Chapter 22
OLLIE
“Melt!” the shadow witch cried as she charged through the main entrance doors.
A crackle of blue energy with the black taint of shadow magic flew at me. I ducked in time with Jake, the spell hitting the floral arch, the structure melting into a pool of bubbling pink and white goo.
Close call!
Using the spells in my witchcop bangle, I hit her with Freeze.
She went still. Jake moved forward, firing off the Taser spell at a guy coming in hot from the parking lot. I darted into the restaurant, shooting three Trip spells at the invading witches, glass crunching under my shoes, aiming for Isaac, who was on his knees, healing his injured agent.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
The attack came from nowhere, my ears buzzing from the crash of the glass and the screams that followed. There was blood everywhere, so many hurt, and about ten witches launching spells.
What happened to the shadow witches laying off the attacks? Did Marcus change his mind?
An alarm wailed, and I took cover behind an overturned table. A spell hit, shaking it. This wouldn’t shelter me for long.
I put in a call for backup.
The table shook again, a smoking hole appearing in the middle. With a deep breath, I darted out from my cover, using Blur to hide myself, my focus on The Sun.
I had to get to him.
He had to be safe.
Spells popped off, people screamed, chaos a melting pot of noise, bloody stinks, and violent sights.
There were already corpses scattered around me.
I pushed the fear into a box, like they taught us at the academy, sealing the lid tightly.
Fix the problem, ponder the emotions later.
Because there was no place out in the field for our mortal flaws to trip us up.
Isaac was tangled up in my emotions though. Panic wouldn’t stay in the box, it kept rising.
He has to be safe…
Counting down from three, I charged and dove into a slide as shadow magic flew overhead.
“Shite!” Ben cried as I came to a skidding halt beside him, the table on its side providing shelter.
Isaac, still awake after healing his agent, smiled at me weakly from where he sat with his legs stretched out in front of him. His face was pale, blood blooming on the right side of his shirt.
I cramped up everywhere, eyes fixated on the red flower spreading across the teal material.
Not The Sun. Not The Sun. Not The Sun.
The world became a murky soup around me, his injury the clearest point of horror.
Not him…
Don’t take him…
I broke out of my trance. This wasn’t the time for this.
Helen held his hand, shaking, her clothes spattered with blood.
“I’m getting you out of here,” I said.
He collapsed onto his side, convulsing, eyes wide, mouth slack.
“Darlin!” Helen hissed, panicked, her hand slipping away from his. “No, no, no. Isaac.”
“Crap!” I growled, moving closer toward him. My adrenaline spiked along with a dose of panic, giving me chaotic heart palpations.
“He got hit with a poison spell,” Ben whimpered. “So did Helen.” He sniffled, staying low behind the table.
“He healed me,” Helen whispered, trembling.
Ben sniffled. “How…how did he do that? He can’t…” He didn’t finish and hadn’t recognized me yet.
Good.
Isaac rolled onto his back as I shuffled toward him. He blinked, the twitching stopping. His eyes focused but his mouth quivered.
“I feel…I feel like… This sucks.”
Gently, I lifted his shirt, mindful of the dangers around me. An angry red wound greeted me, blood streaming out of him. I pulled off my jacket, tearing the left arm off my shirt.
Sorry, Dad.
Using the fabric as a makeshift torniquet, I pressed it against the wound. With my other hand, I checked his forehead. He was burning up, sweaty, as if he had the flu.
“I’m getting you out of here,” I told him.
He lifted a hand, his fingers curling around my arm. “I’m sorry I…I’m sorry I came here.”
“Don’t be.” I checked around me, searching for the best escape route.
Although every window was gone, I couldn’t recklessly leap through one without the coast being clear. All it would take was a spell or bullet to the back to ruin everything.
Where the hell was the back up?
I slid my hands beneath Isaac, being careful. He might be a tough sacred witch, but I didn’t want to be the reason for this pain.
“We’ll soon be home,” I assured him.
“Your turn to save me,” he bit out, wincing with agony. “Fuck.”
“You’re stronger than any crappy shadow spell,” I said softly.
A tiny snort came out of him.
The surviving diners were starting to fight back. Witches threw spells, the goblins and the humans charging together, wielding whatever they could to attack with. The vampires bared their fangs, launching themselves at the shadow scum with their faster-than-normal speed.
But more witches arrived, jumping through the broken windows, spilling in through the main doors.
I’d have to use Hide, then get us to the car and out of here within three minutes.
“How bad is it?” a man asked.
I looked up at the guy who’d arrived before the attack. The one Isaac made googly eyes at.
My aura lenses saw an orange glow around him, meaning he was a were-creature.
“I suggest you get down,” I warned him, pulling The Sun slightly closer to me.
Get moving!
But the man’s dark eyes wandered down Isaac’s body for a moment, then he took off, swinging a punch at a shadow witch about to launch a spell at him. He landed the blow right between the man’s eyes, the dickhead going down hard.
I removed my hands from under Isaac, who stared up at the ceiling, still blinking. I called the magic to my hands, about to clap the Hide spell out.
“Ollie?”
Shock killed the spell.
“Ollie Lovell?” Ben said.
Crap. Crap. Crap. He picked the best moment to recognize me, didn’t he?
“Yep,” I answered, getting back to business.
Isaac groaned, lips on the blue side. “I’m so cold…”
Dread brought its own chilly touch to my insides. But he’d be alright. His blood wouldn’t allow the poison to hurt him. It expelled Jonathon Aurora’s attempts to infect him with magic from the Rainbow Stones, and the same would happen here.
He was blessed by the goddess, too tough to crack.
“Everything will be alright,” I said with added reassurance.
He wasn’t going anywhere. He had to stick around because, well, I wanted him to. He needed to keep on being in my life even if… Damn. He just couldn’t leave, end of story.
I summoned Hide again.
A shadow witch kicked the table away.
Ben screamed and the spell fizzled away.
I drew my gun, almost pulling the trigger in time.
“Propel!” the witch yelled.
I went flying across the floor, slamming into a wall. My head cracked the concrete, my vision blurring. I slumped forward, blacking out seconds later as a useless failure.
Yeah, the man who failed The Sun.
Damn.