, Kai, and Ezra were fighting to save the fae, but it was already too late. “There’s nothing we can do?”
Echo canted his head. “Wrong question, little one.”
Urgency pounded through me, and I struggled to calm myself, to think. To understand what the fae wanted me to ask.
“What can I do?” I blurted.
He smiled, flashing his predatory fangs. “You can deliver Llyrlethiad from the witch’s enslavement. I will instruct you how, and the debt between us shall be met.”
“Okay, yes! I agree,” I added formally.
Echo’s tail lashed side to side, rustling the shrubbery. “The witch holds a relic of fae power, for no human magic could enslave one such as Llyrlethiad. Part the relic from the witch’s hold and you will save Llyrlethiad from his fate. This you must accomplish before the ritual is complete.”
“How long until it’s complete?”
Echo glanced into the sky where the full moon hung above the ocean. “Minutes.”
Well, that was specific. “Anything else I need to know?”
“This you alone can do.” Another fang-laden smile. “I shall offer one more small assistance.”
“What’s th—”
His elegant hands closed around my upper arms. Wings unfurling, he drifted weightlessly upward, and with a flick of his tail he pulled me off the bluff.
I choked on a shriek as we dropped, but his huge wings caught the air and my feet settled lightly on the ground. The pressure of his touch faded to a whisper and his soft, alien voice crooned in my ear.
“Farewell, brazen one.”
I twisted around, but he was already gone. Okay then.
Facing the battlefield, I gulped down a wave of panic. I was on my own, but I could do this. I would make it work.
With my two sorcery artifacts in hand, I jumped off the seawall, landed on the rocks, and sprinted toward the mudflats. Red fire and white lightning flared, illuminating the ugly darkfae familiars—three now. The last two rogues not involved in the ritual had joined the fight.
Aaron and Kai held their tiny front line, the former with a blazing sword and the latter by whipping throwing knives into his enemies, followed by bolts of lightning. Ezra covered them from behind, his wind buffeting and blinding their opponents. Even Olivia was helping—sort of. She chucked rocks at the rogues while her nimble house cat familiar distracted the small, flying darkfae, keeping it out of the action.
My plan was simple: run around the scary mage/fae/rogue battle and figure out what to do about the remaining four sorcerers once I’d reached the ritual circle. No way that could go wrong, right?
I scrambled over the rocky beach and onto the sticky mud. It squished under my shoes, but at least it was flat. Running hard, I angled to zoom past the guys’ fight.
But nope, not even that was going to work.
A rogue peeled away from the struggle and moved to cut me off. Gripping my Queen of Spades, I changed course—and ran right at him. His hand came up, a small object in his grasp. An artifact. He shouted an incantation.
I thrust my card out at the same time. “Ori repercutio!”
A swirl of gold light leaped from his artifact, hit the shimmering reflection of my spell, and rebounded. He threw himself down and the golden spell shot over his head, flashed across twenty feet of foreshore, and hit another rogue in the back.
The man crumpled face-first into the mud. In a single move, the nearest fae—an ox thing trying to smash Kai’s skull in—whirled and grabbed the unconscious witch with two giant hands. Not in a nice, protective way, but with all the violence of an enslaved creature whose master had just lost control of it. The other rogues shouted in alarm, and one gestured wildly. The small, winged darkfae abandoned its attack on Olivia’s familiar and flew at the ox’s face.
My sorcerer opponent scrambled to his feet and pulled out another artifact. Now I was the one retreating—my Queen of Spades card needed five minutes to recharge and it was the only defense I had.
A blast of wind slammed into the sorcerer’s back, throwing him off balance. Ezra charged out of the chaos and the sorcerer spun to meet him. The man bellowed an incantation, but Ezra flicked his fingers. Spiraling wind shoved the man’s hand up, and the fiery light from the sorcerer’s artifact shot into the sky.
Aaron broke away from the battle and swiped his sword through the air. A band of flame hit the sorcerer in the face and the man collapsed with a scream, clutching his eyes.
“Tori!” Aaron shouted. “What are you doing?”
“I need to get to the circle!”
“What? Why do you—”
Th
e leviathan howled, drowning him out, but I was already running again. Aaron shot after me, while Ezra raced back to Kai and the three-way battle between fae, witches, and mages.
“Tori—” Aaron began in a shout as he caught up.
“I have instructions!” I bellowed cryptically. We were almost to the circle, its lines rippling with eerie purple light. “I can save the fae!”
He grunted breathlessly, then surged ahead of me. Fire coated his blade as he grasped the hilt with both hands. Detaching from the circle, the four sorcerers ran to intercept us.
Orange flames raced up Aaron’s arms and across his shoulders. “Go right, Tori!”
I veered to the right. Aaron skidded to a halt, set his feet wide, and brought his sword back. With a roar of effort, he swung the blade in a broad arc. An inferno exploded out of the steel, blasting toward the approaching sorcerers.
Arms pumping, I sprinted past the fiery maelstrom, wholly focused on the black-robed witch in the circle’s center. I leaped over the outer ring and my feet hit the mud within the circle. Electric power shot up my legs. Stumbling, I raced for the witch. The leviathan towered over me, its thick serpentine body thrashing against the mud.
The witch didn’t move until I was almost on top of him. At the last second, he turned, his eyes widening and hands clutching a sphere of delicate silver threads woven into elaborate patterns.
I tackled him.
We crashed into the mud and I jammed my red crystal against his face as I reached for the sphere with my other hand.
“Ori decidas!” I shouted.
With a flash, the crystal’s immobilizing spell activated. The witch went limp at the same moment my fingers closed around the sphere, and I tore it from his grip.
Chapter Nine
On my knees in the mud, I raised the orb triumphantly. “Aha!”
That was as far as I got before hot magic slammed into my hand and up my arm. Excruciating pain lit my nerves on fire—and the leviathan’s head swung down, its blazing ivory eyes fixing on me.
Uh-oh.
I tried to drop the sphere, but my hand was clamped around it, muscles refusing to unclench. Pain spread through my body, searing every nerve until I could barely contain my scream.
The leviathan’s jaws opened, revealing pointed fangs and huge curved canines. It roared in fury. The ocean frothed, forming a giant wave. The wall of water rushed toward me, hit the edge of the circle, and parted around it. The ocean raged past us toward the shore, and everything went dark as the water swept the electric lights away.
I didn’t have a chance to worry about the guys as the leviathan’s massive jaws snapped a foot from my face. Its head was almost as long as I was tall, its giant eyes glowing from within.
“I will not submit.”
The snarling voice ripped across my senses, and I cringed. Tears streamed down my face from the agonizing magic pounding through me.
“I don’t want you to submit!” I yelled. “I’m trying to save you!”
“Your treacherous tongue cannot deceive me, witch.” Its fangs snapped again, way too close, its hot breath blasting my skin. I had no idea how it was talking—its mouth didn’t move with its speech.
“I’m not a witch, you stupid blind fae!” I hunched over, shuddering with agony. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t release the sphere. “Go back to the ocean and be free or whatever. What are you waiting for?”
The leviathan’s head dropped a few inches and tilted to bring one huge eye closer. “You are human.”
“I know that,” I gasped. “I don’t want or need a familiar. I stopped the ritual, so get your scaly ass back out to sea.”
A snarl rumbled from the beast, but I didn’t care if I had offended it. Everything hurt and I couldn’t think. My anger-fueled mouth was the only part of me still working.
“Make it stop,” I groaned, my limbs trembling, but my hand remained fused to the sphere.
The leviathan’s head weaved side to side, then its lips pulled up, baring its fangs. “So be it, human.”
Heat flashed through my body in a dizzying wave. Beneath my fingers, the silver sphere disintegrated into dust. The purple glow of the circle snuffed out—and whatever magical force had been holding the ocean back disappeared.
Icy water slammed into me. As I went under, I managed to grab the leather cord of my fall crystal off the downed witch. I tumbled beneath the surging current. Flailing, I found the muddy bottom with one hand, planted my feet, and pushed up.
My head broke the surface, and I gasped in a desperate breath. The black water crashed across my shoulders, pushing me backward as I dug my heels into the mud. I slipped and plunged under again.
Arms clamped around me and hauled me upright.
“Tori!” Aaron turned us sideways to reduce the current’s drag. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I half spluttered, half coughed. Freezing water pulled at my clothes. Why did we live this far north? I was moving to Hawaii. Just watch me.
He towed me toward the shore. As we neared the seawall, I spotted Ezra and Kai waiting for us. Grasping my arms, they hauled me out of the water. Aaron clambered out and sat on the concrete, shoulders slumped.
I pushed my sopping hair off my face, checked all my limbs were functioning, then ensured my two artifacts were tucked safely in my pocket. Olivia sat a few yards away, coughing wetly. Sitting beside her was the orange tabby, its crystalline eyes glowing with faint yellow light. Two tiny, semi-transparent dragonfly wings sprouted from its back. As I studied it, it bared its small fangs and faded out of sight.
“I’m exhausted,” Aaron wheezed. “Tori, did you free the fae?”
“Yeah,” I panted, clamping my arms around myself as the shivers started. “Where are the Red Rum guys?”
“The ones who survived have fled,” Kai answered. “I think they expected you to sic the leviathan on them.”
I nodded, my teeth chattering. “Hey Aaron, got any fire to spare?”
“Not right now.”
Kai crouched beside me. “What was that, Tori? Why did you go running in there?”
“Uh, well, you see …”
“Tori!” Odette ran out of the darkness, following the seawall path. She must’ve taken the long way down. “You did it! Amazing!”
Puffing to a stop, she knelt to check that her sister was unhurt. Olivia seemed fine—except for the purple bruise rising on her swollen cheek. Ah. Hmm. I may have gone overboard there.
Aaron pulled me up and wrapped an arm around my waist. I pressed against his side. He might be fresh out of fire, but his skin was always warm.
“Let’s get back to the car,” he said. “We can debrief there.”
We made our tired way up the trail, the guys dragging their feet. Eventually, the impassably steep bluff gentled into a passably steep hill that we scrabbled up. Back in the parking lot, I trudged to Aaron’s car, feeling as though a fifty-pound weight were fused to my shoulders.
As Aaron opened his trunk, the witches murmured their farewells—but they got all of three steps toward their blue sedan before Kai was in front of them, his dark eyes colder than the ocean waters.
“Where are you two going? You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“What’s to explain?” Olivia said weakly. “The sea lord is free. That’s what matters.”
“Nice try.” He pointed at Aaron’s vehicle. “One of you is riding with us. The other can follow in your car.”
The witches exchanged apprehensive looks.
Aaron heaved a duffle bag out of his trunk and unzipped it. “Ezra?”
The aeromage held out his arm, revealing the claw marks that raked from his wrist to elbow. Blood streaked his skin. Aaron slapped on gauze from the first aid kit, then roughly taped it over the cuts.
“That’ll do until we get back.” Sorting through the spare clothes, Aaron offered me a sweatshirt. “Here.”
“Thanks.” Taking it, I fumblingly unzipped my jacket.
“Tori,�
�� Kai said. “What did you do with my phone?”
I paused, about to pull my jacket off. “Uh … I broke it. Sorry.”
“Broke it? How?”
“I punched Olivia in the face with it.”
He rolled his eyes, but I swore his lips quirked into a smile.
“Mine is soaked,” Aaron said as he peeled his wet shirt off. It was a testament to my exhaustion that I only ogled his muscles for a couple seconds. “Ezra, don’t suppose your phone survived the …”
He trailed off. As I tossed my drenched coat in the trunk, I looked at him curiously. He was staring at me. So was Kai. So was Ezra. Their expressions were identical mixtures of confusion and dread.
I looked down at my top, soaked with stinky sea water. No surprise there. But …
Gaping in disbelief, I stretched my right arm out. A bright azure rune was emblazoned on my palm and glowing merrily. Coiling lines and spiky runes spread out from it, climbing my arm to my shoulder. Luminescent sigils spiraled over the right side of my chest above my shirt.
In a panic, I dragged the hem of my shirt up. The markings ran all the way down my side and disappeared under my pants. I shoved my jeans down a few inches. Runes wrapped across my hip.
“You!” Olivia shrieked, pointing at me with a shaking hand. “You took the familiar bond for yourself!”
I gawked at her. “But—but I freed him—”
“Those are fae runes! You’re a lying—”
“Olivia!” Odette grabbed her sister’s arm, forcing it down. “It must’ve been an accident.”
“Shit, Tori,” Aaron whispered. “What did you do?”
“I—I don’t know.” My frantic gaze flashed from the markings to him and back. “I thought the fae—he said—I didn’t mean to. It was an acci … dent …” My eyes narrowed as my panic morphed into suspicion. An accident? Maybe not.
Jerking away from the car, I spun in a circle, searching. “Echo? Echo!”
“She’s lost it,” Aaron observed, not quite managing his usual flippant tone.
“Tori, this place doesn’t echo,” Kai said cautiously.
I threw my head back and bellowed, “Echo! Show yourself, you oversized salamander!”
Two Witches and a Whiskey (The Guild Codex: Spellbound Book 3) Page 8