After grabbing a quick bite so she didn’t end up feeling nauseated, Audiv headed down to the gym. To her surprise, there was already somebody there. Michael Angstrom was standing in the middle of the floor, his hands glowing bright blue as he slammed his fists into a punching bag. The bag was close to splitting open, but what was more concerning were the sparks shooting out from Michael’s hands.
“Stop that!” Audiv rushed forward, bringing up a magical shield to wrap around his hands, to stop the magic from escaping. She glared at him. “I told you not to use magic without supervision. You could hurt yourself.”
Michael turned toward her. His red-rimmed eyes were narrowed in fury, a curl to his lip as he glowered hatefully at her. “You think you know everything, don’t you?”
A shiver ran down her spine. He was drunk, that much was clear. Not a good sign. He should not be using magic at all in his current state. Audiv let out a slow breath, making sure that she kept in control of herself as she eyed him. Something had to have happened in order for him to be acting this way. Normally she could barely coax a single spell out of him, and yet his hands were still burning. Anxiety wormed its way through her chest. He needed to put that out before he hurt himself… or her.
“You think you’re so powerful,” Michael slurred as he stumbled toward her.
She increased the magic in her shield, trying to snuff out his magic. To her horror, nothing happened. Gritting her teeth, she pushed harder. She could feel her magic moving out from her body, but it didn’t seem to have any effect whatsoever on Michael. Sweat started to dew on her forehead. What the hell was going on here?
He started for her, and she broke the shield from around his hands to throw a barrier between them. The hate in his eyes was terrifying. It made her stomach churn and her feet itch to turn and run—but she never ran from anything! She wasn’t about to start now. She clenched her fists, letting out a soft breath to try to mask how frightened she was.
“Michael, you’re drunk and clearly exhausted. Let me take you to the healers, to get something to help you sleep this off.”
“Sleep this off?” His hands flared brighter, making Audiv wince, but they flickered out as his chin fell to his chest. “If only I could sleep this off. If only I could do something… anything… to get rid of this curse. But I can’t. And don’t pretend like you understand. I lost everything… everything because of you!”
He reached into his pocket and Audiv’s heart stopped for half a second, but all he withdrew was a cellphone. He flipped through it, and then hurled it at her. It easily went through the barrier, as she had put it to stop magic and not a physical object. She caught the phone, eyeing Michael warily to make sure he wasn’t going to come through the barrier next.
Michael slumped to the floor, hiding his face in his hands as he did so. Audiv let out a breath, satisfied that he was no longer a threat for the moment, and looked down at the phone. There was a text message on the screen, from a private number. Her heart dropped as she read what it said.
I’ve taken the kids and moved. Don’t try to find us or I’ll get the law involved. You’ve been touched by the devil and I will not have my children exposed to your witchcraft.
An uncomfortable twist came to the center of her stomach. Her shoulders slumped as she stared at the message, and then glanced up at Michael. What must this be for him, to be reading such a thing, obviously sent by his wife? Her conversation with Antonio came back to her. How would she feel, if her magic was suddenly stripped away and her family didn’t want to have anything to do with her? The thought of it alone took her breath away.
It would be the worst sort of hell that she could possibly imagine.
“Michael, I’m so sorry.” She lowered her magic barrier and inched closer to him, conflicted between the desire to comfort him and the wariness that still seeped through her veins. He didn’t look up, his face still hidden in his hands. “If there was anything I could do to take this away… to give you your life back, I would. I’m so sorry that this has happened.”
A hysterical laugh burbled up from Michael’s throat. Without warning, he lunged for her. As Audiv backpedaled, yelping, he grabbed her ankles. With a yank, he jerked her feet out from under her. Audiv kicked one of her feet free and kicked him back. As she tried to scramble back to her feet, though, he jumped on top of her, twisting her down again. His lips curled back from his face as his fist slammed into her face. Black waves washed over her vision and she fought blindly.
Michael grabbed both her wrists and pressed her down into the floor, pinning her with his weight. When her vision cleared, she saw him staring down at her with that hate again. It made a chill rush down her spine, her mouth go dry and every fiber in her body freeze. What he planned was so crystal clear she could almost feel it happening already.
No! Please, no!
“You’re the reason I will never see my children again,” he panted. “You demon witch!”
He continued to speak, but her mind had gone so utterly blank that she couldn’t hear him. It was as though she wasn’t even in her body anymore. It was like she was in a dark void… until one of his hands left her limp wrist. And suddenly she came rushing back, fear and anger and emotions she couldn’t name all tangled together.
An outpouring of magic went through her. She focused it on her skin, flames of lightning flickering over her. She sent it surging into Michael, intending to fling him off her. Instead, his grip tightened further, yanking her still-captured hand over her head so he could pin both of them with one hand. His lips curled back even further, his teeth gleaming like some evil beasts’. His eyes flashed red.
Horror swept through her. She tried to pull back her magic, but it was of no use; it was sucked from her body like soda through a straw. Michael’s blood-red eyes rolled into the back of his head, his whole body shuddering. He didn’t even know what he was doing. Audiv gasped; she attempted to cry out, tried to scream or beg or break herself free. It wasn’t until every drop of magic had been sucked out of her body that Michael collapsed over her. He panted, groaned, and chuckled.
When he lifted his head again, his eyes were still blood-red. She stared back at him, terror where magic had once kept her steady. He lowered his head close to hers, breathing in deeply.
“What was that? What did you do to me, witch?”
She didn’t have the voice to tell him that it wasn’t anything she had done… that he was a warlock; only one was born every hundred generations, a mage with the ability to drain magic from other beings. Her body felt cold and empty, her mind an utter blank.
He kept both her hands pinned with one hand as he reached under the tank she wore. “If I can make you feel a tenth of the misery you’ve caused me, it will be well worth it to go to hell.”
His fingers barely brushed her stomach before suddenly he was ripped away from her. Audiv lay there, stunned, her mind reeling. This had to be a bad nightmare. It couldn’t be real. It wasn’t real. She was going to wake up any minute…
A fierce snarling made her turn her head. Antonio had Michael in a headlock. Fury twisted his expression as he rammed his fist into Michael’s spine over and over again. The sheer aggression had Audiv scrambling to her feet, a protest on her lips. Even though she didn’t want to protest. Even though she wanted to see Michael utterly destroyed for what he had done. But as soon as she was on her feet, her knees buckled.
She collided painfully with the floor, a cry bursting from her throat. Antonio turned at the sound, his eyes seeking her out. Michael took advantage of his reprieve to elbow Antonio in the stomach. His hold slipped, and Michael twisted himself free. He whirled, hands coming out. They pressed into Antonio’s chest, and bolts of green lightning flashed. The crack of thunder was followed by the scent of ozone.
Audiv screamed as Antonio was thrown backward. He slammed into the wall, fissures opening up in the stone and mortar, and he fell.
As Michael laughed, though, Antonio’s head came back up. Flames flickered in h
is mouth as he lunged forward. Claws sprouted from his hands, spikes from his back, and scales from his skin. Michael threw his hands forward again. Audiv tried to get to her feet.
Antonio’s wings snapped open. One of them rammed into her chest, flinging her backward. Her skull cracked against the floor and she knew no more.
Chapter Five
Antonio
The blazing fury in Antonio’s chest was too much to resist. He wanted to rip apart the beast that had pinned Audiv to the floor. He wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp, to burn him to a crisp. To utterly destroy him, so that he would never again be able to hurt anybody. So, when his hand reached out and Antonio saw that it was clawed, with red scales over his skin, all he could think of was good.
His wings snapped open on his back. The man let out a shriek of terror as Antonio snatched him off the ground and hurled him across the room. He collided with the wall and collapsed, unmoving.
It was only then that Antonio realized what he was doing. What form he had taken. He felt his long, lean body from scaled nose to the tip of his spiked tail. Muscles that didn’t exist in his human form stretched and burned. As every time he shifted involuntarily, there was a thrill and a fear with it. His shoulders rolled as he closed his eyes and attempted to draw himself back in, as Katrina had coached him.
The rage still pushing against his chest made it more difficult than usual, but he still managed to pull back, to get himself centered once more. His body shifted in form, back to human, and he fell to his knees as exhaustion rippled through him. He couldn’t even be embarrassed by the fact that his clothing had been shredded, and he now knelt on the floor utterly naked.
He expected for Audiv to come to his side, and when she didn’t, he looked up. His heart dropped out of his stomach as he saw her crumbled on the floor. Antonio scrambled to his feet and rushed to her, immediately checking for a pulse. Her heart beat strong and steady, and he saw an even rise and fall of her chest. A sigh of relief rushed from his chest. He checked her over quickly, finding no broken bones. She did have a head injury, though, so he gathered her into his arms and rushed for the healing rooms.
The healers’ eyes widened at the sight of them but didn’t comment as they took Audiv and began to check her over. Antonio’s heart pounded harder in his chest. He recalled feeling one wing brush something… he had thought it was the wall…
This is my fault.
One of the healers led him away, assuring him that Audiv would be alright. She gave him a robe to wear and left him alone in the waiting room. Antonio sat there, his brain whirling over the events of the day. It wasn’t much longer before Hendric, head of palace security, entered the room. His hair stood on end and by the smell on him, there was no doubt what had been interrupted.
“What happened?” the dragon asked, his expression grim.
“I went to the gym for my usual morning routine and—” Antonio leapt to his feet, letting out a few choice curse words. The man that had attacked her! “We have to get the gym. There was something else—he’s injured, too.”
Hendric nodded. They headed back to the gym together, and on the way, Antonio explained what he had witnessed. Rage flooded through him once more, making his blood boil and his fires flare so high he could taste them at the back of his throat. The strength of his own anger frightened him—it had been a long, long time since he had been this angry. He attempted to breathe deeply to calm himself but found that he didn’t really even want to—it was a good thing Hendric was with him, otherwise he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t kill the man once they returned to the gym.
But when they got there, it was empty. Only a streak of blood was left behind where the man had collapsed to the floor.
Hendric stiffened and snarled. His nostrils flared as he scented the room. “There was a lot of fear here. And magic. So much magic… but a new mage like that, he couldn’t have taken on the powers of someone like Audiv! Something…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Go back to the healing rooms. I will find the suspect.”
Antonio shook his head, his eyes flashing. “I don’t know his name, but I’ll be able to recognize him. Let me help look.”
“No.”
“I—”
“I am aware of your skills and background,” Hendric interrupted, raising a hand. “And I know that you would want to take part in this search. It is admirable of you. However, and I can’t stress this enough, involuntary shifts make you unstable. You could very well shift again with the slightest change of emotion. You need to get to the healers. Watch over Audiv. If it makes you feel better, we can say that you’re her protective detail. Got it?”
That did not make him feel any better, but the longer they stood here arguing the more likely it was that the man was going to escape. So Antonio nodded, his jaw clenched. Hendric moved off to alert the other guards, and Antonio made his way back to the healing rooms. Once he was there, he collapsed into a chair and watched the people bustle around, watching for the man again.
The more he sat there with nothing to do, though, the worse the twisting in his stomach got. He had been trying to protect Audiv. Instead, he hurt her. He needed to get his dragon under control. Needed, maybe, to put out these fires entirely.
***
Audiv was awake again in less than half an hour, and after being thoroughly checked out, it was decided that her injury wasn’t as bad as it first seemed. The healers attributed her going unconscious more to the stress of the situation and the fear she experienced than the head injury. She had a very mild concussion, nothing to worry about, but Antonio still insisted that he be allowed to take her back to her apartment in a wheelchair.
The new dragons and mages lived in bunkhouse-type apartments that had been built behind the palace, but Audiv lived within the palace itself. It was a decent sized place, with a combined living room and kitchen that also housed a small desk and several large bookshelves, and a bedroom that likewise was stuffed to the brim with books.
“Right, you’re supposed to get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.” Antonio glanced at the bandage on Audiv’s head and shook his head. An apology was on his lips, but the death glare she had given him last time he said sorry was still fresh in his mind. “Do you want any Tylenol?”
“I think I’ll try to just close my eyes for a while,” Audiv replied. “It’s not bad right now. If it gets worse, I’ll let you know.”
Antonio nodded. He’d had plenty of concussions himself over the years, and plenty of friends and family that had also had them. He pushed the wheelchair to the door of the bedroom and helped her out of the chair. Audiv rolled her eyes at that but grinned at him all the same. That she was smiling eased his heart, although not his guilt.
“Are you sure you’re okay? We could go back to the healers and—”
“They said I was fine to leave. I wouldn’t want to take up their time when others need them more than I do.” Audiv leaned against him as he helped her to the bed. “Besides, with all your Earthly technology and stuff, it’s a lot better than it would have been in the old days. Magic only does so much. MRIs are awesome. I can actually sleep without being woken up constantly.”
Antonio lowered her onto the bed, then stepped back. She probably didn’t need more help than that… “I’m going to stick around, if that’s okay.”
Not just because of her injury. There had been no news about whether Michael Angstrom—Audiv had identified him after she woke—had been found yet. While there was a guard posted outside the door, Antonio didn’t want to take any chances. It was his fault she was hurt and wouldn’t be able to use her magic as effectively as she should.
Audiv glanced at her large wardrobe and Antonio caught a distinctive shiver run through her body. She bit her lip and glanced at him. There was embarrassment in her eyes, but the question was clear. He nodded and walked over to it. Inside was full of clothing and nothing else. He then checked under her bed and anywhere else a man could hide in the small room. He even looked out the window
, in case Angstrom was clinging to the wall outside.
“All clear,” he said, bolting the window. “I will be out in the main room if you want me.”
Audiv nodded. “Please close the door.”
“Of course.”
He headed for the door, but Audiv clearing her throat turned him back around. Her cheeks were pink as she stared at him, still sitting on her bed. The tank she wore clung to her form, but he knew better than to even think about looking right now.
“Thank you,” she said awkwardly. “I don’t know what I would have done… He was… stronger than I expected.”
That rage started to bubble up in him, but Antonio didn’t allow any of it to show in his voice. Instead, he kept it low and even as he replied. “Of course. I’m glad that I was there.”
“Me too.”
She cleared her throat, glanced away, and then looked back at him. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears—it was clear that she was struggling with what had almost happened, and he couldn’t blame her. He just wished he knew better what to say. He wasn’t a counselor, though. Maybe there was a healer or therapist she could talk it over with. He wouldn’t blame her for being especially jumpy until Angstrom was caught, though—and even after. Nearly being raped wasn’t something someone just got over.
“I don’t have a computer or TV that you can use, but there’s a lot of books. You can borrow any one of them.”
Antonio nodded his thanks. “I’ll probably get my laptop sent over. I’m behind on the D&D campaign I started with my cousins, and they’re going to be waiting for an update.”
Audiv relaxed into her pillows, shifting slightly so she could pull one of the blankets over her legs. “You know, Anna still runs a live D&D game that the king participates in. Every Friday night in the library. She’s actually got it all split up so there are multiple games running for everyone who wants to join. I’ve thought about joining in… I’m always so busy, though.”
The Dragon Fighter's Witch: A Paranormal Romance (Separated by Time Book 7) Page 3
