Page 70 of A Lost Light

It was tempting. We could end this all. Be heroes. And finally stop hiding from the people who were hunting us from all sides.

But in that moment, I could see how my birth family had become so corrupt. It would have been so easy for them, witches with unusually strong magic and inventive minds, to dominate everyone around them, to bend the will of others when things didn't go their way. To maybe think that they were even in therightwhile they did it. While they committed atrocities… for the greater good of witch kind, of course.

I was sure my ancestors had thought they were doing what was right too. Didn't every villain see themselves as the hero of their own story? I could so easily see myself slipping into that darkness. Into taking what I wanted, molding the world and our society to fit my preferences, and damn anyone who stood in my way.

I took a steadying breath. I was not my family. I was more than just another evil Lovell. The things I did today—the peoplewho were, even now, dying because of my actions… itwasfor the greater good. To protect innocent creatures who couldn't defend themselves. Who were being persecuted and killed simply for daring to exist. This was right. I was sure of it.

Then why did my chest ache with every corpse that rose to march at our side?

I shouldn't have let my attention wander. When he was teaching me magic, that was always Dyre's first warning. Keep your focus. Don't get distracted, even for an instant. Be aware of your surroundings at all times… and never underestimate how underhanded your attackers might be.

I should have listened to his advice instead of letting myself worry about whether I was a good witch or a bad witch. Maybe things would have turned out differently then. Or maybe not. Maybe everything I did really was cursed, every effort to do good tainted by the karmic effects of the Lovells who came before me.

Whatever the reason, I looked up from my musing slowly, only becoming aware of the three witches standing before our wall of flames far too late. They seemed immune to Ambrose's boogeyman tricks. He appeared out of the air behind them to shout a warning to us, but it took a moment to understand his words. It was like everything moved in slow motion.

Not three witches, I realized then. Two witches and a woman who had all the tall, lean beauty of a fae, but the rounded ears and meek demeanor of a human. A hybrid who probably had no real magic to defend herself with. Her long brown hair blew across her face, hiding her wide, terrified blue eyes as I watched through the flickering wall of flames.

One of the witches, a short, curvy woman, held some sort of glowing amulet in her hand—probably what was protecting them from Ambrose's power. The other witch, a broad, gray-haired man, had a death grip on the fae hybrid’s slender arm. What in the world were they doing, attempting to bargain witha hostage? Surely the stupid cultists could see that they'd be burned to ash if they continued to just stand there.

Then everything sped up, happening too fast for my shocked brain to keep up. Dyre was right. I shouldn't have underestimated the depths my enemy was willing to sink to. I was still thinking like someone with a heart.

The necromancer himself was distracted by the magic he was working to raise the most recent corpse soldier, otherwise he probably would have caught on much quicker than I did. Aahil shouted his name, clearly seeing what was about to happen and knowing I couldn't hold the shield around us without help. “Dyre!” he yelled, his smooth voice cracking like a whip as his wall of flames rose higher in an attempt to protect us.“Blood curse!”

My heart stopped as something I couldn’t quite see happened beyond the flames. The girl crumpled to the ground, and a massive ball of magic came hurtling toward us. Even then, I wasn't really worried. My shield had held against everything else the cult had thrown at us. Why should this be any different? But Dyre's concentration tore from the corpse he was working on, his violet eyes flashing black as he lurched toward me. Too late. The spell hit the shield.

And the shield shattered like glass.

The impact was soul-numbing as the powerful magic I had been channeling burst around me, the force of it searing through my nerves and making me fall to my knees in pain. Dyre thrust out a hand to try to re-establish the shield, but his attention was split, his dark gaze flicking to me in concern for just a second too long, our bond flooded by the pain of the magical backlash from the shield breaking. The cult's second spell made it past Aahil's flames and hurtled right toward us. I clenched my eyes closed as I braced for the pain.

Chapter 43

River

Ifelt it when the protective shield around us fell. My own magic tingled through me, sharp and fast in response, as the necromancer pulled his magic away from the corpse he'd been raising and tried to snap the shields back up in time. I pulled back from defending the circle and instinctively reached into my own bag of tricks. Wrongness tingled over me. Bad luck warring against my own innate luckiness. The feeling said I had to get out of here.Now.

I saw it clearly in my mind’s eye, well used to making predictions by now. Dyre wasn't fast enough. And though the other magic users in the group would try to help, they were a beat behind him. They would all fail to get the shield back up in time, and even if they did, only the necromancer's magic had any chance of standing up to the next spell.

Dark magic. Black magic.Blood magic. The cultists released their sacrifice, her blood still pumping from the slash across her throat, soaking the dirt as she crumpled to the ground, her life force now powering their spells.

The killing spell hurtled toward our group. The caster's aim wasn't perfect, maybe because they were trying to control a magic that wasn't meant to exist. For whatever reason, I could see the trajectory, in that moment when my magic rose up and time stood still. It would hit the right side of the group.

I forced myself to watch it happen, to see what the reality was before I attempted to change it. I had long ago learned not to ignore that vital step, or I would only make things worse. Cats had lots of tricks up our sleeves. But this one was the rarest among my kind, and the most carefully guarded secret.

Because it had as much chance of failing as it did of succeeding.

The spell hurtled toward us. I used my magic to sidestep through time, watching from a safer distance. Bella and Andy were going to take the brunt of the spell. But of course, their lovers had other ideas. Junaid reached for Bella, using his jinn magic to phase into the path of the spell and violently shove her out of the way of the worst of it, but he wasn't quite quick enough. All of Andy's harem whipped their heads toward their witch, but the only one close enough to help was Hasumi. The water weaver stepped in front of the witch and wrapped their slender body around her, shielding them both in a bubble of water magic.

The spell hit, and everyone was thrown backward. I watched the carnage. Watched as four people I cared about were killed and two were badly wounded.

Not wasting time with the aftermath, I reached for my magic and rewound time. This time, I didn't stand still in safety. This time, I moved to save the strange people I was becoming so fond of.

And I failed.

Sucking in a deep breath, I yanked on the slippery fabric of time again.

And again.

And again.

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