by Rain Oxford
He looked at Vincent and then Hunt. “And you agree with this?”
“I have always hated him. You have never done anything to me,” Hunt said. “You did impersonate my friend, but it was Keigan who trapped him in the first place. You could have killed me and you never did.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Then where is he?”
“He should be back any minute. He’s actually fulfilling a promise to me to return Astrid if I help him save Heather.”
“So you’re trying to trick me?”
“Not at all. You don’t intend to kill Heather, do you?”
“I don’t need to, no.”
“Then by showing up here, in front of the tower, I’m helping get him Heather back. Even if he dies in the process. Or, he might defeat you.”
“What about your friend?”
Henry pulled the scorpion pendant out of his shirt. “I’ll need to wear this until I can become someone else’s familiar, like Vincent’s familiar.”
“So, bring us Heather, because I’m not going to let you have him until he gives me Astrid.”
She appeared beside him. He grasped her arm and pulled her flush against his side. “I’ll hand her over when the master appears.”
One of the doors of the tower burst open. From the black abyss, we heard, “Then rejoice, for your master has arrived.” Both Langril and Astrid emerged. Astrid didn’t look a bit different than she had when I last saw her. I took her hand and pulled her away from Langril. “How long has it been for you?” I asked.
“It’s been two minutes since you saved Heather. You?”
“Three months. It was hell knowing you had to go through those six months alone.”
I learned right before Langril took Vincent to Kadin that when three of the keys were in front of the tower, they had a strange effect. This began as the symbols on Langril’s, Hunt’s, and Heather’s palms started glowing white. Three of the doors began opening on their own. Fortunately, Krechea didn’t know that this wasn’t the full thing and he didn’t see that one of the glowing symbols was on Heather’s hand instead of mine.
“Now hand over my daughter.”
Believing that he had all four keys together, Krechea let her go. An instant later, more people emerged from the doorway. Over fifty to be exact. “What’s this?” I asked.
“You can’t call a handful of soul guards an army. This is an army.”
“What about the blood control?”
“It wears off when you are on a different world from your subjects.”
The plan clicked into gear all of a sudden. Felicity dropped her disguise, the soul guards and freed shadow walkers appeared, and Henry passed me the scorpion pendent. As soon as he handed it over, the disguising magic fell away to reveal the power-stealing amulet that Gale had used to take the magic of so many paranormals.
“I thought you destroyed that,” Felicity said.
“That’s what we wanted people to think.” It was decided that instead of using the cuffs, we would use the amulet. The reason I needed Darwin with me was because he could control it through me. If we wanted to win whatever the cost, Henry would have given it to Darwin, but we knew that was a bad idea. Darwin knew how to use my powers to spread the limit of the amulet to every paranormal in the world and control everyone’s mind. The worst part was that when he got ahold of that much power, his personality drastically changed. If Darwin touched the amulet, he wouldn’t care whether we were friend or foe. However, he knew how to use my magic through me when I let him into my mind. He could help me channel the power of the amulet without touching it himself.
We had Langril call for the soul guards and freed shadow walkers so that they could subdue Krechea while Darwin focused the amulet to draw away Krechea’s power. With Langril leading, the shadow walker army created a ring of red fire around Krechea. “You dare to challenge me like this?” Krechea asked.
“Hell yes. You took Langril’s daughter, my friend, my brothers, and poisoned my uncle’s familiar.” I opened my mind to Darwin and was almost surprised by how well he knew his way around my head. He bypassed all personal information to reach what felt like the core of my magic itself. I let him in, but it wasn’t pleasant.
There were several gasps in the cave as Darwin began sucking the shadow walkers’ power into me through the amulet. I knew the sensation they were feeling was somewhat akin to being underwater and still able to breathe. “Sorry,” Darwin said before adjusting it so that it only took power from Krechea.
Yet Krechea seemed to have better defenses. No matter how much Darwin focused on drawing power from Krechea, I barely felt a trickle. Krechea made a motion with his hands like he was pushing against the circle. Three of the shadow walkers dropped, and two more broke out in serious burns.
Hunt created a blue fire in his hands that produced blue smoke. This smoke floated straight for the circle and enclosed it. Krechea raised his hands and shot red lightning. It was definitely lessened by the blue smoke, but enough got through to shoot down another four shadow walkers.
“I thought you were going to use the amulet,” Henry whispered urgently to me.
“I am,” Darwin said. “It’s not enough.”
When Krechea aimed his lightning at Langril, Henry shoved the wizard out of the way. Langril reacted with his own burst of red lightning, which passed way too close to Henry before hitting Krechea. Unfortunately, it didn’t do much to the younger wizard.
“Flagstone, get Henry away from Langril,” I demanded. The shifter did as I asked, despite Henry’s struggles. “As long as his heart is safe, he can’t be killed! You can be.”
“I know that!” my friend agreed grudgingly. “It doesn’t make it any easier.”
This time, Krechea turned his attack on me. Right before his lightning could strike me, an invisible wall of energy formed in front of me, courtesy of Astrid. That was when I decided that just sucking his magic out wasn’t enough.
I was taking his magic into me, so I might as well use it. Since the university focused on teaching defense rather than offense, I would have been more comfortable taking out my gun and shooting him than using magic. Fortunately, after attending Watson’s classes, encountering numerous duels, and fighting opponents like Gale, I felt like I was adequately prepared.
I summoned up all my anger, all my confidence, and all my hate. It wasn’t just anger or hate for Krechea; I focused on my anger towards Regina for all the times she was a misery to be around, on Gale for cursing me and coming after paranormals, Langril for trapping Astrid, and Astrid herself. I had forgiven Astrid completely, but I still remembered the anger and hate I felt for her and all vampires for nearly twenty years. I let that all fill my head.
Somehow, this increased the flow of Krechea’s magic into me. He raised his hand to strike me again, and I unleashed my anger at the same time. It was like fire, but so much more. Red burst from my entire body, clashed with the oncoming energy, and formed into lightning that hit Krechea with enough force to shatter the ward around him.
To my shock, it did little more than knock him off his feet. He stood, prepared, and struck again. This time, there was no barrier to stop it. I felt actual pressure first, a split second before there was only pain.
And then it was gone. I opened my eyes to see Langril and Krechea locked in some kind of blindingly bright energy fight. I was on the ground, but there was no pain. It was definitely a killing blow, so my immortality cured the damage. It occurred to me, as I climbed back to my feet, that I should have made a deal with Heather a long time ago.
His fight with Langril distracted Krechea long enough for the shadow walkers to reform their ward around him. As soon as Langril let up, the circle snapped into place. “How many people have you killed for your power?” Langril asked.
“Not as many as you. I kill only those whose power I can benefit from. You kill powerless vermin.”
“I don’t do that anymore. You know that.”
“Because of your daughter? You
think I would believe that?”
“I never asked you to believe anything. That is the difference between being on the top and being on the bottom; I never have to answer to vermin… and that’s what you are. No matter how many people you kill, no matter how much power you gain, you will always be that scrawny, worthless, starving mongrel I spared. I should have killed you the day I found you. Your brother was the one with power and I knew that, I just chose to give you a chance. Instead, you killed the only person who cared about you.”
Darwin opened his mouth to interrupt, but I waved my hand at him and he shut it. The more Langril distracted Krechea, the more easily I was able to draw in his magic. Finally, when I thought I had drained enough, I struck again with the red lightning. Once again, he was thrown off his feet, only to get back up without any apparent damage.
Langril made a motion with his hands and the shadow walkers changed their tactic. The circle changed to a small tornado of sparkly silver smoke. With his shadow walkers distracting Krechea, Langril came to me. “This isn’t working. I’m going to destroy the tower in Dothra. Give me a couple of minutes and then push him through.”
“What about a paradox and shit?”
“I can contain it. Just make sure Henry protects my heart. As long as my heart is safe, he doesn’t need to worry about being my familiar, because all my power is in it.”
“But you would be trapped in Dothra forever.”
“All magic comes at a price, and it’s time for me to pay up.”
“I’m going with you,” Heather said.
“You would never be able to come back here.”
“I know. I belong with my father; this isn’t my world anymore.”
Langril turned back to me. “When the tower is destroyed from Dothra’s side, you will lose your immortality. All the shadow walkers will be trapped here and none of the humans who made a deal with the soul guards will go to Dothra when they die.”
“I’m going, too!” Felicity insisted. Without waiting for a response, she broke her magic from the battle and started for the door. Langril reached out and grabbed her before she could get to it.
“Gale is not in Dothra.”
Her eyes widened with shock and she hesitated. “He’s not? How can he not be there? How can you know that?”
“I looked for him while I was there. Krechea broke your deal by taking you before Gale died, so Gale’s soul is with the dead.”
“No! I’m supposed to be with him!”
“You will be, someday, unless you go through that door. You must choose between life and death, for if you stay here, you will die and if you return to Dothra, you never will.” After a few seconds of indecision, Felicity rejoined the battle.
Langril glanced at Hunt and I couldn’t comprehend his expression. Hunt had an almost identical look, as if they knew what the other person was thinking. They hated each other, yet they were friends. Then Langril and Heather vanished into the doorway.
“Devon!” Darwin snapped, bringing my attention back to the battle. The more magic he pulled from Krechea, the faster the flow became.
“Trap the magic in the amulet.” If Krechea died while his magic was inside me, I would keep the magic, and I sure as hell didn’t want that. I felt the energy change course and flow back into the amulet. Within a few minutes, it was radiating power.
“It’s not going to hold all his magic!”
The silver smoke was losing its luster. “It has to. We can’t force Krechea through the door if he’s fighting back.” The flow was still increasing in potency. Several of the shadow walkers glanced worriedly at me, probably hoping I would provide them with better instructions.
That was when I felt the amulet starting to crack. An instant later, my wizard staff appeared in my hand.
“Change of plans,” I said. “Spread the magic among all the shadow walkers and Hunt.”
“What if they turn on you?”
“Do it with my magic so that I can control their minds if they do.”
“You don’t like making it easy on me, do you?”
I didn’t answer. The magic began flowing from Krechea, to the amulet, through me, out into the amulet, and finally to all the wizards except for Krechea. Suddenly, I could feel all of the shadow walkers and soul guards in my mind. I stayed out of their memories and personal lives, but I could give them a command and determine who got how much power. It was like they were my little chess pieces that I could use however I wanted.
That was a slippery-slope if I ever saw one.
Still, it was an advantage, and I wasn’t going to waste it. Without a word, I instructed the shadow walkers to force Krechea through the door. More and more magic flowed through me until it started to sting. I ignored that and pushed harder. Darwin was just directing at this point.
This time, when Krechea struck me with another shot of energy, it was out of desperation. I let it hit me, knowing full well that my deal with Heather was voided. My instincts weren’t warning me of danger, and that wasn’t because Krechea wasn’t dangerous. He was very dangerous.
The reason I didn’t bother to stop the lightning was because when he struck, he was vulnerable, and also because my familiar was a gargoyle. At that moment, when all his remaining power was working to defeat me, his disguise fell away. In the few previous times I had seen his true, adult form, he was very different than what he looked like before he became Langril’s enemy. I had assumed that Langril had somehow disfigured him.
In reality, he was no different in appearance than any mortal man. What I was seeing, however, was what I could only describe as his soul. His hairless face was nothing short of grotesque, with stone-gray skin, glowing yellow eyes, and sharpened teeth. His body was something straight out of a horror flick; overall deformed with lumps, cysts, and greenish veins on his skin. This figure seemed to overlay the mortal form of the man like a ghost. It was so horrible a sight, in fact, that it nearly distracted me.
My instincts kept me focused. I channeled Krechea’s power away and I could feel my gargoyle’s magic ready to assist me. The magic that struck me should have thrown me across the room, yet I barely wobbled on my feet. My focus was on the shadow walkers and when Krechea was completely exposed, I was ready. In about one second, the silver tornado swept the powerful demon up and into the darkness of the tower.
The power flow between Krechea, me, and the shadow walkers snapped. Flagstone slammed the door shut, and there was absolute silence.
Nobody seemed to even want to breathe, as if they couldn’t believe he was gone. Even I was expecting it to be some kind of trick. After a few minutes, however, the shadow walkers turned to me. “What now?” one of them asked.
“We have the Shadow Master’s magic,” Felicity said, sounding like she was on the verge of shock.
I turned to Hunt. “I guess you have a new faction of students.”
Chapter 18
The shadow walkers had to be introduced to society without the rest of the paranormal community learning about the tower, the wizard council was still being formed, and the paranormals who were under protection at the university were taking their dear sweet time leaving. I didn’t want to have anything to do with that.
That was why I was packed and ready to head home the morning after the fight with Krechea. Darwin had his father come to pick him up, Kyle took my mother home, and Henry and Scott took Elizabeth and the boys back to their place.
I decided that I was going to find another place. Henry argued about it, but I told him I wasn’t attached to my apartment anymore. Since Henry, myself, and my landlord were the only ones with a key to my place, I was apprehensive when I arrived to find mail on my coffee table. Electric, water, and internet were paid online, my phones were pre-paid, I used free antennae, and the rent for my office and apartment were paid months in advance, so the only mail I got was junk.
Yet the letter on top of the junk mail had no stamp or address, only my name. I picked it up and pulled it out of the envelope. It was
a single piece of letter paper and the handwriting was one I would never forget.
Devon,
I gave up coming over cause ur landladys a bich. i spose ur fucking her. anyway, im moving into jeffs mansion. i no the judge gave me the hous in the divorce but you never put my name on it. The realtor was being anel about it so jeff said he would pay me if i give it back to you. its not like the hous is worth crap anyway. the key is on the porch. dont bother calling. u had ur chance. the wedding is june 15 and ur NOT invited.
The letter was utterly painful to read thanks to my ex-wife’s near illiteracy. However, after I deciphered the actual message, I set the letter down feeling pretty damn happy. I wanted to go celebrate because even after the divorce, she was still my problem. Neighbors had called me to complain about her before I changed my number. After that, they showed up at my office to demand that I control her when she drove sixty-miles-per-hour on the neighborhood streets or drunkenly broke into their houses.
There was a knock on my door that sent a shiver down my spine. It wasn’t a bad feeling, just very familiar. I went to my door and opened it. “You know, my window is always open,” I said.
Astrid smirked. “Just how many vampires do you have coming and going from your apartment? Is this a bad time?”
“Actually, I think you’re the one I wanted to see most right now.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Well, you have improved on your compliments.”
She entered the room and I shut the door behind her. “Thanks. I’ve been practicing on Clara.”
Her glare could boil water. “I hate you,” she said.
I laughed. “I’m joking. I don’t know why you hate her so much, though.”
“I don’t know why anyone likes her. She looks like a rainbow puked in her hair and she’s a pansexual slut. You would be better off with literally anyone else on Earth.” And that was when a little of the wind rushed out of her sail. She sat on the couch and I sat next to her, not touching. “I guess we need to talk. You seemed to have forgiven me before I went to Dothra, but that was before you found out that Krechea was controlling me.”
