by Brea Viragh
Orestes laughed, manipulating the properties of the sand and turning it to cement. Astix, at her sister’s urging, rose and took off at a sprint.
She wasn’t his target. Not anymore. Orestes had a new plaything in mind. He stalked forward and with a snap of his fingers, released the girl from the sand trap.
“What is this we have here?”
A hand grabbed her elbow and tugged her closer. The bundle of herbs in her hand fell to the ground and the sistrum rattle shattered. Blood roared in her ears and the same blistering cold, the same sticky black tendrils of darkness that had stolen over her in the bathtub, came rushing back.
“Hello, Miss Cavaldi.” Orestes leaned in closer. “It’s good to see you. I’ve been looking for you for a long time. You look like him. I didn’t expect the similarity.” He sneered. “You have his eyes. His chin. It’s disgusting.”
She didn’t need an introduction to know this man’s name. Orestes Voltaire. The one who held the Dark inside of him.
His fingers tightened, bruising her skin, but she couldn’t say his name. She couldn’t call out at all. The same feminine laughter filled the air between him and when Orestes reached out to run pale, slender fingers along her cheek, she froze. Down to the marrow.
“Did you think you could come out here tonight and skip this meeting? After all, I’ve been anxious to make your acquaintance.” His touch bit down and a wave of nausea burned her throat. “What’s the matter?” Orestes asked when she failed to speak. Closed her eyes to block out his nearness. “You have nothing to say to me? When you’re here trying to put a stop to everything I’ve worked for? After what I’ve done to find you?”
His hand tugged at her and she lost her balance, stumbling forward.
“Answer me!” he demanded.
A hand came across her cheek, doing one thing and one thing only. Pissing her off and snapping her back to who she was.
“You keep away from me,” Nasira demanded. She dug her feet into the ground, her hands curling into fists. She set Orestes with a fierce glower. “You have no right to touch me.” Then she reached for her magic and found herself blocked off.
“Did I mention I have a certain mental dominant working under me?” Orestes took great pleasure in telling her. It was his ace in the hole. The mental dominant was safe in his office with an armed guard surrounding her. An assurance Orestes appreciated. “Try what you will, but she won’t let any harm come to me or mine. You would do well to remember.”
“Sadly, I’m sick of having people tell me what to do,” Nasira retorted.
She braced herself for another slap and thought this is it. Done in just before she could get to the finish line. Without the use of her powers, her muscles were nothing compared to him.
She did, however, see his next blow coming. She had time to duck away, avoiding his fist by inches. Unfortunately, he refused to let her go, and when she’d pulled as far back as she could, Orestes used his leg to bring her down.
Nasira fell flat on her back, breath rushing out of her chest. Orestes pressed his foot to her stomach and halted her progress.
He frowned. “How about I take you somewhere you can’t hurt anyone? You can see your father. Wouldn’t that be nice? Then you and he can have a long chat about what vile human beings you are.”
Nasira shook her head. “I’m fine where I am. You aren’t going to win,” she managed to get out.
“I’ve already won.” Orestes’s head snapped up and he turned his chin to the sky, listening to a voice only he could hear. “Perhaps I shouldn’t take you to the Vault. I’m sure your sisters would be heartbroken to see anything happen to you. Shall we use you for a bit of bait, then? Let them see you bloodied and bruised. Talk about a moral crush—”
Orestes never finished his sentence. Out of the shadows, a figure hurtled toward him, grabbing him around the midsection and forcing him back. The two men fell and rolled together.
Nasira drew in a breath, coughing. She had enough time to sit up. Glance to the left. See Brock push Orestes to the ground and hold him there.
“This time I get to save you,” he called out, flashing a smile over his shoulder. “I’ve got this. Go! Move!”
She listened to him when her heart told her to stay. He was right. She had to go. She urged her body up and bolted blindly toward the lake shore. Running like a wild animal, tearing across the sand and leaping over anything in her path. She prayed Brock would be fine. That the next time she saw him, he would be alive and unharmed.
She ran like Darkness was behind her, a breath on her neck. A wave of dizziness took her and she fought against it. Almost lost her balance. A gust of wind slammed into her and sent her sprawling. Rogue magic was keeping her from her sisters. Fog spread along the ground, thick and nightmarish.
“You know what? I make my own path, and you better just fuck off!” she yelled, rolling and kicking to get free of the energy surrounding her. It felt nice to say, and Nasira permitted herself a lean grin.
Then she felt it. Power. But this, oh, this was her own, newly restored. Whatever had happened to the mental dominant, she hadn’t a clue, and she was grateful for the return.
She took hold of her magic and channeled her inner lioness. The power energy of the cat filled her and when she looked down, her fingernails had slightly lengthened. She sent a blast over her shoulder. It burst and cut through the air. Dissuading anyone from following her.
Orestes had Brock. Would hurt him if she didn’t follow through. She thought she heard her name on the wind and pumped her arms. The lioness in her was agile. Cunning and bloodthirsty. She would do whatever it took to protect her cubs.
Finally, Nasira reached her sisters, gathering near the water and standing in a circle.
“Are you okay?” Karsia asked.
The rush of rogue magic was taking its toll on them. Karsia was paler than normal, her skin clammy when she reached out for Nasira’s hand.
“He had me,” Nasira murmured, gratefully taking the offered hand and squeezing. “We need to do this fast. Brock tackled him but Orestes is strong. Darkness is riding him hard, and he won’t stay down for long.”
“Then we need to go on the defensive asap.” Karsia handed Nasira a crystal charged with Light energy. “Whoa, what happened to your eyes?”
Nasira grinned, feeling light points on her teeth. Her eyes, then, must have contracted to more resemble her feline spirit animal. “Just channeling. Nothing major.”
There was nothing in her head. She hoped, when the time came, her head and her heart would be able to work together.
The moon began to bleed red in the west. The dark had come and wind rocked them, threatening the stability of the circle they prepared to cast. Nasira lifted a hand to shield her eyes against the torrent of sand pelting them. “Astix, I hope you know what you’re doing and have an idea. We’re out here in the open and we’re defenseless,” she said, trying to be heard.
The wind stirred around them in a funnel and in the distance there were cries. Sirens. Clouds drifted above them, gray and formidable. Boiling. Lightning flashed and thunder cracking overhead.
They held their ground.
“Um, you guys?” Aisanna stared at the park and the shapes moving in the gloom. “Do you see what I see?”
There were people crowding closer. Wailing. Keening. Like they weren’t sure where to go or what to do.
A putrid stink filled the air.
“We have to do it now,” Karsia stated. “Darkness is almost free!”
Shaking and desperate to complete their last stand, Nasira kept her magic at the ready. Taking everything in. The sisters used salt crystals for their circle and took hands. Stilled. Shoulders pressed together.
Out of the gloom, Orestes stepped forward. Brock was nowhere to be seen.
“This is over,” he told them. Then a smile twisted his thin lips. “Don’t you see? I have too much power. What do you fight for? Vengeance? For your taken brother or your lost loves? Vengeance is not
enough! At the end of the day it won’t save you.” He put on a frowny face. “Relent. Give in to me. It will make the transition easier.”
Everything in Nasira wanted to shudder and run when the last of the white disappeared from the moon. Even with the grounding spell, the circle of protection, the sand seemed to pull at her feet.
Astix spared a glance at the crowd, then turned to her sisters. “Guess it’s time to stop dicking around.” Her smile was weak. “Catch you all on the flip side. Fight well, ladies.”
Before she could speak again, Orestes reacted, sending out a violent wash of earth and wood. And was stopped by a wave of fire.
“What the hell?”
Orestes turned.
Zelda stood there, propped against Kelsi. Her long red hair was stringy and unwashed, her complexion ashy.
“Zelda,” he growled. “What are you doing?”
Thought it took effort, she smiled, the gesture looking out of place. “Standing up to you,” she managed, her voice gruff and rocky. “You’ve been tainted by the Darkness, Orestes. I won’t let you hurt these girls.”
“Try and stop me.”
He retaliated with a second wave of magic. He saw Zelda go on the offensive from the periphery of his vision. Helped by Kelsi—the little wench was an air elemental—a plume of fire shot out in a ring around the sisters. An added layer of protection.
“You can’t stop me!” Orestes called about the howl of the flames. “This is how it’s meant to be. I’m the Harbinger!”
“No you’re not,” Zelda answered. She threw the last of her energy into strengthening the wall of fire to keep the girl safe.
Kelsi added her own strength. Air blew forward and fed the fire. Stoked the flames to staggering heights. “Your brother and father are free.” Her words carried on the wind and reached the sisters. “Do what you have to do!”
Free.
“This is not going to be easy,” Astix muttered, her attention focused on the churning red sky. At least, her mind whispered, her family was free.
Through the haze she saw Orestes, prowling the edges of the fire ring like a predator. He was, she knew, a predator of the worst kind. One with the deadliest power because they hid in plain sight.
A little longer. A little more time, she thought, and maybe she could come up with a plan. Fire and flaming pieces of wood flew around them, and there were screams as the gathered crowd stepped back. Lightening slashed the sky and sand.
Of everything Astix feared, everything she’d seen in visions and dreams, if she didn’t find a way to restore the balance, then what would come was worse than anything she saw now. Men and woman driven insane from the influx of magic. Death, blood. Entire cities slaughtered with Darkness freed to wreak havoc.
Where was Vane when she needed a helping hand?
Screams echoed in the dark under the red full moon. Waves of smoke surrounded them but, with their own wards and the ring of fire from Zelda, no one had attacked them.
“Okay, think.” Astix turned her back to her sisters. “What has Darkness said? What does she want?”
A fold of rock and earth jettisoned through the fire and knocked Karsia in the leg. She screamed and kicked, falling to her knees and clawing out to keep from being dragged out of the circle. Wild with fear, Astix and the others fought like madmen, ignoring whatever blows came their way over the wall of fire.
She could see blood on Karsia’s leg and she had to beg her mind to focus. Focus.
Something leapt at them from above the fire wall. Astix’s senses caught it just in time. Instinct had her leaping in time to catch Aisanna’s cupped hands and launch herself higher, the bloodstone at her neck pulsing. She used the power of the stone to slash forward and send Orestes’s projectile toward the torched ground.
She landed hard on her knees.
“Girls, girls, girls. What a mess you’ve made.”
There was no inflection in the tone, no sense of modulation. Each syllable lasted an eternity yet was as brief as the expiration of a star. This was Darkness talking.
A form took shape outside their ring of sale. This time, there was now shadow figure. No sense of the insubstantial. The woman standing in front of them was beautiful, with ruler-straight blond hair hanging down to her nipped in waist.
“Honestly, to see you keep trying is laughable. Astix, come. You are the Harbinger.” Cecilia held out a hand. “Stop this nonsense and let us accomplish what you’ve been born to do.”
Her voice was lyrical somehow and held the hint of an accent. Large eyes, small nose, and square chin completed the face. A tall and willowy angel with delicate hands and a pale complexion. Completely mad.
Each word dug into her consciousness with the sharpness of an ax. “You’re…you’re here.”
Cecilia slowly retracted her arms. “I am here. I am free.”
“Who is this?” Nasira hiked a thumb at the stranger.
“This is the One Who Walks in Darkness,” Astix said, her tongue numb.
“Remember what I told you, once. Great change. Great destruction. You were chosen. Darkness will rise in this world, given birth through you. Your inability to make a choice has resulted in the universe choosing for you.
One wrong choice and I became the veil keeping our worlds apart. With the eclipse, I am free. The world will fall to me and you, my poor girls, you are out of time.”
Out of time, yes. Darkness was free. Without a host to take her place, the veil was gone. The Harbinger was supposed to have to the ability to keep the balance. So what the hell could she do?
The answer hit her like a snapping finger. “I know,” she murmured. “I know what to do.”
Nasira tore her attention away from the eerie figure prowling the outside of the salt line. “It’s about damn time,” she said proudly.
Astix closed her eyes and settled down in the middle of the salt circle. “Tune her out,” she told the others. “This is going to take some juice.”
Gathering all her resources, she reached lower, deeper, further down. Inside, her magic sizzled and threatened to consume her. Surrounded in a purple glow, power flowed around her, through her, penetrated every atom and made her impervious. They’d brought crystals and she used them now. Brought their strength inside of her. It would take more than she’d ever given to get the damn thing here. Harnessing that kind of power was going to cost.
The first time she’d faced Darkness, Astix was scared. Scared of losing herself. She’d done what she had to for the people around her. She thought of them now, and felt the last of her fear slipping away. This was a toll she could handle. She had her family here. Their strength became hers.
She felt the pull and tug of gemstones in the miles surrounding them. With a deep breath, she tuned them out, focusing on one distinct energy signature. One she hoped she would never feel again.
The Telos Amyet. The stone who held the power to change the scope of magic.
Her magic reached out across the universe searching. She heard people talking, screaming, part of her attention still focused on the circle and what was happening around them.
It wouldn’t work if she couldn’t completely tune it out.
Another deep breath, then another. She drew air through her mouth, into her lungs, and along every nerve in her body. Seeking. Diving deeper and deeper inside herself until a single point in space lit up. Like a diamond on a sheet of black velvet.
There it was.
An invisible string pulled at her ribs and something changed. Her power morphing and changing. The pressure changed and Astix felt her ears pop. The energy of the Telos Amyet was vast and cold. Changing her from the inside. The depth of power it offered sucked at her. Clawed and scraped her mind.
Astix wanted to scream. She wanted to give up and let someone else handle this. A thought flitted across her mind. I can’t do this.
“Astix.” Leo drew up short, the fire keeping him separated just as it kept the girls contained. He closed his eyes and sent his magic
searching outward. It slipped beneath her skin and energized her cells. She drew in a deep breath, tears stinging her eyes.
Leo.
He was alive. He was safe. He was a part of her, a part she hadn’t realized was missing. A part she’d missed terribly.
Renewed by the power he sent her way, she drew in a deep breath. Bolstered her own magic. Astix drew her hands up from her sides AS power crackled to life at her fingertips. A purple aura skated around her and the whites of her eyes flared, golden sparks dancing across her skin.
She thought she couldn’t do this? “Yes, I can!”
The curling energy connecting her to the stone shifted and changed. Astix took control. For the first time she saw the other side of the power, instead of just the dark. The goodness harnessed inside the stone. The other side of the coin. It was the Light she brought into her. The Light she held in her soul and pushed outward. Harnessing the stone and connecting with it. Cold lanced through her and when she opened her eyes, they glowed from the joining.
She spoke, and her voice belonged to someone else. Something else. Ancient. Timeless.
“It’s coming.”
CHAPTER 23
The eclipse…
It was done. Darkness shimmered around them and the cutting wind lashed at their skin. The lunar eclipse was complete.
“We have to hold her off while Astix completes the connection,” Aisanna told the others, staring at Cecilia’s hard, crazed eyes and fighting to maintain her balance.
The freed elemental stalked the edge of the salt ring, shoulders hunched forward and head tilted to the side. Sly. “Yes, try.”
Nasira felt fury rising from deep within as recognition clicked into place. “You!” she called out. “You’re the one who attacked me in the bath! You’re the cause of all of this.” She started to surge forward and would have broken the circle had Karsia not reigned her in.
“Stop it! This isn’t the time.”
Cecilia continued to bait them. “Come for me, youngling. Come for me with all the anger inside your tiny body.” She drew in a breath and let her head drop back on her neck. “I can feel it. It’s delicious.”
