Page 121 of Hexbound
Verity clawed after his link, and nearly fell out of the tree as an enormous surge of power shot through her. She felt like she could move mountains."Jesus Christ."He was so strong.
"Watch your back, and remember this is borrowed strength. You'll pay the price for this tomorrow. I'm coming."
Then his connection cut down to a narrow thread. She knew he was still there, a link stretching between them, but they both needed to concentrate right now.
"Right," she muttered, her gaze locking on a black robe. She looked at the fight in the center of the clearing, then the sky above it. Time to get her bearings. Time to pack some punches.
Verity swooped, punching in and taking the black robe with her. It was growing easier the more often she did it. Reappearing above Tremayne, she let the black robe go as gravity sucked at them both, and punched out, landing flat on her back in the snow behind a birch tree.
The black robe screamed and plummeted out of the air, landing where Tremayne had been standing mere seconds ago. Tremayne darted aside, looking around and then up with a curse. Drake smashed at him with another wave of force, and Tremayne staggered back into the arms of a snow-laden birch. A circle of bare earth lit the ground around the ward where magic had melted the snow.
Verity moved. Flickering in and out. Grabbing another black robe and performing the same trick. This time above one of the linked sorcerers.
She hit the ground hard and rolled under a shrub as a black robe appeared out of nowhere and dived for her. Then she was gone again, reappearing behind him as he scrambled under the shrub for her. Verity grabbed his ankles and hauled him flat in the snow.
"Bitch!" the black robe hissed, and turned to shoot a sphere of pale blue light at her.
Verity vanished again.
Bishop's energy wasn't endless. She collapsed into the hollow of a tree, pausing to catch her breath as the fight raged around her. Drake and Ianthe were winning now, with red-robed sorcerers falling faint in a ring around them as they hammered at them with magic. Tremayne screamed in pure rage as he pushed his way out of the birch and took stock of his plot and how it was failing.
"Time to finish this, Drake!" he bellowed, and pulled so much energy into himself that the ground began trembling.
The black robes around her looked down in dismay. One of them screamed and turned to run.
"Get back, you coward!" the main one bellowed again, but the rest of them could see the way the tide was turning. One of them bolted straight past her hollow with her cloak flapping. Verity got a good look at her face.
Violent explosions of light detonated in the clearing. Again. And again. Verity buried her face in her sleeve as a rush of pure force slammed her back into the hollow, her hair tearing from her chignon and whipping past her.
When it was done, she looked up from her arm. Her ears were ringing and white bars flashed across her vision, blinding her partly. She could make out figures standing in the clearing, but she wasn't sure precisely who. The stink of burned flesh made her wince.
Translocating closer, she crept out from behind a bush, relief flooding through her as she saw that her little party was all still alive, though both Ianthe and Drake were flat on their backs, as if knocked there. Lucien lowered a shimmering ward, Eleanor and Cleo clamped tightly to his side. He looked for Ianthe, then hurried to her side, helping her to sit up. Ianthe winced as she saw the burning red robes lying in the snow around them.
Including Tremayne.
Drake pushed to his knees, cursing under his breath. "You bloody fool." He reached forward and vanquished the flames licking greenly at Tremayne's fallen body.
Cleo clapped her hands to her lips as she took a half step toward Tremayne. "Father," she whispered.
Drake cast her a glance. "I'm sorry. The only way to stop him was to ward him in with all that energy."
The young woman nodded, swallowing hard. "I know." She squeezed her eyes tightly closed. "I know."
Verity crept out of the shadows, looking around. She'd seen what Order sorcerers could do when they set their minds to it. But the sheer scale of this astounded her.
Bishop charged out of nowhere. He paused when he saw the circle of fallen sorcerers, his breath coming hard. "Are you all right?" he demanded, striding toward her.
She slid into his arms, thanking every god under the sun that he'd returned to her safe and whole. Bishop looked surprised, but squeezed her gently. The link between them surged at their proximity, and she looked up in surprise.
"I'd like to keep it open for the rest of the night, if it's all right with you?"he asked her."This is not over yet."
Verity nodded, her hand slipping into his, as Cleo knelt by her father's side and reached out to gently close his open eyes.
Drake gently squeezed the young woman's shoulders. Tears wet her pale cheeks. Verity didn't know her well, but it had to hurt to watch her own father die, regardless of his crimes.
"Two down," Bishop murmured, watching the scene with an aloof expression.
He was speaking of Horroway, and now Tremayne.
