Before the Storm

by Claire Ashgrove

  Following sheer instinct, I crossed my wrists in front of my face. As I opened one hand fully and three fingers on the one that held the dagger, white light burst forth. A radiant ball that shot upward into the trees, then spread through the dead canopy. Sunlight filtered down on the barren ground.

  In an ear-splitting shriek, the creatures pulled back.

  “Halle!” Kale’s voice thundered. He was closer.

  “In here!” Calling on that same force again, I managed another round. The sunburst that rocketed from my palms joined with the overhead illumination and spread deeper into the trees where Kale’s voice had come from.

  The shadow horrors shrieked again, and their circle broke. With each pulse of my heart, the sunlight spread, dividing them further, until they remained on only one half of the glade.

  It was working! I could do this. Another cast, aimed just behind them, and I could trap them in the light. With nowhere to go, maybe…

  Marcus and Kale crashed into the glade. Before I could free the spell, one of them shoved me roughly aside. Protest lodged in my throat as another heavy thump resonated through the forest. They flanked me as a gargantuan beast with a cat-like face broke in on their heels.

  The size of that creature made the six shadowy things look like candy. It dwarfed us by a good ten feet. Three horn-like spikes rose from shoulders that were as wide as a truck. Blackened teeth protruded from a hog-like snout and dripped with yellow saliva.

  “What the fuck is that?” I managed to squeak.

  “Demon,” Kale answered as he jostled me sideways again.

  Marcus pushed me back closer to Kale. “Big demon.” Fire once again rained from his hands. It separated in mid-air, breaking into small marble-sized balls that pelted the beast.

  The beast snaked its neck with lightning speed, and teeth slashed at the air above my head. I barely had time to duck.

  “Stay down,” Kale snapped. “We’ve got this.”

  Down. Evidently neither of them realized that massive thing wasn’t the only creature in the glade. I glanced behind me at the shadowy things that seemingly gained courage from the larger creature’s presence. My sunlight had shrunk, and they were closer now.

  Thought clashed in rapid fire. Distract Marcus and Kale from the demon and open them to an attack. Stand here and do nothing, and we’d all get caught from the backside.

  Those things were mine. Kale and Marcus could deal with that drooling giant.

  I edged around both men. Marcus’s attention snapped to me, obvious objection on his parted lips. But his gaze slid sideways to the hovering shadows, and he gave an affirmative nod. “Ask it,” he murmured.

  His words distracted Kale, who turned over his shoulder. Whatever energy spanned between his fingertips dimmed. The demon clipped him with a sweep of its arm. He stumbled to his knees.

  My heart stopped. Unable to tear my gaze off Kale’s kneeling form, I willed him to get up. He braced a foot. The demon thumped him again. Kale fell back.

  Just as I began moving toward Kale, Marcus darted in front of him with another blazing ball of fire. Flames fanned across the demon’s torso. He let out a murderous snarl and lowered his head again. Razor-sharp teeth gnashed at Marcus’s midsection.

  Kale shot to his feet. With a flash of his arm, he shoved a dagger into the demon’s snout. The beast recoiled with a groan that made the ground shake.

  A breath of relief spilled out of my lungs. He was okay. I could focus on our other threat.

  I turned back to the shadows and stopped thinking. My body moved as if it were somehow separate from me; I was aware of my actions, but not consciously instructing the movement. Magic spilled from my fingertips. A blaze of greenish luminescence melted the closest one. A bit astonished, I tried again, concentrating everything I was into the energy that built in my hands. Asking. Accepting whatever resulted.

  Nothing happened.

  Undeterred, I tried again. Power radiated through my veins, gathered at the base of my palms. In a pulse that thrummed through my entire body, the air before me rippled like a pebble hitting water. It radiated outward and punched clean through the shadow in the middle.

  Despite myself, I let out a delighted squeal.

  But my joy shattered as I glanced at my two companions to see how they were faring, only to witness Kale fail another spell. I blinked hard. That never happened.

  In answer, the demon’s entire body shuddered. Scrapes that had carved into his ebony skin at the shoulders healed over. The gaping wound in his belly closed by half.

  Kale shrank sideways with an agonized groan. What the hell?

  Icy claws raked down my arm, telling me I didn’t have time to worry about Kale. I spun to find that bold shadow mere inches from my face. With catlike reflexes, I slashed with my dagger not really certain what I was doing. Luck sided with me—the blade ripped across the thing’s chest. It let out a ghostly moan, but otherwise seemed unaffected.

  So much for weapons. I dropped the dagger, opting to have both hands free.

  I could feel that demon’s foul breath on my back, taunting me to turn and help my companions; warning me if we failed, we’d end up a snack in seconds. But I pushed the worry aside, shoved back the encroaching fear, and concentrated on channeling the gift I’d been given.

  When two different sparks of color flared from my opposite hands, an electric blue swath enveloped one of the shadows. Simultaneously, a sold ball of brilliant white slammed into another. I stared in stunned disbelief. Nothing like that had ever happened with Kale—not from him or me. Awed, I looked down at my hands.

  A claw flashing a breath from my nose snapped me out of my stupor. Holy crap, the remaining two had closed in. One had Marcus a hairbreadth away from its oversized hands. The other was bearing down on me.

  Self preservation demanded I deal with the thing intent on taking me down. But reason stepped in, a higher discipline warning that if I allowed the other to attack Marcus, he couldn’t possibly focus on the larger threat. I darted three steps to the left and placed myself in between the grotesque hands and his back just as it slashed. Claws seared across my left breast.

  Grimacing, I swallowed down a pained cry and forced myself to focus. Words filtered into my head. I gave them freedom with an urgent whisper. A thin veneer of sheer ice crackled into place, separating me from the shadow. It hurtled forward, throwing itself against the barrier. The fragile wall shattered.

  But the seconds it remained intact gave me time to organize. I was ready—and when that shield broke, I raised an open palm.

  Nothing. Fucking. Happened.

  Goddamn it! Now wasn’t the time for my magic to fizzle. Scrambling sideways, I strove to keep myself between that thing and Marcus. From the corner of my peripheral vision, I caught the remaining shadow creeping up on Kale.

  There was nothing I could do. My hands had failed. The tingling sensation was completely gone. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

  “Kale!” I belted out.

  His attention snapped to me then his scowl locked on the lesser creature. He lifted a hand, his lips moving as he conjured a spell. Darkness oozed from his splayed fingers, spiraling outward at its target. The inky cloud enveloped the shadow and merged with it. For an instant, I thought another of his spells had failed. But then the shadow splintered into pieces, imploding on itself.

  My jaw dropped, and I gaped at Kale. Where did he learn that stuff?

  His distraction, however, produced exactly what I feared when I leapt in front of Marcus’s back. The demon spied weakness. With a giant heave, it lurched for Kale. I stared helplessly, frozen in place by the slow-motion drip of yellow saliva above Kale’s head.

  “Damn it,” Marcus muttered. He arced an arm across his body, and the decrepit trees above came to life. With eerie creaks and cracks, they morphed down, wrapped around the demon, and trapped its powerful arms. The demon surged against its restraints with a deafening roar.

  I glanced down at
my hands again, closed my eyes, and sought the energy within.

  It answered with a dim fizzle.

  Please. Come on.

  Bit by bit, it acknowledged my plea, gathering strength with each hard thump of my heart. As my power built, I saw the glade in a different perspective. The demon lunged at the imprisoning branches. Several snapped in half. Marcus stood beneath it, ensconced in its ominous shadow. Kale stood several feet away, shaking his head as if to dislodge a stun. He pressed a hand to his temple and grimaced.

  Directly in front of me, the two shadows remained. My arms trembled violently as I brought my hands together before me to confine what power I could harness. It wasn’t my magic failing me, but my body. The effort of channeling my energy had taken its toll. I had one, at most two, bursts of energy left. And I had to make them count.

  There was only one choice—the demon. Marcus could easily handle the shadows.

  I spread my hands several inches apart, transfixed by the growing red hue between my palms. Then I spread them again. My entire body shook as the power doubled in size and veins of gold crackled across the opaque surface. I didn’t know what I might create, and I didn’t care. So long as it stopped that ginormous thing.

  The last of the branches crumbled to pieces. Enraged, the demon threw its head back and howled. Marcus lunged sideways, horror etched into his face.

  “Move!” Kale shouted.

  With a deep breath, I opened my hands. The red and gold sphere barreled forward, elongating as it traveled. It slammed into the demon’s left shoulder. Then, like poured water, it spread across its grotesque body. Across its chest, down tree-trunk legs, over its scaly head. The brilliant colors shimmered in the dim light, dazzling in their intensity.

  Marcus stumbled backward, staring at the sight. Kale’s whispered oath carried to my ears.

  In a blinding flash that bathed the glade in scarlet, the demon winked out of existence.

  Too stunned to move, I gaped at the space it had occupied, dimly aware that Marcus and Kale turned to tackle the shadows. What the hell had I done?

  Thirty-one

  While Kale and Marcus dispatched the remaining shadows, I couldn’t stop staring at the empty space in the decrepit glade. Where had it gone? More importantly, would it come back?

  Silence descended around me. I looked over my shoulder to find Marcus and Kale doubled over, heaving in one gulp of air after another.

  “Um,” I ventured, again glancing at the emptiness. “Is it…gone?”

  “Looks that way,” Marcus answered between gasps. He straightened and stuffed a fist in his side with a wince. “Nice work.”

  “But…what did I…do?”

  He chuckled. “Zapped him to another plane. He’ll stay there unless you call him back.”

  I blinked. I’d done…what?

  “How?” I blurted.

  Kale lifted his head. Sky blue eyes, bright with anger, burned into me before he pushed upright and stalked to where his dagger lay on the ground. His movements were jerky as he wiped the blade with a handful of dried leaves then stuffed it into the sheath at his hip.

  I frowned after him. What the hell had crawled up his ass? With furrowed brows, I asked Marcus again, “How exactly did that happen? Why didn’t one of you do it if it was that easy?”

  Marcus’s laughter deepened. “Well, ace, aside from a few select others, that little trick is reserved for dragons.”

  “Oh.” My eyes widened as full understanding hit me, and I repeated, “Oh.” No wonder Kale was pissy. He could no longer ignore what I was.

  As if he sensed my thoughts, he shot me another glare and dumped his pack on the ground. It took everything I had to resist sticking my tongue out at him. But I suspected that would come off a little more childish than was expected of a windwalker. Damn it all.

  Instead, I looked back at the pile of crumbled branches. Another wave of awe hit me. I had made it vanish. Me. Holy cow. I wanted to skip and dance around the barren patch, but my legs felt like Jell-O. Downside of pouring myself into a spell. I’d never been more exhausted in my life.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Kale muttered, hiking his pack on his back once more. “It’s a spawning ground from the looks of things.” He shoveled the toe of his boot through the loose dirt.

  “I didn’t run off on you two,” I rushed to explain. “I was heading—”

  “It’s not your fault,” Marcus answered. “They shifted it around us.”

  “They?” I cocked a solitary brow.

  “Your uncle,” Kale grumbled. “Let’s go, before he can do it again. No doubt he has spies everywhere.”

  Marcus wiped his brow with the back of his wrist and gestured at an opening in the dead plant life. “Water’s this way. Follow me.”

  I fell into step behind him, Kale on my heels. A small part of me longed for his praise—I’d just accomplished the feat of my life. That needy little section of my heart, however, only made me irritated. A woman didn’t need a man to give her a sense of value. I definitely didn’t; I’d been on my own too long. But still I wanted him to celebrate with me, to be as proud of what happened in that glade as I was.

  As I sighed, Marcus led us around a tree that was every bit of four feet wide. We emerged at the mouth of a small clearing. The sound of running water filled my ears. I broke rank and followed the peaceful gurgle to three, large, flat stones arranged in a triangular fashion. They framed a clear pool no bigger than the width of a tractor tire. In the center, the natural spring bubbled up from underground, rippling the mirrored surface. On closer inspection, I observed the pool trickled between the boulder I stood on and the one to my right, then flowed lazily across the short grass in a narrow channel.

  I eased onto my knees, bent over the boulder’s edge and cupped a cool drink. It went down like a much-needed popsicle on a blistering summer day. Heaven.

  While my companions followed my lead, each occupying their own rock, I eased into a cross-legged position and turned my face to the sun, eyes closed. Birds twittered in the nearby trees. Further into the woods, small animals scurried through the forest debris. The tiny meadow was so peaceful it was hard to believe we’d just fought off horrific creatures. That similar beasts might still lurk within the deeper shadows.

  “I’m going to have a look around. Do some scouting,” Marcus declared.

  I tipped my head forward enough to squint at him through one eye. “Is that a good idea? Going off by yourself, I mean?”

  He tossed me a grin. “I understand the wilderness. Besides, I won’t be seen.”

  Before I could ask, he murmured something beneath his breath and quite literally blended into the surroundings. I had to really look hard to make out his outline as he strode for the trees. I might have been more impressed if his sudden departure hadn’t left me alone with the one person I most wanted to avoid.

  Kale sat across from me, supporting his head in one hand. With thumb and middle finger he massaged his temples. His pained expression reminded me of how he’d shaken off a stun a little while ago.

  I couldn’t help but ask, “You okay?”

  His head snapped up as if I’d fired a gun near his ear. But the surprise quickly vanished from his expression and his features became unreadable. “I’m fine,” he mumbled.

  Okay then. I leaned back again, soaking up the radiant warmth, relaxing my exhausted muscles. Who would have known magic could take so much out of a person?

  “He’s only partially right, you know.”

  I stiffened from head to toe. I knew what Kale referred to—Marcus’ suppositions about Gerard’s intentions for me. The very last subject I wanted to discuss. I clenched my teeth, hoping he’d take the hint.

  “Gerard did want to use Faye as bait, more or less. When I agreed to retrieve you, I was all for the plan. We were desperate for some advantage over your uncle. But by the time we returned to the camarilla, I no longer supported the strategy.”

 
; I straightened with a mutter. “I don’t want to discuss this, Kale.”

  His blue eyes held mine. “Maybe not. But it needs to be said.” He looked down at his lap, silent for several long seconds. Then, with a shake of his head, he continued. “That’s what started our argument in the council chambers the other day. Beth brought Faye up, and I vowed I’d have no part of it.”

  Damn my traitorous heart—it skipped two beats. I bit down on my lower lip, tamping back joy I didn’t want to feel. “Why are you telling me this just now?” I asked tightly. “I asked a dozen times or more why me, Kale.”

  He pushed to his feet, stepped over the narrow gap in the rocks, and sat down at my side, facing me. “I didn’t want you to know. I thought…” He paused, bounced a balled fist on his knee, and cringed. “I thought I could dissuade them. And then it would be irrelevant. Something that had been, but no longer was, and therefore insignificant.”

  “Insignificant? She’s my sister. You and I were sleeping together. I trusted you. All along you knew what your father expected. We could have at least been on the same page together.”

  “I know.” He gave a heavy sigh and looked into my eyes. Sincerity shone in those mesmerizing depths. “I was wrong. I thought I could keep from hurting you.”

  I let out a soft, disparaging snort. “People are made to hurt each other. It’s the scars that matter. How deep they run.”

  Tentatively, he reached out a hand and brushed a stray hair off my face. “If I could take those scars from you, I would.”

  Oh, God. His gentle touch sent shivers skipping down my spine. The tenderness in his voice melted chunks of ice around my heart. My eyes watered, and I blinked them furiously, willing myself not to cry. When that didn’t work, I bit down on my lower lip until pain chased the tears away.

  His fingers slipped through the hair at my temple once more. “You were amazing today.”

  My heart flat out turned over. Just like that, he won me back. Pathetically simple, but I had no defenses left. He’d come to mean so much to me. Even if he had known he could never teach me my powers, he’d become my partner. My confidant. My safe haven. And I longed for the closeness we shared.