I couldn’t let him die.
Bhardudlin’s ebony magic tore at Zak’s barrier and bolts of black lightning cut through the edges, shearing fissures in the earth on either side of the druid. Aaron, Kai, and Ezra braced against the howling wind that blasted out from the clashing powers. A branch tore off a tree and whipped past my face, scratching my cheek.
Olivia shrieked in pain and hit the ground with a thud, but I couldn’t stop. Bent against the gale, I ran toward the guys.
Lallakai’s shadow magic rippled. Faltered. Started to fail.
I opened my mouth to scream Llyrlethiad’s name.
A bolt of power ripped through the barrier and lashed at Aaron and Kai. It slammed into their raised swords, flinging them backward—into me. We crashed down in a tangle, the breath crushed from my lungs. I had no air to call for the fae lord.
Lallakai’s desperate shadow barrier shuddered. The edges had torn away. Bhardudlin’s power screamed against it, pushing harder, ripping deeper.
Then Ezra darted to Zak’s side.
He pressed his palms against Lallakai’s barrier—and crimson light flared beneath his fingers. The scarlet magic burst out of his hands and surged up his arms, veining his flesh and shining through his clothes. The power, a vivid red that was black at its deepest core, snaked across the inside of Lallakai’s failing barrier.
The temperature plunged. The darkness thickened into an inky soup.
Blood-red power erupted in a circle around Ezra’s feet. Lines spiked out of it, runes igniting in the leaf litter. A fully formed sorcery circle coalesced beneath him, red magic pouring out of it. The circle pulsed.
Then howling crimson power erupted from his hands and ripped through both Lallakai’s barrier and Bhardudlin’s ebony attack.
Chapter Twenty
I couldn’t breathe.
Aaron was on top of me. As the crimson magic had collided with black fae power and exploded, he’d rolled over me. His weight was crushing my lungs, and I hammered desperately at his shoulder.
He pushed off me and lurched onto his hands and knees.
Bhardudlin groaned furiously. The explosion had thrown the huge darkfae across the clearing. Great wounds raked his brownish-gray flesh, dripping dark blood over the forest floor, and the unleashing of power had torn smoking, foot-deep crevices into the earth.
Zak and Ezra, who’d been front and center for the explosive collision, were both down and unmoving.
Bhardudlin heaved to his feet and stretched to his towering twelve-foot height. His black eyes fixed on the downed druid and he hungrily licked his tusks. Ignoring the blood trickling from his wounds, he lumbered forward.
Aaron grabbed his sword from the scorched leaf litter. “Tori, take care of Ezra and Zak.”
Kai rose too, katana at the ready. The two mages advanced on the injured darkfae.
I scrambled up and raced to the druid and aeromage. Ezra’s face was slack, but red magic glowed across his fingertips. What the hell was that?
Aaron roared in challenge and fiery orange light flared. Bhardudlin snarled.
I grabbed Ezra’s shoulders, but he was six feet of solid muscle and impossible to lift. Planting my feet, I heaved on him anyway.
Silvery light glimmered. Hoshi appeared above Ezra, her long body floating effortlessly. She grasped the strap of his baldric with her little paws—and half his weight vanished. I lifted his shoulders off the ground, his head hanging limply. With Hoshi’s help, I dragged him into the trees, then ran back for Zak. Olivia was crumpled half behind a tree trunk, far enough away that she should be safe. I’d worry about her later.
As I took hold of Zak’s shoulders, he sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes flew open, then glazed with pain. Though Lallakai’s tattoos still marked his skin, his irises had no crystalline brightness. She must have used up her power.
Instead of dragging him away, I helped him sit up. “Zak, I have to call—”
“No. Bhardudlin is injured. We can finish him.”
As Hoshi flitted anxiously around us, Zak staggered to his feet and snapped a vial off his belt. He pulled the cork and downed the orange-gold contents in one gulp. Within three breaths, his rough exhalations steadied. Had the potion healed him or merely dulled his pain?
He extended his hand and a red rune ignited on his forearm. A crimson saber materialized in his grip. Shadows rippled on either side of him, then four vargs took form, their fangs bared and ruby eyes glaring.
Leaving me standing there, helpless and terrified, he ran for Bhardudlin with the vargs speeding ahead of him. The darkfae whirled away from Aaron to meet the druid and his wolves. Zak swung his saber and Bhardudlin caught it with one hand. Unconcerned by the spray of blood from his palm, he grinned through his tusks.
Aaron drew his sword back and whipped it in an arc. A band of searing blue fire struck the fae’s back, tearing an infuriated howl from him. Kai flung a handful of throwing knives into Bhardudlin’s shoulder, then pointed his katana. Lightning leaped from his blade to the knives.
The darkfae dropped to one knee under the barrage, then flung both giant arms out. His sweeping fists missed Zak and Kai but sent Aaron and two vargs flying. Aaron hit the ground and rolled into a tree.
Panic choked me, but Zak had said not to call Llyrlethiad. He’d said they could handle it.
With Hoshi holding on to my collar, I sprinted back into the trees and crouched beside Ezra. His eyes fluttered open. He squinted blearily at me, his jaw tight. Like Zak, he was in obvious pain, but he tried to sit up.
I slung an arm around his shoulders and helped him. He breathed harshly, then raised his head, his attention pulled toward the sounds of battle.
“Where’s my weapon?” he panted.
I shook my head. “You can’t fight like this.”
“Can.” He grabbed the nearest tree and levered himself to his feet. “I’m just bruised. The fae’s magic hit like a tank.”
Deciding not to point out that Ezra’s mysterious crimson magic had hit even harder, I stuck my head around the tree. Zak had unleashed another rune on his arm, and green bands of magic spiraled around Bhardudlin, restricting his movements—but the darkfae kept fighting. His wounds had barely slowed him. He was unstoppable.
A few yards from the edge of the battle, Ezra’s double-bladed staff lay in the leaf litter, the steel reflecting Aaron’s firelight.
Ezra leaned against the tree, panting for air. Whatever he’d said, he was in bad shape. He needed a minute to recover. Clamping down on my fear, I set my feet. In and out. I could do this.
“Wait here,” I told him.
Before he could argue, I sprinted toward the battle.
Hoshi hung onto my shoulders like a streaming blue banner as I ran. The vargs harried Bhardudlin’s ankles but seemed incapable of inflicting real damage, and Zak darted back and forth in front of the fae, preventing him from defending against the two mages. Aaron and Kai rained fire and lightning down on the fae’s back.
Bhardudlin’s flesh was torn and blackened. His blood drenched the forest floor. But he was still standing, still fighting, and seemed more furious than frightened.
Skidding through the leaves, I stooped to grab Ezra’s weapon.
Bellowing, Bhardudlin flung his huge arms wide. A wave of black power surged out of his thick fingers, expanding in every direction. Zak ducked. Aaron and Kai dove to the ground.
But I didn’t have the reflexes of a trained combat mythic. I didn’t even have my Queen of Spades card in my hand.
As the crackling black power shot outward, Hoshi’s long tail snapped around me and squeezed. In a rush of cold magic, my vision turned to colorful ripples. For an instant, Aaron and Kai disappeared, but I could see shadowy shapes: Bhardudlin, a massive gray monster; the black vargs; and Zak, whose body was overshadowed by Lallakai’s wings.
The darkfae’s attack swept right through me.
I saw its shadow pass through my shimmering chest like I wasn’t even there. Then my vision sn
apped back to normal, and Hoshi faded out of sight. Shock kept me rooted in place—then Bhardudlin’s hand shot out with super speed. He grabbed Zak around the chest.
Clutching Ezra’s weapon, I spun. As Ezra sprinted out of the trees, I drew the heavy staff back and hurled it at him like a javelin.
It flew straight and true—then dropped out of the air and stuck into the ground like a crooked flagpole, halfway to him. Goddamn it! I needed to work out more.
He veered toward it, snatched it from the ground, and charged for Bhardudlin. As the darkfae lifted Zak into the air, Ezra closed in from behind. Aaron and Kai hurled attacks at the darkfae’s face, blinding him.
Launching himself with a gust of wind, Ezra leaped onto the fae’s hunched back. He raised his staff, the air distorting around it, and slammed the blade down. The foot-long steel sank into grayish-brown flesh, then the wound exploded like a starburst as blades of air ripped outward.
Bhardudlin screamed and collapsed.
Zak rolled free from the darkfae’s grip. Glowing red saber in hand, he jammed the point under Bhardudlin’s chin. Standing on the fae’s back, Ezra pushed his staff into the bleeding wound. Aaron and Kai stuck the tips of their swords into Bhardudlin’s sides.
“Well,” Zak panted, “would you care to continue our negotiations?”
The darkfae snarled softly. “What would you have of me, druid?”
“The enslavement relic in exchange for your life.”
Bhardudlin hissed. “So be it.”
Dragging one arm across the ground, he clenched his huge hand. Ebony ripples danced over his fingers, then he opened his fist. A small, delicate orb of silver threads sat on his palm.
“Tori,” Zak said. “Pass that to me.”
I minced closer, overwhelmed by the fae’s monstrous size even as he lay on the ground. I plucked the sphere from his bloody gray palm and handed it to Zak.
Keeping his saber at the fae’s throat, he examined it. “It’s real.”
“I have met my end of our bargain,” Bhardudlin growled, desperation in his baritone slur.
Zak handed the sphere back to me. “Yes, you have.”
He lifted his sword from the darkfae’s neck—then slammed it back down. Red light flared across the blade as it tore through flesh and bone. Bhardudlin writhed, a furious wet groan wheezing from his mouth before he went still.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
Zak opened his hand and the scarlet saber dissolved. “He knew I would kill him, though he was hoping I might be stupid enough not to.” He bared his teeth. “He chose the wrong druid to make his pet.”
Ezra slid off the fae’s body, stumbled several paces away, then sank to the ground. I took an alarmed step toward him, only to falter as Aaron and Kai both dropped, landing heavily on their butts as though they couldn’t stand any longer.
Zak walked to Ezra, pulled him up, and half dragged him to the far end of the clearing. As he trudged back to get Kai, I pulled myself together and hurried to Aaron. I helped him over to Ezra, where he immediately sat, breathing heavily.
Olivia had recovered from her unfortunate encounter with a flying tree branch. She sat at the edge of the clearing, one hand pressed to her head as she stared at the slain darkfae.
Leaving her, I found Aaron’s and Kai’s swords among the leaf litter. Zak had deposited Kai with the other two, and the electramage was slumped against a log, eyes closed and face shining with perspiration. After leaning their swords against a tree trunk, I anxiously scanned them—wheezing, sweating, eyes closed, faces pale.
“Guys?” I quavered.
“Give them a few minutes,” Zak said, rubbing his hair. When he pulled his hand away, slimy strings of Bhardudlin’s saliva stuck to his fingers. For a second, I thought he might barf on the spot—I almost did—but he merely wiped his hand on his pants, then added, “They’re done.”
“Done what?”
Something like respect gathered in his eyes. “When a mage pushes to his limit, the price is steep. This is the cost of Elementaria.”
I turned to the guys, taking in their exhaustion. In a few minutes, they’d gone from full strength to trembling fatigue like they’d just finished a twelve-hour Ironman triathlon.
“The only class that places a higher demand on the mythic is Demonica,” Zak murmured, “and that’s a very different price.”
“What about you?” I asked, clutching the spindly silver relic Zak had yet to take back. “You seem okay.”
In answer, he held out his tattooed forearms. The colorful runes were dark, and three had disappeared, leaving empty circles on his skin. “The cost of this magic was paid by the fae who made it. Lallakai is exhausted. So are the vargs. Hoshi used what little magic she had to protect you.”
I pressed a hand to my chest. “She did something … the darkfae’s attack went right through me.”
“She shifted you into the fae demesne.”
“She what?”
“Fae have their own world … realm … reality. Whatever.” Zak limped to his duffle bag and pulled out a beer-bottle-sized vial of purple potion. “Some fae can pull a human in with them, which makes the human incorporeal in this realm—and invisible to non-Spiritalis mythics.”
I remembered, back at the art gallery, when Lallakai had swept her wings around him and he’d vanished.
“Huh.” I pointed at the bottle. “Is that a vitality potion?”
“Yes. It’ll get the mages back on their feet. We need to move down to the beach so I can set up the—”
An ear-shattering blast burst through the forest—a gunshot.
For an instant that lasted far longer, I couldn’t understand it. Gunfire? Here? Now? In the park?
Three more shots rang out and Zak pitched forward. He hit the ground, blood misting the air above his back, and the potion bottle rolled out of his limp hand. The ringing echo blared in my ears, shock freezing me in place.
Zak made an awful wet rasp as he struggled to breathe.
The mages recovered before I did. Aaron and Kai lurched forward, scrambling to stand.
“Stop right there.”
The cold command slid out of the darkness. A man appeared, his black pistol pointed at the mages—a real gun, not a paintball one. Three other men strode out of the trees after him. Even more came out of the darkness, surrounding us. Several held guns, while others wielded bladed weapons or sorcery artifacts.
I didn’t move. Neither did the mages, who hadn’t even managed to stand.
The first man, his gun trained on Aaron, walked to Zak and nudged him with a boot. The druid didn’t stir. Using his foot, the man shoved Zak onto his back. He rolled limply, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth.
“He’s younger than I expected,” the man remarked, studying the druid. “Interesting. His bounty is all the more impressive for his age. A shame he’s worth more dead.”
He turned to me and held out his hand, palm up. “The relic, young lady.”
I didn’t move. These men could only be from Red Rum—but how had they found us? How had they known we were here? The way they had snuck up on us like this, their arrival timed perfectly with Bhardudlin’s defeat, seemed too well planned to be a lucky break on their part.
We were surrounded, and Aaron, Kai, and Ezra were exhausted from battling Bhardudlin. Zak was down, unable to help.
He was down. Not dead. I refused to believe he was dead. He was the Ghost, the most feared rogue in the city. He wouldn’t die from something as lame as getting shot in the back.
“The relic,” the man repeated.
Hand trembling, I placed the silver sphere in his waiting palm.
“Excellent. Now listen carefully. If you speak, we will shoot a mage. If you attempt to summon the sea lord to your defense, we will shoot all three mages. If you act suspicious in any way, we’ll kill them. Do you understand?”
I nodded faintly. My heart raced so fast I could feel it throbbing in my neck.
An ago
nized wail made me jump. Olivia had clambered to her feet, tears streaking her face.
“I did what you wanted!” she cried, stumbling toward the rogues. “Tell me where Odette is!”
A mythic strode over and grabbed her arm, holding her back.
The leader of the rogues waved a hand, the motion sharp with annoyance. “She’s of no more use to us. Get her out of here.”
My chest tightened as the man dragged Olivia into the trees. When had she betrayed us? Earlier today? Yesterday? Before Aaron had shared our plans with her?
Jaw tight, I focused on the Red Rum leader. He was stocky, scarcely taller than me, but thick with muscle. He held a gun, and sorcery artifacts hung in rows from his belt. I wanted to scream insults in his face, but I didn’t dare make a sound.
Aaron, Kai, and Ezra sat stiffly, guns and weapons trained on them. What could they do? Nothing. There was nothing. Even Hoshi had used her tiny bit of magic, so she couldn’t make me disappear. We were out of magic and out of allies.
“Which one?” the Red Rum leader asked, gesturing at the mages.
A rogue pointed at Kai. “He protected her last night.”
“Bring him, then.” The leader bounced the orb in his palm. “Now, young lady, we will head down to the beach. It is time to transfer command of the fae lord to us.”
As a man dragged Kai up and put a gun to his head, the Red Rum leader smiled.
“And if you resist in any way, this mage will die first.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Staring at the mud between my hiking boots, I couldn’t bear to look up.
I didn’t want to see the elaborate ritual circle carved into the surrounding foreshore. Or the witch standing in the inner circle nearby, waiting to receive the fae bond. Or Kai on his knees with a gun to the back of his head, execution style.
I didn’t want to see the huge luxury yacht anchored far out in the bay, lit up like a party boat, its deck lined with people-sized shadows—elite members of Red Rum observing the spectacle and waiting to meet their new sea lord guardian.
Two Witches and a Whiskey (The Guild Codex: Spellbound Book 3) Page 20
