26. Chapter 26
Bec
I was already dealing with left over pain and weakness from the magic Gale and Lars used on me. When I hit the car it was as if what little energy I had left was knocked out of me.
I knew I was in danger, but it felt like I was watching everything from a distance. There was no sense of fear, all I wanted to do was close my eyes and slump over.
A familiar figure came into view.
“Beatrix?” my voice sounded hoarse, but at least I could talk.
“Hi, sweetie,” she whispered, bending over and grabbing me under the arms. With a surprising show of strength for someone only a little taller than me, she hauled me to my feet.
I tried to stand on my own, I really did, but my legs had the consistency of cooked noodles. Despite my best efforts, Beatrix had to do most of the work.
As she dragged me away from where Lomis and Danzig were talking, I felt something fall from around my neck. I looked down to see the charm Elena had given me, broken in two.
It had saved me and then broken in half just as she’d said it would. It would probably be best if I didn’t get hit with magic again.
“Bec, come on,” Beatrix said, still basically carrying me. “We need to get out of sight.”
I looked up and saw that Beatrix was trying to get me over a small embankment. It wasn’t much, but it was better than being out in the open.
Something made Beatrix stumble, and we both went to the ground.
“Damn it,” Beatrix cursed and pulled me close. She extended her wings, making them into a shield for us.
“Your pixie wings might be powerful armor, but they won’t protect you from me,” Lomis taunted. “Bring the human back here, and I’ll let you fly away.”
“Let them go,” Danzig said. I could tell he was trying to sound bored, but there was tension in his voice. “Pixies only have defensive magic and humans are common creatures. They are of no interest.”
“I disagree,” the druid said. “One of them is the reason you’re here. It must be the human. Is she your mate?”
This was bad!
“Of course not,” Danzig scoffed. “The void would never give me a pathetic human as a mate.”
He was so convincing I almost believed him.
“If Danzig is able to distract the druid again, we need to go for that sheltered spot,” Beatrix whispered. “Marduk said that those guys need line of sight for most of their magic.”
It wasn’t a great plan, but it was better than no plan, so I nodded my head. All the movement was helping me come back to myself. My body was hurt and not working great, but my brain was trying hard to come back on line for me.
“If they aren’t worth anything, then it shouldn't matter if I kill them,” Lomis said.
Danzig hesitated, giving Lomis all the answers he needed.
“Hand over my void-tie or I’ll kill them both,” Lomis said. “I can do it faster than you can get to me.”
He was holding up another collar looking thing. It took me a moment to realize that Hugo had been wearing a collar that looked similar. I’d thought it was odd he wore two collars, then never thought about it again.
Now I understood why everyone wanted the dog. Leif had made Hugo the keeper of the void-tie.
“I can get it here, but it’ll take time,” Danzig said, completely giving up on the ruse.
“Gale told me it was on a dog,” Lomis said. “Someone put it on a dog like it was a collar. My most powerful creation is being treated like a decoration for a pet.”
As far as hiding places went, it wasn’t a bad idea. Especially since none of us had noticed it, which was the first requirement of a good hiding place!
I looked past Beatrix’s shoulder to see Lomis holding another tie in his hands. It was whole so it must be ready to be broken and unleash more of his deadly magic.
“If it isn’t here in ten minutes, I’m killing the human, the pixie and leaving,” he said. I was confused how he thought he could get away without Danzig attacking him when he reached out a hand and stroked the air.
A sparkling black line appeared. It widened enough for someone to step through.
“He’s cut an opening into the void,” Beatrix whispered, her voice full of fear. “Arthur told me about this but said he’s never seen it. Dealing with pure void magic is so dangerous almost no one can do it.”
“No one does it because it’s hard to do?” I asked
“Yes, but also because it’s so unstable it’ll kill the user,” she said.
“If only it would kill Lomis,” I said.
“Except if he loses control of it, then it’ll probably take us all out,” she said. “And maybe a lot more. This is so bad.”
Danzig moved his body between Lomis and us. He was naked. If I was going to die, at least his bare butt would be the last thing I saw.
“Your void-tie will arrive, but I reject your timeline," Danzig said, unconcerned with his lack of clothing. “It comes when it comes and neither of us has control over it.”
“Unacceptable!” Lomis screamed, his attitude going from relaxed and confident to enraged in a split second. The change was startling and pointed to someone who was barely in control of themselves.
“What’s the thing he’s holding?” Beatrix asked. We were sitting side by side now, still clinging to each other, with her left side dragonfly wings still shielding us.
“That’s what he’s calling a tie,” I said. “It’s made of all kinds of endangered animals and it’s how he gets his power.”
“It looks like this one,” she said, pulling something out of the bag slung across her chest.
“Oh shit, that’s what he wants!” I whispered-shouted. “That’s the void-tie that was on Hugo!”
“It looks so ordinary,” she murmured. “Danzig asked me to carry it in case we needed to use it later. I didn’t know what it was.”
That answered my question of whether or not the guys knew about the void-tie.
“Should we give it to him?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “Once he has it, we’re all dead.”
She nodded. “You’re right, that was a dumb suggestion.”
Danzig was still talking to Lomis, using a lot of words to say very little. The only reason he’d do that was because Marduk must be getting close.
“Your suggestion isn’t dumb. In fact, you gave me an idea,” I said. “It’s probably a bad idea, but at least it’s something.”
“If it’s bad and works, it wasn’t bad,” Beatrix said. “What is it?”
“Do you have anything to start a fire with?”