by Iris Walker
“Problem?” Lucidia hissed, wrenching her arm free. Harley drew in a sharp breath, eyes wide at the retort Lucidia had thrown at Darian.
“Others are coming, swiftly,” he said in a hard voice.
“Who?”
Darian’s lips pressed into a thin line. “The Legion.”
Shit, Lucidia thought, dread seeping into her bones for a moment before she pushed it away.
“How many?”
Darian’s eyes turned back to the door. “Many. Approaching at a rapid pace.”
“That’s just great,” Lucidia growled, throwing open the door and crouching to attack. Her eyes swept the entire room of crumbling bricks and rubble that streamed down from the arched domes, pools of floodlight and dust kicked up from the magic-fueled pissing match. A door at the opposite end of the room swung shut, but directly in front of it, two intense casters were still duking it out.
Just as Lucidia advanced, Reykon shoved the door open and yelled for the dark-haired caster. Ezra stiffened, advancing with wicked steps, a blur against the stone. Darian looked to Harley, his face showing the gravity of their predicament. “No matter what happens, Robin cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of the Legion. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master Darian,” Harley vowed, sprinting towards the room with her weapon outstretched. Lucidia snapped into action, trying to find anything that could help them.
“They’re coming,” Darian said, a solemn look crossing his face.
“Yeah, I got that. Would you get over here?” she hissed, fiddling with one of her weapons.
Darian’s cloak swept the ground as he approached her, crouching behind one of the columns, perched like an elegant owl. “What do you have in mind?”
She shot him a confused scowl. “What do you mean, what do I have in mind? We’re gonna take them down, but I don’t need you getting shot in the process. The Legion use magically poisoned bullets, so even a vampire’ll take damage.”
“I’m touched,” he said, eyes trained on the door. “I have heard stories of their more gruesome attacks. It’s nice to know I’m in good hands.”
“Don’t let it go to your head. Someone’s gotta rule this lawless wasteland after the dust settles, and you’re the only one left with enough experience on the job.”
“At least I’ll have your vote,” he murmured.
Lucidia pulled out two slim black disks, her favorite anti-caster weapon, putting each one in a pocket for later.
“I need you to do me a favor,” she said quietly, eyes searching the door as thudding footsteps approached.
“What?”
“Kill the lights. Break them, or something. All of them.”
“How will you-”
“Now!” she barked.
A rush of air raced past her, glass crunching as Darian blurred around the room like a tempest, until it was pitch black. She felt Darian return, and faced him. “Don’t leave this spot until I’m done. After that, we take out the big fish together.”
“How will I know you’re done?”
She gripped the black disk even harder, knuckles aching as she prepared to take on an army of casters. “Trust me, you’ll know.”
Darian nodded, just as the door slammed open, echoing throughout the chamber.
Chapter 15 Sacrifice
Robin
At first, she didn’t allow herself to believe it was him.
After all this time, after so much had happened, the idea that Reykon had somehow made it back to her was…
Nearly impossible.
She was dazed from the start of the ritual and the chaos that had ensued, eyes wide, trying to figure out if what she was seeing was real. Reykon captured her face with both hands, his own eyes wide with concern as he repeated her name. Her fingers wrapped around his wrists, and they remained locked there, staring at each other, before she felt his name spill out of her lips. “Reykon?”
A wave of relief crossed over his face. “I’m here,” he said, voice trembling. “I’m finally here.”
Robin felt tears welling up in her eyes. “How- how did you find me?” she whispered.
Reykon moved closer, his arms wrapping around her, cocooning her in his reassuring embrace, and he rocked slowly, back and forth. “I told you… don’t you remember? I said that no matter where you were, I’d find you, always.”
She buried her face in his chest and let all of the emotion in, crashing inside of her like tidal waves against a rocky shore as the feeling of her hands on him ignited every cell in her body. “Always,” she breathed, hot against his pounding heart.
They gripped each other tighter, until it stole the breath from their lungs, neither one of them willing to end the embrace.
“Reykon!” a woman called sharply.
For a final moment, they remained locked together, burning with an intensity like the deepest hues of the sunset before it was stolen by the horizon. They released each other slowly, Reykon’s hand trailing down to hers and interlocking their fingers.
Robin looked around at the strange scene before her.
They’d fled, Reykon nearly dragging her dazed body into the back room just as she’d glimpsed Lucidia, Harley, Ezra, and Darian Xander burst into the lab. This room was smaller, with a single, tall domed ceiling that curved all the way into the ground. A solitary grate at the top let in glinting moonlight, which cut at a forty-five and spotlighted the wall to her left. A circular barrier stood vertically around them, just like the magical bomb shelter that Charlemagne had conjured for her when she’d first woken up. But the caster on the inside of the circle wasn’t Charlemagne; instead, he was younger, with dark brown hair coming up like it had been styled by red-carpet salon artists. Short, with a determined, glinting expression and fashionable clothing.
He didn’t look like any of the casters she’d seen, but she certainly wasn’t going to argue, because just past him, Charlemagne snarled angrily, throwing all of his magical might at the wall. Large bolts of pure energy careened against the barrier that absorbed each blow, exploding into a million sparks on impact.
Calliope was on the ground, the dark-haired caster that had called for Reykon now holding Calliope in her arms. Her face was a show of desperation and sorrow. But Calliope had a sad, resigned smile on her face, and whispered to the girl, nodding slowly.
“No,” the caster sobbed, shaking her head and causing her dark curls to splay in a frenzy around her. “No!”
“You must,” Calliope said forcefully. “I know that you can do it, my love.”
“I can’t,” she moaned.
“You have to. It is my choice.”
Calliope raised her hand and pointed it at Charlemagne, twisting her wrist with a sharp movement. The essence vial flew from Charlemagne’s neck, clattering to the ground in front of them, out of his reach. His anger increased ten-fold, and he darted around the wall like a wasp.
“I’m so sorry, Calliope. I betrayed you, I…” she cried.
Calliope gripped the caster’s chin, pulling her closer. “You had no choice. I forgive you, for everything. You will not shed tears for that which you were forced into.” Noomi nodded, locked in gazes with Calliope, wiping her tears away.
Robin heard a door slam and turned. A cold, determined Ezra charged forward with Harley close behind. Harley narrowed her eyes and darted for Charlemagne, a vicious curved weapon protruding from her arm.
“Guys, I don’t mean to break it up,” the other caster said, both hands planted against the magical barrier. “But we’ve gotta get this show on the road.”
“We’re on it, Chadwick,” Reykon threw back.
“Robin,” Ezra said sharply, drawing her attention. “The Legion is here for you. They are closing in as we speak. You must come with us, now.”
Robin set her jaw and shook her head. “No. I’m not going with you, and I’m not going with them. I will not become a prisoner, not again.” She turned away from him and faced Calliope, who’d gotten up to her feet in preparation
of the ritual.
Reykon stiffened, squeezing her hand. She drilled her eyes into his, an understanding flickering between them, before Reykon nodded, stepping back. “I’m still here, Robin.”
His words gave her strength, comfort, as she controlled her breath and took Calliope’s outstretched hands with her own trembling fingers.
“I’m going to make it right, Robin,” she said, turning to Noomi. “For both of you.”
Noomi clutched the essence vial in her hand, tears streaming down her face. Calliope closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. “Begin,” she hummed softly.
The turquoise magic picked up around them, swirling like a dust devil, sharp against Robin’s skin. It was more forceful than Charlemagne’s procedure, and the magic happened faster, thrumming inside of her and piercing her body, her mind. She felt the ground leave her feet, as she and Calliope were lifted into the air and held in place by the pressure of the vortex. Roaring wind consumed her mind, building with a ferocity that slammed against her skull, and the fire that had ripped into her on the night of the comet returned, billowing upward until it threatened to vaporize everything that had once been her. Agonizing seconds passed, each one more painful than the last.
And then, just as the burning red fire exploded inside of her, cold, icy magic coursed through her veins, settling in a burst of energy, filling every corner of her mind and knocking the wind out of her. The roaring abated, and she swayed, falling to her hands and knees and gasping for breath. When she was able to open her eyes, she saw that Calliope was next to her, fallen, laying on the ground. Her black eyes were open, unmoving and unseeing, her silver skin a glimmering pallor in the moonlight.
It shouldn’t have caused her sorrow. This, after all, was the woman that had caused all of this, that had thrown Robin into the violent, despicable world she now found herself in. But she was also Robin’s mother, her flesh and blood, and Robin felt a wrench of emotion deep inside of her. Thank you, Robin thought, staring into Calliope’s glassy eyes. Another feeling took hold of her, until all she felt was an undeniable sense of wholeness.
How you were supposed to be...
She rose, her movements steady and graceful, and inspected her arms. A subtle golden sheen covered her skin, where deep red marks cut like rivers and hummed with energy. She drew in a deep breath and looked to Reykon, who was staring at her with a look of suspense.
“It worked,” she said softly, nodding. “It worked.”
“Guys,” the other caster groaned. “A little help!” Sweat snaked down his temples, and he shoved against the purple wall of magic with all his might.
Harley was fighting with Charlemagne, matched hit for hit as she threw punches and he hurled magical fire darts at her. She was like a ballerina, all grace and power. But during the time that Robin had been staring at Harley, Ezra had gone for a different plan. She heard Chadwick cry out, “oh, fuck!” a second before a crate hurtled past them with all the force the vampire could muster, passing through the barrier that protected against magical beings and knocking the caster all the way into the back wall. The shield flickered, and then fizzled into the air.
Ezra was a blur, moving up to Reykon.
Terror wrapped its claws around her heart, but just as the vampire got close, Reykon erupted in red light, fiercer than she’d ever seen him in battle, and caught Ezra by his throat, using the momentum to hurtle him into the wall. The foundation itself shook when Ezra collided with the brick dome.
Robin stood, tense and ready for a fight, when she saw magical tendrils snaking into a section of the ceiling. “No!” Robin yelled, just as Charlemagne yanked them down, toppling the rocks onto Harley.
The rumble resonated in her lungs, and Robin fought through the dust cloud, hearing a sickening crack and a groan of utter pain.
“You strongblood bitch!” Charlemagne fumed, spitting on Harley’s broken body, sticking half-in and half-out of the rocks.
Noomi’s tears had gone from sorrowful to burning with rage and vengeance. She let out a cry of pure anger and charged towards the caster with everything she had. Magic collided, bright and building. A shockwave of energy knocked them all back, and Robin stumbled, running to Harley.
Blood spattered her chin, more coming with each gasping breath, and Robin’s heart wrenched at the sight of her, crushed under the rocks. Harley’s eyes rolled, until they centered on Robin and she outstretched the arm that wasn’t pinned by the rubble. “I need…” she croaked, more blood gurgling in her mouth. “I need to keep you safe.”
Robin cleared the smaller rocks at a manic pace, choking down the fierce, burning emotion lodged in her throat. “I am safe, Harley. Now I’m safe.”
Harley shook her head. “No… Calliope…”
Robin gave a desperate half-smile, her hand reaching under Harley’s head and forcing the strongblood to look at her. “Calliope’s gone. She dissolved the link. I’m free, now. I’m so sorry about everything. You were right Harley, and I should have listened to you.”
“I…” she started, wincing in pain as her chest quivered with each breath. “I have orders.”
“You did it,” Robin said firmly. “Look at me. You completed the mission, and delivered me to safety, Harley. I’m complete now. I’m whole.”
Harley’s eyes slipped shut, another shuddering breath trying to inflate the broken mess that used to be her ribcage.
Robin let out a sob, shaking, bludgeoning sorrow wracking her entire body.
Not again.
Not after Willow, not after Dag, not after they’d lost so much to this horrible violence. Robin’s fingers trembled as they crept over Harley, tears blurring her eyes, trying to find any way to help her, any way to save her.
The strongblood was fading, fast, the energy inside of her flickering with each passing moment. The energy… Robin thought, her brows pulling together. She outstretched both hands, hovering over the place where Harley’s heart struggled to beat, and searched for the seat of her vampiric essence.
At first, there was nothing.
But after a moment, Robin felt a soft, slithering tendril of fire brush against her. She’d only ever taken from vampires, stealing from their life as they did to humans and had done to her, but she felt a new rush of power with all that Calliope had transferred during the ritual. Robin drew in a deep breath and let the floodgates open, pouring her own energy into Harley with everything she had.
Lucidia
Her pulse was lodged in her throat as the door slammed open, footsteps scuffing against the ground. She was dead center in the pitch-black room, facing at least twenty of the Legion’s bastardized mutant casters. The corner of Lucidia’s lips twitched up in a wicked smile. She had them right where she wanted them.
There are certain rules in fighting.
First and foremost: know thy enemy.
She’d spent a considerable amount of time training in the dark, in anticipation of rogue vampire attacks. Vampires had excellent night-vision, so one of their favorite moves was to cut the electricity and go mano a mano with the sight advantage. Luckily for her, casters weren’t vampires. They didn’t have any advantage in the dark, whatsoever.
A tense silence slipped into the room as she heard fidgeting from each of them, unsure of what to do. And then Lucidia dug her toe into the ground, scraping audibly, letting it echo off the walls and alerting them to her presence. Just as the air ignited with sharp magic, Lucidia pressed the release on both disks, one in each hand, and frisbeed them perfectly. They sliced through the air and clattered to the ground on either side of the space.
That was setup.
Now, her plan unfolded like a well-timed concerto.
The first brave soul ignited a glowing ball of magic, shining on the room for a brief moment before the force of the magic-attractors she’d flung caught him and yanked him to the disk. Essentially, it was a giant, uber-strong magnet for magic.
One by one, mutant magic slingers called up their powers and were sent hurtling i
nto the slim black disks, slamming onto their brethren that writhed in pain as their magic tethered them to the weapon.
Lucidia zeroed in on the four casters remaining out of the others, pressing together in defensive formation. They had enough brains to know not to cast anything. She’d leveled the playing field just a smidge.
Downside? The Legion didn’t need magic to hold their own in a fight. Lucidia palmed the slim black cylinder and waited for the first one to move, her own fingers tingling to get a chance at the weapon she so longed to wield.
One of the mutants advanced, feet scraping the ground, and Lucidia turned silently, a small movement, and let the whip extend. With a single button, it lit up with crackling blue electricity. A grin spread on her face as she used the menacing glow to locate her prey. A single flick of her wrist was enough to wrap the mutant by his neck and send him flying back into two more of his friends, taking them out with him.
The final small-fry advanced with an angry cry, pulling out a gun and firing off three toxic-waste-green rounds, whistling through the air in her general direction.
Enter the magically poisoned weapons she’d mentioned earlier. Call it biochemical warfare, or what have you, but they’d perfected the craft. She’d take extra care to stay away from those.
The two disks that kept the rest of the casters restrained were pulsing brighter and brighter as they absorbed more magical energy with each passing second, and now she could just make out the mutant caster, standing five feet away from her. Unfortunately, that meant the mutant caster could make her out, too.
Wicked black eyes centered on Lucidia, and the deep silver scales that covered her skin thrummed with each breath as the caster pounded towards her and snarled.
Lucidia ducked to the side, cracking her whip on the caster’s back. The glow from the two disks brightened, starting to flicker, and Lucidia stepped back towards it, giving her opponent a wicked smile. She put the whip-hand behind her back and stretched her other one out, purple eyes burning in the dark. “Let’s make it even for you,” she smirked, beckoning the mutant with a taunt. “I’ll only beat you with this hand.”
