Shock pulsed through me as Audrey disappeared into the floor. Slamming my palms together, I called up my magic. But she was already gone, the trapdoor shooting back up and banging shut above her.
“Incoming!” Henry yelled from the corridor.
A second later, the crackling of lightning magic and whining of wind magic echoed from outside the door. I snapped my gaze between the closet and the hallway. Audrey was getting farther away with every second, but I couldn’t just leave Henry to fight off her entire guard force on his own. And besides, I didn’t even know where the lever that operated the trapdoor was located.
While cursing that damn poison mage to hell, I sprinted across the room and into the corridor.
Henry was facing down five of Audrey’s guards, and more were arriving behind them. He was still parrying their attacks with well-timed blasts of wind, but it was only a matter of time before he was overwhelmed by their sheer numbers.
Falling in beside him, I hurled the force wall I had already called up. It slammed straight into the front row of guards, sending them flying backwards and crashing into the ones behind them. Henry drew in a deep breath and straightened instead of backing up again.
I touched my palms together and threw a spinning force arc at the tangled heap of guards. Screams pulsed through the corridor as it severed limbs and bodies. And some heads.
But the rows of men and women behind them were already casting magic again. While using their injured comrades as cover, they started up a coordinated barrage of water and lightning magic.
Since my force magic was much more lethal than anything that could be conjured with the Great Current, I focused on throwing more attacks at the guards while Henry protected both of us with blasts of wind.
“Where’s Audrey?” he asked while continuing to block their strikes.
I cleaved three more people in half. “Gone. She disappeared through some kind of trapdoor in the floor. So we’ve gotta get downstairs as fast as possible.”
“The stairs are behind that mass of angry guys. Can’t we just use the same trapdoor?”
“I don’t know how to open it. And more importantly, I don’t know what’s on the other side of it.”
“Fair enough.”
A white bolt of lightning shot straight for my chest. I didn’t even bother trying to block it but instead finished throwing the force arc I had already called up. A crack echoed through the pale hallway as Henry shoved the lightning strike into the marble wall using an expertly directed gust of wind.
The pile of bleeding bodies before us was getting bigger, which would have been a good thing if it wasn’t for the fact that it also provided the never-ending stream of guards behind it with great cover. While ducking behind their dying friends, they shot sneak attacks at us. I trusted Henry to parry them all while I tried to cut my way through the wall of bodies with vibrating force magic.
“Hell damn Audrey fucking Sable,” I growled while hurling spinning arcs at it. “To think that she’d try something this like even without her magic.”
Water slapped against the stone wall to my left as Henry shoved another attack aside. It ran down the pale stone wall and created a small pool on the floor. Touching my palms together, I threw a force lance at the blond guy who had shot the water. He ducked out of sight.
“I don’t want to hear it, Henry,” I muttered while calling up another attack.
He shoved a lightning bolt into the wall. “I haven’t said anything.”
I cut him a sideways glance while sending another spinning arc towards the wall of dead people. “I can hear the ‘I told you so’ just by looking at you.”
“Well, I did tell you that there was a significant risk of her trying some kind of ambush.”
“Which is why I brought you.”
“Yeah, and a good thing too. But we should’ve brought more people.”
“We need them to guard Lance.”
“Fair enough.”
Blood ran down the hall, painting the pale wooden floorboards red, as I slashed through the pile of dead bodies again. But the people hiding behind it seemed to either be immortal, or were replaced by others as soon as they died.
“Then maybe,” Henry continued while shoving both lightning and water into the wall. “Maybe we shouldn’t have come here in the first place. Unless you just wanted some kind of extreme workout session?”
Amusement pulled at my lips as I muttered, “Shut up.”
Henry just chuckled in reply.
“This is taking too long,” I said, and then cast a glance back into Audrey’s bedroom. “Let’s go with Plan B.”
While blocking another crackling bolt of lightning, Henry followed my gaze. “Technically, that’s usually Plan F.”
“Just do it.”
While blocking one final water attack, Henry broke and ran into the bedroom. I smacked my palms together and called up a massive force wall. It whooshed through the corridor as I hurled it at the guards. Cries of surprise came from them as the blast shoved the wall of dead people back several steps. Using that moment of inattention, I darted into Audrey’s bedroom as well.
The door banged as I threw it shut behind me.
“Go,” I snapped.
As soon as Henry saw me sprinting towards him, he jumped out the window.
We were on the second floor, which meant that jumping out of the window would lead to broken legs when we landed. However, Henry had been a wind mage before he had been forced to share it with the Great Current. A damn good one, too. And while the strength of his magic was nowhere near what it had been, his technique was still unparalleled.
The door crashed open behind me.
Bracing one hand on the windowsill, I leaped out as well.
Air rushed in my ears as I plummeted towards the ground.
Then wind shot up below me, breaking my fall enough that I could land and roll forward with the motion without shattering any bones.
Henry drew his hands over his dark blue shirt, brushing off a few blades of grass, before raking his fingers through his thick brown hair. I shot to my feet right as angry cursing came from the window upstairs. Touching my palms together, I threw a force lance at the guard poking his head out.
His scream was quickly cut off as it hit him in the face.
We took off towards the front door while calls of alarm and shouted orders rose from inside the mansion.
“This reminds me of that time in Malgrave,” I said as we rounded the white marble building.
“Which time?” Henry replied. “Shit like this happened more than once when we were in Malgrave.”
We skidded to a halt on the wet grass at the front of the house right as a host of people poured out the door. Fire now bloomed in their hands, adding color to the otherwise gray light from the overcast sky.
“Which is why we should have no problem winning this,” I finished.
Henry let out a huff of amusement while calling up more wind magic.
Behind the mass of people, a woman became visible.
Audrey Sable.
She stood there on the porch and gazed down at us as if she was the most powerful person in the world. And I swear, that look on her face made my heart beat twice as hard.
“You’re getting sloppy,” she called across the damp grass.
Her people were slowly fanning out before us. A few others had already commandeered the carriage we had used to get here.
“And you’ve gotten overconfident,” I replied. With a wicked smile on my lips, I spread my arms. “Do you really think that all of these people will still do your bidding when they find out that you don’t have your magic anymore?”
A ripple went through the men and women before us. Some kept their eyes and their magic fixed on us, but others turned to glance at Audrey. Fury flickered in her green eyes as she met my gaze.
“Why else isn’t she trying to choke us with her poison magic right now?” I pushed.
“Because I don’t waste my magic on people who are already dead,” she replied, her voice laced with venom.
“No, it’s because I bound her magic and she has spent the past week as my prisoner.” I nodded towards her body. “Check her right arm. You’ll see the five black rings there that prove it.”
She cut a scathing look at the people around her. “Oh come try it. I dare you.”
Uncertainty blew through their ranks.
Then a tall man with bulging muscles grabbed her from behind while another shoved up her sleeve.
A gasp echoed across the grass.
The man who had pushed up her sleeve stared at the five black rings there, and then both he and the tall guy behind her snatched their hands back while retreating a step. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting to see if Audrey would poison them for their insolence. But of course, she couldn’t. Instead, a flash of panic shot across her face as she flicked her gaze over the sea of people before her.
“You have two choices,” I called to them. “One. You continue to fight for someone who is no longer a dark mage and can do nothing to protect you. If you remember what happened up in that corridor a few minutes ago, you’ll know how that fight would end for you. Two. You bring Audrey to me, and I might decide to let you live.”
Audrey’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh, don’t you dare…”
A large hand shot out and grabbed her arm. Audrey tried to yank it back, but the muscular guy behind her was a lot stronger than her. And a second later, more people stepped forward to help him.
From a short distance away, a small group of people exchanged a glance. Then they slammed their hands together and began shooting magic at the people who were trying to haul Audrey away from the porch. I sent a blast of force magic at them from behind.
They all hit the ground with dull thuds. They weren’t dead, but after that hit, they would stay knocked out for a while.
The rest of the men and women shrank back while the other group of guards dragged Audrey down onto the grass. Uncertainty blew across their faces. However, none of them made any move to help her.
“Traitors!” Audrey screamed. The word tore from her throat with such fury that it seemed to echo across the grasslands. “You fucking traitors. When I get my magic back, I am going to kill every single one of you worthless cowards!”
They just edged another step back while the four people who held her continued marching her towards me.
In that moment, I actually felt bad for her. Apart from that small group of people who I had knocked out, no one who had sworn to serve her did anything to help her. And some of them outright betrayed her to me. I knew that our world was built on power, and that Audrey had lost hers, but the lack of loyalty was still astounding.
Audrey thrashed against their grip and dug her heels into the grass. Her shoes created ruts in the ground, but it did nothing to stop her guards.
When they reached me, they threw Audrey down on her knees before me and then backed up several steps. I arched an eyebrow at them.
The four who had brought her immediately dropped to a knee.
“We would be honored to serve you,” the muscular one said. “If you’ll have us.”
I swept my gaze over the rest of Audrey’s people. About half of them lowered themselves to their knees as well, while the rest just remained frozen on the grass, unable to make a decision. I marked each of their faces.
“I’ll consider it,” I said. Pointing to one of the kneeling guards, I continued, “You. Bring Audrey’s things to my mansion.” I shifted my hand and pointed at someone else. “And you, round up those people I just knocked out. Lock them up but don’t kill them. I want to deal with them myself.”
While the ones I had pointed to scrambled to obey the orders, I turned my attention back to Audrey. As soon as she had hit the grass, she had tried to get back to her feet. But Henry had stepped forward without having to be told, and placed a large hand on her shoulder, keeping her on her knees. She stared up at me with burning hatred.
Good. I needed her to resent me. To hate me. To want nothing to do with me except for the impossible dream of killing me. Because as long as she was still open to kissing me and fucking me and sharing a bed with me, I would never be able to flush her addictive presence out of my system. So I needed to do something that would make sure that she would never forgive me. Something that would make sure that she would never touch me again. Never look at me with burning lust in her eyes again.
“And you,” I began, holding Audrey’s gaze while motioning towards the men and women still standing on the grass. “All of your people are here. So now, you are going to formally surrender to me.”
“Never,” she growled.
“You have just been betrayed by everyone who had sworn an oath of loyalty to you. You have no one left.”
Hurt flickered in her eyes.
“You have no magic. No one who will fight for you. And no power.” Leaning down, I drew my hand along her jaw. “Which means—”
Her hand flashed up.
Surprise crackled through me, but it was too late. The knife she had been hiding somewhere in her clothes shot towards my heart too fast for me to stop. Victory shone in her eyes as she stared up at me while the blade closed the final distance.
Then it stopped.
Blinking, I glanced down at it.
Henry’s other hand was wrapped around Audrey’s wrist, stopping the knife right before it reached my heart.
Stunned shock pulsed in Audrey’s eyes as she realized it too. It was replaced by rage a second later. And then pain as Henry ripped the blade from her grip while bending her arm back and forcing it up behind her instead.
I gave Henry a small nod of thanks while he continued pushing her hand up her back until she was forced to bend over. When he had made her bow her head almost all the way to the grass, he stopped and instead positioned the point of the blade against the back of her neck. A snarl ripped from her lips, but unless she was prepared to impale herself, she had to stay in that position.
“Oh you will pay for that,” I said, putting a threatening edge to my voice. But in all honesty, I was impressed. In fact, I was really fucking impressed. However, I couldn’t let her know that, so I shoved the emotion aside and pulled a cloak of lethal power around me instead. “Now, surrender. Or things will start getting real ugly for you real fast.”
“Then go ahead and try it,” she snapped back.
I couldn’t see her face since she was still forced to bow down, but based on the tone of her voice, I already knew that it was full of stubbornness and rage and a promise of brutal revenge.
“I look forward to it. We can get started right now, while all of these people are watching. And if that isn’t humiliating enough, we…” I trailed off as a rider came charging towards us from the direction of my mansion.
Paul, one of my guards, thundered towards us and then pulled his horse to a halt only a few strides away.
“What is it?” I demanded before he could get a word out.
Alarm shone in his blue eyes as he met my gaze.
“Sienna Hall is on her way to your mansion right now.”
