Chapter Sixteen
I was too shocked tospeak for a moment. It wasn't the revelation that The Captain could have a mate, but that it had been Esteban. Had Fin known about this?
Melinda’s voice came through the earpiece. “I have a really bad feeling about this. If he really is trying to anchor that much power, and also store powers on his own device, the addition of yours could cause something bad to happen.”
I smiled a little wider Esteban, praying he didn’t get tired of waiting for me. And then whispered softly up as I could," something like what?”
“We can’t say for sure. It could overload you both. It could cause some kind of power reaction. There's no way to know, without knowing what kind of power he's storing, we're trying to save."
So what the hell was I supposed to do? Stand here making small talk with my enemy until I figured out how not to exclude us all? Even in this weird crazy mode, I doubt he would stand patiently for much longer. I also didn’t think this silk dress was going to hold up much longer against my nervous sweats.
“I’m going to have to go with him,” I whispered.
Multiple voices mediately shouted, “No!”
Fin cut through the noise. “That wasn’t the plan Zoey. We have no way of knowing where he'll take you, or what he’ll do to you once he gets you there. For all we know, the second he get a hold of you he’ll try to take your power too.”
It was a reality I had already considered. But in my mind, he lost his mate, and now he sought to gain back his sanity by replacing him with someone else he assumed would fit the bill. He spent so many years focused on me, thinking I was his mate, that once the real one came along he didn’t accept it. So now he checked his focus back to me, and then some twisted way, it fed into his family drama with Fin.
Esteban took a step toward me and I skittered back. Which only caused him smile to grow more demented. “Why are you running, Darling? I’m here to take you home. Come to me and we’ll go now. I’ll leave your friends in peace.”
“Let’s pretend for a second I don’t want to go with you. Any chance I can convince you to just head on home without me?”
Any softness in his face as he looked at me vanished; his posture went rigid. “We made a deal and I expect you to honor it.”
“Like you’ve honored every deal you’ve ever made. The Chief just let us know how all your friends are doing back at your house.”
“The party. Of course, they are waiting.” The smile popped back up. “Let’s go and I’ll introduce you.”
I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “I think I’ll pass.”
Smile gone again. His face reminded me of some creepy clown passing its hand over the features to rearrange the emotions there. It made it very difficult to read him. “Then I’ll kill every single person here, painfully, brutally, while I force you to watch. Then I’ll save Fin for last and force you to kill him with your own hands, so you know how it feels.”
Nausea churned in my gut. I quickly bolstered the basic shields I’d put around myself and then tried to form one around the other’s as well.
“Cute attempt, Darling, but it won’t help them. I’ll give you one last chance to do as you're told and walk away from them now. It’s the only end in sight that lets them survive. I know you well enough by now to know you’ll do anything to keep them safe.”
There was a hint of accusation there and I studied him or tried to. Nothing about him seemed even remotely normal. “Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?
“Because you protect your friends, but you didn’t protect him.”
“Him...” It took a second to realize he meant The Captain. “You mean protect him from you. How about not going around killing people and they won’t need protecting from you.”
Esteban lunged toward me. I skittered backward, but the damn dress tangled around my feet, and I hit the ground hard, my elbow radiating electric shocks through me as I’d landed on it.
He came closer, but he didn’t get within range to touch me before a dagger came flying from somewhere. Then Fin was there, shoving him back as hard as he could.
“Ah, Fin. I wondered when you’d make an appearance. Were you really just going to let me walk away with her? Seems foolish, Brother.”
I scrambled to my feet and patted myself down. The weapons I’d strapped to my thighs remained on, underneath the dress. Thank goodness.
Fin and Esteban circled each other, and Melinda’s voice cut through the earpiece. “Come back here while Fin distracts him. We have an idea that might end this.”
I crept backward, one careful step at a time, hoping neither of them noticed ‘d moved. When I reached the area they’d staked out I crouched behind the shed where everyone else huddled.
“Can he hold his own against him?” Helix asked, checking around the other side of their hiding place.
“Physically, yes, but I don’t know if he starts throwing magic around then we might be fucked. We need to get his power gone, now, tell me what to do.”
The Chief and Hawk sat together in the dirt a few feet behind the shed, no doubt Hawk wanted him out of the magical firing line. I took a moment to head over to them and check on The Chief myself. I hated that he looked older. All the time I’d known him, he’d appeared solid, younger in spirit than many of the kids I’d known growing up. Now a defeated air hung around him and it hurt to look at.
I met Hawk’s eyes and noticed the way he’d locked his jaw tight. He hated the look on The Chief’s face as much as I did. I grabbed my adoptive father’s hands and ran my fingers over the faint bruising across his knuckles. “I hope you got a few good shots in, old man.”
He squeezed my fingers in return and shook his head. “Don’t worry about me, Zoey. Go help your man. Do whatever it takes to bring down this bastard.
A lump stuck tight in my throat. I had to swallow hard to be able to speak again. “I promise. I’m not going to give up until Esteban is dead. I don’t care what it takes.”
He released a hand and patted my cheek gently. “Just be careful. It’s not worth your life.”
We’d have to agree to disagree on that one. If it meant many more people survived Esteban, then I’d absolutely sacrifice myself if that’s what it took.
“Go,” he said, gently.
I eased out of his grip and Hawk caught my arm and shoved a knife into it. “I don’t know what he did to your gear but take this just in case. I’ll keep him safe.”
I twisted the knife in my grip to carry it easier and crouched low to make it back to Melinda, Ash, and Helix. The latter watched the fight with Fin and Esteban, but I couldn’t risk a glance without having a minor meltdown. I huddled near the other two and studied the notebook Melinda had spread open across her knees.
Her pants were streaked with dirt as she’d shifted around in the field. Ash stayed in a crouch so he could stare over her shoulder at the notes.
“Tell me what I need to do to make this whole thing work. Give us the best chance we have.”
She pointed at my cleavage, and I fished the necklace from between my breasts and held it out. “What now?”
“I think if we feed more magic into it, get it loaded up and then sort of smack the two devices together it might create a reaction that will destroy him.”
“Why him and not me?” It seemed like a valid question considering I’m the one who will have to mash these things together to see what happened.
“He’s stuffed full of power. Look at him,” she said.
We both risked a peek around the shed. “I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
“The magic around him is shimmering, but not in a natural way, it’s sort of in pulses, waves. It means he’s trying to hold too much, in himself, and likely in the device he’s been using to pilfer people’s power.”
“So, if I don’t have any magic and then do this thing it shouldn’t affect me at all? How do I get my magic back after it’s done?”
She winced. Oh. “I would assume your power would stay with my magical signature on this device. But I can’t guarantee it won’t get sucked into the other, or for magic to be transferred from that one to this one when everything goes down.”
I gestured at Ash. “What do you think? Is this our best shot?”
He let out a long-suffering sigh as if I’d greatly inconvenienced him by asking. In the last few days, I’d learned it was just his personality. Breathing seemed to be an inconvenience as well. “I think it has a strong chance of working. The tricky part is I can’t tell what or how he has his device on him. For all we know it’s an ankle bracelet and you’ll have to gain access to it in order to cause the reaction.”
Okay then. Step one. Keep Fin alive. Step two. Find his magical vampire device. Step three mash them together and see what happens. It was a plan out of a really bad movie.
I clutched the necklace tight in my hand. “So I have to put all my power into it? Are you sure? Will it be able to handle both sides of it?”
Melinda nodded. “It should. These are meant to work with mage or fae power, yours being of a dual nature shouldn’t matter.”
Alrighty then. No time like the present. The sound of metal on metal gave me a jolt and I leaned backward to check on Fin. With a quick glance, they looked alive at least. They were speaking to each other, but I couldn’t make out the words at this distance.
I focused on Melinda again. “What do I do?”
“Just feed your magic into the necklace. You should feel it when it bottoms out.”
“How long will it take?”
She shrugged. “It’ll depend on how much power you have.”
I squeezed the necklace again and touched it with my power, letting it get a taste for the piece of jewelry and the way the necklace would take my power. It wasn’t a subtle taking. The necklace got one taste of my magic and began draining it down in greedy gulps. Pulling it in. I had to breathe through it. When I felt the stutter of it reaching the end of me I had to regulate my breathing to get through the last of it.
“It’s done,” I think. I tried to stand but ended up on my ass in the dirt. Yeah. This was probably a bad idea. Going back out there with Fin and Esteban with no magic protection to even act as a buffer.
A hand gently took the necklace from mine, and I glanced up at Ash. He gave me a gentle smile. “I don’t think yours is enough. I’ll add mine too and see if we can push it a little closer to where we need it. Fin would be the best bet for a power grab but right now he needs his for the fight.”
I gathered the remains of my courage, and whatever damn iron will I had left while he loaded his power into the device.
His turn went faster and, in a few minutes, he handed the device back to me, his face pale and wan. “That’s not comfortable at all.”
“I agree.”
I took the necklace and stuffed it back into my cleavage. “I guess I can’t stall anymore.”
Helix shuffled over to us. “He’s getting tired. I’m not sure why since they haven't been at each other long. It doesn’t bode well.”
I stood and swiped some of the dirt off the stupid dress. Why didn’t I think about bringing extra clothes with me. Well, maybe because I hadn’t considered the psycho mage would dress me like a Barbie doll.
I used the knife to cut the bottom of the dress so I could at least move my feet and not fall on my ass again. Helix nodded and helped rip the back portion off with his own knife. If Esteban had a problem, he’d have to conjure up another dress and hopefully it would be distracting.
When he finished, I eased around the side of the shed. “Helix, can you play backup. If he falters, help him please, if it happens I’ll distract Esteban so he can’t make a direct attack at you hopefully. Get Fin out of there and don’t let him join again unless he’s 100%.”
He snorted. “Yeah, that’s going to work. I’ll play backup, but only as much as he will let me. The man has the same pig-headedness you do.”
I took a few steps past the shed, easing out a little at a time so I didn’t cause Fin to get distracted. “You say the sweetest things. Get ready. We don’t know what’s going to happen. Make sure The Chief is protected.”
Felix called out. “With what? You’re taking all the magic with you.”
I reached down and tossed a rock toward his boots. “The house. Idiot. If things go to shit, run for the house, there is at least a standard shield on it. I don’t know if it will help if he ventures in after you guys, but it might get you out of the firing line. If that doesn’t work, make for the car and get the fuck out.”
I turned toward Esteban and Fin again. They were easing around each other, red patches marred Fin’s cheeks, but I couldn’t tell if from being hit, or something else. Then I noticed the faint trickle of magic from Fin to Esteban. But I couldn’t feel it through myself, or my own magic, but through the necklace. I could see the faint magical signatures of everyone around us now. Strange considering some of them didn’t even have access to their power right now.
Fin twisted away from Esteban’s strike, and stumbled. I rushed forward and watched the magic trickle grow larger. Esteban was teasing this magic out of Fin. Could he feel it leaving him? Either way I couldn’t allow it to continue, not when we needed Fin to load magic into the necklace alongside mine.
I kept walking, stepping over stones, and a small bush. “Oh boys, it’s my turn to play, I think.”