Fusion Magic

by Lucia Ashta

  The vamp needed to leave us the hell alone. Or better yet, he needed to die and spare countless creatures from his torment.

  “Where are the others?” I asked, trying to step out from behind Quinn, but he shook his head fervently at me.

  “What others?” Dimorelli asked with a feigned innocence that dripped with insincerity.

  When I registered another deep growl, I assumed it was Brogan again, or maybe Quinn, until I noticed it was me. Quinn took my hand behind him and rubbed soothing circles across the back of it. The usually calming action did nothing to calm me now.

  “Where. Are. The. Others?” I asked, shocking myself as much as I apparently did Dimorelli with my newfound strength. If the vamp hurt Liana, so help me … I was going to figure out how to kill a vampire centuries old…

  “More of my goblins?” he deflected. “I’m glad you asked. They’re coming.”

  On cue, dozens more of the hideous creatures emerged from the wall of flame that no one should have been able to pass through and survive.

  Quinn ground his jaw while Brogan asked, “Who the hell is this lunatic?”

  “How rude of me,” the vamp said, stepping far too close to us while extending his hand to Brogan. “I rarely fail to make timely introductions. It’s just that I’ve been a bit distracted, what with all there is to take in.” Instead of waving his free hand at the raging fire behind him, the one that demanded attention, his greedy stare pinned on me as I tried to hide the length of my nudity behind Quinn. Leering at me with a grin that revealed the suggestion of fangs, he finally looked to Brogan. “I’m Antonio Dimorelli. And you are?”

  “I’m the one who’s going to pound your ass unless you back the hell up and explain what you’ve done with the others who were with us. Why did you attack the castle? What’s your end game here?”

  Dimorelli’s perfect lips curled in disgust. He withdrew his hand and wiped it on his pant leg as if he’d actually shaken Brogan’s hand. “How … quaint. Obviously no one bothered to teach you how proper introductions work.”

  “I’m not interested in playing games,” Brogan said before Quinn interjected:

  “You need to leave. Right now. Neither Selene nor I, nor Brogan, is going anywhere with you or your ugly little creatures, so save us all some effort and get out of here.”

  In a flash, the sickly sweet, seductive smile fell from his lips. His face settled into harsh, greedy, murderous lines. “You must know by now, Quinn, that I’m not going anywhere before I get what I want. I always get what I want.”

  The way he pinned his dark, lecherous gaze on me left no doubt as to what he wanted.

  Quinn’s body began to vibrate with tension. “Get ready,” he whispered to me, sotto voce, and I understood completely.

  Dimorelli would attempt to draw this out. He was an old, narcissistic, madman who enjoyed the hunt as much as the victory. But he wouldn’t leave us alone unless we made him. And I, as well as Quinn, was in no mood to indulge the psycho. If it was going to come down to me using my magic to get us out of this, then the sooner the better. We had more important things to do than stand around stroking this deranged vamp’s ego.

  I’d managed to dissolve Naomi Nettles into nothing, I’d be only too happy to oblige with a repeat performance.

  I cracked my proverbial magical knuckles and closed my eyes, preparing to reach for the image that would see Dimorelli dead, dead, dead. I didn’t figure even a vampire could come back from what I’d done to Naomi. Even vampires needed a body to inhabit to remain alive, and I planned on vaporizing his overly handsome and sophisticated façade.

  There was no point in waiting. This was only going to resolve itself one way.

  “Now,” Dimorelli barked, and my eyes flew open by instinct … just in time to see every single one of the dozens of goblins on that hill bring their palms together until magic of different colors sparked between them.

  Shock slipped from my lips before I hurriedly closed my eyes again, working to shut out the imminent attack so I could manage something in our defense before the goblins’ magic reached us. But the anticipation of the coming pain made my mind jump all over the place, unable to settle on a single clear image.

  Brogan and Quinn released agonized grunts a split second before what seemed like the sizzling heat of the entire inferno atop the hill surged into my body. Flailing, I sank to the ground, my limbs limp and useless already.

  Swallowing bile and working feverishly to overcome the distraction of the pain of a thousand medusa jellyfish stings all at once, I pictured Dimorelli in a charred heap on the ground, lifeless. But I only managed to hold onto the image for a millisecond before my pain was too great to sustain my focus.

  My breath rattled unevenly through my body as I struggled to find my composure, while simultaneously realizing it was a lost cause. I wouldn’t manage anything until the goblins stopped shocking me, and knowing Dimorelli, he wouldn’t allow them to let up until he was certain we couldn’t escape.

  After my magic had allowed Quinn and I to flee from right under his sharp, pointy fangs, he wouldn’t take any risks. I’d revealed the power of my combined magic, and now I was paying for it. As were Quinn and Brogan.

  I didn’t believe it possible, but the goblins’ attack streaming through me somehow increased. I thrashed and convulsed against it, rolling on the grass, scraping my flesh with the hard dirt and stone beneath it.

  Desperate to ensure Quinn was all right, I looked for him, but all I could manage to see through my squinting eyes were the flashing lights of the goblins’ magic.

  After all Quinn had already been through, I wasn’t sure how much of this he’d be able to resist. Even so, though he lay within my reach, I was powerless to help him. If Dimorelli decided to end him, he would, and I’d lose Quinn forever.

  Somehow, the fear of losing Quinn rattled through me, overpowering the force of the goblins’ attack for a few sequestered seconds. Realizations flickered through my addled brain like the flashes of sunlight sparkling across the ocean water.

  Our connection. Mulunu fears it. Quinn is an unusual hybrid like me. Our bond is inexplicable. Strong to the point that I felt him alive when everyone else assumed he was dead.

  I grunted without meaning to, unable to control my body; my teeth thrashed together so hard that they clattered and I bit my tongue. Wincing against the new source of pain, I tried to latch on to whatever my brain was trying to tell me while I struggled to hold on to any of it.

  “Selene,” Quinn called, my name twisted with anguish.

  I’m here, I meant to say in comfort. In reality, it sounded something like “Ah ‘ere.” It was the best I could manage.

  Still, my intuition persevered, attempting to reach through the haze to communicate with me.

  Quinn and me. Together. Mulunu fears us together. Why? What about us contains the power of destruction?

  Folding in on myself, I clutched at my abdomen, trying to soothe the pain of my sizzling insides, but my thoughts were fleeting even as I strained with all my might to hold on to them. Quinn was dragon shifter and mermaid. I was angel and siren. The elements! Mulunu had feared how the elements combined within us. Maybe what the sea witch feared about our connection was nothing more than how our connection would bring together the elements. Was that it? Did she fear how the mixture of elements within us would clash if we joined?

  Maybe. Probably. What did it really matter? I couldn’t do anything with the conclusion. I was having trouble sucking in breath around my panic and pain. I couldn’t join with him now.

  Once more, I forced all my will into picturing the terrifying vampire lying dead at my feet. But I barely managed to form the image before pain wrenched it away from me. It wasn’t going to work. Even though I was the lone sirangel in existence, with untold powers, I wouldn’t be able to save us from this.

  But just because I couldn’t save us didn’t mean Quinn and I couldn’t do it together. Some-freaking-how.

  Think, Selene, thi
nk!

  I couldn’t think of a damn thing.

  With a scream that contained the very desperation of my soul and my determination for our lives not to end like this, squandered, I clawed across the ground until I was able to squint and make out Quinn. He flailed and thrashed, much like the way he had when we’d made love and my magic had … overwhelmed him or something.

  “Together, Q, together!” I slurred and snaked my hand into the open leg of his jeans and clamped on to his skin.

  “What? To … how?” he slurred back.

  “Our connection … the bond … hybrids … the elements … no balance. Togetha!” If Quinn managed to make sense of my words, it’d be a damn miracle. But that’s all we had today. It was a miracle or nothing. The goblins weren’t letting up, and Dimorelli had done nothing to caution them not to push us too far. At this rate, we’d be dead within moments. My brain already felt half fried. Much of me had checked out to cope with the pain.

  Which meant I needed Quinn.

  “Whatelements?” Quinn asked, and my brain winced as I tried to understand what he was asking. “In me. What?”

  “Fire ‘n water,” I rushed out, my tongue feeling swollen, though I had no idea if it really was or not. Everything about my perception was distorting, making it difficult to decide what was real and what wasn’t—except for the pain. That was all there seemed to be.

  “Ready?” I yelled, though I hadn’t figured out ready for what.

  “Now,” he said, and I did the only thing I could think of in the tunnel-like space of my mind. I shoved my fusion magic through my hand and into his leg, hoping I wasn’t about to kill him.

  His body bucked and writhed, slamming his shoulders and head into the ground.

  I’m killing him.

  I loosened my grip to let go, and he pressed his other leg atop my hold, pushing my hand into his calf all the more.

  I felt the ground vibrate beneath me, and it wasn’t like the earthquakes of before. This energy … tingled … much like my own magic, much as the goblins’ power did, except for a thousand degrees more intensely.

  Whatever energy the earth was sending through me, I felt it fuse with my own.

  I streamed my magic through Quinn. He roared like he was in beast form. Tears welled in my eyes at the desperation that broke free from his chest. Rage pulsated through him until it coalesced into something else, a power I struggled to make sense of.

  Whatever it was, I looked just in time to see Quinn lift his head from the ground and stare at Dimorelli. Quinn raised his hand and pointed it straight at the vampire.

  Connected to Quinn right then in a way that transcended thought, I responded to his unspoken request to send him all I had. I felt the power of my song, my ease in the water, and my ability to soar on feather wings. With a roar of my own, I channeled every bit of my frustration and determination to overcome the injustice of our circumstances through my hand and into Quinn.

  Finally, I once more remembered I could create anything with my thoughts. I contained the power to alter my reality. I possessed the power to kill Dimorelli and every one of his goblins, and I channeled all of that and more into Quinn. Gasping like I was struggling for air, I grabbed on to the way my heart longed to join with Quinn, to always be with him, to never be apart, and that too I shoved into the power I streamed through the man I loved.

  My vision clouded. The combined goblins beamed as much magic into me as I sent into Quinn.

  Even so, I gave Quinn every bit of power I could grab, praying I wasn’t killing him even faster, before my head slumped to the ground, my cheek pressed against the rough surface.

  “I love you,” I whispered, so softly and unintelligibly that there was no chance Quinn would hear what might be my final words.

  I released my hold on Quinn and allowed my eyes to close all the way. My body slumped as I finally gave in to its desire to escape the pain. And as unconsciousness coddled me and swept away all hurt, a scream reached through the dark, muffled, soggy sponge that had become my existence.

  I couldn’t even tell who’d screamed when I let go. I let go of it all.

  10

  Pain roused me sometime later. I winced against the intense discomfort and wished for unconsciousness to sweep me back away, where I didn’t have to feel any of this.

  Why had I woken up if I still hurt this much?

  It all came back to me in a rush. I tried to push to sit up. My arms felt boneless, and I plopped back down like a beached whale, pinching my eyes shut against the lights streaming into my chest—still too bright—and the intense punishment they delivered.

  I flopped around, moaning, trying to figure out in which direction I’d find Quinn, wondering what had happened after I’d passed out and how Brogan fared. I’d only just met the polar-bear shifter, but I desperately wanted for him to survive along with the two of us.

  “Q,” I croaked, but doubted he or anyone else would hear me. My voice cracked as if every bit of my insides were broken. I was a brittle seashell smashed into a thousand pieces.

  Groaning, I tried again to get my arms to work, or even my legs. I’d take any part of my body functioning properly. Somehow, I managed to flop onto my stomach with just as much finesse as said beached whale. Once I was on my stomach, I wrenched my eyes open.

  The vampire was right in front of me.

  Or rather, what had once been the vampire.

  His body appeared to have been both charred and drenched. He was flaking into dust, crumbling into the earth. A destructive combination of the four elements delivered enough power to kill an immortal.

  At least, I hoped Dimorelli couldn’t come back from this. Surely we’d have time before he could recover from complete annihilation, assuming he could at all.

  Sudden panic welled within me, and I choked on it. Twisting, I peered through the light show that continued to shoot into my chest.

  There!

  Quinn and Brogan lay at the bottom of their own light shows, but only Brogan continued to writhe against its effects.

  “Q!” I screamed, but with a hoarse throat my cry was barely audible over the nonstop sparking crackle of the goblins’ magic.

  Quinn didn’t so much as twitch. I began dragging myself toward him.

  Clamping on to his jeans, I shook him.

  Nothing.

  The goblins’ magic that slammed into my back gave way slightly as my fear at losing Quinn ripped through me, overcoming every other sensation for a few moments.

  “Q!” I cried, continuing to drag my body farther up. When I was nearly face to face with him, I wrapped my hand around his arm and shook him.

  The bifurcated attack of the goblins merged into one at our close proximity, belting into Quinn and me at the same time. My body jolted at the increase in power, and I shriveled for a moment at the thought that my concern had delivered Quinn more pain.

  I worked to retreat, aiming to drag myself away, forcing the goblins to direct their magic at us separately once more.

  But I couldn’t. My hand had seemingly fused itself to Quinn’s bare skin.

  I pulled my hand, figuring I was just too weak, but it stuck. With great effort, I pushed onto my elbows and used my other hand to pull at the one connected to Quinn.

  It still didn’t budge.

  The goblins’ combined magic ripped through us. A few feet away from us, Brogan grunted as he struggled to survive; the intensity of the pain would take me under again in short time. There were dozens of goblins. In Dimorelli’s dungeon, there had only been six, and they’d nearly killed Quinn with the force of their attack.

  “Stop,” I cried out in a hoarse whisper that they did nothing to respond to, if they heard it at all. “Stop hur-hurting us,” I tried again, but darkness had begun to cloud around my vision once more, and my head slumped against my chest. My body slid down next to Quinn’s, and even though a part of me realized that only meant I was touching him in more places, I was unable to respond to the urgent messages telling m
e to move away before the combined power of the goblins’ attack killed us both.

  My heart lodged in my throat. Quinn hadn’t moved since I’d touched him. Maybe I’d killed him before I’d passed out and just hadn’t realized it.

  I collapsed in a boneless heap, mostly pressed against his side. As I allowed my eyes to fall shut, I had no idea what would become of us or Brogan, who’d escaped only to become embroiled in a vampire’s vendetta against Quinn and me.

  Sorry, Brogan, I thought. There was no longer any chance I’d manage to speak my lament aloud. My head sank against the ground as heavily as my heart.

  “Cease your attack this instant or I’ll zap you until you’re as dead as your master!”

  The crisp command delivered the flicker of hope just when I’d believed I’d lost the fight.

  I’d recognize that voice anywhere.

  “I mean it!” said Mulunu. “Test me if you like. I’m itching to take you all out.”

  The magic shredding my insides abated slightly, though it was nowhere near enough to provide the relief we needed.

  More, I silently urged, knowing Mulunu wouldn’t abandon us now, even if it was only to kill Quinn and me later. The crackling of the goblins’ attack lessened in volume, and hope soared within me as much as my damaged insides allowed.

  “Make your choice this instant,” Mulunu commanded. “Stand with us or with the vampire, who is in no position to defend you. If you stand with your master, you will die like him.”

  The pain decreased until I was able to crack my eyes open. Peering up the hill, I spotted Mulunu right away. Her hair writhed around her in the heat waves like live eels. Her trim, muscular body radiated the strength necessary to back up her threats.