Page 98 of Runaway Magic
“Stop it,” Cym said impatiently as guilt tried to suck Marshall in again. Then, feeling like he kicked a puppy, he tried again more gently. “Did you tell whatever those things are to come attack you?”
“There’s more to it than that.”
“It doesn’t matter. I can already tell from our connection that you didn’t cause any of this.”
Cym looked for any part of his own soul that still had pink in it. Even a scrap would do.
At first it seemed fruitless, but eventually he saw a small bit around the edges of the hopelessly tangled conglomeration of Marshall’s and Cym’s magic. This gave him hope he might also find a small bit of Marshall’s magic that was still free, and he was right. A short distance from Cym’s small scrap of pink, he found a bit of azure blue flickering fiercely as it struggled to remain itself. He had no reason to think this could work, but his gut told him to try it.
Feeding a small line of his pink toward the spot of blue, Cym imagined his magic with a protective shield around it, much like what Marshall’s father had put over him. Only with this shield, Cym imagined it to be slightly porous. Carefully, he wrapped his shielded magic around Marshall’s.
“You’re a protector, Marshall. You help. You don’t hurt.” Then Cym willed Marshall to see the truth. “Don’t let the bad guys convince you otherwise. That’s not you. This is.”
Cym pushed an image of Marshall’s magic shining blue and bright at him, and he saw the scrap he cradled so carefully respond. It brightened and expanded, becoming blindingly incandescent.
The scene around them broke, and they were back outside in their actual bodies, both lying on the snow-covered field with Cym sprawled across Marshall’s chest.
Marshall sat up, tucking Cym’s body against his as he looked at Stella.
Sekt’s eyes glared out of Stella’s face, and he snarled. “I hope that pathetic display doesn’t mean you think you’ve won. I have more than enough demons and nightmares to pin you down while I eat you, dreamwalker. You can’t unmake us all, and feasting on you will be enough to get me the power I need to cross over.” Spittle flew from Stella’s once-beautiful mouth, spraying Marshall and Cym. “I’ll save the boy for Hester. She’ll enjoy killing Cymbeline after what he’s done.”
Cym wiped his arm clean and crinkled his nose in disgust. “Then I’ll be around for a while. Hester pulled a runner a little while back. It didn’t seem like she felt welcome around you anymore.”
“Please.” Sekt sneered, causing Stella’s face to become painfully distorted. “She knows this body is nothing more than a tool. Stella and I had a disagreement on who was in charge when I first stepped inside her. She wanted her sister dead, and I didn’t, so I had to destroy her. Some of her orders might have made things messy for Hester, but most of the Blaikes are dead now, so it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
“That’s all I needed, love.” A bedraggled Hester emerged from the shadow of a nearby truck. “I was just waiting for you to get the troops back in line.”
Sekt reached out an arm in invitation, and Hester limped over to where Sekt stood in Stella’s body and kissed him. Cym fought the urge to vomit.
“Oh gods,” he moaned into Marshall’s chest. “I never needed to see that.”
Marshall’s large frame shuddered, and he squeezed Cym’s shoulder sympathetically. “I think they’re done now.”
“Sorry I haven’t been more help, love. That nasty little boy tied up my magic and is using it against us. Kill him for me?” She touched her tongue to Stella/Sekt’s cheek flirtatiously.
“Apparently I was wrong, sorry.” Marshall’s voice sounded choked, and Cym couldn’t tell if he was trying not to laugh or gag.
Cym knew which one he was trying not to do and just hoped he could manage to keep his clothes clean if he failed.
“Anything for you, dear one. Let me just wrap things up here first.” Sekt squeezed Hester’s ass and then let her go. “Why haven’t we tried this before? The possibilities are delightful.”
“Focus, dear.”
“Work, work, work. Okay, where was I?” Sekt returned his gaze to Cym and Marshall, still huddled together on the ground.
“I’m going to need the reins for this.” Marshall whispered in Cym’s ear.
Cym realized he still had full control of their shared power and relaxed his hold, willing it over to Marshall.
White fire rimmed with blood-orange lightning formed around Sekt’s hands. It expanded outward into a circle, multiplying in size until a large dog, or small human, could fit inside. This didn’t bode well for Cym.
“Why don’t you save us the fight and just climb inside, kid? And dreamwalker, I promise we’ll eat you quickly if you give him up.”
Cym looked around and saw monsters of every size, shape, and color ringing the field. There was nowhere to run. How could Sekt possibly have this many demons under his control? And what was he waiting for? Sekt obviously had the power he needed to enter the Demon Realm in style. Adding him and Marshall to his magic was unnecessary gluttony.
Marshall wrapped his arms around Cym, pulling him tight against his hard chest protectively. Then he said to Sekt, “Fuck off.”
Then hepulled.
