Page 5 of Wicked Warlock
“Corvin Dustwick.” Her words were cold as ice. “I hereby find you guilty.”
Cora’s lips turned down even further, making her look like the ugliest fat bullfrog in the pond. Jiovanni skulked to the other side of Corvin. Warlocks were terrified of him. Now looking at him I couldn’t understand why. He was a scrawny, hunched-over worm. Yes, he was known for his sick torture, but now standing with the heirs and queens, I knew I could suck his power dry and turn him to dust in a second if I wanted to.
Dooooo ittttt. I want to watch. Kumi’s thoughts breezed through my mind. I shook my head, trying to focus on Penny and Corvin.
Corvin’s lip curled into a sneer and a humorless chuckle puffed from his chest. “You have no power here. Step aside.”
He opened his hand and dark navy magic—so dark it was nearly black—shot from his palm right toward Penndolyn’s chest. Her hand shot out and sucked his power up like a vacuum. It gathered in her palm in a little ball. She tossed it up in the air and caught it like a baseball. Cora and Jiovanni shot magic in her direction.
Not fair! I let my magic flow. The second their power hit mine, I sucked it up, absorbing the darkness they tried to use. It tasted coppery on my tongue and tightened a knot in my chest. I would be purging this as soon as possible. It was toxic. I moved up next to Penndolyn and chuckled.
She threw back her head and sucked in a deep breath. Her eyes flashed full black before she shot their own power back at them. Corvin’s two sidekicks dropped to the ground beside him, covered in vine-like magic that slithered like snakes around them holding them in place.
“Anything else I can help with, Aunt Penny?” An involuntary gag escaped my lips. “Their magic is dirty as hell.”
“I’ve got it from here.” Penny took a step toward Corvin.
“You are guilty of murder.” Penny fired her own magic back at them, scooping up the council into a cloud of power.
“Treason.” She threw them to the ground. Their knees hit the ground and their bodies bowed forward. Corvin’s eyes narrowed at her.
If looks could kill, she’d be dead.
“Child abuse.” She took another step. Thick metal bars rose up from the ground around them.
“Torture.” Heavy chains wound around their bodies then glowed the same color as her emerald magic.
“Theft.” The bars all connected and then slammed together.
The last bar clacked and echoed in the courtyard like a bomb. She bent down, meeting Corvin’s eye. “And I will make sure you suffer in this life and the next.”
He lifted his chin. “I welcome death.”
A dark smile spread across her lips. “Didn’t you know? There are things far worse than death… You should be so lucky.”
My heart pounded so hard it hummed in my ears. The council was done. First Alataris, then them. My lips pulled up into an involuntary smile. This was it, they were done, we’d done what we set out to do. My only thought was I wished that Beckett was here to see it.
“The rest of you freeze.” Her voice carried out and all the warlock held fast, like statues frozen in time. “That’s quite enough fighting. Warlocks and Witches belong together.”
A smile spread across my face. “We did it… we actually—"
“No!” Penny stumbled back. She shook her head. “No, no, no.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder. Pain shot through my hand so hard and so fast, I drew it back. Power, way too much power flowed through her body. “Aunt Penny?”
With one arm, Penny clutched her stomach; with the other, she warded me off and any who tried to get near her. “No, this can’t be happening. Don’t come closer.”
She threw back her head and her emerald power shot from her body in every direction. It was like being hit the face with LED lights so bright I had to close my eyes. Even then, bright dots danced behind my lids. There was a beat of silence, and then she flung her head back and screamed. Her body lifted up off the ground and she threw her arms out to her sides as she hovered in the air. Gold and emerald power swirled around her body. I felt it invading her, forcing its way in. So much power I wanted to take some of it before it killed her.
I reached out ready to try when Tuck wrapped his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides. “No, don’t.”
“WHY?”
“It’s hers.”
I didn’t understand what he meant. But I listened to his warning. The debris littering the courtyard all rose up off the ground, floating in mid-air. It began to vibrate with the power rolling off her. The wind kicked up, and Tucker dragged me to the ground, covering my head. Pressure built and I felt the power condensing like a bomb about to go off. I fought against his hold and reached out toward her. She was my family. I just got her. I didn’t want to lose her now. That much power would kill someone. “Penny! No!”
Power sparked over her skin like electricity. BOOM! It exploded out of her, launching the debris from the courtyard up into the atmosphere. Students were thrown back off their feet. They skidded across the ground, hitting the walls of the school and clinging to them with their fingertips to keep themselves from being whipped through the courtyard. I was pinned down, watching as the council was shot from their cage and thrown into a wall across the courtyard.
