Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Hikaru
Time lost any sense of meaning. The djinn, Aurelia, often spoke of time being meaningless.
I’d heard Helios say something similar. I hadn’t lived as long as the djinn, but I too often found time slipping by with no way to gauge its passage.
Seasons came and went with little to mark their change beyond the natural flora and fauna, and even then, I was known to spend whole seasons underground, playing and causing mischief within the endless tunnels of the Magical Usage Council.
For all my now jaded memories, those were the few that Tenzen’s betrayal couldn’t touch. Those carefree days were often spent with the family I’d created, the family that had been decimated by the arrogant conceit of a creature that refused to accept a changed world order.
The hours that had slipped by this time were not so long. Of that, I was positive. Niki’s breathing was unchanged—no better or worse. My pleas for him to wake had fallen on unconscious ears. I missed our easy banter. What I wouldn’t give for Niki to call me his menace again.
I told myself that I’d hear that word, along with so many others, again.
I silently hoped not too much time had passed.
I couldn’t imagine the panic that would go through Niki’s son’s mind if he couldn’t get in touch with his pops.
Knowing Erasmus, he’d fly to California, inadvertently placing himself in more danger.
Now that Danzig had Niki, he didn’t need Erasmus.
Knowing Danzig’s hate-filled hard-on for necromancers, I didn’t put it past him to attempt to harm Erasmus anyway.
I did not want to get us out of this situation only to learn that something tragic had happened to Niki’s son.
I would not save him to lose him all over again.
Never one for idleness, I was beginning to get fussy when the door finally opened again.
Danzig walked in first, followed by Raiden and then Bailor—all of them wearing ridiculous deep blue robes that dragged the ground.
Each robe came complete with a hood that rode low over their eyes.
I couldn’t help but scoff at the imagery.
“Something amusing, kitsune?” Bailor asked. Seemed like none of these warlocks cared to use my name. It was a way of making me less in their minds. Calling me by my species instead of my name eliminated my individuality. It was yet another prejudiced justification for their actions.
“The lot of you look ridiculous. Niki wouldn’t be caught dead in something like that,” I answered.
Danzig laughed. “Just one more issue you are wrong about, kitsune. I will make it a special point to bury Holland in one of these robes.”
I just grinned. “Oh, I seriously doubt there’ll be a single one of those robes left when my warlock passes from this world.”
“Cocky bastard, isn’t he?” Bailor sneered.
“It is the way of kitsune,” Raiden answered, as if he’d met a thousand kitsune over the years and found us all tiresome.
Danzig moved further into the room, standing above Niki but thankfully not touching my warlock. “He will learn his lesson soon enough. All of them will.”
I rolled my eyes. “You really think being in charge of the Magical Usage Council is going to earn you that much clout?” Honestly, these warlocks were delusional.
Danzig’s body momentarily stilled. “I suppose our intentions will be known soon enough, though I am curious as to how you know what I desire.”
“Niki and I figured it out because we’re not idiots. By the way, Keir knows too.” I threw out the last to give them a bit more food for thought. These warlocks weren’t going to live long enough to be a threat to Keir or anyone else in the Magical Usage Council.
Raiden shrugged. “A mere complication, and a small one at that. The council is currently too weak to put up much of a challenge.”
“Hmm…I suppose you would think that. Then again, you’ve been wrong about soooo many other things, it shouldn’t be a surprise you’re wrong about this too.
” I allowed my lips to pull back into a feral grin.
Leaning forward, pushing the limit of my restraints, I said, “You have no idea what those left within the Magical Usage Council are capable of. I almost wish all of you were going to live long enough to find out.”
Ever so slight fidgeting indicated I’d managed to rattle a few mental cages.
“And you obviously have no idea what Huxley left behind within the walls of the Magical Usage Council.” Danzig’s cruel smile distorted his face. “But I do. Or, at least I know where to start looking. Do you think those restraints you’re caught in were the only gifts Huxley gave me?”
“You’ve got a strange definition of the word, gift. Personally, I go for the traditional items. A nice dinner, some lovely flowers, maybe a beautiful piece of jewelry or gift certificate to a lovely salon. A drive along the coastline with the top down. A—”
“Enough of this nonsense!” Bailor had had enough.
That was okay. My shoulders had gone numb long ago and I knew when I finally did make it out of these restraints, my joints were going to be pissed.
“Get on with it, Stefan. Each of us gets two tails. That’s what was promised and that is what I want. ”
Not while I have breath left in my body.
“Each of you will get two,” Danzig said. “However, the situation has changed. The kitsune has eight tails. The eighth is small and newer, but it should still be enough to keep him alive. Barely. That leaves an extra tail, which I will be taking as well.”
Bailor and Raiden shifted, their robes swaying. “That is not what we agreed upon!” Raiden was the first to speak up.
“Absolutely not!” Bailor did seem excitable tonight.
“The plan is mine. Neither of you could have conceived of this without me,” Danzig argued. “And I am in control of the Warlock Council. You would do well to remember that you serve me.”
Oh, that did not go over well.
“And we executed the plan,” Raiden argued. “You would never have been able to do this without the two of us.” Raiden threw a hand out, indicating himself and Bailor.
Danzig’s lips curled. “Perhaps I should keep all the tails for myself.” He pulled out a recognizable blade.
The last time I’d seen it was when Tenzen had taken my tail.
No ordinary blade could cut through my flesh.
This one was special in all the ways I hated.
I had no idea where Tenzen obtained the blade from originally.
All I knew was the pain it caused when it met my skin.
“I am the one Huxley approached. I am the one he gave the blade to,” Danzig argued.
“Not something to be proud of,” I muttered, too low for most to hear and if they did, I was ignored in favor of arguing with each other.
It was the distraction I’d been hoping for.
While it wouldn’t take me long to dismantle the spell entrapping their magic, it might take the magic a moment to reorient itself.
It might also take Niki a hot minute to recover even with the added magical boost.
Some extra time out of the spotlight would be welcome.
No time like the present. Eyes slipping closed, I shut out all the extraneous background noise—no easy feat considering the heated discussion.
I focused on Danzig first. Reading the magical spell used to entrap his magic was as easy as breathing.
Unwinding it was nearly as simple. Between one heartbeat and the next, the magical barrier fell.
Danzig was so engrossed in his argument; he didn’t seem to notice. Quickly moving on, I divested the other two warlocks of their magical prisons.
The freed magic flared around the room, filling the space as it expanded, able to fully breathe for the first time in who knows how long. The dark colors morphed into something lighter and brighter. Even the magic that kept its darkened hue contained a luminescence it hadn’t had before.
It was beautiful. Given any other situation, I could have watched it all day and never tired of its swirling intricacies. Joy radiated from the magic—bliss and relief. And while that was wonderful, what I truly needed was for the magic to take note of my warlock’s need.
For one heart-stopping moment, I was afraid the magic would ignore Niki.
Too joyous to be free, it may not be eager to tie itself to another.
Some of the magic did indeed choose that route.
Thankfully, the majority of the magic didn’t just take notice, it flooded Niki—surrounding his body, sinking into his core, and cajoling him to wakefulness.
Niki’s breathing eased and his body stirred.
Magic swirled around his torso, lifting him off the ground before gently depositing him again.
With a low groan, Niki’s eyes fluttered open only to pinch as the raised voices of the unhappy warlocks met his ears.
Relief like I’d never known flooded me as I slumped into my restraints.
My cheeks felt damp, and I belatedly realized I was crying when a few of those tears slipped from my skin, hitting the floor.
“H-Hikaru?” Niki’s voice was soft, but I heard it, and I swear I’d never heard anything so beautiful in the world.
“Hey, sleepy head.” My gaze flicked over Niki and to the bickering warlocks.
Their argument seemed to be winding down.
Bailor held his hands in front of his face, twisting them back and forth.
Raiden was doing something similar. Looked like they were beginning to figure out something was terribly wrong.
“Best get up, Niki,” I prompted, knowing we were running out of time.
I might have stripped most of their magic, but there were other ways to kill that didn’t require an ounce of magical ability.
The blade gripped in Danzig’s hand was one of them, and that blade wouldn’t just cut my skin. Niki was at risk.