Page 103 of The Dark Mage
“And your power,” Zev murmured, his voice low and unsettling.“There’s so much of it.I can feel the death in it.Tell me, dark mage, do you like killing?”
Her nerves frayed, panic clawing at her throat as Zev stalked her, his steps deliberate and predatory.She grimaced, forcing her fear into anger.
“Yes,” she whispered.“Don’t tempt me.”
Zev laughed, but the sound was cold, and she didn’t like it.Fael’s hand tightened on his sword.Though his breath slowed in deliberate control, she saw his protective instincts brimming beneath the surface.At the first sign of danger, he would come to her aid—but he trusted her to hold herown.
“Very chilling,” Zev said lazily, turning his back on her.“Though your lovely gray eyes and thick, curling hair make you far less threatening.”
Once again, those claws dragged against her senses as he turned away, dismissive and mocking.The predator inside her roared in response, fueled by the fear she had wrestled down moments earlier.Her anger peaked, sharp and unyielding, as the familiar chill of the Void rose at herfeet.
“Say that again to me, wight,” Ren’wyn snarled.
Zev turned back, smirking—but the expression was struck from his face.He froze, seeing what Esrin stepped away from and what Fael openly admired.
Ren’wyn’s eyes had turned black, and her hair floated weightlessly as if lifted by an unseen force.The forms of the dead flanked her, their blank eyes flickering with malice.Black shadows crept across the ground toward Zev, reaching down from the trees, while veins of frost climbed her outstretchedarms.
Zev’s eyes widened, the whites stark against his russet skin.His fear was an almost visible force between them.The claws of his power retracted, swallowed by his terror.Ren’wyn’s smile was dark and cruel, a sharp contrast to the sweet young woman who had stood in her place moments before.
Fael stepped around Zev, his presence calm but purposeful, and reached out to take Ren’wyn’s hand.As their powers met, frost grew along Fael’s outstretched arm, steaming away in bursts of heat.Black and blue flames licked up Ren’wyn’s arm in response, their tongues flickering in strange harmony.
Esrin’s power began to leak uncontrollably, flowing toward Ren’wyn like a river drawn to the sea.A black wind rose around her, pulling dust and debris into its orbit.Esrin let out a low growl, his magic acting of its own accord, seeking her out as he struggled in vain to hold itback.
Ren’wyn dropped her hand, and the power ebbed instantly.In a heartbeat, she was once again the picture of composure—a demure, well-bredlady.
Zev stood frozen, struggling to reconcile the two images: the sweet, marriageable daughter of a lord and the goddess of death commanding theVoid.
Esrin exhaled sharply and scrubbed a hand over his face, breaking the charged silence.“Gods, Ren,” he muttered, shaking his head.“You didn’t have to go thatfar.”
“She didn’t,” Fael corrected, his tone both reverent and possessive.“That wasn’t far at all.”His fingers still lingered at her wrist, warm even against the chill of her magic.
Zev’s lips pressed together in a thin line before his expression smoothed into something unreadable.“So,” he murmured, studying her with renewed interest, “that is the truth of you.”He didn’t bother hiding his intrigue.“Death sings in your blood, but you walk the line between it and life.”His gaze flicked toward Fael.“And you hold her tether.”
Fael tilted his head slightly, assessing Zev in turn.“I’m her balance,” he corrected.“Not her leash.”
Zev gave a soft hum, something close to amusement touching the corners of his mouth.“Good,” he said.“She would break anyone who tried to hold her too tightly.”
“You can think whatever you wish of me, Zev,” Ren’wyn said, her voice calm but unyielding as she stood tall.“I am neither fully good nor fully bad.I have been abused, abandoned, hated, and injured, but I have also been loved, protected, supported, and known.Nothing you believe about me will change who I am or what I’m worth.I am good and gentle and strong and vicious, and I will fight for this world until my last breath.”
She took a single step toward Zev, her movements deliberate and commanding.He blinked and shuddered.
“But I am not a girl,” she said, her voice cutting through the air like a blade.“And I am not ineffective.”
Ren’wyn let out a slow breath, releasing the last of the Void’s pull, though it still whispered at the edges of her awareness.Zev’s claws no longer scratched at her magic.Instead, there was something else in his expression—acknowledgment, perhaps even understanding.
“I meant no insult,” he said, voice quieter now, measured.“I test what I do not understand.You’ve given me my answer.”His dark eyes met hers, steady and unflinching.“And you, Lady Ren’wyn, are something I have never seen before.”
Her lips betrayed her with a smile.“Good.”
Zev gave a short, sharp laugh, and Esrin groaned, rubbing his temples.“We’re doomed,” he muttered.
Fael grinned and squeezed Ren’wyn’s fingers.“We were doomed a long time ago, Esrin.”
Zev inclined his head slightly.“I look forward to learning just how far your power reaches, darkone.”
Ren’wyn raised a brow.“And I look forward to seeing if you dare test it again.”
Zev’s smirk widened.“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
