by Ella Summers
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Naomi demanded of Makani. “Why didn’t you tell me your shield was damaged?”
“We don’t have time for this. I’ll be fine.”
The holes in his shield were growing fast. It wouldn’t be long before the shield dissolved completely. And as soon as that happened, he’d be exposed to the full power of hell’s magic. He wouldn’t be standing then. He’d be lucky to remain conscious for more than a few minutes.
“You have to go,” Naomi told him. “I can create an opening in the veil and send you back to earth.”
“I will not leave your side.” Agony and stubbornness strained his voice. “I can’t watch your back from another realm.”
“You also can’t fight in this state,” she pointed out.
“You underestimate me.”
“You’re being stubborn.”
“He’s always like that,” Firestorm said.
“I’m not leaving without you,” Makani told Naomi. “Now let’s find that dagger.”
He wasn’t backing down, and they didn’t have time to argue. The best thing they could do was find that dagger quickly and then get out of here. Before the demon found them. And before Makani passed out.
Naomi waved the dagger in front of her. The blade was shining bright blue now, almost white. It was humming louder than ever before. They were so close to its twin. It had to be right in front of them. Naomi looked into the display case before them, but there was no dagger inside. There were only shields.
“Maybe the dagger is attached to one of the shields,” Firestorm suggested, then she slammed a wind spell against the case.
The glass cracked all across the surface but it didn’t fall down. Firestorm directed a powerful kick at the cracked case. The glass shattered, raining down, clinking against the polished stone floor.
Naomi began sorting through the shields, looking for the dagger. Makani and Firestorm did the same. Nothing. A second pass over the shields yielded the same result.
“I don’t understand,” Naomi said, looking down on the pile of shields. “The dagger should be right here. Its twin is practically screaming.”
Naomi waved the dagger around. The sound seemed to grow louder—and the glow brighter—the higher she lifted it. She looked up. High above them hung a huge chandelier made from jewels of every kind and color. And the dagger was lodged right at the core of it.
“I’ll get it,” Firestorm said.
“How?” Naomi blinked at the chandelier. It had to be nearly fifty feet up.
“I’ll climb.” Firestorm pointed at the curtained window beside the display case. “I can use the curtains’ ropes to climb up there, then swing toward the chandelier and grab the dagger. It will use less energy than a spell.”
Climbing ropes and swinging around fifty feet off the ground didn’t sound like a low-energy activity.
“It will be faster if I fly up there and grab the dagger,” Naomi said.
“No.” Makani’s answer was immediate.
“Is that such a good idea in your condition?” Firestorm said, her dark brows arching. “If you fall—”
“Why would I fall?”
“Your balance point has shifted, and you want to tackle the mechanics of flight. That sounds rather reckless.”
Naomi glanced down at her huge belly. It seemed to have doubled in size since the last time she’d checked. The demon princes sure were impatient.
“I’ll be careful,” Naomi said. “And we don’t have time to debate this. Makani is growing weaker by the moment.”
Before either of them could argue with her further, Naomi lifted her arms into the air. Responding to her magic, glowing tendrils burst out of her back. She shook out her wings, then lifted off from the ground, flying toward the chandelier.
It had a unique construction. There was a bulb of gems on top. From that gem bundle, eight long thin crystal arms extended down in perfect arches. The dagger, its blade shining as white as a snowstorm, was lodged beneath the bulb. Naomi reached for it.
But the moment her fingers brushed against the hilt, the arms of the chandelier moved. One of them snapped against her back, swatting her away. Naomi dropped like a stone. She began fluttering her wings rapidly, trying to slow her fall. She managed to land on her feet—barely.
High above, the chandelier scrambled across the ceiling, its legs clinking against the painted panels. Its roar shook the walls.
“A jewel spider,” Makani said.
The spider jumped down, landing in front of them. Its feet hit the ground with the sound of shattering glass. The beast was ten feet of hard, jewel-armored body.
Smoke puffed, then a demon was standing right beside the spider. He had a man’s face and upper body, but the thick and hairy legs of a bull. The demon was gold from head to hoof—his eyes, his hair, his fur, his skin, everything.
“Hero,” Firestorm said darkly.
“Firestorm, my favorite earthly guest.” A vicious smile spread across the demon’s face. “Come to play with me again?”
Firestorm hit him with a stony stare as she drew two swords.
“Excellent.” Grinning, the demon king of hell waved his jewel spider forward.
23
Magic Sacrifice
As the jewel spider leapt into the air, Naomi blasted it with spirit magic. The impact of her spell slowed down the beast, pushing it back, but it didn’t seem to hurt it.
“It is resistant to magic,” Makani swung his sword at the spider, but his blade broke. The beast’s armor was too strong.
It spat out a sticky, sparkly web that glued Naomi’s feet to the ground. She slashed it, pulled at it, and hit it with magic. Nothing made a dent in the sticky goo.
The gigantic jewel spider loomed over Naomi, casting a long shadow across her body. One of its legs slammed down in an enthusiastic attempt to skewer her. Firestorm intercepted the attack. She caught the spider’s leg, holding it back. Shrieking, the spider pushed against her with the combined force of its strength and weight, both of which were considerable.
Firestorm clenched her teeth, but she didn’t give any ground. Instead, she heaved the leg up, upsetting the spider’s balance. It toppled onto its back. In a flash, Firestorm was there on top of it, wrestling it as it tried to stand. Wow, she was really strong, maybe even as strong as Logan.
While Firestorm was busy with the spider, Naomi tried once more to blast off the goo with her magic. A slight burn trickled down her legs, quickly crescendoing to an all-out inferno. Her legs felt like they’d been set on fire. She winced, biting down hard on her lower lip.
Makani hit the goo with a continuous string of magic-breaking spells. The sticky web dissolved slowly, his magic eating away at it.
“Thanks,” Naomi said, shaking off the lingering smoky wisps of the spider’s broken spell.
He nodded stoically. He didn’t say anything, but she could read his unspoken words in his eyes. This was now the second time he’d saved her in the last ten minutes. He wouldn’t let her send him back to earth, no matter what happened to him. He was afraid something would happen to her if he left.
All the while, the demon stood by, watching with amusement. He didn’t even bother joining the battle. He must have been absolutely convinced that his pet was more than a match for the three of them.
Firestorm grabbed one of the spider’s legs in her hands and yanked hard, snapping off the last few feet of it. Roaring, the beast bucked hard and threw her off of its body. Firestorm rolled out of her fall, landing softly, the severed spider leg still in her hand.
The spider lumbered forward, its gait awkward with one leg partially gone. Every time the hard nub of its short leg tapped down on the ground, it slipped and tons of jewels spilled out of the open limb.
“That’s one way to store your treasure,” Naomi commented.
The jewels started rolling across the floor. That’s when Naomi realized they weren’t jewels at all. They were tiny spiders—hundreds of them. And they w
ere swarming toward her. Awesome.
Makani and Firestorm blasted the tiny spiders with sustained streams of fire. The spiders’ jewel armor might make them resistant to magic, but they were not immune. Their bodies slowed, glowing orange.
“We have to turn up the heat,” Firestorm said to Makani.
Their flames turned purple. That was dragon fire, a Dragon Born spell that could turn a normal body to ash in mere seconds. Unfortunately, these magic-resistant hell spiders were far from normal. Still, the special fire was having an effect. The little jewel spiders melted to liquid as they moved, turning into sparkling puddles on the floor.
Makani and Firestorm turned their fire toward the big spider next. The hellish creature was notably unimpressed by their spell. It didn’t melt. It didn’t slow. In fact, the fire only seemed to anger it. The beast’s mouth opened, and it expelled a deafening shockwave that knocked them back. Disoriented, they rose shakily to their feet, their eyes unfocused.
The spider stomped toward them in crushing steps. Naomi intercepted. She cast her spell to create an opening to the eighth circle of hell beneath one of the spider’s feet. When the leg sank into the swirling spell, she sealed it shut, chopping off part of its leg. The spider roared.
Naomi didn’t stop. She waved her hands back and forth, weaving the spells around the spider. She created openings in the veil beneath its other legs, crippling it spell by spell. She cast the final spell around the monster’s head. Stone crunched, and then its head was gone.
The headless spider dropped to the floor. Firestorm dashed under it as it fell, grabbing the dagger. She slid out before its falling body crushed her.
Naomi didn’t have time to rejoice at their victory because the next battle had already begun. The spider’s defeat had launched Hero into action. The demon moved toward Makani, hurling a black ball of demonic magic at him. Makani’s barrier sizzled, turning visible for a moment as it absorbed the demon’s spell.
“So that’s how you have magic here.” Comprehension dawned on Hero’s face. “Clever.”
The demon surged forward, his sword lifted. He shot spells off his blade, bombarding Makani with a rapid fire of magic. The barrier around him was tearing, dissolving, exposing him to the full power of hell’s magic.
Naomi ran around the quickly-solidifying glassy puddles on the floor of melted tiny gem spiders. They were reshaping, reforming back into another spider. There was enough material left for one. When it was done, it would only be a little smaller than the previous giant spider.
Makani countered the demon’s spells with some of his own. Ignoring the pain and magic drain, he moved fast. His movements were slowing already, though. His shield was down to only a few weak threads. He wouldn’t hold out long, not without his shield to protect him from the full weight of hell’s magic crashing down on him.
The demon’s spell exploded against him. Makani fell as his shield tore to pieces. It was completely gone now. Makani pushed off the floor. He raised his hands, trying to cast a spell at the demon closing in on him. When his magic didn’t come, he grabbed a sword from one of the broken display cases and lifted it to meet Hero’s strike. The demon’s blade clashed against Makani’s, magic rippling off the blade, down the hilt, and over Makani like a cocoon. Makani stood in the field of crackling magic, unmoving, frozen. Hero swung his sword at Makani’s neck.
A blast of spirit magic tore out of Naomi, slamming into the demon. Her spell flung him aside. Naomi ran over to Makani, running her hands over the vile cocoon, her magic unraveling it. She knelt beside him.
“This time you saved me,” he said, his voice coarse. His whole body was shaking.
“Your shield is gone. You’re exposed to the full force of hell. We need to get you back to earth now.”
She tried to pull him to his feet, but he was so heavy.
“I’ll help him. Here,” Firestorm said, handing Naomi the second dagger.
As Naomi sheathed it, Firestorm pulled Makani’s arm around her, bearing most of his weight as she helped him stand.
Magic shot across the room like a black comet, catching Makani and Firestorm in a net, flinging them away from Naomi. Hero stood between her and them. Planting his hands on his hips, the demon sneered at her. He was blocking her. She couldn’t get them out of the spirit realm if she couldn’t reach them.
“Get out now, Naomi!” Makani called out to her. “Get the dagger to Rane.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
The demon’s gaze dropped to Naomi’s very round belly, his sneer growing even more vicious. “You’re close. You’re about to fulfill your true purpose, the reason you were born.”
“I was born to fight demons, not to help them.”
“You can do both.” Hero’s pleasant tone clashed with his savage smile. “Fight some demons. Help others.”
“And you get to decide which is which?”
Hero braided his fingers together. “Well, I am the king of hell.”
“I think I’ll pass,” she told the demon.
“I knew you would. Still, a waste. Such a waste,” he sighed. Then he looked at Firestorm. “How about you?”
She shot the demon an aggravated look as she helped Makani to stand. “What about me?”
“Surely, you aren’t satisfied with the way your life has turned out. Wouldn’t you like to go back to the winning side?”
Firestorm didn’t say a thing. She only watched the demon, a hint of calculation in her eyes. She couldn’t possibly be considering his proposal, could she?
The demon nodded. “That’s right. You have power. Such great potential. You can be so much more. You’ve already made the first step, becoming more powerful than any other Dragon Born who has ever lived.”
“You want to give me more magic?”
“There is so much more to explore, fields of magic you have yet to see, let alone master.”
Naomi watched Firestorm closely. She’d come to believe that the Fire Monster wanted to redeem herself, but this temptation might prove to be too great. By her own admission, Firestorm was a magic addict, someone who always needed just one more hit. She was driven by ambition, by the need to push herself harder, to rise higher, to be stronger every day. This was a habit that she’d cultivated for centuries. It wasn’t easy to break out of a cycle like that.
But would Firestorm actually make a deal with a demon? The expression on her face told Naomi that she was tempted, that she yearned for these powers. Since learning of Darksire’s betrayal, she’d surely been feeling weak. She wanted to be strong again. Taking more magic would make her feel like she was in control. It would make her feel powerful, like no one could hurt her.
“The power he offers is only an illusion,” Naomi told her.
“Is my power only an illusion?” Hero laughed. “The power I’ve used to rule this realm for centuries? No. It is as real as the pain consuming you.”
Naomi ignored the demon, focusing on Firestorm. “If you make a deal with a demon, you will gain neither solace nor love.”
Firestorm’s hands shook. She was fighting the impulse. Fighting the person she’d been for seven hundred years.
“An army of magical might can buy you solace,” Hero said. “And I can give you the power to make your brother love you again.”
“Love isn’t forced,” Naomi countered. “It’s given freely.”
“How little you know, you naive little fairy.” The demon looked away from Firestorm only long enough to scowl at Naomi. “What do you say, Firestorm?”
“My name is Leilani,” she growled. “And I am no one’s bitch, least of all yours, demon.”
She pulled the ponytail elastic out of her hair, stretching it between her two hands. The band changed shape, morphing into a nest of strings. She quickly shaped the threads between her fingers, the nest growing with every furious flick of her hands. It turned into a net. She threw that net over herself. It flashed once, so brightly that Naomi had to shield her eyes. When she could see aga
in, the strings were gone. The net was gone. Firestorm slouched down, her eyes weary—and burning with victory.
“I was wrong about you. You are not worthy of my gifts. You are a fool,” Hero hissed.
Naomi blinked at Firestorm. She seemed different. Changed. But Naomi couldn’t figure out how.
Firestorm’s shield began to pulse. Was it going out? Had it been overloaded by whatever spell she’d just cast with that magic artifact?
But the shield didn’t go out. It pulsed faster, surrounding Makani too, protecting him from the effects of hell.
He rose to his feet, suddenly looking a million times better. He stared at Firestorm in shock. That wasn’t an expression Naomi had often seen on his face.
“Some things are more important than power,” Firestorm declared, her eyes shaking as Makani walked toward her.
In the unexpected turn of the millennium, his arms locked around her, hugging her to him. Tears streamed down Firestorm’s face.
That was when Naomi saw it. Firestorm’s magic…Makani’s magic…it was all one now, linked, connected. Instead of taking the demon’s offer of magic, she had given up everything she’d received from Damarion and Darksire. All their gifts of magic. The fairy and vampire powers. She was no longer immortal. She was not as strong as a vampire. She did not possess the fairy power to control minds. She was simply Dragon Born again.
And at the moment she’d changed back, her magic had linked with Makani’s. The twins’ magic had synched in harmony. That was why the shield had extended around Makani too; it recognized their magic as one now.
“You gave up all that power,” Makani said, surprise still flashing in his eyes. “Why?”
“To save you.” She squeezed his hand. “That power came with a price, one I never should have paid. I didn’t see it at the time. I truly am sorry, Makani. For everything.”
He hugged her again, holding her tightly. “I know. I can feel what you feel again. You are my Leilani again. My sister.”
