“I feel my magic.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s like a rock that’s thrown in water. It causes waves to emanate from it. My magic, what I used to get us out of here before, it was like that. Instead of a rock, though, it was like I dropped an entire mountain in the ocean.”
Gavin turned back to look at the river. “And you didn’t sense it on the other side?”
“Their lands are protected. They use magic anyway, and they want to keep what is theirs already. They have a barrier. It’s why my magic won’t extend over the river, and it’s why I didn’t sense the Mori vampires. Their essence was blocked because of the barrier.”
“Oh whoa.”
Davy glanced to the side, farther down the river where Cal and Spencer were crossing. Tracey was with them. She had a sturdy arm around both of them and carried them so the river’s current didn’t sweep them away. Spencer had just stepped down on the ground, and those words had been his reaction. He was human, but even he felt the magic, too.
A knot formed in her throat. They were going to be changed because of their presence among the Mori. She didn’t know how, but she knew it wouldn’t be for the better. They were humans and she had brought them into this war. After reuniting with Gavin, Gregory, and Tracey, they hadn’t moved into the Mori land for a few days. They stayed, camping on their side of the river, while they decided their next move. After hearing that Wren went back to Lucas, Davy knew what would happen. He would use Wren’s information about where they had been and he would try to intercept them before they got back to Lucan. She didn’t want that to happen. Davy wanted to infiltrate the Mori, cloak herself, so she could kill Lucan herself. She wanted to save Lucas this demon. If he had to murder his own brother, she knew it would haunt him for the rest of his life. The closer she got to Lucan, the more her real desire grew. It wasn’t just to retrieve Kates. It was more about enacting vengeance. Kates was fast becoming an after-thought, but it was one she needed to cling to. It would save her humanity, or that was how she was feeling. When she thought about Lucan, The Immortal grew in strength inside of her. When she remembered her best friend, the human side of her sparked alive again.
But she hadn’t shared any of this with Gavin or the others. She just let them know there was a battle inside of her. The Immortal wanted to take over, but she was holding it at bay. They had been reassured it wouldn’t happen, that she had a handle on it, but the longer they camped near the Mori, the more her blood lust for Lucan grew and the stronger The Immortal was becoming.
Finally, after waiting a few days where Davy wasn’t able to send the two humans back to their group, they decided to keep going. She hoped at some point she could send them back, but now they were on Mori lands, she knew their death was imminent. Even if they stayed behind, they were smack in the middle of a vampire and werewolf war. They’d be dead by someone’s hand, so it was voted on by everyone, and it was unanimous. Cal and Spencer were to be brought with them, and they’d remain protected by their group of three vampires and one Immortal that wasn’t in control of anything anymore.
“Davy?”
She tore her gaze from Cal and Spencer. Gavin had been trying to talk to her. She blinked a few times, as if waking up. “What?”
He gave her a half-grin, seeing where her attention had been. “They’ll be fine. We’ll protect them. Don’t worry.”
He had no idea. A doomed feeling was in her stomach, and it was growing, but she only replied back, “Yeah. You’re right.”
But he wasn’t right. She felt their death in her already. In fact, she felt all of their deaths. The only one who wouldn’t die was her, but she wished for it because what was going to happen was much worse than death.
“Are we going?” He gestured ahead to a walking path that led through the trees.
“Yeah.” She started forward, falling in line behind Gregory who had taken the lead. “Let’s go.”
Her head went back down, and she began chanting in her head. She was connecting to the magic she had left in the Mori land. It had been waiting for her return and it gathered inside of her now. As they progressed into the forest, she cast a cloaking spell over all of them.
She didn’t need to worry about tiring out. It was the opposite here. The Immortal was so much stronger. She needed to use her energy, to try to keep her at bay. They wouldn’t realize it, but as they made their way farther into the Mori lands, they were completely invisible to the magical breed of supernatural vampires. It wouldn’t be until later, much later, that they would realize the cost of returning to enemy territory would have on them.
BROWN
The Bright witch chewed on her lip and wrung her hands together. Mavic had been helping her ‘become one’ with her inside magic. He explained, many times, if she could burrow deep inside of herself, she could release her family’s power within herself. It sounded easy enough. Get one with thyself and pop that lock except . . . it still hadn’t happened. Every time he cast a spell that would help her become in tune with herself, something went awry. The first couple of times, his magic bounced off her and spread throughout the room. Objects that weren’t supposed to be alive came alive. A couch began singing a One Direction song once. Mavic zapped the couch a.s.a.p., quicker than Brown wanted. She enjoyed the song, but when a lamp started doing the Whip and Nae song, complete with dancing, he cut off all those efforts.
The next few weeks were spent where he blasted her with magic. Instead of having her awaken inside, he was trying to do the deed himself. All that ended horribly too. His own magic cut back inside of himself and he ended with a nosebleed that could’ve filled a small pond. Brown felt bad after seeing that side effect. She could live with the dancing couches and lamps, but seeing her trainer in physical pain, she had to keep reminding herself of the end goal to stop from calling it quits.
Help Davy.
That was her reason to keep going. She had to help her friend, no matter how many nosebleeds Mavic endured. It wasn’t until the last week where they finally made progress. He had her drink a concoction. When she asked what it was, he wouldn’t tell her. He pushed the cup against her lips and growled, “Drink.”
She did.
Davy’s vampire boyfriend brought this guy to help her so she had to trust him. She closed her eyes and drank the bitter tasting liquid. It churned her stomach, making her feel nauseous, but Mavic clamped his hand over her mouth and began uttering words under his breath. He was spelling the liquid and she began to sputter, feeling it spark to life inside of her. Her body seized, wanting it out of her. Her stomach began to spasm, trying to push it all back up, but even when it hit her mouth again, ready to spew outwards, her lips wouldn’t open. They’d been spelled shut. The liquid kept trying to break free, but nothing. Her mouth wouldn’t open and a scream built up inside of her. It was like cement hitting cement. Pain sliced through her, then backed up and rammed through her over and over again. She was bleeding inside. She tasted it among the bile, but Mavic was undisturbed. His hand remained over her mouth, and his head went down. He kept the same chant until her body surrendered.
The liquid began to seep inside of her, merging with her body’s organs and down to the cellular level. It was becoming one with her, and casting one last chant, Mavic backed up. He held his hand still in the air, but it wavered. He was ready to slam it against her mouth again if need be, but as he watched, he saw the transformation begin.
The spell was working how it should’ve. It was moving throughout the witch. It was a physical structure, therefore it couldn’t be spelled from her like all the other magic he cast, but it could root out wherever her magic was locked up. It
was supposed to find the location inside of her and it would help unlock it. He knew The Immortal had been able to do the same, but with The Immortal’s power. His wasn’t as strong, but if anything would help, this would, or he hoped. His choices of getting her magic unlocked were fast depleting.
Brown watched him as he watched her, but she was held immobile. She couldn’t move, not during whatever was going on with her body still happening. She felt the change inside of her. The liquid found her core, and it settled there. It was her spiritual core, where her magic was, and she closed her eyes, suddenly knowing what was going to happen.