Chapter 25
I bolted through the psychic plane, zipping across the city instantaneously to reach the Whitlock Estate. Their steel gates were flung open, their stone walls left bare without a single active ward. Floating onto the grounds, I found bloody grass leading to corpses scattered across the lawn.
Every elite bodyguard Tobias Whitlock had hired lay dead.
From the deep slashes and bloody mess, it was clear Lazarus had made quick work of them.
There wasn’t much casting debris, meaning they barely had a chance to defend themselves before Lazarus hacked them down.
More than thirty well-trained ex-military enchanter-level witches, and not one of them managed to derail this pillar of the Celestial Coven.
Sending the information to my core self through the link we shared, I pressed forward and made my way inside the mansion.
Much to my surprise, Tobias stood at the railing of the stairs, practically greeting Lazarus’ arrival.
Tobias had aged a lot since the last time I saw him.
Wrinkles deepened his stern expression. What little blond hair he had before had finally turned white or fallen out.
His cheeks were sunken in, and his eyes were heavy with sleep deprivation.
Whether the many legal cases against him had added to this fatigue or Theodore’s escape, coupled with The True Witch’s arrival, I couldn’t discern.
The golden shield of Tobias’ arcane branch already cloaked his thoughts and guarded against Lazarus’ impending attack.
“The audacity of stepping into my home.” Tobias grimaced. “Amara overreaches. When I send you back to her, she’ll realize I have no time for her fanatical obsession.”
“You speak of audacity yet utter a goddess’s name as if your tongue has earned such a thing.”
“My tongue has experienced far more than Amara’s name, peasant.” Tobias chuckled. “Oh, yes, she told me all about you, Lazarus. Your myth is far more entertaining than your true origins.”
“You know nothing of me.”
Tobias’ piercing blue eyes held utter contempt, judgment, and so much superiority. I didn’t even need to read his thoughts to feel the disgust in his expression.
“I know you were blessed with a brilliant branch.” Tobias took a step down, closing the distance between himself and Lazarus in the foyer. “I know you used it to claw your way out of the gutters of your city, a city made of stone and mud and kings who didn’t know the first thing about ruling.”
Lazarus glared.
“I know after several thousand years of living, you’ve finally reached the pinnacle of your skills. You think yourself grand.” Tobias shook his head disapprovingly. “You honed your magic for a millennium, and it is nothing compared to what I was born with. Brilliance isn’t trained; it’s inherited.”
“I was only sent to retrieve the girl, but taking your head will be an added boon.”
Tobias laughed. “Come then, peasant. Show me what you’re made of.”
The term cut deep, reminding Lazarus of the life he escaped, the years of servitude, the centuries of burying the inferiority complex that plagued him. Tobias shook Lazarus so deeply that his thoughts floated freely from frustration.
But flustered or not, Lazarus fixated on Tobias’ branches.
Name: Tobias Whitlock
Branch: Arcane (Abjuration)
Branch: Cosmic (Shadows)
Branch: Bestial (Familiar)
Whoa. I had no idea Tobias possessed multiple branches or the fact that he, too, had a familiar. Was it another insect like Tara’s?
Lazarus held his hands out flat, channeling his telekinesis so the swipes would cut deep like a blade. Without hesitation, Lazarus leapt at Tobias, attempting to slash the man’s throat. A futile effort, met with a sharp clink as his hand struck a golden shield glowing at Tobias’ neck.
“I thought Amara would prepare you for me,” Tobias said, casting telekinesis to throw Lazarus back. “She swore the pillars were in a league of their own. I find the pillars of the Celestial Coven a bit overrated.”
If only he realized Grim had joined The Sisters Three in death, he’d definitely gloat.
More. He’d gloat more. Geez, it was difficult to root for Tobias’ victory, knowing he achieved it by assuming everyone born poor was insignificant, and their achievements meant nothing.
Still, I hoped he’d hold out against Lazarus until the Global Guild sent their reinforcements.
“Shall we end this, peasant?”
“Your shield will break long before my stamina wanes.”
“We’ll see about that.” Tobias extended his arms, unleashing shadows across the mansion.
His control of them differed from Tara’s. Whereas she usually summoned them as tendrils, he conjured his shadows in a massive wave of darkness. Only, they didn’t cover much. They spread across the rooms, hiding the floor and reaching Lazarus’ waist.
“I assume Amara has warned you what comes next.”
“If you think I fear your beast, you’re a—”
A giant fucking crocodile sprang up out of the shadows and snatched Lazarus by the torso before dragging him beneath the shadows.
Holy fucking hell. I trembled, floating higher up toward the ceiling.
Yes, I was incorporeal, but the idea of being this close to a crocodile was fucking terrifying.
How the hell did Tobias have a crocodile?
A goddamn giant crocodile. That was his familiar?
It was a monstrosity. An apex predator of pure destruction.
The crocodile’s tail rose above the shadows, thrashing about a bit, but then lowered again. Lazarus screamed and fought against the beast, but the shadows barely moved in response. It was like a silent black lake of death.
“Titus, behave,” Tobias warned. “I told you to immobilize the witch, not kill him.”
The crocodile’s snout lifted above the shadows, and his jaw opened, revealing a bloody and worn Lazarus.
He immediately flew away, landing on the ceiling with his back pressed to it.
His bloody chest heaved as he took frightened, panting breaths.
His eyes darted between the shadows where Titus now floated above in full view and to Tobias, who merely smiled at the alarmed enemy.
Hell. The crocodile’s snout to the tip of its tail was easily twenty feet.
Maybe more. The width was massive, unlike anything I’d seen in pictures or on television.
I didn’t know much about crocodiles other than that their bite was deadly; they kept growing with age, and they evolved over millions of years to be the perfect predator. Oh, and they were very fucking patient.
The way Titus’ eyes locked onto Lazarus, I believed the crocodile was a second away from lunging into the air and snatching him up. After all, Titus was a familiar, so he was a goddamn crocodile with root magics.
“Usually, Titus gets to feast upon those foolish enough to cross me,” Tobias explained. “But with your particular branch, I wouldn’t want my old friend to get an upset stomach.”
Name: Lazarus
Branch: Rejuvenation (Resurrection)
“No, no, no.” Tobias waved his finger back and forth to emphasize his words. “I have something far grander in store for you.”
Titus growled, a truly unsettling sight.
“Yes, retrieve him,” Tobias said, dispelling his shadows.
Titus dropped down to the floor and thwacked his tail a few times.
It created a pulse of telekinesis that dragged Lazarus back down.
He thrashed against the pull, but the crocodile snarled and hissed, snapping his teeth.
It seemed to create a stronger hold over Lazarus, even in a telekinetic form.
Did the crocodile add his jaw strength to his telekinesis?
“Amara has had lots of dalliances with this one,” Tobias spoke to his familiar as if they didn’t hold Lazarus hostage. “It speaks volumes that after centuries of courtship, she never did commit to him.”
Titus hissed in response.
“Yes, truly.” Tobias chuckled, then turned to the frazzled and frightened Lazarus. “He was speaking on her promiscuity and your peasantry.”
Lazarus glared, pretending to overcome his fear, but in reality, his mind swam in it.
“Although I find it truly hilarious that despite all Lazarus’ achievements in his simple little eternity, Amara didn’t seek him out for her ritual.
” Tobias turned his attention back to his crocodile.
“No, he wasn’t what she required. When Amara sought to bring a goddess into this world, she came for Whitlock stock. ”
Titus hissed in response.
“True. Our lineage does date back to before the fall of magic,” Tobias replied. “Did you know that, peasant? You may’ve served one of my ancestors.”
Lazarus resisted his telekinetic bindings, only for the crocodile to clamp his jaw and force Lazarus to become still.
“Okay, let us end this.” Tobias retrieved a small metal case from his pocket, then cast his golden shield around Lazarus’ body. “We’ll see how much affection Amara holds for you when she comes for Tara.”
Tobias opened the case and pulled out a piece of paper with an enchantment on it. Slapping the page onto Lazarus’ chest, it unleashed hundreds of metallic threads that sprang around Lazarus’ glowing body and bound the man in a cocoon of sorts.
“Remember, Titus, if Amara makes a true move for Tara beyond musings or hollow threats, slaughter her.”
The crocodile growled in response.
With that, Tobias waved his hand and conjured his black lake of shadows for Titus to lurk beneath. He then made his way back upstairs, leaving the entire mansion set into a dreadful trap.
“You see a trap because you assume Tobias is a threat.” The doors swung open for Amara’s grand entrance. “Surprised?”
I glared down at her, invisible to the eye, and now guarding my thoughts from her intrusion. She wore a white dress, low-cut and with blood-red draped sleeves.
“It’s not my branch,” she thought, green eyes smiling. “Just an enchantment to ready myself for unforeseen threats such as a pesky telepath breaking free from my trap and snooping where he doesn’t belong.”
Ignoring her, I turned to warn Tobias.