by Sierra Cross
Then the singing engulfed me. You belong to me. I sank into the bliss of its promise, belonging to something so beautiful. So strong and powerful it could never be killed. Never be ripped away from me like my parents had been. My hands felt suddenly hot at the realization. The tree was playing me, playing with my old wound. There was a hole in my heart still, from so long ago. I wanted it to be filled by the promise this tree offered. You belong to me, the tree sang again, even more soulfully. The hell I do, I yelled back in my head. Belonging is the coven and Matt and my family. I belong with them. I belong to no one and nothing. Using every drop of will power I possessed, I backed out of the lab and smacked the panel to close the door.
The look on Eric’s face wasn’t the disappointment I expected, but satisfaction. “The tree has called you.” Excitement and wonder colored his voice. “Do you know how rare that is? I could live a thousand years and never see another called to it as strongly. It’s more than just the power of your bloodline,” he mused. “It’s as if your magic has been twisted, somehow.” His cool blue eyes narrowed as if he was probing deep into my soul. I felt powerless to look away. “Yes. Malformed. Perhaps the effect of bearing so much loss, so early in life.” His voice had dropped to an intimate, hypnotic murmur. “Yes, I can see the pain that tattoos your soul, Alix.” Whoa. The demon could see my pain? That was so not okay. That was more disturbing than the tree, almost. “I find it beautiful,” he added, making me shudder with revulsion. “Irresistible, really.” Eric smiled. “I could be such an asset to you. Because I really see you. All of you. The witch of rare potential...and the wounded little girl. I wouldn’t just mentor you. I’d cherish you forever. With me at your side, you could rule this city.”
No, my mind screamed. My feet moved again without my permission, this time turning me away from his smug smile.
“It’s only a matter of time,” he called after me. “The tree will bind us to each other. For eternity.”
Running down the hallway, my legs trembled so badly that I was surprised I wasn’t bouncing into walls. Cold sweat ran down my back, tears that I didn’t want to fall stung my cheeks. In the elevator bay, I ran smack dab into a woman, and papers went flying. She grabbed my elbow and shook me. “Alix, what’s wrong?” Only then did I realize I nearly flattened my aunt.
“Aunt Jenn, we have to get out of here.” My voice high-pitched, my words running together.
“Slow down. Take a breath.”
I could feel her trying to calm me and that just made me realize that she had no clue of the danger she was in. I needed to get her out of here. I grabbed her hand and jerked her toward the door.
“Would you stop,” she said, yanking her hand back. “I need to pick up my papers. Really, what’s wrong with you?” Concern was now tinged with frustration.
“We’ve looked it up. Project Germination is evil. We need to leave here and never come back, I mean it!”
“Can you hear yourself?” She sighed. “Who is this we?”
“I’m putting the coven back together. We can protect you, but we need to leave now. Please.” I begged.
She looked at me with pity. The moment stretched. “I don’t know who you’re hanging out with, but they are obviously feeding your delusions. Eric and I will get you help.”
I felt a tremor like an earthquake and looked around. From Aunt Jenn’s raised eyebrows, it was clear I was the only one feeling it, but I knew what it was. The tree was reaching for me. What terrified me is I wanted to reach back. I didn’t have enough willpower to be in this building all day; Matt had been right. I needed to get out now. If I didn’t, I’d never be able to help Aunt Jenn or anyone else again.
I ran.
“Alix!” Aunt Jenn called after me in confusion, but I kept going.
I burst through the door to my apartment, turned the lock, and threw my back against the door like it could keep out the monster that wanted my soul. Mascara bled down my cheeks, and my breath came in pants. What if the tree can reach me here? Would I go back to it?
Matt wrapped his strong arms around me and I collapsed into him. He pulled me back and looked, like he was checking for wounds. Without a word, he lifted me up and carried me to the couch where he draped a blanket around me. Only then did I try to take full breaths.
“What happened?” His voice was calm but it was that solider-calm, like he was ready for the worst.
“The tree’s grown bigger,” I said, hoping to end it there. “It’s so much bigger.”
“And, what else?” He wasn’t buying it. “Tell me what happened in there.”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. How could I tell him what I couldn’t even admit to myself?
I thought for sure Matt would lose his patience—I would have in his place—but his voice got even calmer. Softer. “Alexandra, I’m your guardian. How can I protect you if you won’t let me in?”
He was right, he needed to know. So I told him that the tree talked to me, called to me. That I went in there willingly, with Eric. But what I didn’t tell him was that Eric Starr was certain I’d choose the demon side.
It felt good to open up to Matt, even if it wasn’t the whole truth. My body stopped trembling.
Matt breathed out a sigh. “Okay, given what you just told me, I think you need to sit this one out.”
I threw him a look like, yeah right.
“I’m serious. If you crumble, it could put us all in danger.”
“And without me there is no coven. This was a moment of weakness.” Damn him for suggesting I would fall apart. “I’m fine. We leave here at midnight. Be ready.” I shrugged off the blanket and stomped to my bedroom.
Darkness filled my bedroom. I must have fallen asleep. I woke up feeling energized; my magic was moving in my body. Good thing too, since we were getting ready to go into battle.
Battle—I couldn’t leave it like this with Matt.
I grabbed my new blades and headed to the living room.
He stood shirtless in front of the fire, doing what looked like slow yoga moves. The muscles across his back flexed and stretched in the firelight. My body reacted involuntarily. I wanted to run my tongue over every inch of his golden skin. I shook it off. He knew I was here, but he didn’t stop his exercises.
“I want you to etch my blade with runes,” I blurted out. “The way guardians do.”
Slowly Matt turned to face me. The look in his eyes showed he knew what I was asking. I needed for him to accept me as I was, to show me he really had my back. I was telling him I respected him and I wanted a bridge between us. He looked at me as if deciding, then nodded and went off to get his gear.
Chapter Eighteen
At the edge of Millennium Dynamics’ parking lot, the five of us paused for one final huddle. We were one badass crew. If we went down, we were going down in style. Liv, Callie, and I wore our wardsuits and vests, dangerously hugging our curves while giving full range of motion. My harness and sheath were custom-fitted around my wardsuit, new blades at the ready. Asher’s long lean body was clad in black skinny jeans under a long black leather duster. The pockets of which were loaded for bear…make that demon. Matt’s gear was black as well, but more tactical. I hadn’t yet counted all the blades he sported. More layers of the veil on my magic had been sloughed off, leaving magic tingling in my body twenty-four seven. I was with my coven and my magic was singing. Matt’s fears aside, today’s encounter with the demon tree at its full size hadn’t made me weaker. It only prepared me to deal with it.
We were ready.
This time we didn’t bother with invisibility spells. I let us all in to the lobby. As the night guards at the desk scrambled to react, Asher threw a bolt of lightning that killed the guards and obliterated the front desk. “We’re not fucking around tonight,” he said for the benefit of security cams. We didn’t even slow down.
From the lobby foyer, I could see demons and other guards, shifting into their animal forms, running on the floors above. Good, we’d get them all in o
ne place and take them out.
Glamour abandoned, a dark grey scaly Nequam jumped in front of us and threw a bolt at Liv, who deflected. Matt sprang up and flew through the air. His blade landed in the demon’s throat before the creature knew what was happening.
It was like that all the way into the sixth-floor lab. But once we got there the door slid up, and the screaming was just a blip to me as we rushed inside. Then the song began, and—damn it—I was so happy to hear it. Despite the myriad pep talks I’d given myself, face to face with it my resistance faltered. My lips curved up into a smile and I headed right for the Malum Osmium.
“Another late night at the office, I see.” Eric Starr was standing in front of the tree—I couldn’t believe how much the tree had grown in the few hours since I’d last seen it. And there were hundreds of tight buds dotting the ends of its branches. “Such a dedicated worker bee,” he mused with his trademark smile as I approached. “Or perhaps you’re destined to be my queen?” My brain knew his words were revolting—not to mention terrifying. But so deep was I under the tree’s spell that his voice washed over me like gentle rhythmic chimes. They twinkled and became lost in the music.
Matt grabbed my arm and yanked me back between Liv and Callie. Within seconds I felt their strength, our bond, dampening the call—but not silencing it.
If Eric, basking in the tree’s glowing purple, was daunted by the extra strength my coven lent me, he didn’t show it. He waved his hand in the air and the tree extended a branch to me. I felt a wrenching at the center of my chest. Slowly I was being magically lifted off my feet.
Callie said something to me, her face frantic, but the song was now so loud in my head I couldn’t hear her words.
Asher’s yell got through. “For Christ’s sake, Alix, fight!”
Matt clamped his arms around me, literally grounding me, keeping the tree from taking me. For now. Yes, I had to fight this, he seemed to be saying, but I didn’t have to do it alone. Instead of merely being surrounded by my coven’s strength, I reached out with the tendrils of my magic and drew on it. Pulled it into my body with all my might. Like water flowing into an empty glass, I let them fill me with their strength. Instantly, I was rewarded by more layers of veil sloughing off, amplifying my magic further. It still took every ounce of will I had, but my resistance held.
“Oh, Alix.” Eric’s voice was playful from up there. “Did you think it’d really be that easy to deny your calling? I’ve felt the depth of your power. The tree has seen into your soul. You belong with me. By my side, we will rule the new world.”
I shuddered. Even if he weren’t a demon, my aunt’s boyfriend calling me to him like a lover would have skeeved me to the nth degree. As it was, though, he’d confirmed my worst fears. Rather than being some metaphor, the magical “marriage” sounded like a real marriage. And no doubt the wedding sacrifice he had in mind was my poor aunt.
Eric circled his suit-jacket clad arm around the room. A twinkle of light danced around the upper balcony of the room, revealing that the room was ringed with dozens of gnarly demons of all shapes and sizes, with a few shifters in the mix.
Bolt after bolt bombarded the center of the room, but every blast seemed to stay clear of me—as if they’d been enchanted to do so. It was a torrential downpour of fire, and Callie, Liv, and I worked as fast as we could to deflect the bolts. Our suits were absorbing most of the heat of the shots that got through. Smaller demons at the front began blowing darts which must have been deadly because Asher was focusing all his attention at diverting them. Matt was throwing star after star, dusting demons, then calling the stars back to him. So many demons were falling, but we were still hopelessly outnumbered.
The force of resisting the tree’s song was taking its toll on me, but I was hanging on. Until the singing shifted to a higher intensity. As if the tree had been searching for a new route into my soul, the music reached straight into my chest cavity and plucked my heart to aching with its song of longing fulfilled. My will stuttered. With shaky fingers, I skimmed my hand down my thigh, grabbed the dagger, and aimed it directly at Eric. He caught it between his thumb and index finger. The blade melting as he touched it. His skin flashed like it was being x-rayed. I saw his inner demon, slick red skin, devil-like face, penetrating golden snake eyes. A shiver ran through me. And just like that the flash was gone. Movie star handsome Eric stood before us.
Eric Star said, “I just needed a way to deal with the distractions.” He motioned to my friends. “So you can more easily follow your destiny.”
“Tenebris Stella.” A murderous rage rose in Matt’s face. “Remember me?”
Tenebris Stella? Where had I heard that odd name before?
“I’m the one you failed to kill ten years ago.” Matt’s whole body shook as he spoke through clenched teeth. “You snuffed out nineteen souls that night. Shame I can only kill you once.”
My own rage boiled over. Tenebris – Eric -- was the demon who killed my parents.
Matt let loose a chilling berserker yell and hurled his pair of daggers. While Eric was busy dodging, Matt lunged for him. But before he could reach him a blast caught Matt full on and threw him to the ground.
Eric just laughed and yelled, “Now!”
At his command, a group of Nequam on the upper balcony rushed to some kind of launcher weapon that looked like a dark magic cannon. The cannon shot wide, melting a hole in the wall where it hit. The plastic, paint and wood blistered and charred on impact. While I was gaping, they’d already reloaded—and the next blast was headed straight toward Liv. It happened so fast I struggled to react, but Callie moved quicker than I would’ve imagined. She leaped in front of me.
“Noooo!” I screamed.
Callie shoved Liv down, and took the cannon blast right to the chest. It threw her tiny frame fifteen feet, but I could still see her with perfect clarity lying twisted and broken on the ground. Her skin bubbled and her eyes bulged as she shrieked in pain. Then her voice quieted, her eyes going glassy in her melted, blackened face.
Asher reached inside his coat for what had to be a spellbead. Screaming a chant I couldn’t make out, he threw the bead to the floor in the center of our circle. It exploded in an enveloping grey cloud of smoke.
Chapter Nineteen
We landed hard on the floor in Asher’s living room, tumbling in all directions. Matt punched the floor so hard I was sure he’d have broken bones. Smoke was rising from our clothes and the scent of sulfur clung to us.
“Where’s Callie!” I almost didn’t recognize the raw scream as coming from Liv. Spinning in frantic circles, like she couldn’t comprehend the math, she whirled on Asher. “You didn’t bring Callie.”
An awful silence went on too long.
“She’s dead.” Asher was the only one able to say it. He added, more to himself, as if he needed to hear it, “She was thrown too far from the circle. I couldn’t bring her body back. We would have all died if we hadn’t left then.”
I smashed the heels of my hands into my stinging eyes to keep from crying. A familiar rage coursed through my veins. The anger that fueled me after my parents’ death was surging back, but this time I saw it for what it was. An attempt to mask the pain.
I wasn’t alone. Asher’s fury was barely held in check. “We have until midnight tomorrow to destroy that tree, people. Tenebris knows who we are. If we let him get any more powerful, we’re all doomed.”
Liv’s beautiful tear-swollen face looked like she was struggling to contemplate something other than grief. But when she did, it was with a vengeance. “Don’t even go there, we’re not going to let that happen.” Liv punctuated her words by smacking him in the chest.
We were each in our own worlds of pain, separate, unreachable. And the answer was threatening to spill over at each other.
“We need to regroup.” Matt spoke up, echoing my thoughts, and I could tell he was doing his best to bury his own passionate rage at Callie’s loss. Forcing on his Zen guardian mask. “For Callie, we�
��re going to find that tree and crush it. But after what happened, we all need a little time to process. Let’s meet back here first thing in the morning.”
He’d sounded so in charge. But as Matt and I crossed the street together, his gaze was distant. Dark. I could tell Callie’s loss was just another weight on his shoulders, added to all the other losses that were almost as painfully fresh to him. I wanted to yell at him, No, you can’t have that one. Not her. It was my fault. Not his. But I knew if I opened my mouth it would just come out as an unintelligible sob. As it was I was sniffing and wiping my eyes every third step. In dismal silence, we wandered uphill toward my apartment.
As we turned onto my block, red lights were flashing off the wet pavement. Not one but two fire trucks were parked in front of my building. One turned its lights off and pulled away as we approached, walking faster now. A tumbling feeling in my gut. All my neighbors were milling about out front. The scent of smoke hung heavy in the air—more than just what was coming off of us.
I marched to the center of the crowd and flag down my neighbor from across the hall. “Austin, what happened?”
“Oh man,” he said in his stoner way. “Thank goodness, you’re all right.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” The sinking feeling became a boulder in my gut.
“Your apartment went up in flames,” Austin said. “It’s history.”
I sprinted through the door, pushed past the firemen, and took the stairs two at a time. Matt on my heels. A fireman yelled for us to come back, but I didn’t slow.
