Page 48 of Inevitably Yves

“Magic?” Eros asks.

Vivienne nods. “Yeah, the blackest kind. This dude isn’t playing around. I can see if I can break through, but I’m not sure I can.”

I put my hand to her elbow. “Let’s go inside first and see what’s happening with Paolo.”

She nods and follows me, but her eyes dart around the parking lot. Night has given way to day, but it’s still dim. Hale and Tiago open the doors before we reach them, and I’m immediately hit with a wave of something off.

Damiano must feel it too as he stumbles back slightly before grabbing my arm. “What the fuck?”

“Dude,” Thorn whispers, holding Kyson close. “Something evil was here.”

“We don’t know what happened,” Tiago says as we enter. “Everything was normal, and then it was like this black fog rolled through. I couldn’t see or hear anything.”

“Same,” Hale says, his face a mask of discomfort. “When it cleared, the club was empty and hours had passed. Every patron was in the lot on the ground, and Paolo was gone.”

Vivienne holds her arms out in front of her, her eyelids fluttering as her eyes roll back slightly. Her body moves as if being manipulated by an unseen wind or waves in a rough ocean. She jerks her head and exhales sharply.

“Blessed Hades and Persephone,” she whispers, gripping my forearm to steady herself.

“What is it?” Syn asks.

“Ancient,” Viv says. “I’ve only read about it. Your guy pulled out the big guns. He’s using magic forbidden by modern witches because of its power to corrupt and turn on the user.”

“Turn on the user?” Damiano asks. “What does that mean?”

Viv smooths her hair before wrapping her arms around herself. “It means the magic is not fully controlled by the user. It can’t be. It has power on its own. The darker the intention behind it, the more evil seeps out. Left alone long enough, the magic will eventually backfire on the user, and send all their intentions right back to them. There’s always a price for using black magic.”

“Does that mean we can just sit back and let him self-destruct?” Raphael asks.

“Not really,” Viv answers. “I mean, yeah, but it could take years. Longer than that. The last time it was used, that I’m aware of, it took twelve years to swing around, and that was much longer than it should have taken given the evil it was used for. You might have heard of World War II.”

I pull my head back. “What?”

“Yeah. Rumor has it that it was used by a certain someone to gain power and influence his people to follow his ideals blindly. By the time it backfired, a lot of people had died. Millions. I don’t know if it’s accurate. There were also rumors he was one of you guys.”

“We heard them too,” Midnight says. “But we never got close enough to him. We were underground and unaware of those events at the time.”

“Okay,” I say. “If that’s what’s happening, how did he get it, and how do we fight it? We aren’t going to sit back and wait for karma.”

Viv blows out a breath. “Well, how he got it? If the stories are true, he traveled to an undocumented island off the coast of Greece, veiled from mortal eyes. There, he met an immortal witch, confined to a cave for all of eternity. He made her a deal, offered her something she wants but cannot get for herself, and he, in his blind quest for power, agreed to it.”

She drags a hand through her hair as she leans against a column. “Here’s the good news. How you fight it is with love, light, good intentions. You channel that into something powerful and strong enough to shield you.”

“And then?” Damiano asks.

Vivienne swallows, turning slightly pale. “And then you kill the source.”

“The witch?” Bowie asks.

“No. The user. In this case, Hadrian. If it’s him.”

“It’s him,” I reply dryly. “He’s the only one who would go to such great lengths, and it explains how he’s been able to block us from him and each other.”

“I would agree,” Viv says. “Simply because it’s not common knowledge it exists. You’d almost have to be supernatural or a witch to know. It’s not like mortals read about it in history books. It’s ancient and evil and to my knowledge, no one has even tried since the 1930s. I only know about it because I had a powerful mentor. Most modern witches wouldn’t even know.”

Damiano huffs. “That miserable bastard.”

“If he took Paolo, what are his intentions?” Tiago asks.

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