Chapter 17
Istare down at my phone and read the message from Sam again.
Got what we need to regain control of the portal, heading to the bookshop. Wouldn’t say no to a little witchy help, but there’s no pressure. It’s okay if you’re not up for it.
My fingers hover over my reply.
I can’t. I’m sorry.
I want to hit send, but for some reason my fingers won’t move. There’s an awful churning in my belly and a tightness in my chest. Through the window, I can see the rain has stopped, but the sky is a roiling mess of black and grey clouds with an eye like a hurricane’s at its centre.
The eclipse is almost here, and with it, the alignment needed for the portal in the bookstore to open completely and allow the entity known as Chaos into our world.
I should be heading to Whitechapel as fast as I can to help Tristan and the others, but something is holding me back, and I don’t know what. Every instinct is telling me not to go.
I’m torn.
My mind tells me to put aside my issues with my mother, with her bookshop, with her legacy. But my gut says there’s something else at play here.
I look at Sam’s message again and my stomach turns.
What if something happens to him? What if he gets hurt?
We don’t know each other all that well yet, and one almost kiss doesn’t really count, but there is a connection between us.
Whether it’s just because I feel like we understand each other or because I fancy the pants off him, I couldn’t say.
But the thought of him being injured again does something to my equilibrium.
Fuck it.
I grab my keys from the counter and pull my coat on. Hurrying through the shop, I step out onto the street and lock the door behind me. I’m thankful the rain is holding off despite the sky churning ominously.
I don’t know how close they were to the bookshop when Sam messaged me, but it takes me nearly thirty minutes to get to Whitechapel. Despite the rain letting up for the first time in weeks, the streets are curiously empty, almost as if everyone subconsciously knows something big is happening.
My heart is tripping as I glance up into the sky. The great big swirling mass that I saw from Islington, the one that looked like a tropical storm system? The eye is directly over the bookstore. Because of course it is.
The wind picks up, roaring around me and tearing at my clothes. Litter and other minor debris kick up from the ground, swept up on the violent air currents. I run from the station, sweating and wheezing from my lack of cardio.
I skid to a halt at the end of the narrow alley and see Sam and the others heading into the shop further down.
I try to call out, but the wind snatches away my voice as soon as I open my mouth.
I start forward to catch up with them, but I’ve barely made it three steps when a man steps in front of me.
Where did he come from?
With him blocking my path, I slow and try to go around him, but he deliberately moves into my way. Given no choice but to stop, I glare at him.
“Excuse me,” I say as politely as possible. What I really want to do is tell him to get the fuck out of my way.
His mouth curves, but he doesn’t respond. I go to move around him yet again, but he steps into my path once more.
“Do you mind?” I snap. “I need to pass.”
“Sorry, Harrison, but this doesn’t involve you.” His voice, laced with power, ripples over me.
I take an involuntary step back. “Who are you?” My eyes narrow as I study him. “How do you know my name?”
He’s taller than me, broad-shouldered and trim, and wearing a long, dark overcoat over a black open-collar shirt and dark trousers.
His hair is a deep brown, almost black, and hangs in a glossy swathe just past his shoulders.
I can’t place his age, which is unusual for me.
He seems young, maybe about my age or thereabouts, but there’s a timelessness to his handsome face that I can’t explain.
He ignores both of my questions when he replies, raising his voice above the roar of the wind, which is gaining in strength.
“What’s going on in there doesn’t involve you. This is something Tristan has to do.”
“You don’t know that,” I fire back.
“Actually, I do,” he says calmly.
“Who the hell are you?”
“That’s not important right now.”
“Considering you know who I am, who Tristan is, and what’s going on in that bookshop even as we speak, I’d beg to differ. In fact, I don’t even know why I’m arguing with you. Move aside. I’m going to help my friends and there’s not a damn thing you can do to stop me.”
I stalk forward but hit an invisible wall. It shoves me back several paces, my shoes skidding against the pavement.
“Actually, there is.”
I growl and push forward again only to be repelled even more forcefully than before.
“I told you, Harrison, it’s not for you to interfere. I know you want to protect your friends, and while that’s admirable, it’s unnecessary. They’ve got this.”
“Then I’d like to see that for myself. You’ll forgive me if I don’t take a complete stranger’s word for it.”
“If you can’t trust me, trust yourself. Switch off that busy brain of yours and listen to your instincts. They will not steer you wrong. Your path lies in another direction. It already lays at your feet; you have only to step foot upon it.”
“My path?” Something about the way he says it feels familiar, but it takes a moment to place it. “Are you one of the five Herne told me about?”
“You’ve met Herne?” He cocks a dark, winged brow. “Well then, you must’ve met Diana too. Those two are never far apart.” He stares at me contemplatively. “Good,” he finally says. “That will make things easier for you.”
“I don’t understand, just what are you talking about? Who are you? You never answered my question. Are you one of the five they spoke of?”
A smile tugs at his lips. “No, I’m not, but I am a part of this.”
“Enough riddles,” I growl and step forward again to pass him but am pushed back once more.
This time, my temper snaps and I scream at him.
My rage coalesces inside me, and a rush of adrenaline and magic unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before sears through me.
It’s ten times more powerful. My hands erupt into lavender flames that snake up my arms, winding around and around.
The heady whip of power is so strong it’s almost orgasmic.
Before I can stop myself, I lash out at him, a burst of magic exploding from my outstretched hands.
It knocks him back violently and he skids several paces, leaning forward and breathing heavily once he stops. I don’t know how he’s managed to stay on his feet—that was enough magic to punch through a solid wall. For a second, shame washes through me, and I wonder if I’ve hurt him.
He slowly lifts his face, his dark eyes glimmering and the corners of his mouth curving.
“Not bad,” he says, and curiously enough, I can hear him perfectly despite the ongoing howl of the wind down the alley.
I watch as he straightens up and widens his stance, then adjusts the cuffs on his overcoat.
“Okay then, Harrison.” He smiles, his eyes bright with challenge. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
My eyes narrow as his hands burst into the same intense violet flames as mine, and I realise something that should have been obvious to me much sooner.
He’s a witch.
And not just any witch—one with power like mine.
I match his stance and, for the first time in my life, relax my ironlike control of my magic.
It’s like trying to ride a dragon’s tail.
I can’t even begin to articulate the overwhelming force of it and yet I know with a bone-deep certainty that I have only just begun to tap the beginnings of my potential.
The flames licking at my arms and hands intensify, crackling with power, and I can’t help the gasp that escapes my lips.
“Powerful, isn’t it?” he says knowingly. “Seductive.”
I exhale sharply. “What is it?” Every hair on my body is standing on end and my skin buzzes with electricity.
“Your true nature,” he says simply.
The punch of his magic hits me full in the chest, taking me off my feet and sending me corkscrewing through the air. I crash into the metal shutter of a vacant shop with a loud clatter, then drop to the ground.
Sucking in a sharp breath, I roll over and look up at him. He’s standing there calmly, not a single hair out of place.
“Had enough?”
I bare my teeth and throw out my hand, aiming my next bolt of magic at his legs. He crashes to the ground as I roll to my feet.
I’m not going to lie—although my mood tinged with annoyance and an air of defiance, this is kind of exhilarating. I’ve never before met someone who can do the things I can, and actually beginning to test the limits of my magic fills me with a kind of euphoria.
Before he can get to his feet, I reach out with my power and give the huge commercial bin butted up against the wall opposite a shove. He looks up and sees it heading for him. It smashes into the wall where he’d been only moments before, but I can’t see him.
Breathing heavily, I move forward, wondering if I’ve really hurt him and feeling a twinge of guilt. As I reach the bin, I peer around but he’s not there. Suddenly, hands grab me from behind. Spinning me around, he pulls my wrists to my chest and slams me against the wall.
I’m breathing hard as I stare at him, wondering how he managed to move so quickly that I didn’t see it.
My eyes narrow. “You cheated.”
“I could do this all day. I’m far older and more experienced than you. If I wanted to hurt you, I would.”
“What do you want from me?” I whisper.
He looks up and I track his gaze. The sky darkens, the maelstrom which has been maliciously churning above us now blanketed by blackness. I suck in a sharp breath.
The eclipse.
The portal must be open. I have to get to the others. I struggle against him, but he simply holds my arms crisscrossed over my chest and presses me harder against the wall.
“Let me go,” I yell.
“Just wait,” he says quietly.