Page 18 of Wicked Warlock
“We need to make it from here to there?” It seemed like it was miles away, not just across the room.
Beckett chuckled. “Piece of cake.”
He held out his hand and his blue smoke twisted and wound around his fingers. A portal expanded from the floor up. The blue magic swirled within the portal. He placed his hand against it and… nothing. The smile dropped from his face and he tried to shove his hand through.
“What the hell?”
He hauled back his fist and let it fly forward. I flinched, knowing this wasn’t going to go well. His knuckles collided with the portal the way they would have a cement wall. A low growl escaped his lips, and he yanked back his hand and shook it out. Blood coated his hand and dripped from his fingertips.
He wound up to let another hit fly, and I grabbed his arm. “Beckett, stop.”
“Your magic might not work down here.” Nova didn’t even bother to look at him. “Hades loves his games. It wouldn’t be any fun for him if we portaled across the room. That’d be cheating.”
Soto knelt down on the ground and placed her hand on the firm stones. She brushed her hand over it, gathering a handful of dust. She rubbed her palms together and the dirt fell from her fingers in a fine cloud. A rock shot up from the ground at her feet and hovered there before her. She spun around in a circle, then kicked out her leg, sending it flying out into the middle of the lava. It floated there like it had always belonged. Lava parted and bubbled around it, but the rock still remained. A small smile played on her lips and she looked at the rest of us.
“Maybe it’s just warlock power that’s not working down here.”
If she could get a stupid rock to float in the lava pit, then so could I. I unlocked that knot deep inside of myself—the one that I let loose every time I wanted to call on my power. I held out my hand, waiting for the golden smoke to heat my palm. Nothing. I flicked my hand again, watching for even the barest hint of power. Again, nothing. Fear coursed through my veins, and I shook my hand once more.
“Wait, what? No!” How could this be? When Beckett summoned his power, the blue smoke at least appeared. Now, mine wasn’t doing shit… not even a glimmer. Panic assailed my body, and I didn’t know what to do. I shook my hands, waiting for something to happen.
“What’s happened?” Beckett was at my side in an instant.
“My powers, they’re gone.” I held out my hands to him as though he could fix me, fix this.
He grabbed my hands and for a moment, his eyes widened and his face fell into a deep scowl. He glanced over my shoulder toward Logan. “Hey, you have your powers?”
Logan moved closer to Ashryn and whispered in her ear. Her body straightened and she spun to her side like a robot. She took two robotic steps and her arm shot out so fast I barely saw it. Her hand cracked across the side of Kylian’s face. His head snapped to the side and his jaw slackened.
“What the hell was that for?”
Ashryn shook her head as though waking from a daze. She looked down at her hand and up to the red handprint on Kylian’s cheek. For the first time, Logan cracked a smile and chuckled. “Yeah, they’re working.”
“What the hell, Beckett? This isn’t right.” Something inside of me didn’t feel right. Like a piece was missing. There was no waiting rush of power, no strength to be had. How could this be? Why did the others have their powers, but I didn’t have even an ounce of mine?
“We’ll figure it out. I swear. You’ll have your powers back.” He looked across the boiling lava. “We just have to get out of here first.”
This was triage. Solve the immediate problem first then move to the next. Kylian placed his hand over his face and took a step toward Logan as though I was going to pick him up and throw him in the lava. Ashryn stepped in front of him and pressed her hand to his chest.
“The important moment has not arisen yet. I must return now. And you must help me.”
“I must kill him first.” Kylian narrowed his eyes and tried to take another step toward Logan.
Ashryn slammed her hand into his chest, stopping him. “No.” Her voice was deathly calm. “You will do this for me.”
Kylian paused and looked down at her. “I will do this for you, sister mine.”
Tension hung heavy in the air around us, but our team couldn’t fracture now. We were so close to getting back. Too close to fight among ourselves.
“Soto.” I pointed out toward the one block she kicked out into the middle of the lava. “Can you make us a path to the walkway over there?”
She nodded. “Yup, easily. Just stand back, princess.”
Soto stamped her foot and a huge chunk of rock shot up from the ground. She kicked it out over the lava. Then another and another. She kicked each rock out over the lava, letting them plunge down into the pit. One after the other, they lined up, waiting for us to jump across them. Once she was done, they wove a perfect line around the swinging poles and sinking land.
I began to walk toward the first stone when Beckett grabbed my hand. “Let me.”
“I can do it.”
