Page 97 of Tethered Magick

“Holy shit. Her eyes are glowing red. Do you see that?” Axel hissed in astonishment at the change I couldn’t see, but I noted the alteration to investigate later.

Inch by inch, I reeled the struggling shade in like I’d caught a shark on a fishing line.

Its red eyes glowed like rubies in its snarling face, and its sour breath washed over me like a putrid bath as I forced it to make eye contact with me.

Working off instinct, I tried again.

“Who are you working for?” My eyes ached as I stared intently into the evil red depths of the shade’s bright gaze.

“Fuck, is shecompellinga shade?” Jolon murmured in awe.

“That’s our girl,” Dason practically purred.

I tuned them all out as the shade thrashed but answered involuntarily.

Master.

“Who is your master?” I pressed, not willing to end the shade until I had answers.

Just Master.

Gritting my teeth from the lack of information, I tried a different route. “Why are you here?”

The shade screeched like it was being tortured, and I tightened the magickal ropes that cut into its smoky ether. Orange glowed where they constricted, threatening to spill blood—not that I cared after what it had done to me.

“Answer. Now,” I ordered.

Gate. Grimoire.It panted, letting out growls and snarls between each word.Only place grimoire can be carried from veil. Freedom.

Its sentences were clipped as it struggled to keep its secrets, but I’d heard enough.

“Holy shit,” I breathed. The grimoire was here?The grimoire was here.Finally, a break in the storm clouds that had surrounded us, a beam of light. This was the break we needed.

“What? What’s happening?” Jolon asked, trying to make sense of the conversation, wanting information on what I’d found.

“Give her a minute,” Chayton advised.

“Where is the gate?”

Here… somewhere, the shade answered.

“And the grimoire?”

“Oh fuck,” Axel commented, and I agreed with the sentiment.

The shade wriggled in its bindings.Inside.

Inside! I wanted to do a happy dance, but I wanted to extract as much information as I could before ending the beast.

“Who destroyed the barrier?”

Enough, the shade snapped. The ropes were drawn taut, not allowing the shade to move any closer or farther away, but it bared its lethal fangs at me in a deadly attempt to bite, startling me badly enough that I dropped eye contact with it, losing whatever compulsion I’d managed to inflict.

Someday, little keeper, Master will end you. Its voice was like sandpaper against my skin.And when you die, you will join us in the shadow realm. When you fall from grace, you will regret the side you chose to stand on. Like mother, like daughter. Our torture is eternal.

I didn’t get to respond because it used the last dredges of its energy to transform into wisps.

The guys shouted as it charged me, diving through me with exposed teeth and claws. It felt like razors were ripping away at my stomach and tearing at my flesh. Centralizing my magick, I caught it as it emerged from my back, breaking it apart piece by piece until the wisps disintegrated to ash on the wind, ending the shade once and for all.

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