by Lizzy Ford
“I did this, Michael. I gathered so much Dark, Decker can’t fight it. I let Beck trade his soul for Decker’s mate to have a second trial after she went Dark, and she can … she can hardly stand, let alone pass another trial,” Rania choked out the words. “If we lose our sons, it’s because of me.”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead. His body shook.
“Watch, Rania,” Sam urged.
She felt the elements battling and pulled away from Michael’s gentle touch. When she faced the clearing again, she saw her sons trying to kill each other. Tears started down her cheeks. Michael’s arms wrapped around her, his own attention riveted on the clearing. His earth magick battled with her agitated shadows.
It was when the boys went to physical blows that Rania dropped to her knees. All she’d done over her lifetime had led to this moment, when she’d be lucky to have one surviving son when the night was over. Decker was Darkness now and Beck unprepared. Both were her fault.
Pain filled her. Decker’s pain, Beck’s pain, the girl’s pain. It made her nauseous. She was as linked to their lives as they were one another, and the magick from the clearing swept through her as if she stood among them. Their emotions ran through her mind, too, blurring her vision.
Michael knelt behind her, his arms circling her again.
A glance at Sam showed him holding his head. Her breathing was ragged and hard, her body straining under the influence of magick that wasn’t hers.
“I’m here, Rania,” Michael said. “I believe in all of you. We’ll make it through this.” His voice was strained but filled with conviction.
She leaned against him, numbness falling over her as his earth magick cleared her mind. Helpless to do anything, she did as Sam bid her and watched.
Chapter Eighteen
Autumn’s injured shoulder was shaking, the blood streaming down her arm and making her hands slippery. She paused to wipe the warmth away then linked her hands and began again.
Step, pull. Step, pull.
Gritting her teeth, she continued the small steps. It felt like she’d been dragging Dawn forever. Her breathing was ragged, her body losing what strength it had. Her anger and fear weren’t going to give her enough energy to save them. Autumn paused once more to wipe her hands and glanced back.
She was almost to the forest. If she made it there, she might make it to the school next. Hope sprang within her, until she risked a glance towards the twins.
The clearing was as bright as day from Beck’s white magick and Decker’s fire. The two had been locked in a silent battle of the elements. The balance between them snapped as she watched, and they slammed into each other physically. Blows fell without restraint, often aided by sparks of magick.
They’d fight until one of them was dead.
Autumn stopped, cold despite the heat of exertion. She didn’t want to lose either of them. The world couldn’t afford to lose Light, and she refused to believe Decker was gone. He’d been there a day ago, gazing at her in a way she couldn’t get out of her head. He was there. He had to be.
Decker slammed Beck to the ground. Autumn flinched. The Light twin landed on the flat boulder. He was still. Decker started forward.
She breathed in the air magick then released it.
It flung Decker away from his twin. He landed a half a dozen meters away. Autumn released Dawn and stepped forward. Her eyes went from Decker to Beck, who was unconscious on the rock. Blood ebbed from beneath him.
The Darkness in Decker’s body shook himself off, unaware of what flung him. He strode towards his twin again, the air around him sizzling with magick waiting to be unleashed.
“No,” she whispered.
Once more, he was sent tumbling away. This time, when he rose, his eyes fell to her. She paused in place, swallowing hard. She’d just challenged him to a match she’d never win. But she had to try. She had to reach him. They weren’t going to survive otherwise.
He knelt and touched the ground.
Fire leapt from his hand, broke into three streams, and tore towards Beck, her and Dawn. It moved almost too fast for Autumn to see, and she pulled more air magick into her, desperate to protect the three of them.
The fire fell short of all three, held back by her air magick.
“You can’t sustain it.”
She almost cried out at his voice. It was low, inhuman and seemed to come from all around her. Autumn whirled, staring up at Decker. He reached for her, and the air pushed him back. He gave a faint smile.
Autumn searched his gaze. His eyes had melted into the shadows. There was no sign of the teen who kissed her so gently yesterday. The air between them was hot, as if she stood in front of a bonfire.
“Yes, I can,” she replied.
“You’re hurt and weakening. I can wait for you to burn out.”
His words scared her. Despite the violence he committed, he wasn’t the erratic killer she expected. He was calm and calculating.
“By then, they’ll be dead anyway,” he added. “Is a slow death what you want for them?”
“I can ask you the same thing,” she said. “Decker, Beck’s your brother and Dawn carries his child. Does that mean anything to you?”
The lines of fire grew stronger, taller, in response. She struggled to pull and push enough air magick to sustain the shields around them.
“Decker is gone,” the voice said.
“No. He’s not.”
More fire magick. More air magick. Tears rose, and she forced them down, shaking with the effort of channeling the magick.
“Choose,” he said.
She blinked. “Choose what?”
“Choose which one you wish to save. We’ll see if you can do it. I want to see you try and fail. It will amuse me.”
“This isn’t a game!”
“I can take them now, or you can play.”
Autumn stared up at him, seeking some sign of Decker within the depths of the Darkness. She reached out to him. He didn’t move away, as if aware there was nothing she could do against him. He’d responded to her touch before. Her fingers grazed the skin on his hand.
He jerked back, and she gasped. A flash of something went through his gaze. Awareness? His calm slipped, and his jaw was clenched. For a moment, he was perfectly still.
Struggling.
She sensed an internal battle. Hope trickled through her. Decker was there. Somewhere. Trapped inside this … thing. After the brief battle, the Darkness moved.
“Choose,” he said again. “You I will take either way.”
Scared, Autumn looked towards Dawn. The girl glowed with Dark power. It wasn’t her as much as her baby – Beck’s child, the only true innocent in the field – that drew Autumn’s attention. Beck would hurt if he lost his baby, too, and she couldn’t let Decker take the life of a child. There was no recovering from such a mistake.
The earth warned her Beck wasn’t in good shape. If she saved him, he lost his baby girl, and Decker was gone forever. If she saved Dawn, there was no one to stand between the world and the Dark. Her gaze dropped to her hands. They were covered in her blood. No matter who she chose, she wasn’t going to make it out of the clearing in time to save anyone. What was left of Decker would crumble this night when the Darkness that controlled him killed them all.
Helplessness swept through her. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t bring help. The Darkness was toying with her like a bored predator. Maybe she had no chance anyway. She’d never be able to maintain the air magick long enough to protect them. Her breathing was ragged and fast as it was.
The earth warmed her feet. It floated through her, soothing what pain it could. She didn’t think it made a difference now, not when she continued to bleed. She trembled, struggling not to collapse and sob. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t fight the Dark. She’d never save anyone.
The only one in the clearing who could help them was Decker. He’d been consumed by his pain. Now, it would consume everyone around him. She was too
weak to stop it.
Pain. She dropped her hands and stared at the ground.
“Very well. I’ll claim them both.”
“No!” she cried as he stepped towards Dawn. “I made a choice.” She forced herself to breathe more deeply. The fire crept towards her. She let it, instead pooling what magic remained.
“And?”
“I choose Decker,” she said.
The Darkness possessing Decker’s body chuckled. “Too late for that.”
“No. You told me to choose. I choose to save Decker.”
He snatched her neck and lifted her off her feet. Autumn uttered a choked cry as he began to squeeze. The Dark teen’s death had been quick; she hoped hers was, too. She channeled her pain towards the air magick, trying to protect Beck and Dawn even as black edged her mind.
The creature dropped her and stumbled back. Autumn gasped in air and shook her head. She looked up at him. It was awareness in his gaze. Some tiny part of Decker remained.
He turned away from her and stalked towards Dawn.
Autumn lowered herself to the ground and pressed her palms to the cold earth. She drew a deep breath, focused, and gathered her magick around her. The air was too freaked out to control, and the earth seemed timid. Tears dripped into the snow. Autumn sat back then remembered she had the stones with her. She pulled them free from her pocket with a hand rendered clumsy by cold. Setting them on the ground, she tried again.
This time, both elements responded.
Sensing the buildup, Decker froze a few feet from Dawn.
Autumn had no idea if what she envisioned was going to work. She had no other choice. Terrified, she released the air barriers protecting Dawn and Beck then channeled it towards Decker. Her magick slammed him to the ground. Fire flared towards her. With no air magick to protect her, she desperately shoved every ounce of magick out of her body and into the earth.
There was a rumble, then the earth yawned open, swallowing Decker. The fire fizzled before it reached her.
“Heal his pain,” she begged the earth.
Decker was gone. Night and silence fell into the clearing again. Panting from effort, Autumn waited a minute before standing. She had no idea if the earth could fix Decker like it helped her or if she was just buying herself time until the Darkness broke free of the earth’s depths.
Chapter Nineteen
The ground was crushing him. Decker registered the pain from the depths of his hibernation and fought for control of his mind and body once more. The harder he fought, the more he hurt. The earth magick was subtle but strong, wrapping around him to restrain him. His fire magick was snuffed underground; without air to breathe, the sparks weren’t able to form. Water magick didn’t flow through rock and solid earth. The only element he was able to gather was spirit.
Unable to breathe, his struggles grew weaker until he was almost unconscious. As soon as he stilled, the earth shifted, creating a pocket of air around his head. He gasped.
The Darkness surged into his mind.
It’s almost over! You must let go, Bartholomew bellowed into his head.
“I’m trying,” Decker said. He closed his eyes, unable to recall exactly how he ended up buried inside the earth in the first place. He thought the Darkness had taken him for good. It shared no memories with him this time. He waited for it to reclaim him.
Earth magick crept into his body. At first, he wasn’t sure he really felt something. The element’s touch was gentle yet persistent, a tickle compared to the tidal wave that came with his more temperamental magicks. It was moving up his body like the warmth of the sun gradually emerging from behind a cloud.
Darkness swallowed him as he dwelt on the sensations of earth magick. It was quiet in his mind. He didn’t have to feel pain in this new home of his. The Darkness was free, and he was at peace.
The earth magick recalled him from the safe place, refusing to leave him in the Darkness. Decker groaned, once again in his own body. The invading magick reached his head and filled it with a vision.
Summer falling from the cliff.
Fresh pain struck him, taking him further out of the Darkness. It was battling him for control, but the earth magick slipped between them, buffering him. Decker strained, wanting to surrender to the Darkness.
The earth began to show him fragments of what happened this evening: The fire Autumn tried to fight, the amusement of Darkness as it played with her, what she’d said to it.
I choose Decker.
He had choked her. He hurt her.
Decker went limp at the vision, horrified at what he’d done after she said those sweet words. Autumn, who believed someone as undeserving as him was worthy of someone like her. Hadn’t he told her there were no second chances? And yet, there she was, willing to risk her life for him while he waited for it to end. In the vision, she was bleeding with her eyes glazed.
He couldn’t yet see what happened before she confronted the Darkness. The idea someone hurt her, though, infuriated him. Was it the Darkness? Was it his Darkness that made her bleed? Why had she chosen to defy the Dark for him?
Decker struggled against the earth and the Darkness, rage filling him at the idea he’d let the Darkness hurt her.
You cannot be free, if they remain. Bartholomew’s wise words made him stop. If you wish the pain -
The earth shoved a new vision into his mind before Bartholomew was able to finish. An image of Summer filled his thoughts, robbing him of breath. She was so beautiful, smart, gentle and expressive.
Summer is gone. You are not. Grandpa Louis told him.
Sorrow filled Decker at the thought of what he’d lost. She was his other half. Though he hadn’t died with her, he felt like he did. She’d sated his body and stilled his mind in a way nothing else did.
Except Autumn, who was different. Sweet, tough and made wise by her own pain, she’d tried to help him deal with his from the start. He’d felt it from their first touch; she belonged to him as much as Summer had. Unlike the other nameless girls he slept with, Autumn’s kisses were as innocent and addictive as Summer’s. Autumn touched his soul, made him feel sunshine in a world that was otherwise dark. He’d wanted to lose himself in her soothing touch, consume her with his magick and claim her as his.
He betrayed Summer, if he took that step towards Autumn, didn’t he?
Confused, torn, Decker wasn’t able to let go of his guilt. They both believed him to be more than the Darkness within him. From everything his mother and the other Dark Masters revealed, there was only one mate intended to be with each Master of Dark. And yet, he had two.
You will never know peace if you do not go to the Dark, Bartholomew raved. You will hurt her the same way you did Summer. You will hurt everyone you love.
“If I don’t do something, the Darkness will hurt her!” he retorted.
If you choose between them, you betray Summer’s memory, Bartholomew said.
“I don’t honor Summer by letting someone else die.”
Struck by the truth of his words, Decker had a rare moment of mental silence. He heard his own thoughts and instincts again, stronger than ever. He began to see the path the Darkness laid out for him. The lies it fed him. He hadn’t been able to save Summer. He had a chance to save Autumn. At least, he did if he regained control of his mind and body. The Darkness was going to kill her – and Beck – otherwise.
Decker pulled at his spirit magick. The clamor in his mind started again and the Darkness battled him for control. He fought back.
Show me what happened tonight, he ordered the earth magick.
Fear trickled through him at the vision of Beck lying on the stone, unconscious. Decker counted on Beck being able to protect the world from the Darkness while blocking the knowledge that Beck didn’t know how. Tonight, Decker abandoned his twin to face the Darkness alone, and the result was that his brother was dying. Beck wasn’t going to survive, if Decker didn’t help him.
What did you think it took to free you? Bartholomew was calm. If
they live, you will always have a reason to return. We cannot let them live.
“No! I won’t let you hurt them!”
Decker gave a frustrated cry as the reality of what Bartholomew said sank in. He’d gone blindly down this path, wanting nothing more than the pain to end. He’d killed Dark witchlings then Light witchlings. As a finale, the Darkness wanted him to kill what remained of himself: those he loved. Bartholomew was right. Without Beck and Autumn, Decker had no reason to challenge the Darkness for his body.
His vision clear for the first time since Summer died, Decker didn’t believe what he’d done. He’d never meant for either of them to get hurt. He’d been vulnerable after Summer’s death, and the Darkness pounced, convincing him the path to eternal peace was simple, that no one else he loved had to get hurt if he surrendered. It offered to protect the world from him, when he needed to protect the world from Darkness.
Furious, Decker strained, but the earth wasn’t done with him yet.
The earth’s memories expanded. He saw Dawn bring Autumn to the field at gunpoint. The earth showed him how Autumn had used air magick to defend herself and how she was injured. He saw Dawn go Dark and himself appear soon after, followed by Beck.
Decker watched with apprehension as Darkness fought his brother. Pride filled him at the sight of Beck stepping up to protect Autumn and Dawn, though he knew he was outmatched. Beck fell, and Autumn took his place to defend those who couldn’t defend themselves.
Even him. She sought to protect him from himself.
And he’d hurt her.
Near frenzied with emotion, Decker thrashed in place, unable to move. Summer was gone. Autumn was his second chance. Although he wasn’t certain he was ready, he knew he couldn’t forsake her and Beck to the Darkness. He’d failed Summer. He wasn’t going to fail Autumn. He had to fight the Darkness at least long enough to save them.
