Page 49 of Immortal Burden

He moved into me.

I leaned in, needing his lips on mine, needing to reconnect with him again.

But then he winced, a hiss escaping him.

His gaze darted up to the sky and I followed his line of sight.

“Fuck,” I exclaimed, adrenaline spiking.

The magic-induced storm Cornelius had created was subsiding quickly, rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds.

My stomach roiled when another hiss escaped Lucian, smoke rising from his suit jacket as a sliver of sunlight struck his right shoulder. Shit!

Mere seconds later, his entire jacket erupted in flames and he shook it off with a burst of vampire speed, slamming it down on the ground and stomping on it quickly to put out the fire.

He needed a shield ASAP.

I snapped my palms up and started to summon my magic.

It sparked to life briefly, then snuffed out in the next second. What the hell?

I tried again. The same thing happened. “Son of a bitch!” I muttered. “Cornelius… he did something… he took my magic!”

Lucian’s eyes widened.

His shirt burst into flames then and he sliced at his tie, then tore the white silk straight from his body. “How far is your home from here?”

“Twenty miles, give or take. You won’t make it.”

“I am faster than a regular vampire.”

But the brutal truth was clear in his eyes. He knew it wasn’t possible, even for him.

An idea hit me then and I grasped his burning arm, ignoring the searing pain that tore through my hand. There wasn’t time. Every second counted. “I invite you in,” I stated.

“Ryker?”

“Brace yourself.”

I tightened my hold on him.

And then I pulled. Hard.

He choked, clenching his fists as I accessed his supernatural energy, channeling it through me to craft magic fused with the mystical essence infused in his vampiric state and my ability to wield it. As a vampire, it was impossible for him to do so.

Red energy flared on my free hand, relief coursing through me that it had actually worked.

I continued channeling Lucian, maintaining my concentration, as I held him tightly to me, even as his flesh began to enflame further, his skin melting.

“Lanuae Magicae!” I thundered, needing to actually invoke the words, given that my ability to just do it with a mere snap of my fingers was compromised. This fractured magic wasn’t innately connected to my being.

Teleport!

Red fire sparked all around us.

And then our surroundings disappeared.

13

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