Chapter 53 - Veridan

Veridan tightened his grip around the little boy’s neck and held his other hand forward—a bright mass of magic crackling, jumping at his fingertips. The boy’s back was flush against his thighs. He took a step back from their place in the kitchen. At first, the boy had wiggled and tried to get away, but it’d only taken a small current of electricity down his collarbone to scare him into submission. All he could do now was shake.

Veridan cursed inwardly at the missed opportunity. The plan had been to get to Samantha first, but the oblivious boy had playfully skipped into his path as Veridan made his entrance. An annoying interruption that threatened to thwart all his efforts.

“Let my boy go, you bastard,” the boy’s father said. He was red-faced and properly terrified.

“Stay back or I’ll kill him,” Veridan growled, the magic in his hand crackling in unison with his words.

“Please don’t—” Samantha started, but was cut short when her bloody Keeper busted through the door, his entire body buzzing with protective magic much brighter than Veridan’s own.

Damn him!

“Stand back, Keeper,” he shouted, squeezing the boy so hard that his feet came off the floor.

“Greg, no!” Samantha put an arm across the Keeper’s chest, stopping him in his tracks. “He said he’d kill Jacob.”

A satisfying smile spread across Veridan’s lips.

She cares for the boy, for this Jacob. How delightful!

Perhaps not all was lost. After his visit to Brooke, Veridan had forsaken his quiet night of sleep for a busy night of preparations. Visiting Rothblade Castle had become a necessity, rather than something to be avoided. And then his plan had been set in motion, one that might still work, if he treaded carefully.

“What do you want, Veridan?” the Keeper demanded. “I thought you might have learned not to mess with us, but it seems the only lesson you’ll understand is when I put you in the ground.”

Veridan hated the chill that spread from his neck to the bottom of his spine. The Keeper had nearly killed him during their last encounter. As long as he was tethered to the girl, magic was useless against him.

With some effort, Veridan kept his face stony, reining in and concealing his fear. Jacob, though small, was proving to be an excellent shield. Now if Veridan could only get Samantha to come closer.

“I want you,” he looked pointedly at the girl, “to come with me,” Veridan said.

“She’s not going anywhere,” the Keeper said.

“Then the boy dies.” Veridan moved his crackling hand closer to Jacob’s face. The child managed a puppy-like whimper through his constricted throat.

“No! Let him go. Please, I beg you!” The father sounded quite desperate now.

Veridan considered turning his magic on the annoying man, but then decided it was better to let him grovel. It seemed to be having an effect on Samantha, judging by the desolate look she cast the man’s way. Not a bad side effect in this situation.

Time for a little demonstration to push things along.

“My dear girl, the boy’s fate is in your hands. Will you let him die to save yourself?”

Under his breath, Veridan spoke an incantation that sent tendrils of energy undulating in a macabre dance toward Jacob. He released his choking grip as the magic reached his chubby face. Like snake tongues, the electrified strands licked Jacob’s cheeks and sent his body twitching. A girlish scream escaped through his pale, small mouth as his arms flailed to the side.

Veridan had no intention of killing him, not yet anyway, so he began whispering the words to end the spell. Except he had no time. Before he was done with what was meant to be a brief show of power, Jacob’s father let out a primal bellow and charged at Veridan with the power of an enraged bull.

“You bastard,” he cried out before he rammed a shoulder into Veridan’s stomach, sending him and Jacob sprawling to the side.

Veridan hit the floor, his head snapping backwards and nearly colliding against the cheap tiles.

Adrenaline and wayward magic electrified his veins and painted crumbling patterns before his eyes.

Not this. Not again.

He would not be defeated.