by Dianna Love
Veronika split the power from the sphere she held to blow up those creatures.
Shock filled Adrianna’s face.
Storm and Trey ran up to Rowan outside the invisible field. Where had they come from? Could they get inside? Storm turned and ran at the invisible field. He slapped his hands on it and was yelling something so loud, the veins in his neck stuck out. His hand glowed and his eyes turned red.
No, not the demon. Evalle would not be the reason Storm’s demon blood rose to the surface again.
She needed her kinetics to break Veronika’s hold on Quinn.
The sun was almost completely covered.
Any second now Evalle could peel off her gloves and ...
Veronika called to Adrianna, “Your power will join your sister’s and we three will become one.”
Power racing from the sphere in Veronika’s hand shifted from pushing Adrianna back to flooding over her.
Evalle couldn’t save Quinn and Adrianna too. In that moment, Adrianna looked at Evalle and mouthed, Save Quinn.
Then Adrianna’s body shot up in the air, jerked left and right like a rag doll in strong wind. The arc of power spewing from the sphere to Adrianna brightened, but this one did not toss her the way it had Rowan.
The power engulfed Adrianna. She screamed in agony and arched backwards.
Chapter 42
Adrianna fought the pain that spiked through every inch of her body. She would not give that witch her power.
The moon sealed off the sun overhead.
No. Veronika can’t win.
Ragan’s voice spoke in Adrianna’s head. Now is the moment, sister. Veronika is greedy and wants to bind our powers before Witchlock takes over. Kill her now.
Adrianna cried out, I can’t. I’m sorry. I have to save you. Her body spun two rotations, then she still floated above the ground, flailing her arms and feeling her body being sucked dry.
When she could focus again, Adrianna saw the fight below. Evalle snatched off her gloves and took off running straight for Quinn and Veronika. She tossed a hand at Quinn, hitting him with kinetics that sent him flying twenty feet, then Evalle stepped into a kick, booting Veronika’s hand hard and knocking the sphere flying.
Adrianna watched in shock as the sphere flew up in the air, straight for her. Ragan’s panicked face came into focus, white eyes glowing. Adrianna reached out and grabbed the sphere as it passed her, laughing and crying at catching it until she realized her horizontal body still hung suspended in the air.
Ragan’s voice shouted, “Stop her, Adrianna. Stop her now! I’ll give you my power.”
“No. I’m getting you out of there.”
“You can stop Veronika. Take my power!”
Adrianna shook her head. “You’ll die!”
“I’m already dead, sister. She fed my power into this sphere. The sphere and I are one. I will never have a life or a death as long as she controls Witchlock.”
Evalle was pushing a kinetic wall at Veronika, whose hood had fallen away to show the vicious gaze that would kill a thousand as easily as it would step on an ant. But she wasn’t looking at Evalle. She stared up, speechless at sight of the sphere in Adrianna’s hands.
Then Veronika screeched in a blood curdling cry, “Mine!”
A black tornado of smoke spiraled down from the eclipse, spinning faster the closer it came to the ground.
Ragan begged, “Open our bond, Adrianna, and I will send you my power. Take it and kill her. Free me, please. Don’t leave me to suffer any more. Open the bond on your side.”
Adrianna’s eyes flooded and the tears poured. She stared at Ragan and tried to breathe. After all this time she’d thought she could do the right thing to free Ragan, but she didn’t have it in her to kill the one person she loved in this world.
Ragan looked up. “Veronika rushed the process bringing me from the realm. She made a mistake and opened herself up. I’ve gained Veronika’s innermost thoughts. The second that tornado touches down, someone has to take control of Witchlock or it will kill everyone here.”
Storm still hadn’t broken through Hermia and Veronika’s spelled wall.
Rowan wasn’t moving.
Evalle continued to shove her kinetics at Veronika, but Evalle slid another foot backwards. She was losing ground and the sun would come out any second and burn her to a crisp.
Ragan sobbed and begged, “Please. You can do this.”
Adrianna had no choices left. She looked at her sister and said, “I’m sorry. I love you.”
“I love you and I know you love me. Stop Veronika. Do it for me.”
Squeezing her eyes shut, Adrianna opened the bond they’d had from birth and Ragan’s power flooded her. The burst of power washed across her skin and soaked into her body.
She opened her eyes and the sphere expanded until it engulfed both Adrianna and her sister. She reached for Ragan, whose fingers extended to hers.
The second they touched, Ragan gasped and began shrinking.
“Ragaaan!”
Ragan turned into a tiny spark that blinked out.
Adrianna’s heart tried to climb out of her chest and grab her sister.
The sphere had vanished but Adrianna’s prone body was still suspended thirty feet above the ground.
The tornado tip spun tighter into a narrow, twisting funnel, heading for Veronika.
Adrianna stared in horror. Veronika would gain both her and her sister’s power. What do I do?
Storm crashed through the invisible wall, leaving it smoking. His eyes glowed demon red.
Ragan’s voice whispered in Adrianna’s mind. Call Witchlock to you. That’s all you have to do. Now!
As if on autopilot, Adrianna’s mouth opened and her voice called out, “I command Witchlock to obey me!”
Veronika’s eyes rounded. She shook her head, reached toward the tornado and screamed, “Noooo!”
The tornado tip hovered ten feet above the ground, just out of Veronika’s reach.
Chapter 43
Evalle’s body shook. She wouldn’t be able to hold this kinetic field against Veronika’s power much longer.
A freakin’ tornado had spun down from the eclipsed sun.
And headed straight for Veronika.
No, no, no.
As Evalle watched, the tornado paused, then curled away from Veronika, leaving the dark-haired witch slack-jawed as the spinning tip turned up at an angle ... toward Adrianna, who was glowing bright gold.
A blur flew by Evalle, and Storm hit Veronika so hard, he knocked her fifty feet, where she landed and slid across the ground in a pile of billowing red.
The pressure from Veronika’s majik evaporated and Evalle fell forward on her face. Grace be to Macha, her arms were shot from muscle fatigue.
Someone rolled her over, and she tensed, ready to slam a power shot into whoever was touching her, but then she heard Storm’s voice. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
She looked up smiling even though he couldn’t see her face beneath the ninja head covering.
Then she saw the full eclipse. “Sun! Gloves!”
He grabbed her hands and shoved them inside his coat as the first rays of sunshine struck the ground around them. He had her hands against his chest and she could feel his heart slamming like an engine in overdrive.
Hers was no calmer.
All of a sudden the air cooled around them. Adrianna dropped to her knees next to Evalle, with the gloves in her hands. She told Storm, “I’ve got you both shielded from the sun right now. It’s safe to let her move her hands.”
That would explain the temperature drop, even with the late-day sun coming back to full force.
Storm said to Evalle, “You haven’t answered my question.”
“I’m good. Help me sit up.” Once she was upright, she carefully pulled her hands out and, when they didn’t fry, she lifted her ninja headgear.
Storm kissed her.
She was alive. The people she cared about were alive and well. She was kis
sing the man she loved. Living arrangements were small bubbles.
“You two are nauseating,” Adrianna chided, trying to sound light, but her voice held so much pain it hurt Evalle’s heart, hearing her try to be chipper.
People were in chaos, running all around them.
Wannabe witches had changed their minds—imagine that–and ran for the exit path. Rowan looked like she’d been fighting a wildfire, covered in black soot from head to toe, but she had Hermia off to one side, unloading on her. Hermia had crossed the wrong witch, because after today there was no question that there would be a council of five or that Rowan would lead it.
Storm sat down with his arm around Evalle’s shoulders. His eyes were their normal brown again.
Adrianna stared off into the distance.
Evalle said, “We didn’t save Ragan, did we?”
“No.”
“I’m sorry, Adrianna.”
Adrianna swallowed and took a moment, clearly gathering herself back to the contained woman she always presented to the world. “It’s okay. She’s free. She asked to be ... released.”
Evalle had to take some deep breaths to keep tears back. Adrianna had lost everything. “What happened with the sphere and ... Witchlock?”
Turning an intense blue gaze on Evalle, Adrianna said, “We thought we failed when we went to Jafnan Mir, but when Veronika found out we’d been there trying rescue Ragan, she rushed the process, taking my sister out of the realm too soon. She assumed Ragan would still be absorbed into Witchlock as planned, so Veronika didn’t expend the energy to shield her mind from Ragan. But because she was taken out too soon, Ragan had access to everything Veronika knew. Ragan knew that if no one took possession of Witchlock, it would destroy this world.”
Evalle said, “Did you really ... call it to you?”
Adrianna nodded, eyes haunted.
“Is that how you could make a sun shield for me so fast?”
The witch nodded again. Pulling a hand from where it had been tucked against her body, Adrianna’s fingers unfolded and a golf-ball sized, spinning sphere appeared in her palm.
Storm leaned in. “You have it?”
“Or it has me. Only time will tell.” Adrianna looked at Evalle with a sad smile. “But as far as I know, I now possess the most powerful witchcraft on this planet.”
Evalle cocked her head, staring at the spinning ball. “I thought only a marked KievRus witch could wield Witchlock. How can you…”
“I don’t know. Ragan and I have—we had—exactly the same powers. She was stronger, but whatever one of us could do, the other could do. All I can figure is that Veronika set up a screaming-strong link to Ragan so she could draw on Ragan’s power, and through that, Ragan somehow gained Veronika’s ability to call Witchlock to her. Then when Ragan and I opened our bond, I guess I gained that ability too. And the ability to at least hold Witchlock. Whether or not I can actually wield it remains to be seen.”
The responsibility of what she’d taken on showed in Adrianna’s eyes. And alongside it, the fact that she’d trade all that power for her sister without question.
Evalle had no idea what this meant for the future, and she had no idea whether her concern would be welcome, but she took a deep breath and said, “I know you didn’t want it, but you’ll make the right choices with that power.”
Adrianna folded her fingers closed and the ball of light vanished. She glanced over to where Quinn and Trey had Veronika bound and under control. Twenty Beladors had arrived, probably at Trey’s call, and were dealing with the crowd.
Lucien was there, too, and the look he was giving Hermia threatened far worse than Rowan’s scolding, but when his gaze shifted to Rowan, she looked up and smiled at him.
Hermia would be safe from Lucien’s wrath only because Rowan had her hand on Hermia’s shoulder in a clear sign she was now under Rowan’s protection.
Evalle’s gaze strayed back to the Beladors. She was glad to see that Quinn looked like Quinn. She turned back to Adrianna. “Are you sorry we didn’t kill Veronika?”
Adrianna sighed. “I could have killed Veronika the minute I took Witchlock, but my sister and I swore to never follow the dark witch—or the white witch—ways. My sister died to keep dark power from wreaking devastation on this world. It would be a travesty to use that power only to take a life, even Veronika’s, because yes, Veronika has some juice, but once she lost Ragan’s power, she was no longer a threat. At least as long as witches like Rowan are around.”
And you, Evalle amended silently.
Storm added, “And as long as VIPER keeps her locked up.”
Quinn walked up. “Evalle, I...”
She jumped up and hugged him. “I’m so sorry she used Kizira to get into your head.”
Quinn hugged her back. “I screwed up. I believed I could take control of her mind and bring in Sen to lock her up. I’m ... not fit to be Maistir. I should–”
She pulled back and finished his sentence. “Accept that you’re human.” She gave him a soft smile. “Okay, not really, but sort of. As much as any of us are, because we’re all vulnerable one way or another, and please realize we need you. This shows how much we need you. She’d have gained full control of anyone weaker than you.”
“Maybe you’re right.” He pulled his hands back and raked them both through his hair. “It was so ... real. I tried to use mindlock to fight her, but—”
Adrianna interjected, “That was her gift, Quinn. She could draw an image from any thought. She didn’t even need to get past your shields. Once you reached out with your mind, she only had to pull up enough visual to attack your most vulnerable point. I’m just starting to figure out some of the other gifts she had, and intended to abuse.”
“What do you mean?” Quinn asked as Storm stood and pulled Evalle next to him again.
The men in Evalle’s life were protective and possessive. She’d just have to accept that.
Adrianna stood, too. She looked around and leaned in, keeping her voice down. “I think Ragan’s power brought me a mirror of Veronika’s consciousness.”
“Like a backup hard drive?” Storm asked.
“Something like that.” Adrianna looked around again and added, “Veronika had some truly ambitious goals.”
“What else did the egomaniac want?” Evalle asked.
“I told you she’d need maybe ten years to take over this world unless she gained my power, but she planned to go up against Queen Maeve first thing.”
“Wow. She was more mental than I’d have thought possible.”
Quinn shook his head and said, “Evalle, I hate to bring this up, but we have to meet the Tribunal in eight hours.”
Storm’s arm tightened. “See if you can get an extension.”
Adrianna broke in. “He doesn’t have to, because we found out the truth last night.”
Storm stopped. “You said a warlock confessed last night. Who is he?”
Evalle supplied the answer. “Over there on the ground with his head hanging at the wrong angle. While we were on our way to dinner, Veronika and that Medb warlock, Don—“ She tossed her thumb in the direction of the dead one. “—admitted making the demon from another warlock, and adding the glamour. Don is the one who took the body and gave it to Cathbad. But then our enterprising warlock, Don, moved up to the big leagues with Veronika. Whatever he’d been up to sounded as if it hadn’t been sanctioned by the Medb, believe it or not.”
“Too bad he’s dead. What are we giving the Tribunal for evidence?” Quinn asked.
Adrianna answered, “Me. I’ll testify and they’ll accept that since I can’t lie in a Tribunal.”
Evalle thought on that. They wouldn’t accept her not lighting up red as evidence, but the Tribunal wanted an end to the Medb and Belador issues. When Adrianna didn’t light up, they should take that testimony as truth. Evalle recalled Tzader’s comments at the Tribunal and asked, “You think Cathbad will end up sanctioned?”
Quinn sighed. “Probably not. The Med
b will find some way to prove their warlock was either rogue or coerced into doing this, and testify that Cathbad knew nothing. As long as he doesn’t light up, he’ll get away with it by offering to call it all done.” Quinn glanced around. “I’ve been through a few legal battles in my time. You have to think like your opponent.”
Stepping back, Quinn said, “Please excuse me. I need to speak with my Beladors.”
“Wait, how did the Beladors know about this? Did Trey call them?”
“Yes. When he and Storm determined that the shielding around this gathering was of hostile origin, Trey called for any Beladors who could get here, and told them not to link.”
Evalle nodded, and when Quinn walked away, she asked Adrianna, “Why would Veronika go after Maeve first?”
“I’m not sure. All I’ve picked up was an obsession with a dragon that belongs to the Medb.”
Storm said, “That’s new. Why would Veronika want a dragon?”
Adrianna tapped a long red nail against her chin. “I don’t know, but I intend to find out. I know Ragan wants me to...” She paused. “I can’t explain it, but I can feel when she’s gently pushing on a thought.” She drew a deep breath and her voice lost the thickness when she spoke this time. “I suppose since Storm is here, you don’t need a ride home.”
“Thanks, but no,” Evalle replied. “I’ve had all the terror I can take for one day.”
“This from the maniac on a Gixxer.”
Evalle narrowed her eyes at Adrianna. “Let me know when you want to see what it’s like to take curves laid over close enough to touch the ground.”
“Pass.” Adrianna told Storm, “Her sun shield will follow her to your truck, but you only have about ninety minutes left to worry about.” Then she gave Storm the words he’d need to break the spell.
“We’ll be home in half that time,” Evalle said, then extended her hand to Adrianna, something she’d done only once before. That first time had surprised the witch because you didn’t touch a witch unless you had no choice. When Adrianna took her hand, Evalle said, “Thanks for taking Witchlock and ...you know if you need me...”
