Page 50 of In the Dark

At last the lead man dropped his hat to his chest and spoke in dulcet tones. “You know what they say about when you assume, Miss.”

“Do I know you?”

“Not yet.” The man finally glanced up, his smile deepening. “But you will soon.”

“Get down!” Thorvald roared.

Astix didn’t question the demand and immediately dropped to the floor. Her knee bashed into the marble as she rolled to the side. The three men shed their coats, their exposed hands primed with magic at their sides. They walked inside.

“We don’t want any trouble, Mr. Cavaldi,” the first stated with forced calm. Sparks flew and Astix saw, out of the corner of her eyes, this wasn’t ordinary magic. “There is no need for conflict here. We simply want to take your daughters downtown for a word. All three of them.”

“You lose the right to a peaceful negotiation the instant you walk into my house uninvited.” Thorvald raised his fists threateningly. Instantly, both glowed with a deep, eggplant-purple aura. “Now get out. I won’t tell you a second time.”

“Dad? Don’t do anything stupid,” Astix cautioned, her arms over her head.

“I’m afraid we can’t leave, sir. We are under strict orders to apprehend the girls.”

“Orders from whom?”

“Orestes Voltaire.”

Astix glanced up, color draining from her face and leaving it stiff. “Leo?” she squeaked out.

“Then it seems Orestes and I are of differing opinions yet again.” Thorvald straightened his back. “The girls are leaving, but not with you. I would never allow a man like Orestes to harm my children.”

“Your children are a menace to society,” the man said with a snarl, the others flanking close behind him and bodies tensed for action. “One an abomination, one a sociopath, and the other willing to destroy an entire city block for her own amusement. Thank goodness we have the fourth in our Vault, withering away and begging to see the sunlight. Our people need to feel safe. This is the only way we can continue to do our jobs.”

“You’re wrong.”

“They must be taken in immediately for the protection of our community.”

“My wife is in a coma, thanks to you,” Thorvald growled, “and you have the audacity to come here and insult me? Threaten my children and taunt me with my son? Tell Orestes he can have my girls over my cold, dead body.”

“If that’s what you want. No one can say we didn’t warn you.” All three men raised their hands chest-level.

Thorvald retaliated quickly, shards of marble from the stairs shattering and raining down on them like tiny projectiles.

“Gentlemen, prepare yourselves.”

Savage glee warred with despair when he drew on every ounce of magic he possessed, knowing the secrets of the house like the back of his hand. There were precautions in place for such an occasion, should the need arise. He used his height to its utmost advantage, conjuring lances of diamond and slamming each down in a ring around the intruders.

The three men under Orestes’s orders let loose their power. Astix knew then, knew exactly what had happened. This was rogue magic, impacted by the thinning veil. Wild. Uncontrollable. Sparks flew and shredded curtains. Plaster cracked, falling to the floor and shattering. Astix heard screaming as she cowered near a table.

Thorvald laughed, the sound booming out and knocking several books and knickknacks from nearby shelves. After a brief hesitation, Astix turned to him, blinking rapidly to keep the dust from her eyes. “You need help, Daddy?”

“Back away, Mr. Cavaldi!” Three men countered the attack. The first stepped forward and when he spoke, his voice was amplified. “Our fight is not with you. Orestes will surely forgive this violent act if you turn your daughters over to him.”

Thorvald stood on the second-floor landing surveying the devastation before him. None of it mattered. The ornate decorations and carefully handcrafted treasures fell before him. When a splinter of wood from the banister snapped against his shin he showed no emotion.

“I do not bow to Orestes, and it is high time someone knocked him off his high horse!”

Lungs working like bellows and running out of patience, he fought the elemental witches before him without a care if he won or lost.

“Get out now!” he called to Astix. “I’ll hold them off.”

Astix ducked when gemstones exploded from the walls to imprison the three intruders within a crystalline jail cell and cutting off the flow of their power. “Let me help you!”

She added her own mettle to the fight and the floor buckled underfoot. Once, she’d drawn up the very magma from the earth’s core. She could do it again.

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