Page 121 of Haunted Hearts

“I think I can find my way around a woman without hearing it second hand from others,” Remy objects.

“Debatable,” Brock and Caveman say in unison before falling into a fit of laughter.

While the banter is adorable, there is a time and place. Here and now is not either. My hand grips my own scythe. The blade begins to glow.

“I can distract Fulton.” My hand tightens around my scythe. “Brace yourselves.”

Kwil snarls softly as he returns to my side after taking care of a handful of skeletons. Brock, Caveman, and Remy turn and blast creatures out of the sky that get too close. The blade of my scythe begins to glow. Power funnels through my body and into the weapon. With a grunt, I channel it all in one direction: towards the house.

Lightning shoots down from the sky, striking the scythe where it’s redirected and cuts through the hordes of skeletons vying for us. The energy hums through my veins. My hand goes numb as I hold my scythe tight, and it trembles under the strength of the attack. The skeletons in the line of fire turn to ash. It gives me the opening I need. Grinning, I stroll forward, straight for the front door.

“Fulton, honey, I know you can see me.” My voice travels on the wind. Scanning the windows, I note that most of them are broken. A few remain intact, although highly cracked.

As I approach the house, the skeletons that I didn’t manage to slay, move with impressive speed for creatures that don’t have any muscle, tendons, or cartilage. Kwil, Brock, Caveman, and Remy are there though, cutting through them with their weapons, teeth, and claws.

“You wanted me, so come get me! I’m right here!” I grin as lightning slams to the ground nearby, causing it to explode. Bones go flying, fried monsters fall from the sky, their bodies beginning to litter the ground. “Look how powerful I’ve become in your absence. Don’t you want some? Come on, try to steal it from me.”

I stop a good distance from the front door when a human scream of fury reaches me.

“I never wantedyou!” Fulton’s shout is booming, like he’s speaking into an amplifier. “I wanted your power. All my life I wanted to be more, and for just a moment, I was. I was so much more than anyone could ever imagine.”

My eyes scan every window, every hole in the structure, yet I can’t find him. I could burn the whole house down with him inside. That would probably be the most sensible thing to do. But knowing Fulton, I’m sure there is a spell that protects the house from magic. I test the theory with a bolt of lightning. As it comes down it veers away from the house and hits the ground near it.

Yup. A spell.

“Well, my power is attached to me, as you very well know,” I try to smirk, making light of his failed attempt to suck me dry while torturing me. I can’t do it. The fury that causes my throat to strain and words to fail me, fuels my next attack. Ten more bolts of energy come raining down hitting all around the house.

Just not hittingit.

“You must have missed my touch, Willow, to be so passionate about being in my possession again.” The warlock is taunting me. I shouldn’t let it get to me. Iknowwhat he’s doing.

But I can still feel the branches, vines, and roots digging into my flesh and sucking the life and power from me. I can stillhearFulton’s gleeful laugh as I suffer.

While I know what he’s doing, I can’t help but retaliate.

A perfect ring of green fire erupts upwards, creating a wall around the house. The cold air grows significantly warmer as the flames rise. The windows that remained relatively intact before, explode inward.

“You know what, Fulton? I did miss you. Let me see your face,” I call up to him.

I urge the flames inwards, but they don’t move. Stupid spells…

“It isn’t my face you miss,” Fulton replies. “You miss the attention I gave you, as would anyone whose god abandons them.”

“God?” Remy grunts. “He thinks he’s a god?”

“I AM A GOD!” the warlock roars. “Willow feared and reveled in my power. For a time, I was evenhergod.”

The flames drop back to the ground, before disappearing completely. The incredulousness that mixes with my wrath causes me to pause.

And it costs me. A ball of light sails through a window from the second floor. The others shout a warning but it’s too late to stop whatever it is.

But it’s not too late to save the others.

Power explodes from my chest as raw energy. It shoots out in every direction, hitting the men around me. They are thrown back, away from me, as Fulton hits me straight on. Immediately, I’m thrown onto my back. The shock of impact momentarily stuns me before I feel the spell course through my veins. My breath is stolen as a current, much like electricity, ripples through my limbs. It steals away the ability to think clearly, to control my body, and to breathe. I thrash about, in wordless agony. My eyeballs are on fire, and my teeth feel like they're melting.

Thankfully, the pain doesn’t last long.

The spell fades, allowing me to breathe again. I gasp, dragging in air to my empty lungs. Staring above me, I watch as the monsters of this realm descend, sensing my vulnerability. Swallowing hard, I make a move to sit up, but my head swims and my body shakes heavily in shock, making the task difficult.

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