Page 24 of Coven

The fourth circle dropped, hitting the third with a shower of sparks. They then dropped together, hitting the second with more sparks. All three combined circles dropped again, hitting the first with a boom that shook the room. This time the sparks were more like fireworks.

A twenty-pointed star sat on the floor, and its glow was so bright it turned from bright yellow to blinding white.

The magic ached inside Kana, filling him just as the light filled the room. It needed—demanded—release.

“So mote it be,” Kana whispered through lips numb from the magic inside him.

The star went dark, leaving Kana blinking spots before his eyes, and then, like a bomb going off, it exploded.

Kana’s feet left the ground as he was thrown backward. He slammed into something hard, and then everything went black.

Chapter Ten

KANA WAS PROPPED against something hard and firm. That something was also rising and falling as if breathing. A band wrapped around Kana’s chest, holding him securely. No, not a band. An arm, Kana realized as his brain started to engage.

“Kana!”

“Kana!”

Why did Mika and Sora sound so worried? Kana tried to reach out to them through the magic channels they shared to reassure them and… Nothing. Kana tried again, desperate to find his most important ties, and let out a soft breath of relief when he found them. The channels were severely constricted, and they felt tender and burnt, as if he had fried them with too much magic.

Which was exactly what he had done! Kana’s eyes popped open, and he immediately looked around, hoping he wasn’t about to see another vampire attacking. Instead, he found Mika and Sora, both in human form and looking worried.

Kana looked at Mika and Sora, and then realized if they were sitting in front of him they weren’t the person holding him. Kana craned his neck backward, and Ember’s face swam into view.

“Wha—” Kana coughed.

“It’s okay, Kana,” Mika said. “Take a few minutes. You used a lot of magic, and your body took a beating.”

“Octa—” Kana tried to ask, but his throat closed again, and he resumed coughing.

Ember smiled that beautiful half smile of his, and this time there was real joy in the way his eyes also lit up.

“George, Emily, and I had him pinned when you started your lightshow,” Ember explained. “When you stacked your circles, he got really scared and instead of trying to fight, he tried to run instead.” Ember’s smile took on a hard, yet still gleeful edge. “His distraction is what really killed him. George got his claws into Octavius’s jugular, and the blood loss slowed him down. When your spell exploded, he was caught in the worst of it. Turned him to ash immediately, along with every other vampire in the room.”

“And we rushed in just in time to see Ember sprint across the room to catch you,” Sora added, and the tilt to his cheeky grin was saying something that Kana’s rattled brain just wasn’t up to processing at the moment.

“You’ve only been out maybe ten minutes,” Mika added.

“No! I wanna see him!” Kana heard from outside. A second later one of the children from before dashed into the room. Ralph ran in after him but stopped at the door. The boy’s shackles were gone, and the worst of his open wounds had been smeared with some sort of ointment. His eyes were wild as they took in the room.

There had to be at least an inch of gray ash covering every single surface. The boy sent up plumes of it as he rushed around, looking at every inch of the space.

“Shannon!” He yelled and then ran into the closet. “Shannon.” This time the boy sounded relieved, as if he had found whomever he was looking for.

Ember shifted forward so he could get his legs underneath him, then stood with Kana still cradled in his arms.

“Marc, what’s going on?” Ember called after the boy.

Marc emerged from the closet slowly. “You can’t hurt him,” Marc said, his chin set in a stubborn line. “You have to promise not to hurt him.”

“I won’t hurt anyone who hasn’t attacked me first,” Ember replied. “Now show me.”

Marc reached back and tugged on something, drawing first an arm, and then the rest of a man into the room.

“This is Shannon,” Marc said. “He helped us.”

Shannon had been looking down at Marc, but he lifted his head to take in Ember and Kana. His eyes were very blue, his hair pale blond almost to the point of looking white, and he was definitely a vampire.

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