Page 24 of Risen
His strange, powerful magic rose through me, magnified by the powers of the earth below and the pure white light of the moon above.Acacia clung harder than ever, her own sick Aura and her dark magic swelling through me in return, waging war inside my body and mind as I knelt there, trapped between two powerful forces.It felt like they would tear me apart, like two dogs fighting over a toy and leaving behind nothing but shreds.
I tried to be quiet and hold in the pain, but eventually it was too much.I gripped my head in my hands and screamed as the forces inside me scoured my mind.Hot blood poured from my nose and ears as I collapsed to the ground.
It felt like it went on forever, though I was sure it was only moments.Robin wouldn't have waited much longer than that, and the others were still standing in a ring around me when I realized the battle inside of me had ended and the curse breaker’s magic was slowly receding.
I lay on my side in the dirt, covered in my own blood, my chest heaving with exertion and my sluggish heart pounding like a drum.It was over.Every inch of my body ached, and my vision was dark around the edges.It was hard to focus on what was going on around me as Sadavir and Ruya rushed to my side.I’m dying.
"No, you're not!"Ruya's voice was a whip crack of power, cutting through the buzzing in my ears.I must have whispered that last thought aloud.Her small hands settled over mine, where they still rested over my temples.Warm golden energy poured into me, soothing every ache, healing every cell.And meeting no resistance.
Acacia was gone.
I pushed myself up to a sitting position, elation bleeding through my being.I was free.Could this be real?I sucked in a deep breath to ask just that question, when a faint, insidious, sickening tug pulled at my gut.
My mouth dried up, my throat closed over as a wave of anguish swept through me at the realization of what this feeling meant.Acacia’s hold on me was weakened, so faint I could barely feel it at first.But...
"She's still there," I whispered, my eyes immediately darting to the curse breaker as furious tears replaced the ones caused by the pain of the spell.“It didn'twork.”
He huffed and waved away my concern.“Oh, it worked, boy.Don't you go casting aspersions on my talents.I've severed everything but that last final thread.That one's for you.Youhave to be the one to make the final cut.”
I glared at him as Sadavir helped me to my feet.“What does that mean?I thought you said you could break binding?What good is it if it's only partially broken?”
He shook his head, his expression sad.“Carrying that parasite inside your mind has weakened you, made you doubt your own power, made you forget who you are.All you have to do is take back your power and remember who you are.Decide to be rid of her, and the bond will break.”
I gaped at him in disbelief.Was he fuckingjokingright now?Anger surged inside of me right along with the despair.I wanted to rip his throat out.
Robin saved the man's life by interrupting our stare-off before I could lunge, her husky voice flat with impatience.“Well, this has all been very entertaining, but we need to go now.”
Her slit-pupil dragon eyes met mine, and she arched a brow.“Josh, are you coming with us or staying here?”
I could hear what she was really asking.Could I keep it together?Or was I just going to be a liability?Again.
I did my best to dampen down the sick feeling in my gut, where Acacia's claws still held on to me.I wouldn't fail them now.I couldn't stand to let Sadavir and Ruya and the others walk into this while I stayed back here like some fragile, damaged flower.
“I'm fine,” I bit out.“Let's go.”
Chapter 11
Sanka
ThetriptoDetroitwent smoother than I expected it to.No one attacked us, and everything went exactly to plan.Which was just fucked up, honestly.Where was the cult?With all the black magic and demon bullshit they were using when we last saw them, they should have figured out where we were by now.Or at least laid some traps around town to let them know when we showed up again.But nothing.
I think Robin was as surprised as I was.The threat of the rest of the court being attacked while we were traveling was the only reason she hadn’t turned into a dragon and flown ahead to meet our allies under the cover of darkness.But thankful as I might be for her staying with the group, whatever reason the cult had for leaving us alone… I was sure it wasn’t good.
We staggered our arrival at the old Detroit City Airport to minimize the risk of drawing attention to ourselves, cars arriving with muted lights at spaced out intervals.It was still pretty fucking obvious that a bunch of powerful paranorms were amassing right now, if you were looking for the signs.The naga had sent a troupe of twenty warriors with us, and Robin had called in her biggest favor, bringing in some serious muscle.But the syndicate was a bunch of twats, so I wasn’t really surprised that their security and intel was this shoddy.We were in their territory, but this part of town was abandoned, peopled only by “worthless” unaligned and the homeless.So it was beneath their notice.
The great thing about a corrupt organization like the syndicate was that eventually, they got too sure of their own power.Even if theyknewa bunch of unaligned paranorms were gathering here, they wouldn’t care.Oh, they might muster the effort to come fuck with us just for the fun of crushing “weaker” unaligned who couldn’t defend themselves.But they wouldn’t believe there was any credible threat to them or to their precious all-powerful emperor.And that made it stupidly easy for a bunch of ass-kicking baddies to gather right under their noses.
The car bumped over the cracked asphalt as we slowed to a stop at the main entrance of the brick building that had once been a popular hub for people traveling in and out of Detroit from all over the country.The place was closed down in the 70’s, as the area around it became more and more of an unaligned wasteland, and the syndicate and the well-to-do paranorms and humans in the area moved on to using the more modern airport on the other side of town.Robin bought the place at auction under an alias about thirty years ago, once it was considered well and truly abandoned.
She’d been buying up abandoned properties using the funds we acquired through all sorts of shady means over the decades.I was pretty sure she owned more of Detroit than the syndicate did at this point, but no one knew it, because things were always handled under aliases and backroom dealings.
I kept an eye on my alpha as we unloaded from the car.She was struggling.Ruya’s enhanced omega influence helped, but the fluctuations in Robin’s aura said her magic was about one step away from consuming her.And if I was being honest… the rest of the court wasn’t doing too hot either.We were all feeling the strain of the current situation, on top of the shifting bonds and connections within our inner circle.Unlike some of the others, I wasn’t too worried about how the relationship stuff would all pan out.We were all meant to be together.We were a family now.Shit would sort itself out accordingly.
But man did it ever fucking suck in the meantime.
Dusek and Yukio flew off to do a perimeter sweep, and I cast a simple detection spell that told me there were no obvious magical traps waiting for us inside.This place wasn’t on Robin’s list of safehouses, but it never hurt to be cautious.We still didn’t know who had shared the safehouse details with the cult or what else they knew.
My magical checks complete, I glanced at my alpha, giving her a nod to signal all was well.I tried not to let my emotions show on my face.If she knew I was worried about her right now, she’d probably kick my ass for fussing.
