Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
L iam should have known he’d get paired with Kade. While Kade wasn’t nearly as bad as Elijah seemed to think, Liam had to agree that they should keep him as far from Miles as possible. And the combination of Aran and Kade would indeed be nonstop dick jokes. No one needed that in their life.
The look Kade and Aran had exchanged—their acknowledgment of each other’s fuckboy credentials—had spoken volumes. Liam would never be that compatible with Kade, but they could work together. He just had to check one thing before they got too close to another spirit.
“I want to channel your energy,” Liam said as he came to a stop and held out his hand. If he had trouble using Kade’s energy, it’d be an issue, but from their handshake at the airport, he suspected that wouldn’t be the case.
Kade eyed him. “When Elijah used my energy, bodily fluids were involved. Am I going to get covered in yours as well?”
The corner of Liam’s lips tried to twitch, but he suppressed it. That was not funny. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.”
“That’s no fun.” Kade slid his hand into Liam’s. The moment their skin touched, energy buzzed against Liam’s fingertips. He opened himself up to it, let it flow into him, surge through him.
He inhaled, a little shaky at how easy it was, and Kade did the same, his wolf flashing in his eyes.
Using shifter energy always required conscious effort to channel. It never rushed into him like it was eager to fill him, eager to do his bidding.
A shiver ran through him. No fluids needed. He’d barely begun, but this could easily become addictive.
He dropped his hand and released Kade’s energy, though a ghost of it remained in his system. That hadn’t been as intense as how Elijah described Victor’s energy, certainly not as overwhelming, but if this was a fraction of what he felt while tethered to Victor, Liam couldn’t fault Elijah for getting lost in it.
“Huh.” Kade tilted his head. “That was different from Elijah channeling my energy.”
“How so?”
Kade paused before answering. “With Elijah, it didn’t feel direct. If that makes sense? This was direct. I felt you pulling on my energy and it flowing into you. I didn’t feel that with him.”
“If it was before the last full moon, he might have channeled your energy through Victor. Whatever weird pseudo-bond they had likely made it difficult for him to connect to anyone else. Victor’s metaphorical dick was too far up his channels for anyone else’s to get in there.”
The words were out of Liam’s mouth before he could stop them. He resisted the urge to slap a hand against his face.
Kade’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
Liam was glad it was harder for people to tell when he blushed than when Elijah did, but he couldn’t conceal his wince.
“Blame Aran. It was his theory. So… let’s go trap this thing.”
He started to walk in the direction of the spirit, hoping Kade would let it drop, but from his smirk, Liam doubted he’d be that lucky.
This spirit was smaller than the spirit of anger. On the map, it appeared darker than the other smudges of ash—almost as if it were absorbing light. Liam had no idea what that meant, but with as easy as it was to use Kade’s energy, he was decently confident he’d be able to trap it. He didn’t want to leave all the bigger ones for Elijah. That would be exhausting, no matter how strong Elijah had become.
As they hiked, Liam surveyed the forest. He’d never liked the outdoors, much preferring his books, but in small doses, he could admit nature held its own appeal. Even if a place like this would make him go stir-crazy, he understood why Elijah might love it. The bright colors of fall were welcoming in ways he hadn’t taken time to consider.
But then they entered an area of unseasonably bare trees, the section stark and desolate.
“It’s not usually like this. It still hasn’t recovered,” Kade explained.
Liam pressed his palm against a tree that looked dead, but when he concentrated, he sensed a spark of life inside it, hibernating deep.
“Give Aran a few days, and it’ll be as good as new.” There was no question in Liam’s mind that Aran would nurture those sparks and ensure the trees would be strong and healthy again once spring came. Aran was probably enjoying himself. Nurturing plants was in his blood.
From Liam’s left, a large raven burst through the branches, its caw raucous and wings loud as it flew up into the canopy.
Liam jumped, then laughed. After spending most of his waking hours in the silent peace of the library, he needed to recalibrate to being outdoors. It was just a bird, not something sinister.
As he watched it fly away, the air took on a chill, making him shiver. It had been pleasantly warm when they’d arrived, but now goose bumps sprang up on his arms. Wind creaked in the skeletal branches, all rusty hinges and slamming doors, and Liam wanted to shiver for a different reason. It was like they’d stumbled onto the set of a horror movie.
He glanced over at Kade and saw the concern on his face. Any trace of joking or flirting had vanished, replaced by a pinched expression.
They continued on, getting closer to the smudge on the map. A small animal dashed past them, its eyes wide and terrified even through the streaking blur of its hectic movement. Liam’s pulse accelerated; his breathing shallowed.
What would jump out next? What waited for them behind those trees? Was something about to attack?
He shook his head to clear it. There was nothing subtle about this spirit; it wasn’t the slow-building boil of anger.
“Terror?” he asked, and Kade nodded. Elijah had been right; this wouldn’t be pleasant.
“Do you have a sigil for that?”
“Close.”
Liam got out his notes. He’d made one for fear during their brainstorming session, but this felt stronger than that. It didn’t take much to alter the design and make it more extreme, changing fear into terror. He transferred the sigil into a box, then tucked his notebook away. The fear sigil might have worked, but it was best to be precise.
“Ready?” Kade’s smile was cocky, bravado in his tone. Neither covered the strain around his eyes.
Liam held the box in his right hand, open for when the spirit came into view.
Now that he had identified the feeling, it was easier to separate the looming dread from his own emotions, but that didn’t stop the branches from reaching out and clawing at him.
The sunlight spilling through the bare canopy started to fade, despite the early hour.
“Can these things make it night?” Kade asked.
Liam shrugged. “Maybe? Or it might be affecting our perception?” Either way, the results were the same.
In a few more steps, they were plunged into pitch blackness. Liam called fire into his free hand, its warmth radiating but scarcely piercing the deepest midnight that surrounded them, a darkness hiding the monsters that lurked under children’s beds.
It hissed in his ears and rattled like death. Every step took effort; he faced his fears with each bit of ground they gained. All he wanted to do was turn, run, get to safety… If anywhere was safe.
Kade’s hand wrapped around his arm above his elbow. He wasn’t touching skin, but a jolt of energy shot through Liam. The fire flared, driving back the night, revealing nothing hidden in those inky depths.
They passed more trees, and the spirit appeared, a shadow among shadows, deeper black than the night. It skittered across the ground, iridescent, a teeming swarm of insects crawling over each other.
The spirit shrank away from the fire but still prowled just outside the light, twisting and terrible.
“What do you need?” The faintest tremor of nerves quivered in Kade’s voice.
“Wrap your hand around my wrist,” Liam said, and Kade did as directed, then his other hand found the back of Liam’s neck the same way Victor had done to Elijah.
Immediately, his energy was there, ready for Liam. He had to force his eyes to stay open, force himself not to sink into that tempting flow. He should ask Elijah if this was how it felt to use Victor’s energy, because he’d never experienced anything like this.
But he couldn’t dwell on that. They had a spirit to trap.
He activated the contract and channeled Kade’s energy into the sigils. His tattoos lit up, casting an orange glow over his skin.
The binding latched on to the spirit, and slowly, it was drawn toward them.
Liam gritted his teeth and stood steadfast, but that was easy to do with Kade’s hands on him. The spirit crept closer as it was sucked into the box.
It was both harder and easier than he’d expected. Harder to control, harder to know exactly what he was doing. This wasn’t the type of spell he was used to. It required more magic than anything he’d done in ages. But also, it was so easy with Kade’s energy willing to help, waiting for him to use. It was a rush, but he didn’t let it sweep him away.
It took over a minute until the spirit was pulled completely into the box, until the forest lightened, daylight returning as the terror was contained.
When it was pooled in the box, a crawling iridescence, Liam exhaled a sigh of relief, let his fire flicker out, and closed the lid before latching it shut. He marveled as Elijah’s ward snapped into place. It was stunning work.
Liam was an abject failure at wards. He was much better at blowing things up. Having a fire affinity with a decent grasp of air lent itself well to spectacular explosions and not much else, but he could appreciate the beauty of this. It was the most delicate and intricate spellwork he’d seen Elijah create. This was a masterpiece, and it made him smile because he knew it could only come from the bond that Elijah shared with Victor. It wasn’t something he wanted for himself, but looking at it now, it was impossible not to recognize its perfection. More of this kind of magic should exist in the world.
With a quick press of his fingers, he marked the box with the sigil for terror.
Kade let his hands drop, taking his energy with him, and Liam almost regretted the loss.
To distract himself from that thought, he put the box into his bag and pulled out the map again. One down, dozens more to go.
He glanced up, and for the briefest moment, Kade looked shaken, but then he grinned—bright and charming and entirely too appealing.
“Wanna see if we can capture more of these things than Victor and Elijah?”
Despite himself, Liam did.
While he excelled at theory and designing new spells or modifying old ones, Elijah had always been better at doing those spells. It made them a great team, but that didn’t mean the idea of one-upping Elijah on the practical side of magic held no appeal.
He nodded. “Let’s do it.”