42. Chapter Forty-Two
42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ELODIE
M arcellus directed us through the courtyard towards a gate set into the towering boundary wall, and I looked up in time to see the clouds condense together and slam down. Their shadows breaking apart against the shield that held steady high above, though it didn’t stop the boom that reverberated around us, rattling my teeth. It almost knocked my feet from under me, but Alouette’s hand flew out to steady me as we passed under the wall that marked the edge of the palace grounds, Marcellus’ hand tightening painfully over mine.
I could see the smudge of blackness in the distance, a dark stain on the sky that all the other clouds seemed to grow from. Again, I was pulled into Marcellus’ hard body, his huge arm wrapping around my waist as he whispered words I didn’t recognise under his breath. Alouette held onto my other hand, and suddenly solid ground was no longer under my feet.
My body was being squeezed from all sides, the pressure unbearable as I held onto them both with everything I had. I couldn’t pull in a breath, couldn’t move, couldn’t hear anything apart from the ringing in my ears. I could feel the panic that was still fighting for a place inside me double, and as my feet hit the floor, my knees crashed to the ground as I slid from Marcellus’ grip. Shouts filled the air as the ringing in my ears came to a stop.
Cold, wet mud seeped into the fabric of my trousers and the hem of my cardigan as my breath formed into vapours in the icy air. My legs were shaky as I attempted to right myself after… whatever that was.
It was dark, almost too dark, and I’d barely had time to begin to shiver when I looked up. Surging against the trembling ward that domed high above us, was the awful roiling smoke from my nightmare.
There were people everywhere, black clad bodies swarming around us. The huge, grey, stone wall— that must be part of the one I had first been taken under —rose up high in front of us, and I whirled around, the palace now far in the distance. Just a tiny rise of grey towers and shiny turrets so far, I couldn’t even make out the windows, a second patch of darkness hovering above it.
There were armoured vehicles spread around, and the metallic clink of weapons mingled with the ordered shouts flying back and forth. I took it all in, trying to make sense of what I had been dropped into the middle of, as Marcellus pulled me up from the muddied ground.
“Don’t die. I like you,” Alouette said, with a squeeze of my arm, as she ran off shouting orders, and I watched a group of soldiers instantly fall in line beside her.
Thick lines of light began shooting up to the wards at random from people gathered below. The glow of magik absorbed into the dome, iridescent swirls streaking across it to chase away the blackness.
Again, it crashed down hard, causing thin cracks to snake their way through the ward. Even with the energy that shot towards it, they weren’t closing quick enough. Dread clawed at my insides with razorlike talons as I knew without doubt, this was The Darkness that Kaius had told me about. That same entity that had found me in my dream, only to chase me here.
I could feel its reach pressing into me, the way my heart began to race, and my mind began to cloud with the fear it evoked. With every fracture of the shield above, I could sense its frenzied excitement. Its delight at the victories it was winning.
A cry rang through the air and several of the lines of magik shut off, as people began to drop, their magik not strong enough to continue. Others ran forward, some to drag the fallen away, and the rest to direct their own magik to the sky—The Darkness’ presence unrelenting despite their efforts.
It was hard to make out anyone as it blocked out the sun. It swelled through the sky, seeking out weaknesses, eager to break through.
Light from the magik illuminated those closest, but mostly we were cast in shadow, and few stone lights were held high. Not enough to make much difference.
Shudders vibrated through the ground. Under my feet the mud was slippery, churned into sludge from the footfalls of heavy boots. My soft shoes sucked into the dirt, leaching the heat from my body.
I found Marcellus’ hand and held on tightly, not wanting to be separated as he moved his way through the people, heading to where the most amount of magik was being cast. A group of soldiers fell into step with us, faint glows emitting from gemstones inset into their weapons. Everyone else practically tripping over themselves to get out of our way. I was under no illusion it was because of me and had everything to do with the hulking man I was clinging to.
A patch of shadows cleared, and the light illuminated a group of people standing in a circle, all with their hands loose at their sides, mouths moving quickly. I realised I recognised two of them, and as a pair of green eyes snapped open, I flinched at the disdain glaring back at me, even as anger prickled along my spine.
Bastian’s hands fisted in a ball, the light of joint magik above him dimming as he pulled his energy away. Next to him, Kaius opened his eyes. His grey gaze held only a softness when he looked at me. There were dark hollows under his eyes and wisps of shadows danced around his fingers and through his unbound hair.
“What the fuck is she doing here, Marcellus?” the Prince growled, eyes flicking over my now filthy clothes as he stalked towards us. I stepped from Marcellus' side, reluctantly letting go of his hand, not needing to hide from the bastard in front of me who was looking at me like I’d just shit in his cornflakes.
“I can help,” I ground out, my frustration instantly rising to attention at the sound of his voice.
“Yeah, I think not, Princess .” He came to a stop in front of me, glaring down with eyes full of fire.
“Goldie.” Kaius nodded, a smirk pulling at his lips despite the bedlam that surrounded us as he moved closer into my space, and I had to stop myself from leaning towards him. “Come to put some of that power of yours to use, have you?”
“We don’t need her power. We need her to go back.”
I’m standing right here, you fucker.
“Don’t be such an idiot, Bas, look at us,” Kaius said, before I could open my mouth. “We’ve even got First Guard here. With magik like hers, this will be over in no time.” He winked at me, and I noticed some of the shadows that were playing around him reach towards me, but he shifted back and they drifted away, dispersing into nothing.
The air heated chasing away the bite of cold as Bastian’s magik began to bleed from his fingers. Memories of dreams filled with fire flickering through my mind, adding to the ball of panic that sat heavy in my stomach, and I took a step back.
“She’s not going back.” Marcellus adjusted his stance, setting himself slightly in front of me, and I felt a wisp of wind play with a curl of hair at the nape of my neck, easing some of my nerves.
“She’ll do as she’s told, or she won’t like the consequences,” Big Man snarled, and that ball of panic morphed into an anger that I only seemed possessed with when in his company.
“Fuck you!” I spat at him, stepping around the giant in front of me and taking up the space between me and the Prince once again.
Probably wasn’t the best move, but I wasn’t fuelled by rationality right now.
I was fuelled by a burning rage that was reflected right back at me in those blistering eyes. I could sense the soldiers around me turn our way, hear the slight rattle of weapons but I didn’t care.
“I’m going to help whether you want me to or not. After that, seeing as you despise me so much, you can send me home ,” I gritted out, fighting the urge to recoil from the heat emanating from him.
The now familiar zip of magik flooded my fingers in retaliation, but I held back as best as I could. I wasn’t stupid enough to be throwing magik at royalty while surrounded by their guard.
“ You do not tell me what to do.” His lips pulled back as he sneered, green eyes blazing with fury as the heat ramped up. If this wasn’t so serious, it would be funny how riled up he got, but then again, he had the same effect on me.
Stepping back instinctively from the flare of heat, a large hand curled around my hip pulling me back. Marcellus’ heat was comforting, unlike the inferno that threatened to consume my front. I couldn’t even enjoy the way the icy bite to the air had been somewhat chased away because it came from, well, him . A low growl left Bastian as his eyes zeroed to where Marcellus held me.
“Not you, too. Surely what she’s got between her legs can’t be that good,” he snarled, fingers twitching as Kaius’ head whipped towards Marcellus. The chest I was pressed against vibrated, grip tightening as the insinuation spread through the three of us.
And no doubt everyone else in earshot.
“Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, but I’m not sleeping with either of them.” I forced myself to look him in the eye, turning my humiliation against him. “ Yet .”
Marcellus’ hand flexed on my hip pulling me into him a little more, and Kaius didn’t even try to hold back his bark of laughter. I looked his way, the smirk on his face and heated look in his eyes had no place here in the chaos that loomed all around us, but that didn’t stop the bolt of need it shot through my body.
Bastian’s mouth opened to speak, but conveniently, a tremor ran through the ground saving me from having to hear another word from his infuriating mouth. The earth shook beneath our feet as the wards trembled under the pressure upon them. It was enough that I lost my footing and found myself pulled fully into Marcellus’ immense form, arms banding around me in a vice-like grip, my face tucked against him, frozen toes just touching the slippery ground.
My heart was slamming against my chest so vigorously, I was sure he could feel it, and I breathed him in while shouts of alarm carried through the air. The clattering of armour and weapons added to the noise as people were knocked off their feet. The heavy presence of The Darkness made my head pound as I pressed myself against him harder, the feeling of safety that ran through me as he held me tight confusing yet comforting all the same.
The floor evened out as the shaking subsided, and he gently set me back down, my hand gripping the swell of his bicep, which I noticed appreciatively was likely bigger than my thigh.
“Thanks, Tiny,” I whispered, before he could straighten completely. The growl that rumbled through his chest did nothing to slow my heart rate. Releasing my hold on him, I felt my mind slip free the moment our connection broke, felt it race away from the restraints of my body.
The Darkness was still a suffocating presence as I sped towards the palace. Dark patches of grass and mud flew by underneath, and I found I had no control over the direction I was heading in.
I couldn’t even turn to see what had happened to the me I’d left behind.
Had I collapsed?
Or was I standing there with a very evident expression of emptiness, because I knew for sure I was no longer trapped within the confines of my body?
The palace came into view faster and faster, stone groaning and glass smashing as screams filled the air, and people streamed out the front doors only to find being outside was no better.
I stopped.
Hovering above them, watching as they rallied themselves.
The Darkness was thinner here, but its cloying dread permeated the air, penetrating even my wisp of being. Feeble arcs of magik were sent from those who had stumbled out the doors, but they weren’t enough.
Another boom rang through the air and the unmistakable grating of a building collapsing followed. I willed myself to go down, to help them, but I couldn’t.
My mind prickled with apprehension as I was spun to look back the way I had come, a scream devoid of any sound searing my mind as I saw a thick, inky streak of The Darkness break away and shoot across the sky towards me.
I could only look, only watch in horror as the people below…
“Elodie!” a voice called, rough hands gripping my face as tired grey eyes met mine.
“Kaius,” I gasped, as my mind settled back where it belonged, and I wrenched his hands from my face, head tipping back to look up at the shield above us.
Kaius followed my line of sight, and we both saw the moment The Darkness cleaved itself in two, sending its counterpart roiling across the sky in a direction that sent shards of ice into my heart.
The others turned moments after us, as Kaius pointed at the inky patch that was clearly on a path towards the palace, wisps of smoke trailing in its wake.
“Fuck! Kaius, go now!” Bastian shouted, his hands gripping Kaius’ shoulder and pulling him away from me.
“There’s no way I’ll get there in time—even with a truck I won’t make it!”
Bastian growled in frustration before he turned his eyes to Marcellus. “Marcellus, take him back to the palace, it’s the only way to make it.”
Marcellus moved quickly to take hold of my arm as Kaius stepped alongside him.
“No,” Bastian barked, eyes narrowed at me. Contempt marred the handsome angles of his face into something deadly. “She stays. If I’m losing both of you, I’ll need something to attempt to replace that power.”
Kaius opened his mouth to speak, but the faint sounds of screaming filled the air and as we locked eyes, I nodded once.
I didn’t like it, being alone here with Bastian, but the people in the palace needed his help right now. I went to move away from both of them, but the scowl on Marcellus’ face deepened, his jaw clenching as he stepped towards me, a strong hand tipping my chin up as his bright eyes pierced into mine.
“I can do this,” I whispered, trying my hardest to convince him.
Convince myself.
Convince us all.
“I know.” His certainty hardened my shaky resolve, and as he let go of my face, the heat that lingered there could have been the start of a wildfire as it spread throughout my body.
I kept my eyes on the two of them, enjoying the sight of them together, as Marcellus began whispering words, and he gripped Kaius’ arm tightly. In a blink, there was nothing but empty space where they both had been.
The sound of another crack opening above roared through the air, and Bastian whipped his head towards me, golden curls bouncing wildly.
“If you’re here to help, then fucking help but do not get in my way.” He stalked away towards the magik beginning to arc towards the cracks—seeking them out, smoothing them over.
While I had experience casting wards, I had no clue what they were doing to fix them right now, and as my eyes leapt from person to person studying them, I still didn’t know.
Could what I did know work here? Where magik was so real, it stared me in the face everywhere I went.
Not the covert manipulations I practised back home with Nanna, but outwardly used. Proudly, without hesitation.
I knew whatever I could do at home, my magik had grown tenfold since I had arrived here, but I still didn’t know how to harness it. Fear and dread still swirled within me, a writhing mass that matched the dark entity that was pumping it through me, but I ignored it, forcing it away.
Taking a deep breath, I followed after him. Focusing on my magik, I dug into that swirling chasm of energy.
Coming to a stop in the loose circle of people, I drew it out—brought it forward, allowing it the freedom I so rarely had. Energy raced, and my body came alive, every part of me aware of the power that flowed through my veins; it was euphoric. A potent high that I had no doubt would become addicting, and I wanted nothing more than to bask in the way it engulfed my body.
But I couldn’t.
I worked hard to keep it under control, needing to focus my magik, not let it run wild. I couldn’t lose control, not now. I doubted there was anyone here who would be able to talk me down now that Kaius and Marcellus had gone.
Letting it play around my fingers, I revelled in its comfort even while the remnants of The Darkness’ energy tugged at me. Forcing my mind to concentrate, I thought back on the times I had renewed the wards at my house.
How Nanna, Briar and I would all work to reinforce them. Feelings of protection and safety flooded my mind, and I pressed it into my magik, letting them mix together before I forced it from my body. Pushing it towards the sky and into the only thing keeping The Darkness from those of us down below.
Its sudden loss almost had me scrambling to claw it back, to keep it within me, and it took all I had to maintain the connection, to keep feeding it more and more. Eyes tightly shut, I could still see the faint glow it cast.
Sweat gathered on my forehead, despite the frigid air, as I strained to keep my energy in line. As another crash sounded above, the floor shuddered, and I lost my footing in the slippery mud.
My magik cut off with a loud snap, flying back into me to leave me a panting, gasping wreck on the ground. In the same moment, white-hot agony erupted across my back as something lashed across my skin.
The force of my scream tore at my throat as pain barrelled through me, skin splitting as warm blood trickled down my side. My vision blurred, but not so much I missed the tendril of The Darkness that had slipped through the crack we had been fighting so hard to seal. Its shadows reared from my shaking body as white light shot towards it. I could hear its hiss of annoyance every time it clashed with the magik being pushed into the ward, but it kept coming.
A second time it snapped against me, lighter than before, but enough that I gritted my teeth on the scream that bulged in my throat as the dark we were surrounded by grew even denser. Magik stuttering as it recoiled from the pain, I reached for it, the panic that threatened to overwhelm me making it harder to grasp than ever before.
Ears ringing, I pushed unsteadily to my feet, staggering slightly. The faint sound of maniacal laughter had me shaking my head to clear my mind. Warm blood dripped down my shoulder as I shrugged out of my now torn cardigan, red fabric pooling at my feet.
I could do this, I could help. Prove that I wasn’t some useless person they held in a room until they figured out what to do with me.
Sucking in lungfuls of icy air as best I could, I drew on my magik. Pushing it skywards, urging it to repair the shield. Body shaking with effort, The Darkness began to pulse along the dome, its inky tendrils splaying out, the eerie laughter growing louder.
I risked a look over at Bastian, saw the frown of confusion on his upturned face. Did he hear that, too? More lights faded out one by one as magik began to run low, their replacement not nearly enough to make a difference.
Another set of cracks spiderwebbed overhead as a shudder rippled around us, and pitch-black shadows pressed heavily against the shield, as heavy as smoke could get .
As another soldier fell to his knees with a cry, his magik burned out, I turned to Bastian. His eyes were tightly shut, jaw tensed in concentration. Before I could second guess what I was doing, I reached for his hand, gripping it with my own.
His eyes flew open with a gasp as our magik crashed together—dancing, flowing out of us with a light so strong, I had to close my eyes against its glare.
There had been no time for him to shield against it.
I could feel the fiery burn to the energy that coursed through him, and as it raced within my skin, it lit me on fire. The heat that so often menaced the air around me, now was inside me.
This wasn’t the burning of my dreams, where pain seared through my flesh. This fire set every nerve in my body alight, caressing my soul as it replaced the agony of my back with a taste of pain so carnal, I let a groan slip past my tongue before I remembered where I was, and what I was supposed to be doing.
Repairing the ward, not getting off to fire magik.
Squeezing tight, I embraced his magik, letting it meld with my own before pushing it from me streaming into the ward. As I looked up, squinting through the brightness that haloed us, I saw the shine of the iridescent shield rippling from our combined energy and absorbing it into itself.
The cracks were being chased away, and the gnawing sense of fear lessoned a fraction. My own magik was rushing through him, too, and as I looked at him, his eyes were wide as he stared back at me. I tucked away the realisation that that may have been the first time he had looked at me with anything except anger or irritation since we passed through the walls of the boundary.
Other lights began to beam up around us as people recovered or replenished their own magik, and finally, the cracks began to lessen.
Mine and Bastian’s combined energy was still pouring into the largest of them, the one The Darkness had managed to worm part of itself through, and its anger vibrated above us as our magik fought against it.
A sound like thunder rumbled through its inky blackness before it shrieked with anger as the gap it had wedged itself in began to close around it. As the last of the crack was almost mended, it reared back, bunching itself together, a mere wisp of smoke breaking away from its main body and hurtling away from the ward.
Too late, I realised its choice of direction, and it was upon me before I could focus enough to redirect my magik towards it. Instead, I grasped Bastian’s hand tighter as I flung my magik at him, hoping he could use it to seal the last rift before breaking our contact a second before The Darkness reached me.
It crashed into me, sending me to my knees once more as it ripped through my chest with such force, I was convinced there would be a smoke-sized hole there.
The agony that circulated through my body was too much to bear, especially after using so much energy on strengthening the ward. My mind was clouding, vision blackening at the edges. Pain stretched to every part of me until it became all I was made of.
Moments before my eyes closed, my body succumbing to everything it had been put through, a roar of anger rang through the space, and I watched as the last rift closed over.
The gloom began to lift, and sunlight reached the ground.
The ward was shimmering and whole once more.