Big, black boulders of disease were everywhere inside her. Way more than Izzy had had. I sifted through them, trying to find the magnetic sand to separate so that Ruby felt better, but she didn’t have the same makeup as Izzy.
“Ruby,” I whispered. “Are you awake?”
She didn’t stir. I tapped her again, but still no response.
Ty leaned over the bed, beside me now that Izzy was done recounting our trip to the non-magical realm and the details of my little escapade with my mother. “A few hours ago, she stopped responding, and I sent a messenger to get you.”
“Your messenger hadn’t made it to my place yet.”
Ty nodded. “Can you do something to help?”
“I already tried,” I ground out, unhappy with the answer. I needed to go after my mother and get this curse lifted, and I needed to do it now. If she didn’t cooperate, I had to end her before…before I lost both Ruby and Izzy.
Would there still be a point to my life without them?
Before I met Ruby, my life had been dark. I had gone through the motions, passing each day and trying to make up for what was in my past. Since meeting her, it was like a light has been shone on my existence. Like I had a purpose beyond forgiveness. I was here to help her. To give her the support she needed as she learned her magic and grew into the rightful queen for ruling a kingdom.
I know I had only known Izzy for a week or so, but where Ruby shone a light on my life, Izzy brought it fire. A passion for living. A passion to see the wonder in the world that surrounded me. “I can stop all of this.” My voice was weaker than I expected. “I just need to get back to the other realm.”
But Ruby couldn’t take me.
“Can you open a portal?” Ty asked.
I shook my head. “I’m not powerful enough for that.” My stomach wanted to vomit when I thought of the only witch I knew who had opened a portal between realms more than once. He might not have Ruby’s world-hopping skill, but portals came easy to my father.
Only he was currently powerless in the dungeon.
But Ruby had defeated him by capturing his magic into a gem—a moonstone—that was now locked away somewhere safe in the castle.
I straightened. “I need the stone that has my father’s powers.”
Ty tilted his chin, but then his face showed a look of hope when he figured out what I was going to do. “Come with me.” He leaned down and planted a kiss upon Ruby’s cheek.
I scooped Izzy into my arms, who no longer protested, and Luna followed behind.
Ty weaved us through the maze of the castle to retrieve the magic-absorbing moonstone. As we walked, I pulled at my magic and created wards around me, protecting me from the stone’s power.
The stone was kept in a locked room on the far end of the castle. Ty retrieved the gem from a box, hidden behind a sandstone block of the wall. The stone shimmered with a pastel rainbow of colors. He dropped it into my cupped hands, and my father’s magical abilities coursed through my body like electricity. I didn’t just feel the magic, I felt the pull of power.
All the power in the stone.
Mine for the taking.
“Greyson, are you all right?” Ty asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Aye. I’m fine.” I had never made a portal, but knew the concept. You drew your magic—all of it like you had never drawn before—and swirled your finger in the air, concentrating the magic into an oval circle while thinking of where it was you wanted to go.
“Let’s not waste any time,” I said.
Izzy’s wide eyes reflected the portal’s magical sparks as I began to swirl my finger in the air, and Ty shrunk away. I spun and spun my arm, pulling both my father’s power from the stone as well as my own. I offered my entire woodpile, plus gave the magic whatever else it needed to open the path into the non-magical realm.
Eventually, the sizzling magic stopped, and I couldn’t pull anymore.
“What happened?” Ty pulled his hands from his pockets and pulled at his tunic’s ties.
My mouth dried. “I failed.”
Even with my father’s magic. I wasn’t strong enough to open the portal.
I wrapped my arms around Izzy and began to hike out of the spoils room. Ty was right beside me, strides as long as mine despite being half a foot shorter than me. “Where are you going?”
“There’s only one witch I know who can control this kind of power.” With Izzy still in my arms and Ty and Luna following behind, I took the steps to the dungeon, sending the guards outside into the hallway as I passed.
“You’re not going to give your father his magic back, are you?” Ty’s voice was accusatory. “Greyson, there’s another way. There has to be another way.”
“Not one I’m willing to wait for.”
Ruby didn’t have the time.
In the pre-dungeon room, I passed Izzy off to Ty and headed towards my father, but Luna stood in the doorway. “Step aside,” I commanded.
She shook her head and her normally crystal blue eyes glowed red.
“Step aside!”
She had never stood in my way.
We always had had the same agenda.
Except when she rescued Izzy from the hospital.
And now.
“What’s gotten into you? You’re not the dragon I know!” Twice she had gone against my agenda. Did she know something I didn’t? My jaw tensed. I didn’t have time to figure it out. Too many lives were at stake. Using the magic from the stone, I gave Luna a little zap, having her hop out of my path.
A huge puff of frost…no…steam billowed from my ice dragon’s nostrils. She scratched her front foot against the dungeon’s stone floor, causing the sandstone to break down under the pressure of her nails.
I pulled at the magic again, ready to give her a more powerful zap, but I could see the anger in her red eyes.
The only way to calm Luna was to play on her emotions.
And hopefully, she was having the same thoughts I was. “If you love Izzy, you need to stand down. We have little choice.”
Another puff of steam, and Luna slinked back, but I swear she shook her head at me in warning.
In front of my father’s cell, I stood taller and prouder than I had ever done in his presence.
“Greyson. I didn’t expect to see you again,” he cooed. “How’s your little girlfriend?”
I ground my teeth, holding the moonstone between my fingers and ignoring his manipulative words. “Dad, boy do I have a deal for you.”
Chapter 17
“You want me to open a portal?” My father cocked his chin. “Is Ruby refusing to help?”
I fisted and unfisted my hands, shifting my weight from foot to foot. “I’m not going to explain myself. Do you want to help me or not?”
“What’s in it for me?”
I clenched my jaw. Ruby wasn’t going to like this, but her survival counted on it. “Your temporary freedom.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Temporary?”
“When it’s over, you’re going back to the dungeon.”
“No deal.” He crossed his arms over his chest and sat down on the edge of his cot.
I didn’t expect him to take the deal, but I had to start somewhere. “I can’t give you your permanent freedom.”
He shrugged, but despite his standoffish body language, the burn of true emotional pain flashed across his face. “I don’t need my freedom.”
I stepped closer to him, gripping the cold iron bars with both my hands. “What do you need?”
He looked up with a bizarre softness I had never seen before in his eyes. “Your forgiveness.”
I laughed, a deep, guttural sound. “I doubt that.”
“Why?”
I dropped my hands from the bar and turned my back. “Because you stole some of my memories of you. You used me to get what you wanted. You even admitted you liked power more than your own son.”
“Sure, I stole your memories as a sacrifice, but I didn’t want you growing up kn
owing how evil your father truly was. And, yes, I craved power, but once I had it, it made me want what I didn’t have.” He laughed. “I guess one always wants what’s out of reach. Over a year in this dungeon with nobody but a woman who despises you, despite your love,” he motioned to his wife, Luciana, across the room, “is enough to drive anyone mad.”
I didn’t believe anything he said. He had to have a master plan. Once he got out and had the moonstone in his hand, he could use his magic for anything. I could keep him under control with my hand on his skin, ready to inflict the worst pain of his life if he even thought of using his magic for anything other than a portal.
A cough echoed into the room from out in the hallway, then another. Was Izzy using her sickness to distract me again? I clenched my jaw, staring into my father’s eyes, but when Izzy’s coughs didn’t subside and Luna let out one of her rare whines, rushing out of the dungeon towards Izzy, my stomach turned, wondering why I had even ignored her.
I left my father and found Izzy hunched over on the bench right outside the dungeon with Ty rubbing her back and Luna pacing near the exit. Izzy had already been on borrowed time, and this was going to be a bad one. I pushed the moonstone into my pocket and, with Ty’s help, guided Izzy down onto the stone floor, sitting her coughing body in my lap. I placed one hand on her cheek and held her hand with my free one. I closed my eyes and started sifting through the sand that filled her, breaking apart the magnetic pieces, but with no success.
Her body convulsed against mine in what was more than a coughing fit. I had seen villagers have fever seizures, and this wasn’t much different. My insides were hollow as I worked through the sand, over and over again, but as soon as I separated the particles, they only clumped back together.
I was going to lose her.
And I was going to lose Ruby, too.
I’d have nobody left. Just when I thought I had found a new family, they were being ripped away from me. But oh, my father wanted my forgiveness. I didn’t think so. Even if it was just him and me left in this realm, he wouldn’t get it. Nothing would make up for over a decade of abandonment and pain.
Of feeling unwanted.
Of constantly feeling unwanted.
By my father. My mother. Nieva.
But not Izzy.
I sifted through the sand inside her faster and faster, separating the particles over and over again while her body jerked in my arms. “Izzy. Hang in there.” Please hang in there.
I wasn’t powerful enough to help her. I wasn’t powerful enough for a portal. I was a half witch—more magic ran in my blood than Ruby, yet, I was so much weaker.
My pocket grew heavy, and the pull of the moonstone twisted my mind.
Of course.
I reached in, pulling out the glowing stone and siphoning the magic from the rock that surpassed the magic that hung in the air. I shot the power into Izzy, breaking up the magnetic sand, and soon, her body relaxed into my arms.
I cradled her, rocking back and forth, brushing her sweaty hair off her forehead and placing a trail of kisses in its place.
Without a doubt, Izzy completed me.
Why had I fought it?
Even if we couldn’t save her, I’d take every moment possible with her. Any moment she was willing to give me.
I gave Ty a nod, that everything was fine, and he slowly backed away. “Grey, I…um…if that’s going to happen to Ruby, I need to get back to her. I can’t leave her.”
I waved my hand. “Go. Actually, I’ll be right up to see if I can extend Ruby’s time a bit before I leave.”
Ty dipped his head. “And whatever you decide with your father. You have my support. Anything that is needed to put an end to this.”
I tightened my lips and extended my hand. We gripped each other’s wrists in a true sign of brotherhood before he headed out of the pre-dungeon area.
“How are you feeling?” I whispered into Izzy’s ear.
Her voice was soft and laced with pain. “I never thought I’d say this, but if I died tomorrow, that’d be okay.”
My bones felt like they were made of dust and the wind just blew them apart. If I thought I felt empty before, now, I was a vacant, endless void as I made a promise that I wasn’t certain I could keep. “Well, by tomorrow, this whole thing will be over, one way or another. I promise.” I laid her out on the stone floor and kissed her temple. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I sprinted through the castle, using the moonstone to break up the disease in Ruby’s body, giving her all the time I could before heading back to the basement.
With purposeful steps, I marched back into the dungeon and narrowed my eyes at my father. The moonstone warm in my hand as I used the magic to melt the iron, causing it to pool at our feet.
“You’re opening that portal, whether you get something from me or not. If you don’t…” I reached out to catch his wrist, but he pulled away. I shot another dose of his power at him, holding him in place. I clasped my hand around his forearm and shot his body with the worst pain of his life, bringing tears to his eyes. “If you don’t help, you’ll die the most painful death you can imagine.”
What instilled fear into a villain?
A darker, more sinister villain. One without hesitation. Without morals.
I could be the darkest of them all. My father ensured that of me.
And, worst of all, I knew all my dark thoughts came from buried inside me and had nothing to do with the moonstone in my hand.
Chapter 18
My hand tightly clenched onto my father’s bicep, pushing him out of the dungeon with the moonstone tightly tucked away in my pocket. Without letting go of my father, I woke Izzy with a nudge of my boot.
“You can’t sleep now. We must go.”
Beside her Luna glared at me, but I wasn’t taking her judgment.
Nor Izzy with her narrowed eyes.
I was in charge, and neither of them could control me.
Nobody could control me.
“Help her,” I commanded my dragon, and Luna didn’t disobey. She leaned her long neck down for Izzy to use to rise to her feet. “Up,” I further commanded, giving Luna the motion and command to help Izzy onto her back. I offered a bent knee, my hands still tightly holding onto my father. When Izzy seemed to seat herself easily on Luna’s back, I realized my father had helped lift her up. As much as it pained me to let Izzy out of my arms, I knew it was for the best. Having to rely on my father’s help didn’t guarantee we’d save Izzy, Ruby, or the others.
In fact, perhaps it doomed us.
My father and I exchanged glances for only a second, before I cast my eyes away. The guards stood right outside the pre-dungeon room, so we needed a portal before they noticed what I had done. Here it went. A bit of trust, not that my father would do the right thing, but that he’d do whatever protected himself from pain.
I handed him the moonstone, and that crooked smile I remembered from my childhood adorned his face. He’d always get that smile right before he was going to do something that got him what he wanted.
I expected a fight at some point, but now, wasn’t it. My father waved his hand in the air, closing his eyes and continuing to draw the circle. “Where are we going?” he asked.
I told him the bookstore name and what city it was in. I described the flag of Onieth hanging over the front entrance, and that was all he needed as a glowing light-green portal grew in front of us. Beyond the opening was the park we had used the last time we had transported there. I took a deep breath, having to trust my father would follow.
But not without one final piece of insurance.
“Guards? Stay put.” I yelled through the wooden door. “But enter one minute from now and don’t be late.” One minute wouldn’t give my father enough time to open a new portal—not that his magic would allow it. Opening a portal took every ounce of witchcraft out of you.
My father’s smile softened, and he nodded, almost like giving me approval.
“Luna, you and Izzy
first. Invisible, though.” They disappeared in front of me, swallowed by the green shimmering oval, and I waited for the portal’s glow to pulse, indicating they had passed all the way through. Next, I went, because as soon as my father passed, the portal would close. I placed my hand on his wrist, and as soon as I stepped through, I pulled him with me.
And in a flash, we all stood across the street from the bookstore. All the commotion and the background noise of magic disappeared, leaving only the sound of cars and wind through the trees. I snatched the moonstone from my father.
“Now what?” He said, panting and sweating from the exertion opening a portal required.
I ground my teeth. “Either Liliana lifts the curse or I kill her.”
My words caused Luna to lose her invisibility. She shook her head and Izzy did the talking for her. It was as if the two of them were connected. “You can’t kill your mother, Greyson. That’s not who you are.”
I fisted my hands as I commanded Luna to return to her invisibility, and I marched up to the bookstore, noting it was currently closed. It didn’t matter. I started the hike across town to where Mirror Lake had showed me where one member of my mom’s coven lived. The house was old and unmistakable, painted a pale yellow with blue shutters. The house with the tiniest yard adorned a quiet street.
My father spoke to the invisible dragon and Izzy. “Greyson will do what he threatens. He’ll do anything to get what he wants. He has my kind of willpower and drive.”
His words hit me like a dagger in the chest. “I am not like you.”
“No, you’re not,” he shook his head. “At least not like who I am now. I’d never inflict physical pain. Torture.”
Torture? My stomach twisted. I had done a good job making him believe my dedication.
How far would I go?
Honestly, I didn’t know.
People’s lives were on the line. People I loved.
I climbed a half-dozen steps to an old wooden door with peeling paint. I pounded on it until someone opened.
Dragons and Mages: A Limited Edition Anthology Page 143
