Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
Talant
The urge to destroy still held me within its grip, but I fought for control.
Seeing that bolt of lightning fly toward Minerva had brought out the side of me I never wanted her to see. The bloodthirsty, merciless part of me that relished in vaporizing the warlocks who’d dared try to harm my witch.
The quick death had been kinder than they deserved. I would have done much worse to them if she hadn’t been nearby to see it. Or if they’d succeeded in harming her.
The fire within me burned brighter. No, not fire. Rage. I wanted to break apart this cavern and spew a stream of fire into the sky that would swallow the world. My heart pounded, and my entire body throbbed as I continued to fight the urge. This was not what I came for. I had a task. A purpose.
My brother was imprisoned in the stone that stood not five feet from us. He was the reason we were here. I had to remember that. If I didn’t, the rage would swallow my sanity and leave behind nothing but fire and destruction.
I heard Minerva swallow hard. I was still holding her hand, and her fingers tightened around mine as though she sensed how close I was to losing control. My heart twisted at the gesture. She was so much like Cassia—able to see through me when I least wanted her to.
“Do you feel my power?” I asked.
My voice was so deep and filled with magic that the small rocks at our feet danced and vibrated.
“Yes.”
“What does it feel like?” I asked her.
“Hot. Wild. Dangerous.” Her tongue came out to wet her lips. “Like it could swallow me whole.”
She wasn’t wrong in any of her observations. But the words still stung a bit because I could see the fear in her eyes.
“Your power is opposite of mine in many ways,” I continued. “Cold where mine is hot. Controlled where mine is savage. But your power is still perilous and can consume just as well as mine. That is why you cannot access the full breadth of your abilities.”
Minerva’s eyes were locked on mine as I spoke. I could see the skepticism, so I used my grip on her hand to tug her a step closer.
“The fear of losing control is what holds you back,” I said. It was time to be completely honest with her. It was the only way she would gain complete access to her magic.
“Can you blame me?” she retorted.
I shook my head. “Yes and no.”
Her eyes narrowed, turning brighter until the honey color of her irises glowed.
I explained before she could speak again.
“If you had realized what you were when your power manifested, you would have been trained from a young age to control it. Because you weren’t, you had to learn on your own. That means you set your own limits rather than finding the natural ones that exist within you. Because of your age, the witches who trained you, and your lack of knowledge about the nature of your power, you built a vault to hold your excess magic. It made it easier to control.”
I didn’t mention that the iron grasp she held on her emotions made her repression worse. That would be something to discuss when we weren’t in enemy territory and my brother wasn’t trapped.
“You are the only one with the key to the vault, Minerva,” I said. “You’re going to have to loosen your hold on your emotions in order to unlock the part of your magic that you’ve hidden away.”
“How?” she asked, sounding exasperated.
“You must drop your shield. No hiding who and what you are. What you feel. You can no longer ignore that part of yourself.”
“I don’t have a shield!” she exclaimed, trying to tug her hand from mine. “I’m an open book!”
“That’s bullshit.” I wanted to yell, to shake her, but it would do no good. “You share your true feelings with no one. You shove them all deep down inside you and force yourself to be strong when you want nothing more than to break. You avoid true connection with anyone except Ally.”
I took a step closer, lowering my head so that our faces were only a few inches apart. “I see you, little witch. Even the parts of you that you try so desperately to hide.”
She froze, her eyes wide with shock. Then those gleaming depths disappeared behind the rapid expansion of her pupils.
“I have nothing to hide,” she hissed, jerking at her hand again.
I pulled her closer until her hands brushed my chest. She fought me, but I refused to release her.
“You have hidden so much of yourself from others, even from yourself, that you no longer know who you are.”
Her fair skin lost all color, turning nearly grey. I felt the frigid spark of her magic against my fingers as her power surged to the surface.
I hated what my words were doing to her, but they were necessary. This was why I hadn’t helped her access her magic before now. If I’d had time to gain her complete trust, I could have led her to this moment in a gentler manner.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t wait.
I sensed the return of at least one warlock, maybe two, on the outermost edges of the circle I’d set around the coven’s ward. Then, more joined them. The warlocks who managed to escape my fire had returned with aid.
“Fuck you!” Minerva shouted, twisting her wrist in my grip, the color suddenly returning to her unnaturally pale face.
A spark of blue appeared in her eyes, spiraling out from her pupils as they shrank back to their normal appearance. The beautiful gold of her eyes was swallowed by a wave of pale blue.
I lifted my free hand, cupping her face. “Little witch, you can’t even bear to be in the same room with me without wanting to crawl out of your skin because you feel so much.”
The chilled feel of her wrist beneath my fingers became so cold that it burned like my fire.
She was almost there, but the witch was so stubborn that she fought me every step of the way. That shield of hers was beyond formidable. It was nearly unbreakable. There was only thing left to do. I lowered my head and pressed my lips to hers.
And breathed my fire into her heart.
The cavern around us shuddered as the kiss of my power pierced the wall she’d built around her magic. The moment it broke through, her teeth sank into my bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.
She arched her back, tearing her mouth from mine. Her breath was visible as she glared at me, the chill of her magic chasing away the heat left behind from the fire I’d released before.
“You’re a bastard,” she whispered.
Her strength was unexpected when she tore herself from my grip and faced the stone dais that laid over my brother’s body. Ice encased her arms from her shoulders to the tips of her fingers. It cracked and sparkled as she lifted her hands into the air, an eerie blue light flowing from the glittering shards.
“AWAKEN!” she screamed.
The walls around us shuddered, and the cavern was filled with brilliant white light. Power poured from her hands, and the rock before us split in two with a thunderous crack.
“YOU ARE FREE!”
The magic of her voice hurt even my ears. I sensed the warlocks gathered on the edges of the ward running away from the immense pressure of her power.
Just as Cassia before her, Minerva held more magic in her small body than my brother and I combined. Magic fueled by love and compassion rather than arrogance and greed.
That was the true secret of her power—that the depth of her love, the strength of her emotions, made her the strongest between us.
Violet and indigo light burst from the crack in the rock, warring with the incandescent light of Minerva’s power. The dais cracked and crumbled as the underground room shuddered from the force of her magic. Dark purple smoke swirled from the crevasse that split the center of the room. Shadows shot from the hole as a dark form rose from within its depths. Wind howled and swirled around us. I shielded my eyes from the dust, ash, and small rocks that ricocheted wildly around the room.
None of it touched Minerva. The only sign that she was even in the same dimension was her long, crimson hair blowing loose from her braid.
My brother’s form coalesced from the twisting violence of light and dark. His head hung forward, his face hidden by long, tangled black hair.
Minerva spread her arms wide, a lacy web of ice curving from her wrists to the sides of her waist like wings. Davian’s body hovered before it floated forward. As he drifted toward the solid floor, his head snapped back, and his eyes opened. Glowing violet eyes met mine.
“Brother,” I greeted him.
“Brother,” he rasped.
Minerva’s magic began to wane, the nearly blinding light of her power fading. The chill in the room vanished, and the ice attached to her arms crashed to the floor. Davian’s feet touched the floor, leaving him standing naked before us. He staggered a few steps forward before catching his balance, waving me away when I reached out to steady him.
“I’m fine,” he insisted, his voice hoarse.
I turned to Minerva, planning to introduce her to my brother, but all thoughts left my mind when I saw her face.
Her skin was ashen, and dark circles ringed her eyes. But what captured my attention most was the charred mark that extended from the base of her neck to her waist. What I thought was just dirt or soot earlier was much, much worse. The fabric of her shirt hung loose now, split from neck to where it was tucked into her pants. Without her clothing hiding it any longer, I saw that the skin was equal parts black and red, blood oozing from the edges of the burn. She’d been badly injured.
She swayed on her feet, nearly crumpling to the stone floor as I lunged toward her.
“Minerva!”
I caught her with an arm around her shoulders and another around her waist to keep her upright. She cried out in pain when her charred skin met mine.
Cursing, I turned her, lifting her so that her injury didn’t rub against anything. Even that seem to cause her pain because she whimpered.
I pressed my forehead against hers, whispering an incantation to make her sleep. As her eyes closed, I turned toward my brother, shifting her higher against my chest.
“Can you walk?” I asked him.
If not, I would have to carry her through the portal first and then come back for him.
“I can,” he answered. His voice was rough from more than a millennium of disuse. “But you should leave the witch.”
That destructive rage swelled within me again. “Never! And do not speak of it again!”
He sighed, shoving his hair away from his face with one hand. “I see your long slumber has not changed you.”
“It seems yours hasn’t changed you either,” I shot back.
Without another word, I opened a portal to Minerva’s home in Devil Springs. I would take her there and return for her things at the hotel once I was sure she would be okay.
“Follow me, or stay here and face the warlocks heading this way,” I said to Davian.
He grunted but walked through the portal behind me into Minerva’s upstairs hallway.
As soon as I closed the portal behind us, magic snapped like a rubber band. It stung my skin, but the spell wasn’t intended for me.
I looked over my shoulder at my brother and lifted a brow at the sight of a sigil emblazoned on his chest. It glowed with icy blue light, and I recognized it. It was an ancient rune intended to trap or hold something. I hadn’t seen a rune like it since before I slept. Not even as I watched the world pass by from my stone chamber.
It seemed the little witch in my arms had more knowledge than I realized.
Davian growled, taking a step toward me, his eyes glowing purple and black as he glared at her.
“The goddess-damned witch cursed me!”
I growled back at him, putting more space between us. “No, she didn’t. She made sure that you couldn’t leave—just as you agreed before she freed you.”
Davian stopped his advance, his hands fisted at his sides. “You recognize it?”
I nodded. “It’s meant to hold you here until she frees you. The witch knows a great deal more than I thought if she was able to find that rune.”
“What do you mean?”
“The magic in that symbol pre-dates both of us. She shouldn’t even know what it is. Yet it is strong enough to hold either of us here until she releases us.”
“And you would allow this?” he asked.
“It was the deal we made to free you,” I reminded him.
“She is weak, brother. Neither of us must do her bidding. Her magic wouldn’t outlast her death.”
I stared my brother down. He was even colder than I remembered. “This magic would,” I said. “The rune powers itself. Her life doesn’t affect it at all. If she dies, you’ll still be trapped here. And you’ll never be free because I doubt we’ll be able to find another witch who understands the power of the ancient runic.”
Davian cursed as he stepped back.
“It seems you’ll have to honor the terms of your agreement with the witch, brother,” I said. “So why don’t you get cleaned up while I make sure Minerva survives to free you in the future?”
I gestured to the door behind him. It led to the bedroom I’d been using while I stayed here. “That room is mine. You are welcome to use anything of mine.”
I watched as my brother turned on his heel and stalked into the bedroom, slamming the door behind him. The small woman in my arms didn’t even flinch at the loud sound.
I sighed and carried Minerva into her bedroom, settling her onto the large bed we’d slept in together less than three days ago.
Trying to be as gentle as possible, I pulled her shirt away from the wound on her chest. I flinched as it tugged at the skin before it separated, but Minerva’s breathing remained deep and steady. Still, it would be difficult to undress her without making the wound worse.
I knew she would be angry when she woke, but I decided that it was better to do whatever it took to heal her. Even if it sacrificed her modesty.
Closing my eyes, I gathered a bit of my power, focusing on removing the heat and only using the destructive properties of the fire. With a whisper and a bit of my breath, I blew the heat across her body, watching as her clothing crumbled away, leaving her naked.
The sight of the scorched skin of her chest blinded me to everything else about her body. I drew the robe she’d left across the foot of her bed over her lower body and went into the bathroom to grab two clean towels to drape over her sides. They covered most of her breasts, leaving only the burned strip of flesh from the base of her throat to her abdomen bare.
I wondered where the wound had come from as I studied it. With my magic, I was familiar with burns. Especially ones caused by my magic. And this one had been.
How had I harmed her? I’d wrapped her in my protection as soon as I emerged from the trap the warlocks had set for me.
I studied the burn, deciding that I would ask her about it once she woke. Guilt pierced my chest at the thought that I might have hurt her.
I enjoyed teasing her and irritating her, but I never wanted to harm her.
With a sigh, I rubbed my hands together, calling forth a part of my magic I rarely used. Causing burns was much easier than healing them, but I would do whatever it took to heal the little witch before me.
Whether she was ready to accept it or not, she was mine.