Page 150 of Summoned
Something shifts in my chest. My mind, pushed tothe brink of ruin, sharpens. Shehesitated. Just for a split second—but she did.
Madeline’s eyes lock onto mine with a darkness that feels timeless, endless. It’s not the thick, absolute blackness she summons when she’s about to incinerate someone. There’s a crack in it.
At last, I see the weakness that’s been hiding in plain sight. It’s her fear of being outshined, outmatched, ordethronedin any way. A weakness I failed to see, until Nicole lit it up simply by existing. For the first time, Madeline is no longer the number one. No matter what she does next—shatter me, chain me in eternal agony, rip my heart out and crush it in her hands—she will never hold the same power over me that my soulmate does.
Nicole’s words may have rattled Madeline, but in me, they spark something much greater—a surge of power, purpose, and love that no spell could ever match. Yes, Madeline was powerful. Dangerous. Yet, she was never anything more than a lover. Nothing more than an addiction. Will she ever stand a chance against what truly matters to me?
“Soulmate?” Madeline shrieks, blasting me with another jolt of energy. “That’s nonsense. Magic isn’t supposed to be shared. It must be focused. That’s when it’s strong. That’s when it’s at its peak!”
A lie. I’ve held black magic in my hands for centuries, and the thrill of power it gave me doesn’t compare to a single moment with Nicole.
Feeling slowly returns to my numb fingers. My strength gathers, pooling in my chest and hands.
Madeline’s magic flickers again, and I seize the chance to stand up.
She twists her lips in disdain. “That’s why you’ll never amount to anything. You’re too weak to choose realgreatness. You hide behind the illusion of love. Then again, what else should I expect? You’ve always been a pitiful illusionist.”
“Don’t listen to her!” Nicole shouts. “You’re the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me, and it has nothing to do with your illusions. I swear to you! This is just the beginning. We’ll have more moments. So many more.”
I want those moments.
Magic flows from my fingers, rushing out and knocking Madeline backward.
“Shut your mouth, you little fool!” Madeline screeches.
Her hand lashes out, summoning a wave of fire-like magic that hurtles straight at Nicole.
The second stretches out. Everything inside me falls silent, except for one urge. To protect her. Instinctively, I unleash all I have. Ancient magic erupts from my chest. A vortex of energy cuts through the air and crashes into Madeline with unexpected force. She tries to block it, but it’s too late. My magic pierces her, lifts her off the ground, and flings her back. She hits the ground with a dull thud.
Nicole is unharmed. I long to pull her into my arms and assure her it’s over, that she’s safe.
Not yet. The harvest still awaits.
I walk up to Madeline, power crackling at my fingertips, ready to unleash it again. She tries to stand. I force her back down with another wave. Her arms twitch upward, but nothing happens.
“You were wrong, Madeline.” My voice is ice-calm. “You thought love drains your power? No, love comes from the same place as power—the heart. And when they work together, they don’t weaken each other. They sharpen. Especially when one is bound to a soulmate brave enough to stand beside them.”
The air around me stirs, filling with the scent of my soulmate. I let her approach. If Madeline so much as tries to touch her, I’ll make her last—I glance at the clock—fifty-three seconds a living hell.
Nicole is next to me, holding my hand. Pain shoots through my fingers, but it fades into her warmth. Her eyes drop to Madeline. “And in case you still don’t get it, Iamthe lioness.”
My broken fingers twitch. My heart races chaotically from the storm of magic. Still, the corners of my lips lift. “My Baroness…” I shake my head, then kneel beside Madeline. My magic plunges deep into her core, scorching everything in its path.
The clock above us disappears.
51
Nicole
Gaetano’s palm sticks to her sweat-drenched forehead like a seal branding her.Harvest 300. The ground keeps vibrating with gathered magic, or maybe my body just won’t stop trembling from everything that’s happened.
Madeline curls beneath his hand, the darkness in her eyes widening into black holes that seem ready to swallow her whole. I can’t see the magic, but I imagine it seeping from the surface of his hand, slipping under her skin like a virus. She trembles, her mouth open in a soundless scream.
A black shape forms in the center of her chest, a pulsing orb of energy visible even to me. It consumes her from the inside, spreading through her veins with each ragged breath. Her eyes roll back in their sockets. No sound escapes her throat, but her very essence emits a piercing shriek. It’s not pain; it’s her soul he’s just torn free.
Gaetano holds it between his fingers, a translucent, flickering gray mass. For a moment, it pulses in his hand before darkening, as if scorched on the stake she once threatened me with. It becomes a shadow, indistinguishable from the others circling us.
Her body freezes. Drained of spirit, it unravels, strand by strand, as if bloody sinew is peeling away, melting into the soil like molten wax.
