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Zoe stirred, forced from sleep as the remnants of her nightmare faded. She’d fallen asleep in Nick’s room at the castle after they spent half the night scouring the box and looking through Sonia’s possessions.
Nick wrapped his arms around her. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here, I have you,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”
She was breathing hard.
“You’re safe now,” he murmured. He didn’t ever want to wake up with her not there in his arms, he realised. This went way beyond friendship now. He loved having her there beside him. Loved the feel of her pressed close. He didn’t know how he’d ever managed to go without this.
She wriggled free, running a hand through her messed up hair. “I should go before someone realises I stayed here. Raf...”
“Can go to hell. We’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Argh, I must look like hell. Do you want...”
“I want you right here in my bed.” He tilted her head up, capturing her mouth in a soft kiss.
Zoe hesitated, then pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around him as he deepened the kiss, kissing her the way he’d wanted to ever since they first met.
A loud banging at the door broke through the haze of their passion.
“God damn it!” Nick cursed.
Zoe pulled away from him, turning pale.
“The Circle convenes in half an hour. Don’t be late!” Raf called through the door.
Zoe jumped out of bed as fast as she could, running her fingers through her messy hair.
They asked the usual questions once she got to the castle, discussed the strange shadow thing that had attacked her, and spent the next few hours performing more gruelling tests.
She felt exhausted when it was over. She headed out to the local cafe for some breakfast and coffee with Nick. She felt awkward around him now and didn’t know what to say about their kiss—not that he’d bought it up.
“At least they didn’t lock me up yet,” she remarked, sipping her coffee.
Nick looked up from the case files that were spread over the small table. “They are not going to lock you up. I won’t let that happen.”
“You can’t control the Circle,” she pointed out.
Nick dropped the file he’d been holding, reached across the table, and clutched her hand. “I’m not going to lose you. We’re partners.”
She smiled despite her fear. When they were together, anything felt possible.
Her senses tingled, signalling the presence of a fey nearby. They both turned to see a dark-haired woman pacing up and down, muttering to herself.
Zoe frowned, noticing a smoke-like substance hovering behind the woman. “Do you see that?”
“Yeah, looks similar to what broke through your window the other night.”
She shot to her feet when the woman disappeared from view.
“Remember the exposure risk,” Nick hissed as he rose, raising his hand conjure a ward to conceal the cafe from prying eyes.
Zoe nodded and hurried inside, scanning the cafe for signs of the woman. Could she have gone out the back door? She followed her senses. Light flashed around her as she went invisible and ducked into the toilets. The woman stood holding a knife to her own throat, the black mass hovering behind her.
Light flashed around Zoe as she became visible again. “Stop!” she cried.
The blackness shot toward Zoe, smoke wrapping around her neck, choking her.
She threw up her hands, blasting it with light.
The thing screeched, revealing an empty mouth that looked like a black hole. Zoe raised her hand again, her eyes flashing amber. The light wrapped around the creature, locking it in place.
The door slid open as Nick slipped in behind her. “Are you okay?” he asked the woman.
She nodded, trembling.
“Good, now go. We’re guardians, we can handle this,” Nick told her.
The woman fled.
“Who sent you?” Zoe demanded, keeping the strange creature under her control.
Maniacal laughter echoed from deep within it. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Before Zoe could reply, it vanished, smoke evaporating to nothingness.
Zoe dropped her hand. “I didn’t do that. Someone or something pulled it away.” She pushed her hair off her face. “Damn it, I had it!”
“I think I know what it is: a sluagh. They’re damned souls. Only someone very powerful could have summoned and used one,” he said, then grinned. “Hey, you did it! You used your powers.”
“Yeah, but I couldn’t hold it.”
“Sluaghs are damned hard to control. At least now we have a lead, we can use to find whoever is behind the attacks. Let’s go.”
Zoe had been surprised when Nick suggested they go back to Original Sin. Devlin had been a dead end.
“Tell me why you want to deal with the emo again,” she remarked as he took her hand and led her inside the club.
“I got a protection charm off of Raf. I’ll be safe from Devlin. He’s one of the strongest fey. He must know something about who’s summoning the sluagh and why.”
“I doubt he’ll be happy to see us. Maybe we should have disguised ourselves.”
“I want him to know who we are. We’re more likely to catch him off guard that way.” Nick ordered them some drinks as they approached the bar. “Maybe he’ll slip up if he’s sees we’re here, and he’ll start feeling the pressure.”
“Won’t he just try and throw us out?” Zoe arched a brow. “He threatened to do that.”
“No, because I marked him, remember? He can’t use his powers to hurt us.”
Zoe scanned the crowd, her senses reeling from the club’s intense energy. She grabbed her Pepsi as Nick found them a table.
“Do you need me to get his attention again?”
“No, he’ll know we’re here. Until then, fancy a dance?”
Her mouth fell open. “You? Dance?” She laughed. “This I’ve got to see.”
He took her hand, spinning her around the dance floor. “Hey, we might as well have some fun.”
Zoe slipped her arms around his neck. “Dancing, coming to a club – this is almost a date.”
Nick smirked. “Do you want it to be?”
She blushed, remembering how he kissed her. “I don’t want to ruin what we have between us. Our friendship means everything but I’m not good at relationships.”
“I don’t want to either, but...” He leaned down, their lips almost meeting. “Zoe, I—”
Zoe’s senses reeled as a sudden screech rang through the club.
“Twice in one day, lucky us,” Nick muttered as he pulled away. “Everyone out, now!” he yelled.
People screamed, fleeing, as a mass of black seeped in. Zoe felt Nick slip from her grasp as the clubbers trampled across the dance floor. She lost sight of him in the chaos, along with the sluagh. She did spot Devlin, whose shock of blonde hair stood out behind the bar. “Hey!” she called.
His eyes widened when he saw her. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Nick, still herding people outside. The sluagh shot toward Devlin, its wispy hands wrapping around the emo’s throat. Devlin let out a strangled cry and light began pouring out of him.
Bugger! Zoe raised her hands, blasting it with light, but it seemed to pass straight through it.
During their research that day, they had discovered the only way to stop a sluagh would be to break the connection to whoever had summoned it, then banish it once and for all.
She blasted it again.
The sluagh turned, baring fangs at her. “Stay out of this,” it snarled.
Nick had vanished among the crowd. It looked like she’d be on her own.
She spun and kicked the creature in the stomach, but that did nothing to deter it. Devlin’s power continued to leak away. Again, she blasted the sluagh, pouring more energy into her magic but that did nothing. Drawing her athame, she plunged it into its shoulder. It hissed, stumbling backward as Devlin hit the floor. The sluagh yanked the blade out and tossed it away, before turning its attention back to Devlin.
“No!” Zoe grabbed it, ready to call on more power.
The sluagh screamed as if scalded by her touch, its flesh steaming.
She stared at her hand, wondering how the hell she’d done that.
“Stay away,” the creature hissed. It turned back into smoke and shot across the room straight for Nick, knocking him to the floor.
Zoe moved to run to him but couldn’t. Something rooted her in place. The sluagh didn’t have the power to do that from what she’d learnt in their earlier research, they took power, they didn’t wield it.
Nick struggled with the sluagh, trying to fight it off.
Zoe tried to blur but that didn’t work either.
Devlin laughed. “Good, about time you damned guardians were wiped out.”
She pushed against the force as Nick slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Power flared in her hands as she drew magic, the air around her crackling with light as she forced her way through the invisible barrier. The barrier broke, making her stumble forward.
She grabbed the sluagh’s arm, yanking it away from Nick. It screamed again as her touch scalded its skin.
I wonder if this is part of my power, or from my curse? Either way, I like it.
She gripped the creature’s arms when it tried to mist away and held it in place. “You and I are going to have a little chat.” She glanced over at Nick, relieved to see him still breathing. “Who sent you here, and why?”
It snarled, and fangs appeared. “I’ll not tell you anything.”
She tightened her grip, making it screech as the heat seared through flesh and bone. “Wrong answer.”
“I’m not here for you,” it hissed.
“Still wrong. I wonder how much longer before I burn your arms into ash.”
Devlin laughed. “Sure you’re a guardian? They don’t torture.”
Releasing one of the sluagh’s arms, she threw her athame at the emo. That should hold him for a bit.
Her eyes flashed amber. “Guess I could start touching other body parts.”
The sluagh’s eyes glowed red as it shoved her back. “You have no power over me.”
Zoe landed on the floor beside Nick and felt power rise from deep inside her, her eyes burning deep amber. “We’ll see.” She raised her hand.
The creature gasped as she locked it within her power. She shot to her feet and grabbed it by the throat. “I am power,” she growled. “You are nothing. Now tell me who sent you!”
The sluagh’s eyes burned so brightly Zoe felt the heat from them burn against her face. “You know who I am, you know I’m stealing power. I need it,” said another voice. “Soon I will walk the earth once again. Soon, we’ll be together.” The sluagh touched her cheek. “I’ve missed you, Zoe...”
The sluagh’s body melted into sludge as a ball of light flew away then evaporated into the floor.
“Fucking hell!” Devlin remarked, pulling at the blade lodged within his shoulder. “What was that? What are you?”
Zoe spun around, eyes still blazing. “You.” She traced a sigil in the air. It burned there brightly for a moment before it seared into his shoulder, closing over his wound as her athame flew back into her hand. “There. Now you’ll never be able to harm others again. I decide who lives and who dies. This is my town.”
Devlin screamed, clutching his burned shoulder. “What the hell are you?” He turned and fled from the club.
“Zoe?” Nick rasped. “Stop!”
She glanced down at him before everything went black.
