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Topaz
A cool wind begins to rise as we head back in the direction of the manor house. The sun has disappeared behind scudding gray clouds, sometime between finding the message and leaving the edge of the forest.
I shiver, pulling my jacket more tightly around my body. We’re halfway across the grassed area when Kyan stops in his tracks. He grabs my arm, halting my progress, and I jerk to a stop beside him.
“What?” The look on his face sends my heart thudding into overdrive. My annoyance fades, leaving only fear in its wake. “Ky, what’s the matter?”
“Did you hear that?” He scans the surrounding area.
I listen carefully, but all I can hear is the rustle of wind in the trees still surrounding us, the crunch of gravel on the winding path beneath my shifting feet, and the sound of cars on the highway in the distance.
“Hear what?”
“Hurry!” His tone is sudden and urgent. He manhandles me in the direction of the car park. I lose my footing and stumble, wrenching my arm out of his grip.
“Don’t! My ankle is still a little sore, you know. And, I do have a will of my own! Tell me, please. What did you hear?”
His neck stretches as he lifts his chin. It looks as if he is scenting the breeze.
Then he steps in close to whisper in my ear. “Hellhounds. And they’re close.”
His proximity shocks me. The heat of his thigh pressed up against mine scatters my attempt to breathe calmly and evenly. Then his pronouncement penetrates my fogged brain and I gasp.
Hellhounds? The hunting dogs of the demon fraternity. The enemy of witches everywhere.
“Are you... sure?”
He releases a light snort. “As sure as I’ve ever been. There are several of them, I think. They’re tracking us—and they have our scent.”
“What?”
“Shh...” Kyan drags me further from the edge of the treeline, toward the main building and the car park beyond. This time, I let him. He casts a worried look into the scrubland behind us. Then he focuses back on me. His gaze is intent and watchful, a shimmer of red appearing briefly before he lowers his lids. I realize the shifter beneath the man has surfaced.
“Listen to me.” His voice is a low growl. “We won’t be able to outrun them.”
I gape at him, my mind going blank. Terror pushes everything else aside.
I thought we were only running from demons.
“We can’t?” I ask numbly.
“No. Once they’re on the scent, they never give up... ever. The best I can do is buy you time, try to hold them off while you take the car, find your cousin, and then get as far from here as you can.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I say firmly. “No way.”
“Topaz.” He sounds wrecked. “We don’t have a choice. This is the only way you’ll make it to Amethyst. Trust me. I know.”
I shake my head. Already, I am drawing on the magic pulsing deep inside me, pulling it forth until its raw power sits just beneath the surface of my skin.
I fan the flame, building the energy and holding it ready in my blood. I will not run off and let someone else take the brunt of what is clearly meant for me.
“How long do we have?” I close my eyes, willing the power to strengthen.
“Not long.” Kyan rolls his shoulders, preparing to fight. “Two or three minutes, maybe.”
“If there’s a chance—any chance—we can make it, then we should make a run for it. You and me together.” I cast a desperate look toward the front of the property. Kyan can probably cover the distance to my car in a minute or so, but can I?
Unlikely.
I ignore the panic taking hold inside my chest, and this time, it is me who pulls at his arm. “Come on, Ky.”
A sudden gust of wind whips through the trees around us, and the ground seems to tremble beneath my feet. I don’t need the gift of witch magic to know that danger is close by; I can feel it in the tingle along the back of my neck, the itch in my palms, and the shiver across my skin as tiny hairs raise themselves on my arms.
“Topaz, listen to me.” Kyan grabs my forearms and shoves his face close to mine. His ragged breath warms my cheek, and his masculine scent rises around me. My heart races when I meet his gaze. His eyes are no longer human. Instead, they are dark crimson, and fierce, and frightening.
His shifter wants out. I can almost see him, prowling, behind Kyan’s impassive gaze. Waiting for the opportunity to emerge.
“There is zero chance we will be able to evade them. Promise me you will run as soon as I engage with them.”
“No.” I don’t know why I’m fighting him on this. Something in his expression flickers. Annoyance, and respect. I don’t care what he wants. I’m not running off and leaving him to certain death.
“I have magic. I will use it.” And my magic is strong enough to be deadly.
I don’t say that last bit out loud, but perhaps he reads it in my face. He releases a long growl, and his eyes flash again. His jaw works, and he takes a couple of deep breaths through his nose. “You are annoyingly stubborn.”
Despite my thudding heart and the fear coursing through my veins, I shoot him a quick grin. “I know. Ammie and Sapphire have said that for years. Let’s do this, Ky. Together.”
I turn and face the trees, waiting. Even I can hear our trackers now. They’re just inside the wooded forest area, close enough that I can make out their panting breaths, the heavy thud of their footfalls. From the way Kyan’s head swivels from side to side, I realize that he’s right—there must be several of them.
And there are only two of us.
Red, glowing lights appear in a line in front of us. Against the dark leaves, the red dots shine like beacons, watching, waiting.
They’re not lights. Terror spikes through me. They are eyes.
“Get down,” Kyan hisses. “Now!”
I drop to the ground just as a huge black shape bursts out of the undergrowth and lunges straight at my head.
Kyan moves so fast my eyes can’t even comprehend it. One moment he is standing watchful beside me, and the next, he is directly in front of me, blocking the creature’s leap and twisting his torso to throw the shifter through the air. A roar of rage bursts out of him. I roll over and scramble to my feet, shocked at the speed of the attack.
“Behind you!” he yells.
I whip round, throwing up my hands to create a protective bubble just in time. How did the creature get around us so quickly? How many of these monsters are there?
And they are monsters. I’ve only ever seen an actual hellhound up close, once before—the night Luthor came for my soul, and I only remember snatches of that time.
This one looks like an enormous black dog, but unlike any dog I’ve ever met, the creature is tall enough—even on four long legs—that its bright red eyes are level with mine. It has a massive head to match the body, and a gaping, sharp-toothed maw dripping with saliva. The jaw is so wide it could easily fit my head inside the cavernous mouth.
It is so close I can count its teeth.
It paces back and forth in front of me, growling in a loud, low voice that sends shivers quaking through me. It is clearly thrown off-guard by my magical force field, but its lip peels back as the growl becomes a purposeful snarl.
My shield, fueled by sheer, panicked instinct, is not going to last much longer. Another hellhound joins the first, glaring at me and growling. Then a third arrives. They stand, waiting for the moment I drop my defenses.
Oh, goddess. Please give me strength.
How do I hold them off?
My outstretched arms begin to shake as the strain of holding the shield kicks in. Where is Kyan now? Is he all right?
Are we both going to die today, on this grassy field behind Amethyst’s luxury spa resort?
The random thought pops into my head. His blood was the same color as the stuff Amethyst left for us.
Holes begin to form in the rippling shield around me. I try to keep my focus, but I can’t hold on much longer.
My arms drop to my sides.
All three creatures launch at me. I scream as a red-hot bolt of light shoots from my body, stunning the hellhounds mid-leap and throwing them back toward the treeline.
The edge of the blast catches Kyan, who was standing over the body of another hound he must have downed only moments earlier. He is knocked back into a nearby tree trunk and slithers to the ground. I stagger across to him. He seems to be uninjured, only dazed.
Thank the goddess he didn’t receive the full brunt of my spell.
With a jolt of astonishment, it suddenly occurs to me that he’s still in human form.
Why haven’t you shifted? I want to scream at him. What the hell are you waiting for? Shift, and tap in to your true strength.
The hellhounds stir. My spell has flung them all the way to the edge of the grassed area, but it won’t keep them down for good. If anything, all I might have done is piss them off even more.
I hold my chin high and watch them carefully, gathering my power and readying for another blast. There’s no time to question Kyan on his motives for not shifting. Nor find out how he disabled a hellhound while still in human form and with no witch magic.
I only have one goal right now, and that is to keep us both alive.
A hound emerges from the shadows, and then another. How many of the damn creatures are there?
The two of them pad forward, impossibly large and so terrifying my breath catches in my throat and won’t release. Dead leaves crunch under their huge paws. Their twin gazes of ruby red eyes are unblinkingly focused on me. The movements of this pair are almost leisurely, like they are taking their time on purpose. Toying with their prey, before the final kill.
I sidle backward until I come up against Ky’s firm body. He catches me, sending a steadying message. I stretch out my hands, one to each side. I’m ready for the next attack, whichever direction it might come from.
Kyan yells something unintelligible and then he slides out from behind me. He barrels into the leading monster, pushing it into the other beast. The three of them tumble to the ground.
Human against beast—multiple beasts. Surely, he cannot win.
The hellhounds snarl, their teeth and claws flashing as they move. Kyan snarls right back, tangled up in the legs of the larger beast as he wrestles huge paws away from his face. He twists this way and that to evade the snap of those deadly jaws.
A low, rumbling growl from behind me forces my attention away from the hellish fight in front of me.
Oh, no.
Two of the three hellhounds I stunned before are on their feet again. They circle wide, slinking low to the ground.
Stalking me.
They might have recovered... but so have I.
A new fire burns in my veins. They’re treating me like prey, moving in a pincer-type formation, trying to box me in so there is nowhere to run. I throw a couple of balls of fire in their path, which slows them down a little. One of the beasts whines and skitters backward, its paws singed and smoking.
But I’m treading water, and they know it. I can’t go on like this for much longer. Already I’m weakening, struggling to muster the strength to conjure yet more fire.
Come on, Topaz. Brute strength isn’t an option here. So, what’s the next move?
In my peripheral vision, I see the fight with Kyan is still in process. One of the beasts slashes through the air; this time, its claws hit home. Kyan yells and clutches at his belly.
Someone screams, high and sharp. It takes me a second to realize the sound has lurched up out of my own throat.
The hellhound nearest to me lunges forward and snaps at my leg. I shoot another fireball at the beast, my mind racing. Think, think.
What do I know about hellhounds?
Hellhounds were created in the Otherworld, to serve their demon masters, my brain supplies.
Great. Anything else?
I cobble together every scrap of information gleaned from years of poring over spell books, gathering rumors from the Fae, and who knows where else.
Admittedly, it’s not much.
Demons live in the Otherworld. Soul collectors. It is a realm of darkness, where the night never ends...
My eyes snap open. I have an idea.
Summoning my willpower, I mumble the words under my breath. “Candidus ignis profluentis in sanguinem.”
It takes every ounce of strength left inside me to call forth the remaining fire in my blood. The palms of my hands begin to glow, red-hot and scorching. Bright beams of light burn through my skin. I want to close my eyes against the brightness, but I have to keep them open. I have to see where to aim.
The eyes... those burning, red eyes full of hate and violence and death.
I direct the beams toward every red eye I can see.
The hellhounds whimper. One by one, they drop their heads, twisting their necks, trying to avoid the glare, but it is too late.
I hold my magic steady. Their eyes begin to smolder and singe, burning away until there are only empty sockets left. The beasts claw the ground in agony and rage.
Finally, with unearthly snarls, they disappear one by one into the shadows, their physical forms dissipating until nothing is left, but the broken body of the one Kyan killed.
I collapse to the ground, spent, my magic fizzling out to nothing. I lean on the ground on my hands and knees, gasping for air.
The dead hellhound is directly in front of me. As I lift my face and stare at it, the body disintegrates into ash. Whoever sent them here after me, has called his monstrous servants home.
Every muscle in my body is aching and trembly, though I barely register the pain. There’s a dull roaring in my ears and my mind is blank, buzzing with shock and adrenalin. I sit back on my heels, listening closely, but all is quiet. Only my ragged, uneven breaths fill the silence.
Where is Kyan?
The thought crashes into me and I arch around. He is lying face-down in the grass, motionless. I stagger to my feet and lurch over to where he lies. He’s unconscious. A pool of blood darkens the ground around him. It seems to be coming from his middle.
I remember that deadly slash of claw. The way Kyan bent forward, clutching at himself, had a terrifying finality to the action.
My throat constricts. He can’t die. Not like this.
I drop to my knees and, carefully, turn him over.
His shirt is ripped almost in two, giving me an unimpeded look at his injuries.
His chest and upper abdomen have been clawed wide open. Blood is everywhere. I can even see some of his insides.
I struggle out of my jacket and press it over the wound. In the absence of a hospital operating theater and a whole team of surgeons, he needs healing magic, fast.
This is far worse than anything I have ever tried to heal before, but if I don’t try, he’ll die for sure. I might not be the best at healing, but right now, I have no choice.
I grit my teeth. I have to try.
“Ky.” I lift one of my hands from his stomach, briefly caressing his cheek. His skin is cold to the touch. “Kyan, wake up.”
I close my eyes and throw out a desperate prayer to any deity willing to listen.
Don’t let him die. Please, don’t let him die. Give me the strength I need to fix this.
“Ky, you have to wake up. Don’t leave me here alone.” I give his shoulder a gentle shake.
The trees shiver around us. Loneliness washes over me like a black tide, even as I gather what little power I have, in readiness for a healing spell.
“Come on. I need you to keep me focused.” I allow a tiny laugh to escape, though even I can hear the edge of hysteria in the sound. “You’re my protector, remember? Imagine how annoyed Burley will be if you leave me here alone.”
Silence is the only answer.
The spark of magic in my blood begins to hum. It is ready to release.
“Sana aium.”
Heal him.
The last of my magic drains out of me into Kyan, flowing from my singed hands through the now-ruined jacket bunched over his wound, into his chest and stomach.
This final burst of energy is all I have left, and I give it to him without reservation. He fought for me, when he could have run and saved himself.
The hellhounds didn’t want him. It was clear that they only wanted me. And yet he stayed, and was injured in the process.
My protector.
I bow my head over him, spent.
“Don’t die on me,” I whisper, my eyes closing. “Not now. Please.”
