by Eve, Jaymin
“We have to get back to Stratford. Now!” Jessa all but yelled. “Can you open a step-through back there, Lizzie?”
I was tapped out, my energy fizzing around inside of me with that buzz of fatigue that followed overuse, but I had to try. “I’ll do my best.”
Demons appeared in the doorway then, a large group of them judging by the power.
“We’ll keep them back.” Braxton’s voice was already deepening as he started to shift. “Just get us back to Stratford.”
“Us too,” Justice said, and she and her sisters raised their jewels and the light washed over us. Protectively.
I nodded and closed my eyes. I could do this; I had to do this, because Louis was capable of anything right now, and once he was back with the ley lines, he would be near unstoppable.
Just as I reached for the last of my energy inside, I heard Grace whisper to Tyson. “Has a sorcerer ever come back from this kind of darkness?”
He hesitated before he said, “I’ve never heard of it. Unless we can figure out how to bring him back, we’ll have no choice but to kill Louis.”
That was the truth I had been hiding from since the moment I realized the dark energy was my oldest friend. And enemy.
I was going to have to kill Louis.
6
Louis
The journey back to my body was easy. The vessel had weakened in my soul’s absence, but the moment we reunited, power rushed through every cell and filled my center. Returning to the vessel gave me some clarity, knowledge of what I needed to do now that I was back and at full power.
As I rose from the bed, flinging off the magical attachments that must have been trying to keep me functioning, I ignored the shocked look of the shifter at my bedside and clothed myself in long dark robes. Not my usual attire, but I was not my usual self any longer.
As I strode from the room, there was a gasp from the front desk. “Louis!” a dark-skinned, long-legged healer cried. She was beautiful, but did not have enough power to interest me. “You’re awake. Oh my gods. We’ve been waiting so long for you to—”
I waved my hand and cut her babbling off midsentence. Her eyes widened as she stared mutely at me. “Yes, I have awakened. I need you now to run off and tell the rest of the town that we will be having a meeting. In the main hall. I want to see every single face in twenty minutes or I will come and find them. And they won’t like what happens if I have to do that.”
Her eyes widened. The old me, the weaker version of me, never spoke to others this way. I was standoffish but respectful—which had gotten me nowhere. It was time for me to be the sorcerer and leader I was always meant to be. It was time to take Stratford—and America—back. The Compasses weren’t here. Again they’d left this town to fend for itself. It was time to usurp those bastards and take back what should have stayed mine.
As I walked from the room I released the magic holding the healer’s tongue and was happy to see she had already picked up the phone. Everyone would be at the town meeting, I already knew that, and while I waited for them to gather, I needed to stop by my old home.
I had something there to grab, something I required to bring myself, and the rest of our world, to full power.
A beautiful face flashed across my mind, and with it came a rising swell of darkness inside of me. Elizabeth. I hadn’t seen her for years. I’d thought I would never see her again after our last fight. What the hell was she doing here? Why would she come back now?
She was just here to destroy me again. The demons had known she was a weakness for me, and weaknesses could not be tolerated.
Fuck. She had looked exactly the same. Hair like spun gold as it trailed down her back. Fire in her shimmery silver eyes. She’d always been able to cut me down with one look, and I’d always let her get away with it, but no more. She’d better stay out of my way, or I would make her.
You wished I died. Her words, designed to appeal to my softer side, her pain so clear as she uttered them. But it was too late for that. I didn’t care anymore.
I could never forget though, that while Elizabeth might be one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen, she was also one of the deadliest. Her power was strong, and it compared to mine, something most didn’t know. I would not underestimate her.
Not for one second.
Maybe it was time to show my little Elizabeth that there was someone she should fear. And that someone was me.
7
Elizabeth Teresa Montgomery II
I managed to get the step-through to Faerie open, but it cost me the last of my energy to do so. Jacob practically carried me across as we followed the others. Braxton was last through, sending flames out behind him before he shifted from dragon to human. I shut the step-through down before anything sinister could follow. Then the princesses did their thing and got us back home.
After being in the dark for so long, the light of Earth was almost blinding, and the energy here was overwhelming. In the same way as when senses were cut off briefly before returning, I suddenly felt everything so strongly. I struggled to free myself from Jacob, collapsing to the ground, where I lay breathing in nature, absorbing the energy of the ley lines as they filled my well of power again.
“Are you okay, Lizzie?” Jessa asked, her voice low, sounding like she was hovering just above my head.
“I’m fine,” I said, voice muffled. “Just communing with nature.”
“She’s filling her energy,” Tyson and Grace said at the same time.
As more of my power returned, some of the hopelessness I’d been feeling faded away. I wasn’t exactly optimistic as I got to my feet, but I also wasn’t ready to just give up.
“What do we do now?” Braxton stared at me, his eyes shimmering with yellow. “Our borders have not been touched since we left, which means Louis is still inside. Somewhere.”
I sent out my own senses, giving the town a quick once-over. “There’s a congregation of supes in the main hall,” I told them. “Louis is on the other side of Stratford though … near a waterfall. But I can sense no death and destruction, so he’s containing himself.”
“He’s at his house,” Jessa said, turning to her mate. “What could he be doing there?”
“He might be contained now, but it’ll only take one issue, right?” Grace interrupted.
I nodded. He was a bomb waiting to go off right now.
Grace turned to her jeweled sisters. “I think we should go back to Faerie. If anyone knows how to combat darkness, it’s our people there. Maybe they’ll have some insights that will help us save Louis?”
I personally thought that was a great idea. Not all darkness was the same, and the shadows were not what had Louis in their grasp, but the basic concept of the energy he was now possessed by was the same as that of the demons.
“I’ll go with you,” Tyson said to Grace.
She shook her head, reaching up and placing both of her palms against his face. “I want you with me more than anything, but the danger is here. You need to stay and keep our family safe. You need to keep Stratford safe.” She stood on her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “We need to save Louis, one way or another. He deserves to be saved. We can’t turn our backs on him now.”
Worry was written across every line of Tyson’s face, but he didn’t argue with his mate; he just kissed her, and the emotions between them were strong enough that it was a tangible thing. “I love you,” she murmured against his lips, and then they pulled apart.
Tyson’s eyes never left the face of his redheaded witch. He watched her as she opened a step-through to Faerie. He watched her usher the other princesses through. He almost followed, but somehow managed to stop himself.
“Wait,” Jacob called out just before Justice was about to disappear. She spun around, her expression blank even though there was definitely something simmering in her eyes. “Be careful,” the fey Compass said. “Faerie might be the land of your birth, but it’s filled with many dangers. You seem to have a natural pred
isposition toward trouble, and … we might need your help back here. So … don’t die.”
Justice blinked, some of the blankness fading out as stronger emotions took over. “Thank you for that heartwarming concern,” she drawled. “I’m just filled with all the softer feelings.”
She then turned to step through the doorway again, but spun around at the last minute and flipped him off. When she disappeared, I noticed Jacob had the slightest smile tipping up the corner of his lips. Having met the other females in his pack, I knew the Compasses were not afraid of strong women. If anything, they seemed to embrace the strongest of supes. Justice might not realize it, but she’d just intrigued him even more with her attitude.
The doorway disappeared, and I could feel new tension in Tyson. Grace hadn’t even been gone a minute and he was not doing so well.
The four Compasses and Jessa and Mischa gathered closer to me.
“Tell us what we need to do.” Jessa was all business, her eyes locked on me like a laser. “I refuse to let Louis turn into something evil. There must be a way to bring him back.”
I racked my brain trying to figure out what I knew that might help. “First we need to consult with the chiefs and elders. If anyone has the knowledge of how to bring him back, it will be one of them.”
To my knowledge, any mages in the past who went really dark ended up dead in a battle. Most of those mages were weaker to start with, which was why they turned to the darkness, looking for power. Most of them also pushed it one step further and ended up demon touched. I wasn’t sure there were any cases like Louis’s. It was unique, just like the sorcerer himself.
“We can send a mass message to the other leaders,” Maximus said. “We’re all linked into the same global network.”
I thought on this for a moment. “Can you word it so they don’t all immediately storm into Stratford guns blazing to take Louis down?”
If word reached anyone that he had gone dark, there would be panic. He was already feared. Dark Louis was their worst nightmare.
“We’ll be circumspect,” Braxton promised. “Unless there’s no other option.”
I could hear the warning in his words. If we didn’t figure out how to contain Louis, they would not hesitate in taking him down.
Jessa glared at her mate. “I know you’re going to try very hard to save Louis before you try to kill him. Or we’re going to have some serious problems.”
Braxton chuckled and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Jessa babe, you know I consider Louis pack. I don’t give up on pack. Not ever. We will save him, but it doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan.”
His eyes met mine over her head and I could see the worry bleeding through them in streaks of yellow. I nodded to show I understood. Louis was not a sorcerer to underestimate. To do so could mean death, and while we’d do everything to save him, we couldn’t risk innocent lives.
“We need to check on our babies,” Mischa said quietly. “If Louis is not actively destroying the town right now, I think we should take a minute to do that, and then we can meet at the town hall to reassess.”
I waved my hands and nodded. “Yes, please. Go and check on those beautiful babies. I will track Louis and keep an eye on him. I’ll send a message to one of you if anything happens.”
The six of them all looked uneasy, and I wasn’t surprised when Jacob informed me that he’d go with me and watch my back.
Jessa gave me a quick hug just before she was about to race off. “Thank you for helping us,” she murmured close to my ear. “Thank you for caring about Louis and … not just giving up on him.”
I squeezed her back for a brief moment, enjoying the hug. You could forget the simple joy in being part of the supernatural community when you’d been gone from it for so long. Supes were very tactile. They loved big and fought hard.
I wanted it back. I hadn’t even realized, until I’d spent time back in the community, how much I’d missed it. We just had to finish the job of saving Louis first.
When Jessa and the others were gone, Jacob’s knowing green eyes met mine. “Been a while since you’ve been around supes,” he said quietly. “Your essence is shining right now in a way it hasn’t since I first saw you.”
Fae could sense energies. It used to bother me, but now I was past caring about their knowledge of my inner energy.
“I was keeping myself isolated as a form of punishment,” I admitted, still raw from my own realizations a moment ago. “I’ve been living in Alaska for decades. In the wilderness. Just three rowdy shifters there every now and then to keep me from going completely crazy.” And the occasional night in town with the humans. “I forgot…” I whispered the last part. “I have forgotten how to live and love and be a supe.”
I sniffled, forcing the emotions down. A large part of me was relieved to know I could let that all go soon.
I could feel again.
I could love again.
There was just one more obstacle before I took a new path.
“Come on,” I said, shaking my head. “Let’s go keep an eye on Louis before he decides to level this town.”
Jacob nodded in his calm way. “I have faith in Louis,” he said as we started to walk. “He’ll find his way back from the darkness. He’s too strong not to.”
His words lingered in the crisp air—it was growing colder again—like a promise. And I prayed it was true. Louis had overcome many battles in his life, but this was going to be one of the biggest. My faith was not as unwavering as Jacob’s, but I wasn’t giving up either. Somehow I had to find a way to repair the light in his soul, to squash the darkness back to where it always used to be. Controlled and suppressed.
I had to figure out how to bring him back to me … so I could finally let him go.
Jacob led us to Louis’s home, and as we walked I tracked dark Louis’s unmoving energy, wondering what he was doing. This had been the first place he went upon returning, so there was definitely a reason.
Once we got out of the main town, we entered the sort of gardens that I’d always dreamed of living in. Louis had built his home in a stunning spot that was less like the forests of Stratford and more like a tropical wonderland. Lots of greenery, lots of wildflowers, and a picturesque waterfall that made me want to strip off my dirty clothes and dive right in to wash the sweat and grime from my body. Being in the land between definitely took a toll on your physical and mental self.
“He’s still here?” Jacob murmured.
“Yes,” I replied, just as quietly. “He’s inside the building.”
We lay low near some bushes. I was actively blocking our energy so Louis wouldn’t feel our presence. I had learned a trick to this sort of magic long ago, because simply blocking us completely didn’t work. It left a magical dead spot that was almost as obvious as having my energy blazing. It was much stealthier to mimic nearby animals, filtering their energy around my own—I only took enough to mask our presence and not to hurt them.
I was always the winner at hide-and-seek in Alaska.
“He’s moving,” I said with some urgency a few minutes later.
I waited for him to appear, trying to prepare myself for seeing him in the flesh. It had hurt to see him in soul form, but there would be ten times the impact with his soul and vessel back together. He didn’t appear though; his energy just faded out of the house and then it was in the center of town.
“He’s gone to the main hall,” I said, scrambling to my feet. “Freaking sneaky bastard.”
Jacob chuckled, and I turned to him. “Never really heard you curse. Have to say, I kind of like it. It makes you a little more approachable.”
I couldn’t help but laugh in return. “I actually have the worst potty mouth. See, I was raised in a time where ladies did not curse.” I made my voice all gentle before grimacing. “I countered that by acting as unladylike as possible, because why the heck did I have different rules than the men? Plus, the only friends I’ve had in the past thirty years pretty much only know four-lett
er words.”
Jacob laughed loudly. “Me too,” he said, a few more low chuckles emerging. “Jessa’s first word was fuck, and her second was you.”
I shook my head, amusement cutting through me. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”
It took us a few minutes to hurry through the town, and while I was stressed about what Louis was up to, I still took the time to really see the simple but architecturally intriguing buildings and small city center. I understood now why Louis had decided to settle here.
There was magic here. Energy that was almost intoxicating.
It felt like home. Something I had not truly experienced for a very long time.
Shouting broke through the tranquility then, and whatever peace I had was stolen away as I started to run. “Did you send word to the others?” Jacob asked as we full-on sprinted.
I nodded. “Yep, I let them know what’s happening and that we were on our way.”
Jacob’s face was tense. “Let’s just hope we make it in time.”
Power swelled across the town, and even Jacob flinched. Both of us picked up speed, and I knew he was holding himself back to keep pace with me. “Hang on,” I said, before I opened a step-through right in front of us. On the other side we emerged right at the fountain before the town hall.
To find absolute chaos.
8
Louis
I felt her energy the moment she arrived in Stratford. The new power I’d embraced was giving me heightened senses. I was finding that whatever magic I used was stronger, whatever path I set out on was clearer, and if I knew a magic user very well, their power was like a beacon that I could tap into at any point.
Tyson was there as well, his magic swirling so strongly inside him that I was almost impressed. His energy was raw and reminiscent of the original gold from Faerie. The original magic I had spent so much of my time studying. The moment I was finished bringing the American supernaturals under control, I would be visiting my old friends in Faerie. It was time for them to release the power that lay there, unused.