by Maya Daniels
I can feel it.
My forehead scrunches when we enter the open foyer and see everyone rushing around not paying us any attention. They all move with purpose, their spines straight and shoulders stiff. The glow of the flickering flames adds an additional weight to the apprehension turning the otherwise light air as thick as a fog.
Zoltan storms through them, pushing those that are too distracted to notice him aside like he’s swatting flies. Soren does the same, looking less like a brute, though he’s still just as entitled as always. My skin pebbled with goosebumps, I follow behind them while tugging Tenebris so close to me his side is plastered to my thigh. Dread gnaws at my insides, guilt making me sick because I took too long with Aspen. I enjoy messing with Zoltan, and somehow, my friends always pay the price. The annoyance at the two males for being arrogant evaporates when that thought is rooted to the center of my mind. My feet move faster, my heart jackhammering against my ribs.
“They are all well.” Soren turns his head to look at me over his shoulder.
Damn supernatural hearing.
Sucking in deep breaths, I force my heartbeat to slow because I don’t want the next comment to come from the vampire, who is fisting his hands with enough force his muscles are twitching all the way up his arms. As furious as he is, Zoltan is mindful enough not to blast me with his power. I feel it stinging my skin like the pincers of million fire ants, but it’s bearable. The blast of fresh air and the cool breeze welcome me when we walk out the large front doors, our feet pounding down the few concrete steps to the front yard. What we missed while inside and surrounded by so many bodies we feel immediately.
Magic that makes the trees sway whips through the air, the branches flipping around like waving flags. It smells like ozone when I inhale a sharp breath, and my eyes water when it seers my nostrils. I had every intention of letting the males lead the way, but this propels me forward fast enough that I bump my shoulders off them as I push them apart and bolt around the building. Tenebris keeps pace with me, his body stretching gracefully with each silent loop he makes. Zoltan spits some choice words before his pounding footsteps tell me he is running after me. Without turning around, I know Soren is next to him, as well. When I turn the corner and get a clear view of the open area and the portal, I skid to a stop, the blood curdling in my veins.
“Right there.” Zoltan stabs a finger to point to the left side of the portal.
Colors are swirling and flashing, brightening the entire area so much I have to blink a few times to clear my vision. Daren is standing in front of the portal with both arms raised and magic pouring out of his palms so strong it almost looks like long, thick scarves coming out of his hands. Astara and Leo stand on either side of him, each gripping one shoulder to lend him strength. All three of them are swaying slightly, and Daren’s lips are moving but no sound reaches my ears. Movement to the left corner of the portal catches my eye and I am finally able to see what Zoltan was pointing at. Three wolves, our guards, are inching closer, looking for an opening in the pulsing and ballooning portal to get to a figure stuck neither in this realm nor the human one. My heart skips a beat when the figure wiggles and I get a glimpse of the book they are holding.
“Not this again.” Groaning, I roll my shoulders to eleviate the tension in my muscles.
One of the wolves pounces, his body sailing through the air. I hold my breath and stare unblinkingly until a twisting tendril of magic snaps in his direction, smacking him on the side. Tail over head, the wolf flips through the air until it hits one of the trunks in the tree line, dropping on the ground and not getting up again. A lump in my throat chokes me when another wolf, this one with a pure white coat, passes by his fallen friend before rushing forward to take his place.
“Roberti needs to die, like today.” Snarling, I clench my fists hard enough for the nails to pierce the skin of my palms.
“I will help them keep the portal steady.” Soren saunters across the grass without a care in the world.
“Which one do you want, the book or whoever stole it?” My words are barely above a whisper, but I know Zoltan hears me.
Strong winds pick up and lash at us from all sides. I watch Soren’s bare back, each lean muscle outlined when his hair is picked up in the air. It twists and flips on the wind like silk, and it makes this whole situation unreal. He looks like he is walking under water, each movement graceful as a rainbow of colors dance around him.
“We go together,” Zoltan growls, the finality in his voice leaving no room for arguments.
“Obviously. I just need to know which one you want so I can focus on one thing.” Annoyed with him, I sigh heavily. “They are stuck, as you can see. Whoever is helping Roberti with the portal is trying to get them out. That’s what Daren is trying to prevent, I think. I don’t want to waste time arguing with you.”
“I’ll take the thief, you get the book.”
It costs him to agree with me. I know it does, but I give him a smile in thanks. We are both in unfamiliar waters with this whole bond thing, and instead of trying to figure it out together, we pull in opposite directions. I’m more to blame than he is, but I’ll never admit it. Not even if my life depends on it. At least he is willing to compromise at the moment.
“I have Tenebris with me, so just focus on the asshole.” Pointing out the obvious as I dart around the bigger area with the strongest wind, I call on my magic. “I won’t get hurt.” On purpose, is the part I say in my head.
He grunts.
We near the place where the wolves are still moving back and forth while trying to go past the lashing magic. It gives me a better view of my friends, and I almost fall flat on my face when I trip. Astara and Leo are not lending Daren strength by placing a hand on his shoulders, they are holding him up. The mage has a slack look on his face, his eyes pure white and staring straight. Fear pierces my chest seeing his sunken cheeks and blanched skin. Despite that, magic keeps pouring out of his hands without pause. My panicked eyes dart around in search of Soren, only finding him when he steps next to Daren.
“Dear Fates. Zoltan, Daren will die if he has to keep this up much longer.” Reaching blindly for him, I sag when he takes my hand and tugs me to his chest. “What can I do? I need to help him. I don’t know how to help him.”
I know I’m blabbering and not making sense, but my rational brain abandoned me when I saw my friend fading before my eyes. Zoltan is cursing up a storm, his arm wrapped around me in a crushing grip, as if that will somehow help Daren. Tenebris butts his head in my stomach and jolts me out of my fearful thoughts.
“If we get the book, he can stop fighting the magic coming from the portal.” I have no idea if I’m right, but it’s the best I have.
“Francesca.” Saying my name as a warning, he tilts my face so I am forced to look at him. “Stay close to me. Promise.”
“Fine, I promise. Let’s go.” When I try to step away, he heaves me back.
“Promise me.” Staring at me intently, he doesn’t move. “You can’t help anyone if you get hurt.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Hissing the words in frustration, I let him see my eyes change, the bright colors bursting to life almost blinding me. “Just get us close enough and I’ll get the damn book back.”
After searching my face, Zoltan stiffly nods before releasing his hold on me. A wolf yelps when a tendril grazes his muzzle, and I see him flinching back, snarling and baring his teeth. When Zoltan moves, I’m right next to him with Tenebris following at my back. It takes me by surprise when Zoltan’s body expands, lifting him up until he towers over me enough to block the snapping wind. Changed into his true form, he glances down at me, the warning in those eyes clear. Before doing anything else, I gaze around him at Daren again.
Soren is holding one of the mage’s hands, blood dripping from between their palms to the ground. The color is back on Daren’s face, not by much but it’s an improvement. It gives me hope that I’m not going to lose another person tonight. With renew
ed determination, I follow Zoltan as close as he dares to go without being slapped by twisting magic.
And then we wait.
Tenebris darts between two twisting lines, the green and blue smacking ominously close to his face. Jumping back, he roars loud enough to be heard over the wind. I watch the pattern of movement in hopes that I can find a way to dodge them and get to the book. Releasing the control on my magic, I feel my dragon unfurl inside me, too eager for another fight. My vision blurs for a second before each color of the magic coming at us from the portal separates, making it easier to track each movement.
I poke Zoltan, stabbing my finger in his hip.
“I can see them.” Pointing at the tendrils, I try to step around him.
“No.” A hand the size of my head with wicked claws pushes me back.
“You don’t understand.” Glaring at him, I’m stupefied when a bight glow frames his form. It’s like an internal light has been flicked on and it radiates through his skin. Shaking my head, I file it away to examine later. “I can see them separated and can get us in. Please, you need to trust me.”
It’s a low blow because he knows that trust is important to me. I hate pulling that one on him, but I don’t see another option. After a long moment, the hand holding me back disappears, and he nods as he steps to the side. Swallowing thickly, I take the lead and cross my fingers that I won’t get us both killed. Placing all my weight on the balls of my feet, I hold my breath until I see the first opening.
Bolting for it, I feel both Zoltan and Tenebris close, and my adrenaline spikes because if they get any closer they’ll trip me. It’s a fleeting thought and it’s gone quick, leaving me lost in snapping colors and repeating patterns. The three of us move back and forward, ducking, twisting, and jumping over the angry magic trying to slap us away. The power from the portal is stronger the closer we get, and it starts burning across my skin. Teeth clenched, I push on. I can see the figure holding the book much better now, and I’m shocked to see the familiar red hair and pale skin. Casius’s daughter is the last person I expected back in Sienna.
Losing focus costs me.
An angry orange tendril of magic snaps across my chest and lifts me in the air. Searing pain ripples through my body, and for a split second I drift in and out of consciousness. Everything moves in slow motion as I float through the air, my braid flipping lazily around my head. Zoltan’s hand latches onto my arm, and that brings reality back like the snapping of an elastic. My body is plucked from the air, turned upside down, and then plopped back on my feet. With a grunt, I lock my knees when they threaten to buckle.
“Let’s go.” Zoltan’s voice drums in my chest like bass.
Tucking my chin closer to my chest, I push further. I get hit a few more times, but only because my mind can’t believe who is helping Roberti destroy us all. With effort, I unclench my jaw so I don’t grind my molars to dust. At the last three tendrils I stop, watching them erratically wriggle in front of my eyes.
“There is not enough of an opening,” I call out to Zoltan over the roaring magic and wind. “I could pass … maybe. Or even Tenebris. No way you’ll be able to go through.” Not giving him a chance to stop me, I inch to the side. “Catch me if I fall.”
And I pounce.
Chapter Nine
I feel weightless as I sail through the air, almost shouting in victory when I contour my back and pass the first two tendrils. Gravity tugs on me, pulling me lower than I intended until I see the last obstacle of magic, but it’s a second too late. The color flares up, and if I didn’t know better, I would think it’s sentient and excited that there is no way for me to block it. It wriggles erratically like a snake pinned to the ground, sending my heart into tachycardia.
Then it snaps.
Pain like I’ve never felt before ripples across my torso and upper thighs, and I’m flung back with such force that my back collides with swirling magic from behind me. Roaring fills my ears, liquefying my brain as I’m being tossed between the tendrils like a pinball, each hit more painful than the next. A hand brushes against my arm, but it’s gone the same second, Zoltan trying, and failing, to get a hold of me and pull me out. Everything blends together, and I feel my body giving up the fight without permission. The pain is too much for me to even think, little less try to stop the momentum.
A black blur hits me from the side, the change in direction so abrupt that bile coats my throat like acid. I don’t feel the impact with the hard ground because every inch of me is just one big ball of frayed nerve pain. A muscled body pins me underneath it, but I can’t even cry out in pain. My mouth open in a silent scream, all I can do is take small sips of air. Any more than that and my chest will rip apart until all my insides spill out like a popped balloon.
Blinking fast, I clear my vision just enough to see smooth silky fur as Tenebris crouches over me, protecting my body with his own. Inching back, he brings his head close to my face, his eyes boring into mine as if he is trying to pierce my brain with his gaze. His upper lip curling, he bares his sharp teeth in my face, a low cry ripping from his chest.
I want to reassure him. I really do.
But all I can do is just stare back.
When Tenebris starts digging big chunks of dirt and grass from either side of me, I want to flinch, but I can’t. His paws shovel it in every direction, some of it peppering over both of us. Panic seizes me that he is not himself, that maybe I already look dead and he’s trying to bury my body. My eyes dart frantically around hoping to see Zoltan attempting to reach me, but the panther is obscuring my vision.
I see nothing but black fur and piercing eyes.
“No.” Tears prickle my eyes when I move my lips, but the word is not even a whisper.
Raising his right paw above me, his glinting claws reflect the swirling colors around us as he swipes it down at my face. My eyelids squeeze shut and I brace for more pain. I don’t even breathe when I feel the warm liquid raining all over my jaw and neck. Until I realize I didn’t feel anything.
My eyes snap open.
Head tilted to the side, Tenebris is baring his neck, blood gushing from three claw marks on it bathing me in red. When I don’t do what he expects, he lowers more and presses his throat to my face. My lips part from shock, and my mouth fills with his blood so fast I’m choking on it in no time. It doesn’t faze him at all. Knowing I won’t be able to breathe if I don’t take what he offers, I gulp it down, each swallow burning like fire.
That’s when I feel it.
My magic, which was drained from me while I was tossed around the flicking tendrils, roars to life. Like a beast that has been caged for too long against its will, it bursts through me so fast that, this time, I do scream. Every broken bone and torn muscle mends together at such a rapid pace I drift in and out of consciousness, my back bowed so much it almost dislodges Tenebris from me.
Zoltan’s ferocious roar makes the ground shudder.
My power erupts, detonating out of me.
My ears pop from the pressure leaving me dazed but at least I’m not hurting anymore. Everything is blurry and distorted when I roll on my side and lift myself on shaking arms, panting for breath. The golden glow, which I assumed was just the magic lashing out of the portal, turns out to be a stream of power coming from my chest. It connects to the two pouring out of Daren’s hands, thickening it and throwing sparkles everywhere.
Tenebris is the first to jump on all fours as he slinks to me, looking me up and down. Thankfully his neck is healed, although the fur is flattened and still wet down his chest. My mouth opens to say something to thank him, but I’m snatched in the air by two unforgiving hands, and then I’m flipped around to face Zoltan. His wild gaze searches every inch of me checking for injuries.
“I’m okay.” Feet dangling, I croak out of a throat raw from screaming.
“I will kill you myself, Francesca.” Snapping, he rattles my bones when he shakes me in anger.
“Oh goody, that’s exactly what I wanted to hear
after going through that shit.” When his fingers tighten on me, I start wiggling. “Put me down, you ape, or she’ll get away.”
“I don’t think she’s going anywhere.” The expression on his face tells me it hurts him to even talk to me right now. I was hoping to avoid telling him off until sometime later. Like next year or something.
Actually I was hoping I’d be dead so I could just avoid it.
Fuck my luck.
“Zoltan, just put me down …” Grinding my teeth, I add a barely audible, “Please.”
Eyes narrowed to slits, he lowers me to the ground so slow I want to scream at him, while suspicion and anger are twisting his features into a grimace. The two sharp points of his fangs poke out under his upper lip making him look ominous. As soon as the tips of my boots touch a solid surface, I yank my arms out of his hands and whirl to see what is left of the wide area around us.
Daren is leaning heavily on Leo, the alpha practically holding him up under his arm. The wolf is checking the mage’s pulse, and his deep sigh shows me that he found it. Astara is nowhere to be seen, but I find her crouched next to half the body of Casius’s daughter. I guess the portal cut her in two when it closed, giving me a whole new reason for freaking out when I need to go through it. The trepidation in my gut eases a little when Astara lifts a hand holding the book in a white knuckled grip. Her too-wide gaze locks on mine over her shoulder and she nods as if I did something on purpose to help them.
All I did was get my ass handed to me by whoever the jerk was on the other side.
Tenebris leans on my thigh and my hand goes to his ear on its own. It brings me comfort just knowing the panther is there, no matter how much I give him grief for it. That’s until my head moves away from Zoltan’s sister and I find Soren.
A strangled sound chokes my throat.
I try to stop it, but I can’t do it to save my life.