by Izzy Shows
Sitting beside him on the armrest of the couch was Lilith, herself barely wearing anything, and she was clapping and urging the dancer on. That didn’t surprise me at all—she was a succubus, so this was natural for her.
A flicker of hope burned inside of me. Maybe this was all a party for Lilith. Maybe this was the way he fed her.
Why did I care?
I had allowed myself to become accustomed to the person he presented himself as when he was around me. I didn’t know this side of him at all.
I pushed my way past the woman who had opened the door, shoulder-checking several dancers who got in my way.
Lilith spied me then, her eyes lighting up when she saw me.
“Blair! It feels like ages since I’ve seen you. Come here, come—”
“Get out,” Mal said without looking at me. His tone was dead, devoid of any emotion whatsoever.
Well, I sure as fuck wasn’t devoid of emotion. His words hit me like knives to the gut, driving the wind from me and sending tendrils of pain curling throughout my body. What had just happened?
“Mal, I need to talk to you,” I said, raising my voice to be heard over the music.
Lilith looked distressed, looking from Mal to me several times. She shook her head the tiniest degree as if to tell me this was a bad idea.
Yeah, sweetie, I know that already. But that wasn’t going to stop me from ploughing forward. I was the queen of burning bridges, and if that’s what Mal wanted to do, well, then, I would help him right along. I walked farther into the room until I was standing in front of him, cutting off his line of sight to the dancer who was stripping for him.
His gaze slammed into mine, and then I saw emotion.
Heat. Pain. Anger. Desire.
What breath I had regained disappeared in that moment, and my mouth ran dry. He looked me over slowly, from head to toe. I was dressed as I normally did, in a long-sleeved shirt, my jackets, and a pair of ratty jeans. There was nothing sensual about the way I was dressed, but I never felt more desirable than when Mal was looking at me.
“I need to talk to you,” I said, my voice rough.
He took his sweet time bringing his eyes back up to mine. Curiously, all the emotion was gone again.
“I thought I made it quite clear that I don’t care about whatever little witch drama you have going on,” he said, then sipped his drink lazily. “Get out.”
I balled my hands into fists. “Damn it, Mal, I don’t have time for this. I need to get rid of your mark. I’ve been—”
“Called before the Order. Yes, I know.” He sounded bored, damn him. “Did you not hear me? I. Don’t. Care.”
I was shaking now, furious that he could treat me this way. How could he not care? After everything we had been through together? This was my life we were talking about!
“Malphas, I swear to God or whoever else will help me kick your arse, you need to help me.”
He stood up abruptly, towering over me and invading my personal space, his face mere inches from mine. The familiar thrum of anxious tension filled the air between us. My nerves sizzled. I was painfully aware of him, but I pushed those feelings to the side. There was no time for this, and besides, he was clearly unaffected.
His face still betrayed no emotion at all.
“Do not ever say that name around me again,” he said, his voice a soft and dangerous whisper. “Or I will take great pleasure in flaying your hide.”
A chill ran down my spine. I took a step away from him, allowing myself that sign of weakness.
“I don’t know who you are.” Tears pricked at my eyes. I pressed my lips firmly together and looked away from him for a moment, combatting the need to cry with every inch of my being. “I’m going to die. Please.”
“That’s what mortals do,” he said. “You die. Now, get out before I throw you out.”
I turned and ran before he could say another word.
I didn’t make it more than a flight of stairs down before I couldn’t see through the tears and my legs gave out from under me. All I could do was sit on a step and clutch at the railing as the tears flowed free at last.
What’s happening?
I didn’t understand anything that was going on. I didn’t know why he had turned on me at last, though it had been obvious from the very beginning that it was going to happen. I should have known better than to grow attached, than to think he might be my friend.
This whole time, I’d known that he was Fallen, but I had never really thought of him as such. It had been the excuse that prevented me from getting too close to him, yet he’d never been a demon to me. Not until now.
Now, he was acting like I was just another disposable human who was bothering him. He was acting like we hadn’t fought side by side, like we hadn’t shared the pains of healing Lilith, like he hadn’t been worried about me when I went up against the vampires on my own.
I remembered that moment, when I called him into my mind to ask him to bring me my belongings. I had chosen a Scottish moor, a place that felt like home to me, a safe space. The wind had whipped around us; a storm had been on the horizon. He had begged me to let someone help me, to let him help me.
He’d said he didn’t want to lose me.
You’re losing me now, Malphas.
Eighteen
I felt like a zombie the next morning, going through the motions of getting dressed and feeding myself. I didn’t want to do any of it—I just wanted to lie in bed and mope, but I knew it was necessary. The First Hand would be here to collect me any minute now, and I had to be ready for them. I didn’t want to go through the trials without the necessary energy.
But everything tasted like sawdust, and I hadn’t slept very well last night, either. Nothing was going to plan, although the mark had blissfully left me alone since I left Mal’s flat the night before.
I stood looking down at my foci, spread before me on the coffee table. I wasn’t sure what I would be allowed, but I intended to bring it all, just to be safe. I picked up the cuff and strapped it on, covering the mark. With it covered up and silent, I could almost forget it was there. Almost.
It was there, in the back of my mind, always. Always reminding me that I was bound to Malphas. Funny, it hadn’t bothered me half as much before that I was bound to him, but now that I knew what he really thought of me, I didn’t want it. I didn’t want to be marked by him, didn’t want a reminder of him. If it had been possible to take a knife and carve it out and know that that would truly rid me of the taint, I would have done it. Damn the danger; I would have cut it out of my skin at once just to be rid of him.
I felt the tears starting to build up again and swiped a hand over my eyes.
No time for tears now, Blair. Put on your big-girl pants and deal with the issue at hand.
I picked up the wind chain, wrapped it around my wrist and fingers, then put on the shield rings. That done, I slipped into the thigh harness and holstered each of my wands.
I should have felt powerful then, as I always did when I had all my garb on, but I felt dead and empty inside.
You’re pathetic if you’re letting one man’s opinion hurt you this much, I chided myself. He doesn’t mean anything. He’s just a demon. Move the fuck on, already.
Right. I shook my head, blonde ponytail whipping both of my cheeks. Time to move on.
As if the universe had heard me, that was when the knock came on my door—a knock instead of being beaten senseless this time. I smiled at that and grabbed my jackets off the couch, shrugged into the hoodie and held on to the leather jacket. Opening the door, I beamed at Gregor on the other side.
“Hello! Fine day, isn’t it?”
He quirked an eyebrow up, but that was the only reaction I got from him. I sighed. It was drizzling out. You would think he’d point that out, responding to the joke somewhat. I put the leather jacket on and stepped out of the house, shut the door, and put the wards up.
“Your wards are good,” he said, grunting from behind me, and I turn
ed around with shock evident in my eyes.
“Really? You think so? Thank you,” I said, smiling warmly.
“Who made them for you?”
I stiffened. Of course he couldn’t just give me a compliment. “The foundation was laid by Aidan Wallace, but I built on them.”
“Hm.” It was more of a grunt than a word, and I sensed that he didn’t believe I’d had anything to do with them. Even a monkey could raise wards put in place by someone else, after all.
We walked to the car in awkward silence, and I got in without another word. There was no one else in the car; it was just me and Gregor today. The blindfold was thrown into my lap. I looked up at him, standing there with the car door open, my lips slightly parted as I held up the blindfold.
“Do you want to put it on, or do you want me to put it on you?” he asked.
My lips curved into a smile. Maybe he was starting to warm up to me after all. I put the blindfold on without further comment, and he shut the door. A moment later, the driver’s side door opened and shut, and we were off.
I wondered why it was just him and me today. Was it a sign of trust that I wouldn’t attack him? That I wasn’t a prisoner to be distrusted? I was glad to have the freedom of my hands and to have been allowed to put on the blindfold myself. It was a small gesture, but it spoke volumes.
I was a being with my own autonomy, and he was respecting that.
Nineteen
“I have to put another blindfold on? Is this a joke?” I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped a foot impatiently against the floor. This was ridiculous.
It was the first trial I had to go through today, and they wanted to blindfold me again. I’d thought that was just going to be for getting to and from the Order, but apparently not.
“It is most certainly not a joke, Ms. Sheach. We are going to blindfold you, and then you are going to navigate this course.”
“I fail to see what this is going to accomplish, besides making a really good Star Wars joke,” I said, grumbling more to myself than to them.
“Your Sight, you insulting chit,” one of the other High Council members said, glaring at me. “We are testing your Sight!”
Ah, well, that did make some sort of sense. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll look at you?” I tilted my head to the side as I asked, wondering whether or not that would be a good idea.
“I would advise against it,” Diego said, an amused expression on his face. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his stance was wide. He wasn’t defiant; he was powerful. “It’s unlikely you would be able to do more than remain standing if you Saw the Chancellor.”
I rolled my eyes but shrugged and turned to face the obstacle course in front of me. It didn’t look particularly daunting, but knowing that it had been created by a bunch of Wizards and had been designed to test my Sight, it would probably change into something else altogether in a moment or two.
“Fine. Blindfold me,” I said, waving a hand carelessly. “I don’t care.”
I heard footsteps come up behind me and forced myself not to tense in response to having someone back there. It made me anxious. A moment later, a blindfold was fitted around my head.
“Obscuro,” Diego said, and I realised it was him who was blindfolding me. That would have reassured me, except that the small light at the top and bottom of the blindfold had just disappeared.
“What the fuck!”
“So you can’t cheat,” he said. I could hear the amusement in his voice.
I hoped he was getting a good laugh out of this whole thing, because I wasn’t enjoying any of it. I wasn’t in a good mood for the trials today, although I doubted there was such a thing as being in a good mood when you were being tested for your worthiness. Emily probably had a mood that would suit it, but I didn’t. But today was particularly bad for this, because of my lack of proper sleep and the way thoughts of Mal kept creeping into my mind.
I pushed that thought aside—there was no time for distractions—and took in a deep, calming breath. I closed my eyes, not that it made much difference, and focused on the second pair of Eyes that I visualised as being more on my forehead, above my own eyes. I visualised them opening, and the world came into sharp, vibrant colour in front of me. There was a slight haze to it, which I recognised as coming from the blindfold, but otherwise I could see as well as if there had been nothing there.
Except that everything was sharp and glowing brightly. Whoever had thought this trial up hadn’t had much consideration for the person who would be going through it. Was that such a surprise, though? It was probably someone on the High Council. There were thirteen trials and thirteen members of the Council, so it wouldn’t surprise me if each one of them had come up with one of the trials, although I wondered who had drawn the short end of the stick and had got stuck with any of the first few.
I focused my attention on the obstacle course in front of me, widening my stance and shifting my weight from one leg to the other as I mentally prepared for it, balling my hands into fists.
One … two … three!
I shot forward like a rocket, headed straight towards the first obstacle—a large wall with a rope. Simple enough. But upon closer inspection, I saw that the rope had little glowing green spikes on it. I hadn’t seen that before the blindfold went on, which meant it was only visible with the Sight.
Oh, fuck, that’s what this is? I had to find the real obstacles?
I was closing in on the wall, though, and I needed to figure out a way to get over it without using the rope. Two more strides, and I was within reach of it.
“Vis!” I pushed off with my tattooed leg and sailed through the air, touched the top of the wall to orient myself and landed in a crouch on the other side. I grinned viciously—they were going to have to come up with something better than that if they wanted to stop me.
Ahead of me was your stereotypical tyre layout: two rows of tyres laid out in front of me for me to run through. I narrowed my eyes but didn’t waste any time running forward. If this was an obstacle course challenge, there was a good chance it was timed, even though they hadn’t said as much before it started. I didn’t want to fail because I didn’t know the rules. They didn’t seem the type to care about that.
When my foot landed in the first tyre, I realised the problem here, and yanked my foot back out with a yelp. “Are you bloody joking?” I shouted, clutching at my leg. There was some sort of substance in the bottom that had claimed my foot as soon as it went in and was still eating away at my boot. “Lavo,” I said, gesturing at my boot. The magic had to come from within me, and I gritted my teeth at the pain as I pulled it from deep inside myself and threaded it through my fingers. It was a different sort of pain than I was used to, as it was a purification spell, but it still hurt. A moment later, my boot no longer showed the purplish taint on it, and I shifted my attention back to the tyre course in front of me.
“Lavo,” I said again, pulling more magic from within myself and directing it across the tyres. I watched as little flames erupted inside each tyre and waited for them to go out before I launched myself forward again to run through the tyres at top speed. Agility was easy for me; I had never been the sort to trip over my own two feet, so I didn’t waste any time getting through this part of the course.
I didn’t waste any time running toward the next obstacle, either—what looked to be a long, rectangular sandbox filled with mud and christened with barbed wire held off the ground maybe a foot. Or less. I zeroed in on it, focusing my Sight, and saw the tainted edges of the wire. Touching it would be death, and there was a high likelihood that it would reach for me when I went in.
“Aegis,” I said as I dove to the floor and began working my way through the mud. The shield I had formed covered my entire top half, and I heard little sparking sounds being emitted from it as the barbed wire came to life and attacked. I kept my head down and crawled forward, content that my shield would protect me so long as I kept it at the forefront of my mind. My body was achin
g, unused to me switching from one magic to another so quickly and having to apply it so strongly. I was much more accustomed to calling on one form of pure magic and using my foci for the rest. I huffed out a breath and kept going; there was no reason to simmer on that topic, as it certainly wasn’t going to stop them from throwing shit at me. All I could do was try to keep up.
I slid out of the pit and stood up, brushing some of the mud off my jeans and shirt. I didn’t see why it had been necessary to include the mud, unless they were going for authenticity. They might as well have called a magic storm into the room to pour rain on me throughout the whole endeavour.
Best not to give them that idea. I’d keep it to myself.
Panting, a little out of breath, I sized up the next obstacle. Ahead of me was a pit filled with vipers—fuck my life—a rock wall that led up to a platform, and a set of monkey bars, beneath which was a dark and dangerous-looking liquid.
I sighed. This was going to be fun.
The moment of hesitation over, I launched myself forward until I was two steps away from the pit of vipers, then shouted the word to activate the tattoo on my ankle and jumped up and over the pit. I landed on the other side a little wobbly but spread my arms to either side to steady myself. I scaled the rock wall with relative ease, starting to think that the worst of it was over, and swung out on the monkey bars.
I concentrated on each bar, for it was a very long set, swinging my body forward to capitalise on the momentum. I was thankful I had started working out after moving into Aidan’s house—if I’d had to go through this two years ago, when I first met Aidan, I likely wouldn’t have been able to get through this course. But now my arms were strong, my muscles were well-defined, and I didn’t doubt myself.
It was then that I felt a tendril wrap around my leg, and a moment later, I was flying through the air and crashing into the liquid. It was alive; I could feel it as it dragged me down, down, down. The breath of air I’d dragged into my lungs just before my head went under wasn’t going to last me long, I recognised, but this creation wouldn’t let me go.
