Chapter 25
25
BLAKE
P ain hit me like shards of splintered ice, raw and sudden. The force doubled me over, knocking the air out of my lungs, my hand still gripping Evie’s, the only thing tethering me to the here and now as I gasped for air.
Whatever Aria was doing… wasn’t right .
I staggered upright, my free hand clutching my chest as if trying to hold onto an invisible force slipping away. Aria stood before us, lips moving as she chanted some silent spell, weaving a strange, pulsing light into the air.
The same light that was siphoning black, curling shadows out of me.
They flowed like a river of ink out of my chest, churning and thrashing, fighting the entire way, but the second they collided with Aria’s glowing magic…they evaporated.
No. No . The witch was stealing my magic, thieving away my power.
I tried to scream, but nothing came out, and when my eyes met Aria’s, nothing glittered in hers except pure malice. I had to stop this, but I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.
“What are you doing to him? Stop this .” Evie hissed, trying to tug her hand free from my frozen fingers.
Aria looked at her with mild surprise, shocked she’d interrupted. “Relax, Silverwood. I’m merely undoing the damage you caused. You wanted him free of his addiction, don’t you? Magic and pain go hand in hand. Surely you know this by now?”
“Stop hurting him, you aren’t supposed to hurt him,” Evie peered up into my face.
My body quaked as more light scraped through me, scouring soft flesh, carving out the magic I’d possessed since I was born. Magic that made me strong. Magic that made me into the male Evie loved. Who Riordan relied on. I fought, grasping at the power slipping through my fingers, leaving nothing but frozen numbness behind.
“Breaking the bond requires more than severing the connection. Magic always demands a price—in this case, his power.” Aria replied, her cunning voice smoother than the purr of a cat that had caught a mouse.
My mind raced, every thought fractured by the rivers of pain coursing through me.
The devious, lying witch was right, but she controlled the magic, the spell, the ritual, she directed the flow of power. I broke through the pain long enough to glare at her.
“Ten years, that was your asking price. Nothing more,” I gasped, “That was the bargain.”
Yet shadows continued to flow out of me in a steady, unbroken stream, and I couldn’t stop her from stealing my power.
“Stop. Right now.” I groaned. “I’ll figure out another way.”
“It’s too late. Ten years was my cost for severing your addiction,” she corrected, her tone maddeningly patient. “The magic demands a different price altogether. I cannot influence the whims of magic; such things are beyond even my ability to control. ”
The shadows spilling free from me turned to mist, then vanished in a swirl of smoke.
I fell to my knees, hollowed out, empty.
Never had I been this weak, never had I been this helpless.
This went beyond stealing, this was a carving out of what made me a vampire, what made me male. There was nothing left of the strength I’d taken for granted, and I wanted nothing more than to claw that self-satisfied smirk from Aria’s face, but I couldn’t even lift my hands.
I barely felt Evie’s arm go around my shoulders, her fingers squeezing mine. Every last ounce of my strength had been siphoned away, right along with those shadows. “Evie…” My voice was barely a breath of sound.
Rage poured off Evie like fire as she pointed her finger at Aria. “You tricked us,” she spat, “You knew he’d lose his magic, you fucking liar.”
The witch shrugged, a flicker of amusement glinting in her eyes. “Tricking people is what witches do , my dear. You wanted his bloodlust gone. It’s gone and the two of you can be together. Love rules and all that bullshit.”
I wanted to throttle her, but I wasn’t sure I could stand. “You manipulated us. You knew we were desperate?—”
“Even desperation is a choice, Blake,” Aria interrupted, her voice as cold as ice. “You came to me, remember? You wanted the bond gone, and I delivered. Whether you like the cost is none of my concern.”
I clenched my teeth, fighting against the tidal wave of fury that surged through me. She’d known exactly what she was doing, every step of the way. I’d been played, and she was right. I’d been desperate enough to make this deal, and now…fuck, now our lives were ten years shorter and my magic was gone .
Fucking gone.
“Now,” Aria continued, tilting her head with an eerie calm, “if I were you, I’d be grateful. After all, you wanted to be together. You’re still all vampire, just without your…gifts. Free to live out your mundane, average lives however you wish.”
“You stole from him.” Evie snarled, her voice trembling with barely contained fury.
“He sacrificed . For you,” she interrupted, malice gleaming in her satisfied expression. “Isn’t that what love is all about? The willingness to give up everything? You two are rather touching, actually. So willing to martyr yourselves for love.”
I shot her a look of pure hatred, muscles barely able to hold me upright.
“I’m sorry,” Evie whispered, misery flowing from her in a sour wave. “This is my fault. I didn’t know…I didn’t think.”
No, she wasn’t taking the brunt of this, not when this was Aria, playing her fucking games, turning a situation to her benefit. I shook my head, my lips curving. “Evie,” I murmured, “This was my trade to make, and I’d make it a thousand times over to be with you.”
Aria chuckled and I glared at the smug bitch, watching us with that oddly calculating expression on her face. “I don’t know how, but I will find a way to fuck you over, the way you fucked us.” I told her, meaning every word.
“I’ll be waiting with bated breath.”
“You knew this would happen.” I narrowed my eyes. “You counted on this happening. So what do you really want?”
Aria’s gaze lingered, not on me, but on Evangeline, gleaming with a greedy light that made my skin prickle. “You know, Silverwood,” she said, her soft voice laced with a darker undertone, “you are quite intriguing. Something I’ve never encountered before.”
There was so much danger in that possessive gaze, fear ignited inside me, the kind that made me find the strength to climb to my feet and drag Evangeline behind me, as if I could somehow protect her, with no strength and no magic.
“What do you mean?” I snapped, gripping Evie tight, unsure I could even materialize us away.
Aria leaned closer, eyes piercing, as though she could see to the depths of my soul. “Evangeline is … unique. A Made vampire, yes, but with coveted Silverwood blood pumping through her veins. Witch blood pumping through her veins. A throwback to the beginning of your species, which has powerful implications. The kind of implications that some vampires might consider dangerous.”
A chill settled over me, but I forced myself to hold her gaze. “Whatever my mate is, that is none of your business.”
The witch smirked, as if she were savoring a secret. “Let’s just say…anomalies are rarer than an honest vampire. Take Blake here, for example. Too noble for his own good, and look where it’s gotten him.”
“Blake’s perfect.” Evie snapped, her arm curling protectively around my middle. “Unlike you. And I’ll make you give him back his magic, if it’s the last fucking thing I do.”
The witch chuckled. “Then come see me, slayer and you and I will forge a new bargain. Take your time, though,” her mocking gaze drifted over me. “I expect Marten’s…adjustment to this new life will be difficult. He’ll need your help.”
With that, she vanished into the shadows, leaving us bound by a bargain that cost us ten years of our lives—and questions I wasn’t sure I wanted answered.