Page 108 of Dead Wrong

“And what makes you think I claim to be otherwise?” the Cardinal responded. “You see the injustice in the world, and it makes you angry. I understand. I share in that anger with you. But this is not the way to bring about change?—"

“Shut. Up.”

The pressure intensified, the windows behind Lynette quivered with a resonant tone, and several of the council members fell unconscious as blood dripped from their noses.

Sancha flinches, even her cool demeanor faltering for the briefest moment.

“You sit there,” Lynette spat, “and try and convince me, convince yourself that you’re not complicit. I know the skeletons you keep in your closet, Saint. I could kill every last person in this room, and my hands wouldn’t have but a fraction of the blood that soaks yours. So, do not patronize me with fairy tales of tolerance for corruption. Necessary evils are never truly necessary. They exist only to alleviate the responsibility of any who profit off the backs of those beneath them.

“Look around you, Sancha. A room filled with the most powerful, the wealthiest of our kind. My mother has rendered them docile. Made them fat and happy, reaping the rewards of a system that benefits those who already hold power. You can see it plain as day if you’d only open your eyes to it.”

“I… do… see it….” the Cardinal managed through clenched teeth, a stream of red blood flowing from her nose. “Please, let me help you?—”

A sickening crack sounded through the room as Lorelei slammed the butt of her gun into the side of the Cardinal’s head. She crumpled forward onto the table, speaking no more.

“Fucking Magi, and your need to feel superior,” she muttered, nodding toward Lynette.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Council,” Lynette addressed those still conscious. “I would like to introduce someone very special. We are joined tonight by my brother, Tobias.” She waved a hand, producing a shower of golden sparks. The pressure restricting my movements lifted, and the restraints around my hands fell away. “Come join me, brother. There’s something that we must see done.”

Was this it? Was I about to be ritualistically sacrificed in front of the entire Council in some horrific display of power? My limbs quaked as I stood, slowly making my way over to where Lynette waited.

“I’ve been given a vision,” Lynette said, taking my hand in hers and pulling me the rest of the way. “A glorious premonition of a second Awakening. Together, Tobias, you and I will make that vision a reality. Together, we will bring forth a new era of magic that will last for another thousand years.”

“Lenny, please. Mother is gone. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to stoop to her level. You’re better than her.”

Another cruel laugh spilled from her mouth. “Mother has been running away from this moment since the first visions came, promising the flames that would put an end to her reign. I am doing this because Iambetter than her, Tobias. Open your eyes.”

The door to the council chamber burst open with a bang, and Lorelei’s head snapped toward the sound, but there was no one there.

Lorelei hurried over to close the doors once more before training her gun back on the unconscious Cardinal.

Lynette reached for my other hand, taking it in hers and pulling us to the wall of windows overlooking the city. “This is your moment, Tobi. Ever since we were children, you’ve spoken about wanting to show your usefulness. The reason you belong in this family. Now’s the time. Don’t be afraid. We were born for this.”

Her grip on my hands tightened, and the crushing weight of her aura pinned me in place. She locked eyes with me, the edges of her form glowing with golden light. My hands burned where the Cirian’s and Bastien’s stones were embedded, and the pain only intensified as Lynette’s aura squeezed around me.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

She didn’t respond, the scalding heat in my hands changing again. That empty place inside of my chest that had been dormant since the start of my second life began to fill, not with my magic, but with something that felt wrong.

Was she funneling her magic through the stones?

“Stop!” I shouted, but she didn’t break eye contact, the vice grip on my hands nearly cracking the bones.

In matter of seconds, that space in my chest had never felt so full, brimming with this vile, burning magic that made me want to wretch. I tried to draw it out, to force it from my body with my aura, but it only swelled more, pushing against my skin like a caged animal dying to get out.

I was going to burst. The magic would tear me apart if she continued. Was that what she wanted? Was this the sacrifice she was looking for?

A groan tore from my throat as the pain spiked to new heights, my knees shaking as she clung to me, funneling a seemingly endless supply of magic into my body.

I felt it then, the tearing of my soul, bursting at the seam from the force of my sister’s magic. What would be left of me once it shredded its way through?

My second life was almost over. What would come next? If Bastien was right, then there may be nothing waiting for me on the other side.

Bastien. My promise to him was about to be broken, like so many that had come before. I wasn’t coming back from this. There would be no miracles, no magic that could piece together whatever would be left?—

Lynette’s hands were ripped away from mine as she was hurled into the high-back chair, shattering the frame into a heap of splintered wood. I collapsed to my knees, the swelling sensation holding steady in my chest, but the heat fading from my hands where the stones glowed red-hot. Shimmering into existence over me, Azrael wrapped me up, lifting me into his arms.

A deafeningbangwent off, something shattering the window behind us as Lorelei took aim for a second shot across the table. Just as she pulled the trigger, a long gash appeared on her arm, causing her to recoil and her shot to go wide. Irwin pulled a bloodied claw back, his lithe frame becoming visible as he ducked Lorelei’s flailing haymaker, laughing as he rolled under the table. Reed appeared next, behind the seething blonde, wrapping her up in a bear hug and lifting her off the ground.

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