Page 4 of Claiming Chaos

Shade laughed once, like he couldn’t believe what he was about to say, and he looked at me. “If you can pinpoint which plant she used to create this trap, I can kill it.”

“What?” Ember stood next to me and crossed her arms. “Since when?”

“Since Chrys had me try. Come on.” He walked out of the room, leaving us standing there, gaping.

Wait. What? Chrys had been coaching Shade on using dangerous magic. Who else had she gotten to?

“Go ahead,” Miles said. “I’ll stay with Patrice.”

“What the hell, Shade?” Ember stomped up the stairs, with Chaos and me on her heels.

We followed him out of the house and into the yard before he explained. “She told me I was helping test her magic. She wanted to find a way to fight off dark magic with her earth powers in case we were ever under attack.”

“When really she wanted to learn how to counter you.” I rubbed my forehead. Were there any of us she hadn’t fooled? “You weren’t the least bit suspicious?”

He shrugged. “She never gave me reason to be.”

She’d never given any of us reason to believe she was anything but kind, sweet Chrys. “Was she ever successful in countering you?”

“No.” He lifted his head in pride. “I’d never dared tap into that side of my magic. Too many shadow witches end up going dark. But she convinced me it was for the greater good, so…” He lifted and dropped his shoulders again as if shrugging off any blame we might want to throw at him.

“Wow.” Ember peered up at a tree. “Okay. Let’s do it then. Which one is she controlling?”

I focused, centering myself and searching for the offending tree. Only, it wasn’t a tree at all. The tug in my mind carried me to a rose bush in the flowerbed. “It’s this one.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes.” Shade turned toward the maple. “There’s no way that little bush is doing that much damage.”

“It’s not a joke, Shade.” I parked my hands on my hips.

“You didn’t even cast your little spell.” He wiggled his fingers, mocking me.

Chaos stiffened, curling his hands into fists, and I patted his shoulder.

“She’s developed our dad’s power.” Ember wrapped her arm around me. “She hasn’t been wrong yet.”

“If you want to kill a perfectly good tree, be my guest.” I gestured to the maple. “I hope you’ll have enough vim left for the real problem when you’re through.”

He narrowed his eyes, offense all over his face. Then he softened and walked toward me. “I won’t have any vim left at all. It’s the most taxing magic I’ve ever cast. This one, you said?”

I nodded.

“I’ll be useless after this. Can I trust you to have my back?” He looked from me to Ember.

“We’ve got you,” she said.

“You can trust us.” I stepped back, giving him space to work his spell, lest he accidentally cast his shadow too far and suck the light out of me in the process. Chaos rested his hand on my back, and I leaned into his side, letting his warmth envelop me.

Shade took a few deep breaths, nodding as if either convincing himself he could trust us or that he could accomplish this feat. Maybe it was both.

He lifted his hands in front of his chest, and black smoke billowed between his palms. With his fingers outstretched, he widened his arms, the shadow magic growing between them. He whispered a spell, but I couldn’t make out the words. The shadow stretched outward to the rose bush, cascading around it and enclosing it in darkness.

“How did you know he could do this?” Ember whispered.

“All shadow witches have this ability.” Chaos slid his hand across my back to rest on my hip. “We’re lucky he already knew how to use it.”

The tendons in Shade’s neck tightened. He groaned and then wheezed.

“Are you okay?” Ember called, and he gave his head a tiny nod.

Two full minutes passed before he let out a hard exhale and doubled over. We rushed to his side, and Ember and I helped him stand as the shadow rolled back into his chest. The rose bush shriveled and crumbled to dust.

We took Shade to the porch and lowered him onto the steps. Sweat dripped from his brow, and he heaved in a ragged breath. “Patrice?”

“I’ll go check.” I hurried inside and down the stairs into the unfinished part of the basement. The roots around Patrice had crumbled, and Miles wrapped his arms beneath her shoulders, hauling her toward the exit.

“Let me help.” I grabbed her feet, and we carried her out of the room.

The energy shifted, and I turned around. The air shimmered as a rift opened, and a set of long, thick talons pushed through.

“Well, crap.”

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