“Nice one,” said Aiden.
“Who’s talking to you this time?” said Lloyd, picking up Morgan’s knife and handing it back to him.
“Keir’s brother,” I said. “He had a slight mishap and ended up separated from his body, which is currently being piloted by another dead vampire somewhere.”
“Jesus,” Lloyd said. “A zombie disintegrated all over my shoes and everyone here is still having a worse day than I am.”
“I’d take the zombies if only I had shoes for them to disintegrate on,” Aiden added.
“Wasn’t one ghost enough?” Morgan asked.
“I’m not a ghost,” said Evelyn.
“Is this really the time to be pedantic?” Lloyd stepped back from the dead fury. “Where is Keir’s brother’s body, then?”
“It wandered off to join Lord Sutherland’s army. Keir followed, but Lord Sutherland summoned me before I could track him.”
“He did what?”
“Summoned her,” Aiden said. “Just like that. Man, if her other spirit hadn’t stepped in—”
I switched on my spirit sight and tuned out his chattering, scanning the spirit realm for any trace of Keir’s presence. The thin tears in the fog appeared even bigger now. Lord Sutherland was deluded if he thought inviting the giant shadow fury over here would help the situation at all rather than making it worse.
I directed my consciousness outwards. An army of vampires would be hard to hide, so I zeroed in on the flickering trace in the distance, coming from the spirit line running through the centre of town. Gotcha. Hiding his army on the spirit line was a smart idea, but not smart enough. Lord Sutherland must have rounded his vampires up like cattle ready to feed their souls to the shadow-fury. So much for commanding loyalty.
Aiden’s body would be among their group somewhere, which meant Keir wouldn’t be far behind. Question: how to get them out without alerting the rest of the army? Keir’s trace was barely distinguishable from the hundred or more vampires the mages had drawn over to their domain.
Too close.
They caught him.
21
Sensation returned to my body, my chest rising and falling with quick breaths. No. Keir.
“What is it?” asked Aiden. “By the way, your spirit isn’t in the best shape at the moment. Did a vampire feed on you recently?”
“Yes, and Keir—he’s with the other vampire shades. I can’t tell if they caught him or not.”
Either way, how could I sneak up on the army without provoking an attack?
“And my body?” Aiden asked. “Don’t tell me—he marched into the middle of the army to find it and got caught, didn’t he?”
“You’re not going after him?” Lloyd’s brow wrinkled, anxious. “Damn, Jas. Be careful, okay?”
“I’ll try to.” I accepted his hug, my hands shaking. Dammit, Keir. If Death’s gates took me again, he’d be dragged there with me—and so would Aiden.
Keir’s trace guided my steps through the eerily empty streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town. The stench of dismembered fury clung to me like an old coat, and Aiden’s constant stream of chatter was a welcome change from the muted sounds of terrified humans fleeing the chaos.
Every time I checked the spirit realm, the tears seemed worse, merging to form man-sized rips in reality. The veil was the only barrier between this realm and the ones beyond. Never mind the furies—we’d have a full-blown Faerie War Part 2 on our doorsteps if someone didn’t fix the damage. Hell if I knew how. Using my magic would paint a flashing target on my head and on Aiden by extension.
My steps halted beside a flickering street lamp. “I know this street.”
“You do?” said Aiden. “Ah—a spirit line.”
“Best hiding place for an army of vampire shades.” The rippling current of energy smothered the row of terraced houses. The vampires must be in the tunnels because no sign of them showed aboveground. Sneaky bastards.
A single spark appeared on the line, moving towards me with the quietness of a vampire shade. I readied myself to attack—and looked into Keir’s eyes.
His clothes were torn, a familiar mark glowing on his collarbone. Blue-grey light shone from his eyes, but the shadow who piloted his body wasn’t Keir.
The vampires ripped him out of his body.
“Let him go,” I snarled at the vampire shade. “This is your last warning.”
“Get out of my brother’s body.” Aiden flew at Keir but passed right through him without touching the shade.
Keir lunged, aiming a punch at me. I blocked his strike, pain sparking from my forearm to my fingertips. From the angle, the vampire piloting him didn’t have Keir’s combat skills, but he was still stronger and faster than I was, while my stamina was depleted and my spirit felt pretty fragile, too.
Evelyn appeared, blasting Hemlock magic into the mark on his collarbone. I added my own magic, and the mark distorted into an inky smudge.
The vampire, however, stayed put. Using Keir’s body, he lunged at me. I let him, catching his hand in mine as I slammed down onto my back. Unable to resist the opportunity to feed on a fresh shade, he didn’t pull away. A mistake.
Blue light sprang to my palm, and I yanked the threads as hard as I could muster. Energy flowed from him to me, and he began to fade.
Panic suffused his expression. He tried to pull away, but the link didn’t break. His mouth opened and closed, but my hand remained locked to his, through the spirit realm. I wasn’t sure I could let go. His spirit essence flooded me, and I whispered, “I banish you. Go in peace.”
The vampire shade vanished from sight. Hard pavement dug into my spine. I sat up, the back of my head giving a painful throb. Keir’s body half-lay across mine, and when I gently pushed him onto his back, his eyes didn’t open.
“They have his spirit somewhere in there,” Aiden said, anxiously hovering on the spot. “How are we supposed to get him out?”
“I can summon him.” I dug a hand in my pocket, not finding any candles. Just the blood magic pen. I wonder…
“What’re you doing?” Evelyn demanded. “You can’t perform a summoning with that.”
“I know.” I pushed up Keir’s sleeve and drew a mirror of the symbol I wore on my own wrist, courtesy of Isabel and Asher. Please let this work.
Keir might not be a witch, but I was, and my magic fuelled the spell. When the symbol was complete, I gave him a firm shake, jolting him with Hemlock magic. A spasm vibrated up his arm as the mark flared to life.
Keir’s eyes flew open, and he drew in a gasping breath. “What the—?”
I threw my arms around him, and after a moment, he hugged me back. “What the hell were you thinking, going up against an army?”
Keir released me. “I wasn’t. Thinking, I mean. How…?” He lifted his wrist, eyeing the glowing mark. “Is this a mage mark?”
“I had to use blood magic to shock you back into your body,” I said. “It was that or summon you, and I’m all out of candles.”
Keir started to speak, then he set eyes on Aiden. The remaining colour drained from his face. “This is a dream, isn’t it? Or I’m dead.”
“Nope,” said Aiden. “Neither am I, come to that.”
“Who the hell are you?” Keir said. “Why do you look like my brother?”
“It’s not my best day,” Aiden said. “I assume my body is somewhere under that spirit line? Please tell me nobody destroyed it. I’m kind of having an existential crisis here.”
“It’s him,” I told Keir. “He was in the lab, and—it’s complicated. Let’s just say Lord Sutherland has cracked. He’s planning to summon that giant shadow fury here and let it eat all the vampire shades. Needless to say, there’s an obvious downside.”
“You’re telling me,” said Aiden. “Keir, I’m bound to your girlfriend, but it won’t last forever. Also, this is a little weird, especially with the second soul on board.”
“I’m not thrilled about it either,” Evelyn put in.
“There a
re entirely too many people sharing my body,” I added. “But we’re all real. Ghosts included.”
“Jesus,” said Keir.
“I mean, I technically came back from the dead,” said Aiden. “Wouldn’t claim to be the next messiah, mind, but you never know.”
Keir groaned. “You sound like my brother.”
“There you have it.” Aiden gave a self-important nod. “I’m real, but I won’t be for much longer unless you evict the low-life who’s walking around wearing my face. Did you see me? I mean, him?”
“Hey!” shouted a loud, shrill voice, drawing our attention.
Neil Sutherland marched up the steps from the house, his straw-like hair in disarray and his fancy clothes rumpled. A quick scan of the spirit realm confirmed no vampire piloted him—more’s the pity.
“Fuck off,” Keir said to him. “Go back into your hole in the ground.”
“Seconded,” Aiden said. “Neil, is it? I remember you crying and hiding when your father captured me.”
Neil’s face reddened. “Do I know you?”
“Probably not.” Aiden sighed. “Does nobody remember me at all? Man, dying sucks.”
“Next time I’ll make sure you’ll stay dead, vampire,” Neil spat.
Keir moved towards him, but Neil raised his hands and sent a bolt of lightning at us. It bounced off the road, and my hair lifted with the static aftereffect of Neil’s mage power.
Metallic hate coalesced on my tongue. Neil had nearly killed Keir once already—though, thinking about it, that was probably the moment Keir had turned into a shade.
Keir’s face showed no fear, only irritation, as he snagged the mage apprentice by the front of his cloak and swung him over his shoulder. Neil landed in a crumpled heap. Keir gave him a brutal kick in the ribs when he tried to get up, and Aiden gave a round of applause next to me.
“You know, I don’t appreciate it when people try to kill me.” A knife appeared in Keir’s hand. “Especially stuck-up brats with an ego complex.”
Neil whimpered. Then the street trembled beneath my feet, unbalancing all of us. Neil fell flat on his back, avoiding Keir’s knife, and a rumbling echoed along the row of terraced houses.
“Cut that out,” I told Neil.
“That wasn’t me,” Neil gasped. “It was—”
A crack split the road down the middle, leaving Keir and Neil on one side, and me and Aiden on the other. More cracks splintered outwards like ripples on the surface of a pond. Roof tiles clanged loose, while more vampires emerged through the basement door in front of us, swaying like drunks.
“What the hell is that, the signal to attack?” I didn’t think so, somehow. The vampires could barely keep upright, let alone walk in a straight line. “Or—the fury?”
“No,” said Evelyn. “That isn’t an Ancient.”
The sound of glass shattering filled the air. Walls crumbled as the roads trembled, causing my teeth to rattle in my skull. Vampires tripped over one another as their survival instincts took over, clouds of dust from the collapsing houses smothering the basement entrance.
“Hey, my body’s somewhere under there!” Aiden shouted indignantly. “Whoever’s causing that earthquake, chill the hell out.”
Earthquake. Like… an earth mage. “Neil, what is your father playing at?”
“I don’t know!” Neil yelped, clinging onto the edge of the road for dear life. “I bet it’s your people, trying to take what’s ours.”
“Doesn’t look like he minds if he wipes you out along with his army,” I remarked, my words lost in the thunder of collapsing houses. It looked like my suspicion that the foundations had never been stable was right on the mark.
I leapt over the crack in the road to reach Keir and pull him to safety. His feet were braced against the rocking street, his eyes on the vampires swarming to the surface like ants from a disturbed nest. One of them grabbed Neil from behind, dragging him away with a strangled cry.
Aiden swore, pointing ahead. “Hey, dickhead, get out of my body!”
Keir and I both spun around in time to see Aiden’s body use two other vampires as leverage to climb out of the ruined house. He was covered in dust, his eyes aglow with the light of a vampire’s soul.
Another quake shook the road, and Aiden stumbled over the edge. Keir caught him before he fell, locking his arms around his brother’s shoulders. I jumped over to join him, helping to carry Aiden’s body away from the crack in the road. He kicked and struggled, the vampire fighting for dominance. My grip broke, and magic sprang to my hands.
Evelyn appeared in front of Aiden. Magic flew from her to him, erasing the mark on his collarbone. The vampire’s spirit came loose, flying at me.
Reaching up, I willed the vampire’s life force to flow into me. Energy flooded my body, filled my veins with liquid warmth. The vampire faded, and Keir shouted from behind, “I banish you beyond Death, vampire!”
The vampire’s faded spirit disappeared into nothingness. Keir held Aiden’s body, freed from its immortal pilot.
I released a slow, shaky breath. Beside me, Evelyn hovered above the cracked road.
“Thank you,” I whispered to her.
Keir’s wide eyes sought me out. “Jas, is Aiden still with you?”
“Just about,” Aiden’s faint voice said from beside my shoulder. “Jas, you’ll have to transfer me over to my body. I’m not going to last much longer.”
“Which symbol do I use to return you to your body?” I wished I’d read that whole ritual magic book, but there was no time. I’d just have to trust in my skill as a witch and necromancer.
“Same as the one on you,” Aiden said. His voice sounded quieter. “Since the body is already mine, it’ll make the binding permanent.”
The road continued to tremble, but Aiden’s presence had dimmed to almost nothing. I couldn’t lose him now.
“I’ll help,” Keir said. “Just tell me what to do.”
“I think a witch has to do it.” I pulled out the pen, pushing up my sleeve. Then I took Aiden’s hand and exposed the pale skin of his wrist, pressing the nib to his skin. One touch and the ink ignited, but Aiden remained floating at my side even as I completed the symbol.
“You’ll have to undo the spell binding us first,” Aiden said.
Keir’s eyes met mine across the road—steady, trusting. He knew I could do this.
I pressed the pen to my own wrist. My teeth rattled as the road gave another tremor and the pen pierced the skin, drawing blood. “Shit.”
Aiden flew loose from my body—but not towards his own.
“Aiden!” Keir shouted, his eyes blanking out as he flew to catch his brother’s spirit. On Aiden’s wrist, the mark gleamed, but not brightly enough. I hadn’t put enough power into it.
I caught Aiden’s limp hand, pushing all the power I had into the binding symbol. Magic rippled from my skin to his, igniting the mark. A shuddering breath tore through his lungs. Blue eyes flickered open.
“Keir!” I shouted. “He’s—”
Aiden promptly fell flat on his face. “Ow. I don’t think I can walk.”
“I can carry you,” Keir said, “but we have to get off this street.”
Cracks covered every inch of the road, and most of the houses were reduced to piles of rubble. Vampire-driven zombies climbed over the wreckage, but none of them seemed keen to leap over the gap in the road to join us.
“Hang onto me,” said Keir, gingerly lifting his brother onto his back.
“Damn, Keir,” Aiden said. “You grew up. You’re not half as scrawny as you were when I left.”
“Hold on tight,” Keir said. “This whole street is going to collapse.”
I jumped from one fragment of the road to another. “What the hell is Lord Sutherland doing, trying to rip open the earth?”
“I don’t think he’s summoning that fury,” Evelyn commented, floating behind me. “Otherwise, we’d hear it. Maybe he’s just throwing a tantrum.”
I doubted it. “What in hell we
re you doing the whole time I was in the lab, anyway? Not summoning another dragon?”
Evelyn didn’t answer. I didn’t think she’d opened a spirit line again, but it wasn’t worth arguing. She’d saved Aiden’s life, after all.
Keir and followed an unsteady route through the cracked street, keeping an eye on Aiden in case he slipped. I held my breath every time the earth trembled, making a mental note to find out if there was a blood magic symbol for perfect balance if I ever got out of here alive.
“I’m going to tell everyone I run into that I haven’t inhabited a body in nearly a decade,” Aiden informed Keir. “Just to see their faces.”
I snorted. “You’re lucky your body isn’t one of the zombies the mages burned.”
“Otherwise you’d still have me hitching a ride alongside your creepy cousin,” said Aiden.
“I’m not her cousin,” said Evelyn.
“I think I’d have gone to hide in the spirit realm after a week of listening to you two bickering.” I climbed over the street’s single street lamp, which now lay on its side, still flickering. “It looks to me like the Mage Lord might have lost control of his magic.”
“Not quite.” Keir stopped walking. “Shit.”
Lord Sutherland stood at the street’s end, his hands outstretched, power rippling around him. Cracks spread out from his feet, deep into the earth, like the roots of an enormous tree.
I halted on an island in the middle of the trembling road. “I thought you wanted to protect the city, not destroy it, Lord Sutherland.”
His positioning showed a startling lack of concern for his own safety, yet dark intelligence shone in his eyes. I was pretty sure they hadn’t been grey-blue before.
“Not quite,” he said, his voice soft and cold.
That wasn’t Lord Sutherland’s voice.
“Do I know you?” I said, a chill taking hold of me. Oh, no. He didn’t, did he? Please tell me he didn’t.
The Soul Collector’s stare bored into me, pupils darting with madness. “You, Jas Lyons, will pay for what you did to me.”
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