My confused and broken heart does not get to dictate my child’s survival right now.
Pushing my emotional wounds to the side, I refocus on the only thing that matters: getting Rain out of here safely.
I strap her to my chest to free my arms. I need my wand, which is still tucked up the sleeve of my undead dad.
This is… tricky. He didn’t want me or Rain to get killed by vampires, but only because he wants to force us to come with his weird tribe. If I go after him to get my wand, I’ll probably just end up magically roped to a dragon again.
New plan. I skip the wand and get the hell out of dodge. Whatever problems arise can be figured out by future me, who will hopefully not be in the middle of getting blown up and attacked.
Though given my recent track record, that’s not a guarantee. After sitting with it for a few seconds, the thought of being without my wand seems a bit calamitous.
I frantically review my options again--hoping something new pops out that makes this an easier decision--as I wait to see what Zev and the others are planning. Taking in the scene around me only makes things worse.
Above are fire breathing dragons.
Within are bloodthirsty vampires.
Without… is a desolate, dry land no human can survive.
Somehow I have to get back to my own world.
If there’s a portal here, there must be one back.
Unless Zev has a better plan.
I’m really hoping Zev has a better plan.
Zev? I ask, the desperation and fear I feel bleeding into even my mental voice.
We’ve got a plan, love. Stay where you are. I’m coming for you.
He’s coming for us. I kiss Rain’s head and slink further into the shadows. It feels too passive, and part of me wants to dive into the fray and kick some ass. But without any control over my magic, I’d be the one getting my ass kicked.
Even with the wand, it’d be a tough round that wouldn’t leave me unscathed. If it were just me, that’d be one thing, but… I look down at my child and my entire soul fills with a raw need to protect this small being. This little person I love more than life. More than myself. More than anything in this universe or beyond.
The feeling of that love fills me so completely that it warms me from within.
It takes me a moment to realize it’s not just love that’s filling me.
Rain is glowing, her skin a shimmering pearl in the darkness.
And so is mine.
My magic is ramping back up at an alarming rate.
Shit.
Back to Plan A. I need to get my wand back.
Zev, I’m turning into a night light. I need to move.
He lets out a protective growl. I’m almost there.
I look down at my hands and shake my head. We don’t have time.
It’s not just the lightning storm exploding under my skin, but the fact that I’m a glowing target for anyone who wants to find me or Rain. And our enemy list is pretty long.
I have to move. If Zev can track me this far, a hundred more yards shouldn’t present a problem. I need to find my father and get these powers under control.
No more accidentally burning down ancient groves or singing people I love.
I worked too hard to get my wand to come back to this again.
I dart out of the nook I’ve been sheltering in and scan the area, looking for my father and trying to avoid being seen, which seems mostly impossible at this point. I’m the only glowing witch in the joint.
It takes my eyes a moment to adjust, with smoke billowing, fires burning, dragons screeching, people on both sides screaming, yelling, dying.
But it’s clear which side is holding stronger. Which side is sustaining fewer casualties. Which side will walk away the victor.
My father’s side. And there he is, riding above it all on his stolen dragon, his wand out, his eyes surveying the carnage.
“The Eternal Night of the Ancients is over!” My father screams, to cheers from his army, even as they continue to slaughter the remaining vampires. By the body count, many have fled or been killed. Only a few remain, scrambling away from the flames, trying to take one last life before they die for real.
“It is a new era!” he says to another round of hoots and hollers.
I see my wand, the tip just visible at the edge of his sleeve, though I have no way of reaching him while he’s on a dragon. I need him to notice me and come.
A thought occurs to me, though it seems too easy. But what if?
I focus my attention on my father, trying to catch his eye. If the king could get into my mind, and so can Darius, maybe Timót can as well? Can I get his attention? I don’t love the idea of bringing him into my head, but if it helps me lure him somewhere discreet where I can retrieve my wand, then it’s worth it.
Father. Can you hear my thoughts? Father? I’m in danger. I need my wand or I’ll lose control and destroy us all. Help!
It doesn’t take much in the way of acting to inflect my plea with sufficient desperation and need. I have both in spades at the moment. But it still makes me cringe to ask for his help.
Though technically I’m just insisting he return what he stole from me.
His head jerks and I can see that he heard me, or at least sensed my presence.
When his eyes land on mine, I know he got my message.
Help.
I say it again, to hit that note a little harder. When he directs his dragon down toward me, I turn and run back into the tunnels so none of the remaining vampires or Érintett will see us.
I have to trust that Timót will follow me and he’ll try to keep us safe.
Fortunately, I’m like a walking LED bulb. My father had to have noticed and will assume something’s wrong.
I squat in the corner of an empty hall with Rain, hiding in a carved out nook and waiting for Zev and Timót to find us. Time seems to pass in slow motion, and I resist the urge to crawl out and go looking for one or both of them.
They can each find me. I will wait.
Bullshit. My skin is getting hot enough to melt my baby, I’m not waiting for anyone.
Just as I start back toward the main room, Timót arrives on foot and alone, the halls too narrow for his dragon to pass through.
As I’d hoped.
I hold out my hands, giving him a good look at my skin, at the electricity zapping through my fingers. “I’m not safe. To her or you or anyone here. I need my wand back.”
He cocks his head and smiles. “Look at you. So much raw power and you don’t even know what to do with it. This is why we are the perfect team.” His eyes glow with a maniacal light that does nothing to win me over. “I can help guide that power. I’ve had to work harder than most to cultivate my magic, and I can teach you how to tap into it, how to use it to create a better world.”
“A better world? For who?” I bite my tongue before I say more. I still need my wand, and getting him pissed off at me isn’t the way to make that happen.
He pulls the wand out of his pocket, and my whole body responds, lurching forward almost involuntarily, desperate to hold it, to channel my magic into and through it.
“This is a crutch they gave you to weaken you. You should let your power out!”
This isn’t the direction I was expecting the conversation to go and my stomach sinks when I realize what he wants from me.
He doesn’t know that getting it could kill him as well.
Maybe he thinks he’s invincible now, and he largely is. But as he’s just seen, vampires have vulnerabilities. The fire released from my magic could take him out lickity split.