Resummon: (Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting: Operation Shift, Book 6)

by Shawn Knightley

  ‘Thanks for the encouragement, bitch.’

  “Come here,” Rodrick instructed me without letting his eyes leave Margaux.

  I did as he asked and stood by his side. I wasn’t sure if I could drain the magic inside Margaux like I did with Adeline. It was her magic that helped me along and that would probably be more devastating to Margaux than the loss of her arm if we managed to pull this off. Rodrick didn’t appear the least bit concerned. He had his own idea as to how to get this done. I watched as he removed his trench coat and rolled up his sleeves over his muscular forearms, preparing himself for whatever he was about to do.

  Lothar stood to the corner with Jake, watching and waiting to see if we could pull this off again. Fortunately for me, they both had their game faces on. If there was a shred of doubt inside them they didn’t show it. They knew as well as I did that the luxra would sense it if even one of us showed a hint of weakness.

  “Do we need to leave?” Jake asked. “I seem to remember this getting a bit crazy the last time.”

  “Only if you think you can’t handle it,” Rodrick challenged him.

  I held my wrists together and then jolted my arms back just the way Adeline had taught me, summoning the vixra magic inside the bracelets wrapped over my wrists. My crowning magic opened up inside my hands, ready to do my bidding and strengthened by the chain of braided green light forming from my bracelets.

  “Where did you get that?” Rodrick asked me.

  “A gift from Adeline.”

  “Good. Create a circle of it around the two of us. It will give us both more strength.”

  I did as he said. The second the chain of green light connected at the ends and wrapped around us, Rodrick created sparks of magical fire.

  “Be ready to heal her if we manage to pull this off,” he said to me. “We might be here a while.”

  I cringed at the thought, knowing exactly what he meant. We might have to repeatedly burn Margaux alive and heal her to get the luxra out of her body.

  “I’m ready.” I edged closer to him, allowing our magic to weave together like a rope just like it had with Adeline. Only this time, I had vixra magic on my wrists and an extra Blackatter to help me.

  My eyes squinted from the bright flames as they crept over the floor and began to curl around Margaux’s naked toes.

  It took every fiber of my being to harden my soul enough to watch this entire ordeal again, much less be the one to inflict the pain. But I did it. I let my magic turn into a fire raging over the stone floor where I lay in a heap of battered and broken bones from the trials. Only this time, I wasn’t the victim.

  Margaux grit her teeth and leaned away from the wall, thrashing her head from side to side and doing everything she could not to scream. The skin over her legs scorched and bubbled before turning black. Her torso lit aflame with the final remnants of her clothes.

  The luxra inside her was prepared. And goodness she was strong because she didn’t start screaming this time until the flames reached her hair and slithered up to her scalp to burn her face as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

  Even though watching the display was difficult, the strangest sense of elation crept inside me and caught hold of my entire being. It sent waves of energy through me, reaching down to my feet and all the way back up to my hands and my head, wrapping me in an odd feeling. The most voracious feeling of yearning.

  But for what?

  “Stop!” Rodrick shouted.

  I let the magical fire burn out but that didn’t stop the flames from continuing to consume Margaux. Rodrick released more of his magic, only this time from his other hands, making sure the flames died down into nothing before we got too close. The flames disappeared but smoke and the smell of sulfur.

  I cautiously stepped forward to see the damage we had done. Margaux had completely passed out. Truth be told, she lasted much longer than I would have.

  “Place your hand on her cheek,” Rodrick instructed.

  I hesitated, seeing her cheek burned to a crisp. Her skin was still scorching hot when I placed my shaking palm right over her face, urging my magic to heal her. And heal her it did. But slowly. I needed the magic from the bracelets to help me along. Her hair returned to its normal dark color, her eyes flickered open, and her body gradually peeled away the burned skin for what looked like a brighter and perhaps entirely new layer that was more porcelain than the last one. It was almost as though the torment helped her shed an old aged skin for an entirely new one.

  “Again,” Rodrick ordered.

  Margaux lifted her head in defiance, showing me nothing but her determination to stay right where she was. The luxra inside of her liked this body better than Thomas Chambers. She didn’t intend to leave it. Not without a fight. I would be glad to test her endurance if we weren’t potentially running out of time already. For all I knew, the vixra guard were aware of who took Margaux and were on their way now through the vixra tunnels.

  I let the vixra magic from my bracelets funnel out once more, shutting my eyes and focusing all my energy into making sure it formed a perfect braid around both Rodrick and me before the carnage began yet again.

  Only this time, Margaux screamed from the start. Low at first, grunting and gritting her teeth as she thrashed back and forth, desperately trying to avoid the merciless flames. We didn’t relent. The fire consumed her all over again and I was forced to watch as the scarlet red magical flames did their work. Again we tortured her. And again we healed her. It went on four more times and Margaux didn’t break.

  ‘You wicked bitch. You prepared for this. You knew we would do this to you again.’

  Even as I thought the words, I saw her getting weaker. I placed my hand on her cheek and waited for her to heal. Only this time around she didn’t bounce back and look at me with defiance. She appeared as though she might beg for mercy.

  “You don’t know what they did to me,” she whispered as her burned lips peeled away and formed an entirely new layer of skin.

  I removed my hand from her face, readying myself to go again and feeling my magic getting weaker by the minute. I wouldn’t have the strength to activate the bracelets much longer. Was this her plan? To wait us out until our magic was drained for the night?

  “I don’t care what they did to your coven,” Rodrick said to her, weaving his magic through his fingers as it spiraled up his arm like a snake. “I don’t care if you were forced to watch as beasts ripped them to shreds. You won’t win. I won’t allow it.”

  My eyes were locked on Rodrick. I was halfway between admiring his determination and wondering where the hell it had come from. He was dead set on handing me over to the vixra council for judgment and now he appeared more motivated than ever before to make sure the inner circle luxra witchling abandoned Margaux’s flesh forever.

  “You would if you saw it,” she snarled weakly. “They devoured my family right before my eyes. My parents. My little sister. My grandmother. Countless villagers and witchlings. My whole coven. What could your kind possibly expect? That you could run wild and no one would try to stop you? That no one would sympathize with those who have lost so much because of you?”

  “I don’t believe in blood libel,” Rodrick responded coldly. Colder than I had ever heard him speak before. “I didn’t harm your family. And those that did were more than likely punished for it.”

  “Oh, they were. My brother made sure of it.”

  “The same brother that possesses mine as we speak?” I spat.

  She let her head rest on the stone wall and spoke through the strands of newly grown hair covering her face. She looked more demonic to me in that dungeon than when she stood atop the stairs of Chatsworth, tormenting the Northern Vontex with the souls of dead lycan.

  “He’s saved more than he’s ever killed,” she growled at me. “He stops your kind from harming more people.”

  “The Vontex packs were formed to prevent such atrocities from happening.” Rodrick took a step closer to her. “I know the da
mage your brother has done. He’s forced people to become devout followers of the Dolch Erbe and destroyed lives.”

  “Only those loyal to wretched lycan.”

  “That’s enough for me,” Rodrick fumed. “We’re a loyal breed. We protect our own. You tried to murder Miss Blackburn along with the other Northern Vontex. If I knew nothing else about you that would be enough to convince me you don’t deserve to live. But I do know more. I know the countless atrocities the Dolch Erbe inner circle has committed against those who have chosen a life of solitude within these walls. No more.”

  I saw Lothar move from the corner of my eye. He took out two pieces of paper from his pocket and handed one to Jake. It was vixra blood. They both let it dissolve on their tongues and then came to stand before both Rodrick and me. Lothar stood to my back and Jake to Rodrick’s. Then they both placed their hands on our shoulders.

  “This is going to take all of us,” Lothar said. “Channel the vixra magic inside me and Jake. This has gone on long enough. It stops now.”

  Even with the smell of sulfur invading my nostrils like an unwanted plague and the black smoke barreling up and out of the opening above us creating a shadow over the moon’s bright rays, I could see the all too familiar way Lothar’s eyes narrowed at Margaux. It was the same look he gave me when I was laying on the floor trying my best to endure the trials. A part of him was shut away. He was closing off the part of him that felt even the slightest bit of pity. He wanted this luxra out of Margaux just as much as I did. He even risked just as much, if not more, than I did to get her back here. It was time for this to stop. And to prove to myself that the inner circle couldn’t possess someone forever.

  I let the vixra magic widen over Rodrick and me, then I shot my magic directly at Margaux’s chest, starting the fire right in her center then working my way up. I wanted her to feel her heart cooking inside her body, her blood boiling, and her eyes melting. To burn the source of her magic beating inside her chest and flowing through her body, never to return. Above all, I wanted to prove that I could get my brother back.

  I got closer to her, pushing my magic in deeper and mingling it with Rodrick’s as she struggled to take in a single breath. She was in too much pain to breathe let alone scream. Then once her eyes bulged open, I reached in harder, finding her magic inside her bloodstream as it desperately tried to heal her. Only it was too slow and I was beyond motivated. I tapped into her magic and stopped it dead in its tracks, making sure it burned along with the rest of her.

  Her head reared up. Her eyes widened. Her hair sparked and caught fire. The flames traveled down her chest and to her legs, consuming her in a chaotic mess of scarlet red flames. The smoke surrounding her turned blue. Her magic was burning away right before my eyes, a little at a time. And I wasn’t sure if it would recover.

  ‘Margaux, forgive me.’

  There was nothing controlled taking hold of me. Nothing but pure strength guiding me onward and making me intensify the scarlet red light pouring from my hand and creating flames. Then the feeling greedily sent another flood of eagerness right through me. It was coming from Rodrick’s magic mingling with mine.

  The magic inside Lother funneled through me like a drug moving its way through my system. I felt it pump through my heart and go directly to my hands, pushing the fire in deeper.

  Margaux’s mouth opened wide. Her nostrils flared. Her eyes shut. A flourish of blue light glowed from inside her throat, gradually moving out of her and winding above her forehead until it abandoned her completely.

  I cocked my head, unsure of what had just happened.

  Her body fell forward. The locksin zapped and tightened. What was left of her hand and feet turned purple. The blue light circled over her head as Rodrick lowered his arm, letting the fire die down and putting it out completely with his crowning magic whirling about his left forearm.

  The small circle of spinning blue light lurked over Margaux’s head then gradually seeped back into her flesh.

  “Stop!” He hollered at us.

  I nearly rushed back when he launched his whole body forward and snatched the blue light with both hands.

  ‘That was it! That’s the luxra’s spirit!’

  I whipped my arm around like I was waving a lasso and lurched my magic forward, throwing the rope of vixra magic from my bracelets around Rodrick’s form and protecting his hands. The luxra spirit let out the most ungodly screech I had ever heard in my life.

  Lothar and Jake covered their ears and buckled down on their knees from the sound just as exhaustion struck them both.

  The luxra abandoned Margaux’s body just long enough to see if the torment would kill her. Once it was clear we weren’t going to go that far, it tried to go back inside. Rodrick caught it just in time. But it came at a price.

  He hunched over on the ground and fought with the spinning ball of blue light. His magic created a crimson red sphere around it, caging the spirit like a trapped bird begging for release and whirling about in a haze of confusion and madness.

  I let the vixra magic from my bracelets lay around Rodrick’s form, shielding him should the spirit manage to break through the magical cage he created and somehow get the upper hand.

  A soft moan caught my attention.

  Margaux was hanging forward and nearly dead. The burns were still searing her skin.

  I forced my hand outward, widening the protective shield around Rodrick and placing my hand over Margaux’s cheek just as I had before.

  My magic was weakening. And Lothar knew it.

  He crawled over to me, letting his ears take the brunt of the pain from the screeching luxra spirit and placed his hand on mine. I channeled the remaining vixra blood inside his skin and sent it directly into Margaux. She healed faster than I expected. When she opened her eyes, they were bright again. And lucid. Her hair grew back to its stunning dark color and her skin peeled the burned skin away, falling to the floor with grace as it shriveled into nothing and left her with a newly formed porcelain skin. Her hair covered her naked chest. And best of all, I could feel her magic recovering inside her. I didn’t burn it all away. She might not have been quite as powerful as she once was but strong magic still coursed through her veins.

  Metal clashed against the stone wall and shattered the locksin binding Margaux’s wrist. It was Jake. He took a step back and spun a long blade in his hands before swinging it down once more. Only this time he freed Margaux’s ankles with a perfect strike that left her skin unharmed from the sword’s sharp edge.

  The luxra spirit grew tired, eventually draining enough for Lothar and Jake to stop grimacing at the pain their ears had endured from its cries of panic.

  Rodrick stood up slowly. When he turned around, I saw the small essence of the luxra weaving about between his hands, caught in a prison of his crowning magic.

  We did it. We managed to get the dreaded luxra witchling out of Margaux’s body.

  But was Margaux still there inside her mind? Was she damaged?

  “Margaux,” I said her name softly. Her body gave way to exhaustion and fell to the side. Lothar caught her before she fell to the stone floor and nearly struck her head. “Margaux!” I said her name a bit louder.

  Her eyes were a flurry of confusion. They swept from side to side, trying to see who was calling her name. When they found me, they didn’t look at me with disgust. They looked on with clarity. But most of all, they held the most profound sense of shame a woman could possess.

  “Jake,” Rodrick said. “Go to Riley’s room and find Margaux some new clothes. I think she and Alina will be close in sizes.”

  “There’s a black leather notebook in the top left-hand drawer of my desk,” I called out to Jake as he moved to leave. “Can you bring it too?”

  Jake ran out of the dungeon and into the night to fetch some of Alina’s clothes for Margaux without a single word of protest. He was too excited to argue any orders from Rodrick. He just learned the same thing I did. Margaux could be freed. That meant Al
ina could as well. And my brother.

  “It’s okay,” I said to her, sweeping her hair back and out of her face so she could see me clearer. “You’re safe now. You’re at the Lycan Academy of Shapeshifting in London. We’re going to make sure that bitch can’t hurt you anymore. Or anyone else.”

  I sat there with Lothar holding her. I caressed her head and tried to show her the same tenderness my mum showed me when I was in pain or sick. The comfort that told me this was temporary and I would get through whatever was bothering me. Only it pained me to realize what was actually on my mind.

  I wasn’t thinking of Margaux. At least not entirely. Not even my brother or Alina. The feeling I got when Rodrick’s magic mingled with mine was the same I felt in his office. It filled me with a sense of confidence and desire that was almost intoxicating.

  And worse, I didn’t mind it. I wanted more.

  3

  I sat on the chair inside Rodrick’s study in stunned silence staring at the enchanted blue crystal containing the Dolch Erbe’s inner circle luxra spirit. The same chair I occupied when I first saw Rodrick and thought he was the man who attacked me in a scummy London pub bathroom. I also sat in it repeatedly during our lessons and hours ago when Lothar told him we had kidnapped Margaux. But sitting there staring at an enchanted glass bottle holding the spirit of the luxra that possessed countless witchlings over the centuries was a new one for me.

  “Is there a way to make it… you know…rest?” I stammered. “To send it to the afterlife and make sure it can’t come back?” I asked the question only because I feared the enchanted crystal now holding the luxra’s spirit might spontaneously explode and try possessing Margaux again. I could feel my magic still trying to recover inside my body and I doubted Margaux wanted to go through that once more let alone me having to help Rodrick exert the effort to rescue her another time.