“Shut up,” he said, sneering. “You’re just a blood whore. Does he tell you you’re special to him?”
“He doesn’t have to,” Diana said honestly. “But you’re not in charge here. Why don’t you let your leader speak?”
Nearly apoplectic with rage, the nothing man’s glamour fell away completely. In real life, he was a slightly overweight twenty-something with greasy brown hair and the pallor of a gamer.
“I am in charge here!” he shouted again, spittle flying.
Inflexible, she shook her head. “No, you’re not. And do you know how I can tell?” she asked, never taking her eyes off the woman behind him. “I know because of all of you, she’s the only one who knows who the real threat here is. So why don’t you back off so the grownups can speak?”
Without warning, the blonde woman hurled a cursed spell ball at Diana. Judging from how closely it passed the nothing man’s head, it was clear she didn’t care if she hit him or not.
Worried the curse might hit Alec, Diana didn’t dodge it. Instead, she deflected it with a blast of heated air, causing it to crash harmlessly in front of her.
Truly pissed now, she smiled coldly at the surprise and shock of the circle members. It was harder to see on the blonde’s face than on the others, but it was there. And Diana’s actions had finally moved her to speak.
“What are you?” the blonde asked, suspicion and wariness on her almost-pretty face.
The enemy’s features were familiar. She had a narrow patrician nose and eyes set a little too close together. Her high sculpted cheekbones and pale skin were set against brows darker than her hair made for a combination Diana had seen before.
“You know you look like him,” she said, stalling for time as she worked silently to disable the spell traps set in the courtyard.
“Who?” the woman spat.
“Your father, of course. You’re a Burgess remnant. . .Hillard’s bastard to be precise. He’s the only one stupid enough not to take an illegitimate child in hand.”
And his brother and sister were either too decent or too boring to have affairs.
The other three members of the circle stared at them. The other woman, an attractive brunette with an ugly expression, hissed. “Ignore her, Sage. Just kill them and let’s finish this.”
Diana ignored the interruption. “If you had been born legitimate to the Burgess clan, or had your father seen fit to inform the old man—your grandfather’s name is Gerald, by the way—that he’d had a child out of wedlock, you would know what I am. And you would know that there are consequences to those who fuel their magic with death. That’s when you get to meet someone like me, Sage.”
The nothing man stepped in front of Sage. Pointing to Alec, he said, “That is her master. We kill him, and they’re finished.”
Sage flashed him a look of contempt. “Shut up, Chase. That thing has no master.”
Diana smiled. “Actually, I do. But my master doesn’t walk on two legs. Doesn’t walk anywhere, actually. Not in this neighborhood anyway,” she said, gesturing around her.
“Are you saying you answer to God?” Sage laughed, a true witch’s cackle.
“Never seen one of those, although there are number of winged things around that call themselves angels,” she said, engaging and distracting the circle while she put her right hand behind her back, signaling to the mercs that all the spell traps were down.
Men poured into the courtyard, and the circle members started running. The brunette screamed as a soldier cut her off.
“The wards are down!” the nothing man yelled as all four regrouped and took defensive positions. Sage threw down her robe as the other three started throwing spell bombs and curses.
Alec waved his men back behind the stone wall of the arcade. “Behind the wall and the columns. Don’t let them leave!” he shouted as he whipped in front of one of his men at vampiric speed. Snatching a glass vial out of the air, he hurled it back at the witch who had thrown it.
A scream filled the air as pandemonium broke out. The courtyard filled with smoke.
“Get the girl!” Diana shouted to Dmitri.
She knew Alec wouldn’t leave his men while the circle was throwing spells. The Were ran to the right, dodging balls of red and blue light. A spell blasted Diana’s front, a black and green sticky mass that swept over her searching for a weak spot to latch onto. She ran a hand down the mass, burning it away.
“Okay, now I’m mad,” she hissed, holding out her hands and igniting them into twin torches before heading into the heart of the battle.
33
Alec was in front of his soldiers when he lost Diana in the haze of green-blue light and smoke. A few seconds later, an unnatural fog rolled in around him up to the waist. It washed over the men concealed behind the wall, obscuring his sight and muffling his hearing. A flurry of spells and curses followed the fog. Streaks of light and glowing balls fell like a rain of arrows all around him.
Batting one of the red balls of light away from the head of a crouched soldier, he yelled, “Don’t let them hit you!” but his voice didn’t carry farther than few feet.
Shit. He had to get to the witches. Springing forward, he plunged into the ever-thickening haze. Behind him, fire devils sprang up, neutralizing spells before they could hit him and his men. A whirling mass of fire danced in front of him, burning away the cloying vapor. Suddenly, the courtyard blazed with light and smoke, as a wall of purple-tinted fire rose between the soldiers and the witches. Nearly blinded by the brightness, he covered his sensitive eyes.
Fuck it. He closed his eyes and focused on listening to his enemy. Over the booms and cracks of falling spells, he trained his supernatural ears on the more subtle sounds of human movement—the pounding hearts and rushing blood.
Ahead of him was a fast moving heartbeat. He opened his eyes, but the smoke still obscured his vision, until a stray fireball caught a man’s lank brown hair in the light. Alec raced to catch the nothing man, eager to inflict some damage on the guy who’d visibly lusted after his mate.
Despite the fact they were mid-battle, the nothing man had tried to restore his glamour, but it was on the fritz. It blinked in and out like a strobe light as he shed the robe impeding his movement.
Whipping forward, Alec grabbed the guy by the collar. He pulled him in, but the piece of shit twisted like a snake. His arm drew back, and he somehow managed to hit Alec point blank on the chest with a blast that slammed him against a statue, one of the howling gargoyles lining the passage closest to the entrance.
Winded, Alec brushed his hand across his front. There was a layer of burned skin under a hole in his shirt the size of a softball. Luckily, the damage was superficial and already healing.
Scrambling up, he scanned for his enemy. The little prick had taken the opportunity to run toward the west building—the one where the little girl was.
Dmitri better have her.
Alec grimaced as he got up and ran after the warlock. He shot in front of him and grabbed him before he could escape. Swinging the man like a rag doll, Alec pulled him down toward his sharp teeth. Blood singing in his ears, he bit down as the witch screamed and kicked.
Inside of him, the heart that barely beat began to race as live blood poured like ecstasy through his body. It would only last as long as his food still breathed.
Determined to make that as short as possible, Alec started to drain the witch. But before he could finish him, a massive blast of spell light and fire made him stop and turn.
On the ground lay the male witch with black hair, taken down by bullets from Alec’s men. A smoldering pile indicated another was gone by Diana’s hand. Directly behind their bodies was a scene straight out of his worst nightmare.
Diana was in the center of the courtyard. The blonde witch, Sage, was in front of her, holding a large knife by the hilt. The blade was buried in Diana’s stomach.
A huge roar filled Alec’s ears. It was an inarticulate sound of rage and pain that seemed to stop eve
rything around him, and he was making it. Despite the bleeding wound at his neck, the witch he was holding laughed delightedly as he caught sight of Sage and the knife. In one motion, Alec snapped the man’s neck and tossed him aside to run toward his mate.
Diana fell to her knees in front of him. Blood seeped through her shirt as she grabbed the blade just below the handle.
The hilt began to glow red-hot. Sage let go with a yelp and turned to Alec as he charged toward her. The witch recoiled as she took in his murderous expression. He fell on her, swinging her up to tear her throat out. A blast from her fists, wedged between them, sent him flying back.
He landed on the other side of the courtyard but in a flash was on his feet, ready to rush her again. Sage tore open a satchel he hadn’t noticed around her neck. From it, she drew two spell stones and hurled one at him. It missed and hit one of the columns holding the roof of the walkway behind him, completely leveling it.
Men scrambled out of the way. An unlucky few were buried underneath and more ran to help them.
The distraction gave Sage enough time to spell the second stone before she threw it at him. Alec dodged, but the damn thing changed course with him. He darted in the opposite direction. It followed him with increasing speed. Feinting right, he realized it was too fast as it corrected like a heat seeking missile.
The spelled stone was seconds away from hitting him when the air around him shifted. A young woman coalesced in front of him with a blast that blew down every plant in the courtyard. It happened so fast it looked as if she appeared out of thin air, even to his eyes. The spell stone crashed harmlessly against her, dropping to her small feet with a small burst of air.
“Logan, don’t let her go!” Diana gasped from the courtyard’s center.
The Air Elemental turned where Diana kneeled with a huge knife sticking out of her stomach. Alec flashed to Diana’s side, Logan at his heels.
“Logan! She’s getting away!” But Logan ignored her, reaching Diana with a stream of swear words that would make a sailor back away.
“We’ll get her later!” Logan yelled.
Alec turned in her direction as he reached out for Diana. All he got was a quick impression of a slim young girl with an Asian cast to her features as she shoved him away.
“Cut that out. I’m trying to stop the bleeding.” He crowded back over Diana, his hands on her shoulders.
“How?” Logan asked, clenching her fists.
Alec closed his eyes. “I’m calling the blood. Making it slow down.” His hands crackled with magical energy, but he couldn’t feel the connection that he felt when he fed or when he tried to heal one of his own.
“That won’t work on us,” Logan said, elbowing him aside again and crouching near Diana.
“Stop it, you two,” Diana wheezed. “What is this thing?” she asked, looking down at the blade hilt sticking out of her.
Alec touched the markings on the hilt, which was made of either silver or platinum. The ancient lettering wasn’t legible to him. It was roughly made, unlike the other objects strewn about. The offering bowls and embroidered bags and one or two other ceremonial knives—all of it looked like they ordered it from a catalog. But this thing was old and obviously genuine.
“Can you hear it?” Diana asked.
“Yeah,” Logan said, leaning closer with a grimace and gritted teeth. “It makes me want to chop off my ears.”
“What?” Alec turned to her, confused. “I can’t hear anything.”
“Shit!” Dmitri said from behind Logan.
The other Elemental gave him one dismissive glance before turning back to Diana.
“Is Katie okay?” Diana asked the Were.
“The little one is fine. Sleeping spell.” He growled. “We’ll deal with it later.”
“What do you hear?” Alec shouted at Logan, his control splintering the longer he went without an explanation.
“Shouting won’t help,” Logan yelled back. “That thing is buzzing like a fucking tuning fork.”
“Like the Olmec piece in the museum?” Alec asked Diana desperately.
“Yes. But louder,” she said, her breath hitching.
“I’m calling Gia,” Logan said, standing and raising her arms.
“No time,” Diana muttered.
With an expression full of pain and anger, she began to pull the knife out.
“No!” Logan and Alec shouted in unison.
“Don’t worry,” Diana gritted out as she continued.
Flames surrounded her hands and started to spread over the rest of her body.
“Are you crazy?” Alec said, grabbing at her hands. “Stop or you’ll bleed out.”
“Self. . .cauterizing. . .you. . .idiot,” Diana said as she continued to pull out the blade. “And this. . .better not. . .be making you. . .hungry.”
“How can you joke at a time like this?” Alec asked, terrified for Diana.
She was starting to flicker as if she was made of flame herself.
“Hey, it’s a valid concern!” Logan said, pushing him aside again.
Despite the fact he outweighed her by a good eighty pounds, Alec slid away through the muddy courtyard as if he was a sack of potatoes.
“No it’s not!” he yelled.
He picked himself up and flashed back to Diana’s side. But he refrained from laying hands on the tiny Asian sprite this time. Pissing off the Air Elemental would be counterproductive now.
“What’s happening?” Logan asked, putting a hand on Diana’s shoulder.
It remained remarkably untouched by the fire that was growing higher and hotter with every beat of her heart.
“Not. . .sure but. . .you. . .should get away,” Diana said, the flames surrounding her flaring and becoming denser. “Damn it. . .that. . .bitch is mine. . .” She grunted in between gasping breaths as she finished pulling out the blade and handed it to Logan.
The flames were overwhelming now. Instead of retreating, the soldiers still on their feet crept closer in fascination. Logan tossed the blade away as the flames grew hotter and lighter in color.
“I’m calling Gia,” she repeated, the panic in her voice clear.
She extended her arms, but before she could call the winds, the fire in front of her blazed white hot and she decided retreat was a better idea.
Alec started forward, making a move to take hold of Diana.
“Get back!” Logan barked, grabbing him by the collar pulling him with her, away from the blaze that was Diana.
“Let go! She’s dying,” he yelled in a tortured voice as he struggled against her iron grip, but it was no use.
Logan was a third his size, but ten times stronger. She pulled him behind her, her tiny body between him and Diana.
“I don’t think so, but if she is, she won’t be happy if she takes you with her,” the sprite called back to him. “Now stay behind me, cause I think she’s going to—”
Alec didn’t find out what Logan thought was going to happen because she was suddenly tackled by something large and furry as a blast rocked the courtyard.
“Get off me, you god-damned furry moron!” Logan shouted as she shoved Dmitri off her. He was in an in-between stage of transformation, still mostly human but with furred claws and feet.
“Well, that’s fine, thanks,” the angry werewolf bit back at her, his deep voice an octave lower than normal. “I save you from one of you going supernova and. . .what the hell is that?”
Craning his neck to see behind them, he looked toward Diana. . .or where she had been.
His mate was gone.
In her place was a figure made of fire. And it wasn’t human shaped anymore.
“What the hell?” Alec asked in a dazed voice, as he stepped in front of Logan.
“I didn’t know you could do that. That is so cool!” Logan said as the firebird looked at itself in realization.
After a beat, it gave a cry and flew away.
“What the hell just happened?” Alec repeated.
“D
iana has a phoenix form!” Logan said with an excited clap of her hands. “I can’t wait to tell Gia and Serin!”
“Is she all right? Is she going to change back?” Alec asked worriedly.
Diana wasn’t a shifter. None of his studies had mentioned a fire god that was both woman and bird. What if she got stuck that way? Panic started to bubble up his throat. Dmitri and the other men stared at Logan with mystified expressions.
“Um, I think so,” she said eventually.
Her tone did not inspire any sort of confidence.
“What do you mean, you think so?” Alec shouted, forgetting himself and towering over her with every ounce of aggression he could muster.
Bad idea, he thought as a whirlwind lifted him up and slammed him against one of the stone pillars surrounding the courtyard. Picking himself up with as much dignity as he could muster, Alec stared her down. Instead of being intimidated, Logan looked a little contrite.
“I realize you’re a little stressed right now, so I’m going to overlook you getting all up in my grill. This time,” Logan said with an infuriating amount of attitude. “And Diana should be fine. After she kills the witch. . .I think.”
“Explain,” he said in a voice bristling with testosterone and dominance.
It was a tone he’d been careful not to use around Diana.
“You know. . .you and Diana make a really cute couple. For ruthless uncompromising bringers of death.” Logan smirked with a rueful shake of her head. “You’re going to be a lot of fun at the office holiday party.”
Behind them, Dmitri snickered.
“Come on!” Alec’s control was hanging from a thread.
“All right!” Logan said, throwing her hands up. “Our legends say the first Elemental wasn’t a woman but a firebird. A phoenix. All the Elementals were something more. . .primordial in the beginning. Afterward, when the need to walk among humans became necessary, the Elementals were fashioned into women.” Logan shrugged. “I think she will change back. Not practical to stay a bird these days. . .”
The way she trailed off made Alec’s skin crawl. He scanned the sky and prayed she was right.
The Elementals Collection Page 26
