Page 44 of A Bloodline Redeemed

I met Hasumi’s eyes and nodded, reaching out to pull the little boy close to me.“I’ll guard him.I promise.”

My shield went up the moment Hasumi’s came down.Then the water weaver was gone, taking the brave little girl with him.I felt the little boy’s shoulders shake as I scooped him up and held him close.“It’s okay,” I soothed.“Hasumi will be back before you know it, and you’ll be with your sister, away from all this scary stuff.”

He hiccupped with little sobs and buried his face against my shirt.My heart nearly broke in half.Fucking power-hungry supremacists.I could feel his ribs and his knobby spine through his thin shirt as I clutched him to me.This sweet little boy was a powerful witch.One of their own people.And yet they had terrorized and abused him and his sister, used them like disposable tools, for the magic that dwelled inside them.My rage was a hot, bubbling monster in my belly.I wouldn’t feel bad the next time I used a killing spell against those fuckers.

I patted Sky’s back as I focused on maintaining the shield around us.We were near the edge of the fighting, and I wanted to move us even further away, but I was afraid if I changed locations while Hasumi was away, they would come back for the boy and end up in the middle of the fight instead.

Magic sizzled off my shield, mostly misplaced, bouncing off other targets first or missing its intended target and hitting the shield instead.But soon, I felt a more targeted attack gnawing at the edges of our protection.

The smirking man who had been standing at the prime’s right hand during the initial confrontation appeared before me, separated from me and Sky by the thin, shimmering barrier of my magic.He sneered at the boy I held in my arms.

“There you are, you little maggot.Hiding with this fat-assed disgrace to witchkind.Come on over here, kid.Come back to the people who’ve taken such good care of you and that bratty sister of yours.”

I snarled at the oily, offensive tone in his voice.There was some kind of compulsory magic there, but it didn’t survive past my shield.Sky gripped me tighter and let out a little whimper.“Please don’t let him take me,” he pleaded in a thin whisper.Clearly, the man before us had a completely different definition of “taking good care of” kids than I did.

“Go to hell, you sick fuck,” I snarled at him.Lifting a hand, I flicked a painful stun spell his way, the magic crossing through my shield without disrupting it, a handy trick that Dyre had taught me early on in my hurried magical training.

The asshole countered the spell before it could do any damage, and his creepy eyes roved over my body.“Ha.You don’t even know how to use that tool you’re holding onto right now,” he scoffed.“Best hand him over before I take him by force and show you how it’s done.”

I scoffed.My shields were incredibly strong.A point of pride for me.There was no way he was getting through, even after all the magic I had expended earlier.All I had to do was hold out until Hasumi got here.Then the little boy—Sky—would be safe from this lunatic once and for all.

And I could unleash a killing spell without fear of dropping my shield or traumatizing the poor baby in my arms.

“You’re a dead man,” I whispered to the grinning cultist.“Living on borrowed time.”

He just grinned back at me, A rebel charged in from the side, a fae cross of some sort, tall and slender, and wielding a long, shining blade.The cultist deftly deflected the blow, grabbed the man by the hair, and disarmed him with a smoothness that was both awe-inspiring and terrifying.I watched in horror as he slit the man’s throat and cupped his hand under the spray, gathering the blood for black magic.

“Shit,” I muttered, bracing myself, trying my best to bolster the shield that kept him away from Sky.

But blood magic was ridiculously potent.My shield fizzled and my magic screamed in protest as he lifted his blood-coated hand and punched through my barrier, chanting words that made my teeth ache and my head ring.

Foul.Wrong.

But stronger than what I was working with.

The shield fell and I lashed out, the killing curse boiling on my lips.I wouldnotlet this psychopath get his hands on a child.Especially notthischild, who had clearly already suffered at his hands.

The deranged jackass managed to deflect the curse with nothing more than a pained grunt, still powered up with the residual blood magic he had just cast.

I backed away, drawing my magic closer, ready to counter whatever nasty spell he tried to send my way.My focus was zeroed in on the threat before me.But I expected magic.I didn’t expect him to dart forward and make a grab for Sky.

I turned, trying to break the guy’s grip on Sky’s little arm.He punched me in the face, and I staggered, my grip loosening for just a second in surprise.That was as long as it took for the madman to rip the child out of my arms.

Sky’s scream of terror was down out by my own scream of rage.I lurched forward, but just then, Hasumi reappeared.The man when down, gurgling and gasping, eyes bulging as water filled his lungs.Hasumi deftly snatched up the little boy as the cultist fell over and scrabbled in the dirt, his hands gripping his throat as if he could will air into his own lungs.

With a curt nod, Hasumi disappeared again, taking Sky with him.

I let out a ragged breath of relief.Then I realized I was in the middle of a raging battle and forced my attention back to my surroundings.

Too late.

I half turned and saw the witch standing behind me.The O’Leary prime and leader of the cult.I had just enough time to register her feral smile, as an orb of pulsing red and black flew from her outstretched hand and hit me square in the chest with the force of a semi-truck.

She was waiting the whole time,I had time to think.He was just a distraction.Then the pain and blackness swamped me, and I fell.

Chapter 25

Dyre

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