“What are you doing?” he demanded in outrage. His magic resurged, fighting against the binding. I struggled to keep it in place, and it faltered for a moment, like silk ribbons slipping away. No, you can do this, I told myself. Vasilios might’ve been powerful, but I had the magic of two sorceresses, a warlock, plus my own trickle of magic inside me now. I could overpower him. I just had to focus.
I felt him rage against the binding once more, but I held firm. I stared into his furious, betrayed eyes and focused harder than I ever had before. I visualised the long strands of magic circling his wrists, twisting and fastening them tight. Vasilios’ magic weakened once more and his hands snapped together as though drawn by magnets. A sense of triumph rushed through me. I’d done it! I’d actually managed to complete a spell for once in my life.
Whatever forcefield he’d surrounded the house with shattered as I stepped away from him, confident now that the binds would hold.
“You want to kill my parents,” I said calmly. “I can’t let that happen.”
I expected him to rant and rave, but instead, he fell eerily silent. Finally, he seethed, “I won’t forget this.”
A chill skittered down my spine at the dark look he gave me. Then the door to the house burst open. My parents, Rita, Peter, and several members of the Guard flooded in. Vasilios stood still as a statue as the Guard surrounded him, snapping a pair of bespelled handcuffs on him that would further prevent his escape.
I noticed Rita standing in one spot, staring at Vasilios with a strange expression on her face. “Who are you?” she whispered.
He didn’t answer, only glared at her with hatred in his eyes. I stepped forward, placing a hand on Rita’s shoulder. “His name is Vasilios Girard, and he’s your half-brother.”
“He’s her half what?” Mum exclaimed while Dad inspected me for injuries.
“Theodore had a son during his time in Oreylia,” I explained.
Rita stepped away from me and approached Vasilios. “Theodore was truly your father?”
“It will never cease to amaze me how that psychopath managed to convince women to sleep with him,” Mum said, shuddering,
Vasilios levelled his eyes on Rita. “Yes, and I will kill you one day for what you did to him.”
“You clearly have no idea what he was like. He was a madman.”
“Maybe I’m just like him,” Vasilios replied darkly right before the Guard escorted him from the house. He turned back before they reached the door, making eye contact with me one last time. His look seemed to say, This isn’t over, and I momentarily regretted tricking him into that kiss. He didn’t seem like the kind of person to let something like that go lightly.
“He came here for revenge on everyone who had a hand in Theodore’s death,” I said. “He also wanted to finish what the sorcerer started by taking over the city. That’s why he was using his demon powers to stir up dissent among the vampires.”
“He wanted to start another war,” my father stated solemnly.
My attention was drawn to Peter. He stood on the other side of the room, looking like he wanted to sweep me into his arms but was hesitant to do so in front of my parents. I had no such qualms. I closed the distance between us, throwing my arms around him and pulling him tight to my body.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said as I buried my face in his warm neck.
“I can’t believe you managed to channel all that magic through our connection,” I went on. “It was like nothing I ever felt.”
“I wasn’t sure it would work.”
“Well, it did. You’re a genius. Also, it was freaking Nic, I mean Vasilios, who messed with our spell. He pretended that the spell knocked him out when he was the one behind it all along.”
Peter’s eyebrows shot up. “It was him?”
“He thought having your voice in my head would distract me from trying to discover who killed Mr Williams,” I said, then fell silent. Something felt different. I tried to speak in Peter’s mind, but only empty quiet answered back. “Peter,” I said, my heart pounding as I searched his eyes. “I think our connection is gone. The magical binds on Vasilios must’ve somehow erased the spell.”
“No …” Peter trailed off, clearly trying to communicate with me telepathically and failing. All this time, our connection had seemed like a problem to be solved, but now it was gone, and I was oddly bereft.
Peter exhaled a heavy breath. “You’re right. It’s gone.”
“Is it weird that I feel sad?”
He shook his head, running the backs of his knuckles gently across my cheek. “I’d gotten fond of having you in my head.”
“Me, too.”
We stared into each other’s eyes. The sense of loss was palpable, and yet, I was still grateful that we had each other. I was grateful for our time in the library and that he had been my first. Our magical connection might be gone, but the emotional bond we’d developed was stronger. It wouldn’t be so easily severed.