Page 143 of Magic of the Damned

He didn’t, meeting his fate with defiance along with the others. Dominic stood in silence, taking in the remnants of dust from the dead vampires. Tension filled the room as he waited in anticipation of more attacks.

“You don’t have any allies, brother,” Helena said. “We never really did. There were those who saw our ways as a benefit to them and abided by the rules, and those who were biding their time until things got fucked up. That’s where we are now. Kill Luna, weaken Peter, and reclaim your rule.”

“You sided with Peter!”

“I sided with the victor.” She said it as if that would temper the betrayal. “One who wouldn’t let a human derail everything.” There was a hint of questioning in her voice over the word ‘human.’ I had magic and was different. Human was a misnomer. Formerly human? Not quite human? Posing as human?

Dominic moved toward the confinement, a hard set in his jaw, fixing his sister with a glare. Flashes of hurt shadowed his face. It was so difficult understanding how her betrayal was unexpected to him. Perhaps because it was to Peter, a Dark Caster. Magic that rivaled his.

“You chose wrong. Things will return to the way they were. Helena, you’ll answer to all that I sheltered you from. Areleus will not be in a position to request leniency on your behalf.”

She winced. Before, there had been the question of whether he’d commit patricide. There wasn’t any question about it now. Whatever weakness she’d seen in Dominic had no hints of having ever existed. Color drained from her face.

They held each other’s gaze, breaking only when magic flooded into the room and three unfamiliar witches walked in. One made her way toward me, the other sending pellets of magic in rapid fire toward Dominic. With a swipe of his hand he returned them to her as he attempted to weave around them. At the witch’s approach, I created my barrier, protecting myself my primary goal, while the other witch attempted to release Helena, whose alliance with Peter gave her alliance with the Awakeners who were now fully committed to Peter.

Her hands against the magical prison did nothing. The battle between the witch and Dominic ended badly for the witch. He watched the witch with a satisfied smile as she examined the revealed markings in the floor, then he whispered a spell, the shimmer of it fell, and with a nudge of magic, he pushed the witch in with Helena. Then he invoked the spell to keep them enclosed and another that made them writhe in pain. They folded over into ragged pants when the onslaught stopped. Dominic pulled his attention from them to the witch who was attempting to break down my barrier, dividing her attention between Dominic and her surroundings as if she was looking for the source of my magical barrier.

The window exploded into shards of glass, some hitting Anand in the arm he used to protect himself. Three shades who spilled in expanded their wings, obscuring most of the room. One soared toward Anand, grabbing him with his clawed hand and tossing him to the other side of the room like a doll. He crashed into the wall and hit the floor with a thud. Dominic was in a battle with the other two shades. As the witch continued to barrel her magic into my barrier, her face ruddy with frustration, I concentrated. Timing my action for the best chance of success, I dropped my barrier, placing us just a few inches from each other. Pushing magic into her chest, I sent her clamoring back a few feet and into a fall. My mistake was not wanting the same thing that happened to the vase to happen to her, despite Dominic’s claims that it wouldn’t. But it was enough. Her shock that I had magic delayed her response. I didn’t hold back with my next assault. The magic smashing into her sent her slamming into the shade. His body, as resilient as a wall, left him standing and her on the ground wincing in pain.

Erecting my barrier again, I looked for more openings as the chaos erupted and more people spilled into the room. Some were familiar and some I believed were part of both Conventicles with the sole purpose of containing and disabling the Awakeners and their allies. I couldn’t be sure because of Anand’s warning. It was the periodic attempts they made to get to me that made me assume they were enemies.

My heart pounded when a shade advanced toward me. Choosing physical violence over magic, he clawed at the barrier with no success. Drawing back his lips, his mouth moved without the smooth mechanics of someone used to speaking frequently.

The barrier rippled, undulated, pushed in, but held. He put more effort into it, and I could see Dominic out of my periphery trying to get to me. I didn’t have a weapon. I should always have a weapon. Briefly, I considered dropping my barrier, making a grab for the discarded blade to my right, and erecting the barrier again, but my attempt to walk with the barrier up failed. Shades moved fast and had built-in weapons of claws. The fact that Peter wanted me alive didn’t seem like an advantage, because nothing about the shades gave me the impression they cared about rules. Chaos maybe. Violence definitely. My demise would give them what they wanted.

Too much fighting and magic in the room made thinking clearly difficult. Just surviving wasn’t enough. I looked for vulnerabilities. Eyes. I could get to his eyes, claw, poke, or whatever I could do. Nose was another. Heel of my hand needed to smash into it. I crouched a little to give myself the leverage to put all my weight into it.

I started to lunge, when out of the side of my eye, Areleus came into view. Before I could execute my plan, the prison around his daughter fell. The two turned their energies to Dominic, my barrier fell without me releasing it, and I was pulled against a sinewy body.

I smashed my head back, trying to hit a nose or anything hard of whoever had wrapped me in a bear hug.

“There, there, it’s just you and me,” Peter cooed. Then the world of chaos disappeared as Dominic growling my name was clipped into silence.

Head spinning, I closed my eyes to get my bearings and gave no care as to who was on the receiving end of my indiscriminate magic. I blasted and heard a hard thump of a body hitting the wall. Glass crashing and items falling. When I focused, Peter was coming to stand, a dark smirk of satisfaction on his face as he quickly moved toward me. The room had many objects, and I sent them all careening at him. Coffee grinder lobbed at him, he swiped away with a wave of his hand. Books, dishes, home décor, and cups were hurled in his direction while he used his protective barrier as a shield. I continued to pummel whatever items I could get to into the shield, hoping for an opening or a waver in it.

I assumed he lost his patience or no longer wanted to flaunt his magical acumen. He returned offensive magic. It felt like he slammed a weighted ball into my chest. I smashed into the wall hard and then crumpled into a heap on the floor. We were face to face as I panted for breath. A gleam of satisfaction moved over his face, brightening the cast of darkness that fell over his features and chased away any hint of the studious man who spent his time giving unsolicited history.

“Luna,” he drawled. “I will give it to the prince, he’s managed to succeed in what I spent years trying to discover. He made you one of us. Where there was just one, now there are two.”

He seemed excited, as if my presence was the implied alliance.

“No, there aren’t two. I have no intention of helping you.”

A slow deviant smile curled his lips. “Then this will be a battle of will.” His eyes eclipsed to coal. Magic wrapped around me, stealing my breath. I could feel the full presence of his power. An indicator of why he was feared. And the chaos, violence, and destruction he could cause. He inched closer to me.

“The question is, dear Luna, what will it take to break you?”

I allowed my hand to slide over my pocket where the Garon was hidden.

I had no intention of being broken.

CHAPTER 26

Peter moved to the far side of the room, cloaked in an insidious intent as his eyes casually swept over what I had left in ruins. His dismissive look at the wreckage hit at my confidence but not my drive to take his magic and leave him magicless and unable to cause more destruction.

“For so long, I thought you were just a rumor. A well of magic that could give us the ability to destroy the ruthless trio.” His eyes hardened, anger drawing him taller. Agitation forming a rough scowl on his face.

“And you’re not ruthless?” I challenged.

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