Reaching out magically, I grabbed one of the liquor bottles from behind the bar and cracked it over Lex’s head before he had a chance to do anything else. He cursed and I hurled myself at him. My right hook connected with his jaw, but Lex recovered enough to kick me and start scrambling away.
He got around the other side of the bar, the counter between us.
His eyes flashed silver. “Gonna fight me, little Robin?”
“I’m gonna kick your ass.”
"Careful now,” he taunted. “Tommy said the same thing. And we all know how that turned out for him."
"You son of a bitch."
My fists clenched and I braced myself on the bar. I had to be smart, wait for an opening or wait for Orion to catch up. No matter how badly I wanted to beat his face into a pulp until he couldn’t make that slimy smile anymore.
"They say you never forget your first. He was mine."
I shuddered in disgust. “You’re disgusting. He was only 16.”
“Not like that! I didn’t even have enough time to put him under my charms. Everything happened so fast, our fight was so clumsy and messy. Still,” there was that psycho smile again, “Tommy Walters was my first kill.”
I hurled myself over the counter without a thought for my own safety or strategy, crashing down onto the monster and bringing us both to the floor hard.
The bastard knew Tommy’s name. He taunted me with his memories of my cousin’s last moments. I was too close when Orion joined us to help. I walked myself right into his trap. Lex seized my arm and pulled me closer, holding me in front of him. He had a shard from the broken bottle and pressed it to my throat.
"Well, well," he purred in my ear. “Isn’t this cozy.”
"Fuck you," I hissed, fighting the hold, but he held on fast.
"No, thank you. I never intended to seduce you in the traditional sense, just get close enough to steal your power, so I’m not enjoying this anymore than you. Buthelikes this even less."
Orion’s fists were clenched, uncontrolled fury on his face. “Let him go.”
"I’ll kill him, stay back." He pressed the edge of the glass against my throat as we struggled.
Lex and I were struggling constantly, probably more than we should have been given the sharp piece of glass against my throat, but I hated being close to him and just could not stop fighting.
"Stop!” Orion yelled. He looked agonized at having to stay back, barely able to keep himself still. “You need Rob."
"I want his power,” Lex corrected. “I needyou.So, it’s your decision. You or him.”
“Orion, don’t—"
Orion was already stepping forward, hands out to offer himself up before I even finished protesting. Lex shoved me away and threw a hand out towards Orion.
I fell to the ground and watched in horror as Orion flew back, back into that damned summoning circle. He’d broken free himself but it reformed once more.
“I’ve been waiting for years to use this spell.” The delight in Lex’s voice meant nothing good. His hand lifted, and I prepared myself for a magical attack or a trick, but he was reaching behind him and muttering foreign words.
It almost looked like smoke rising around him at first, black marks pouring off him and moving through the air. I saw the blackness near his neck move from his skin, his tattoos. He was activating something. He’d put spells or magic in the tattoos on his body and now they were coming to life.
The ink penetrated the circle, turning the white ring dark. The symbols and lines spread out inside and started moving over Orion.
Orion tried to shake the symbols off, but they weren’t exactly solid. They arranged themselves in a familiar pattern like the tattoo on Lex’s back. The lines held him down and he tried to buck them off but then they latched on tightly, becoming more solid and he screamed.
"No!"
I beat up against the walls of the barrier. They didn’t budge.
He seized in their hold, bucking up and down and fighting with all he had. I stood by helplessly, watching in horror and unable to help. Lex watched too, mesmerized.
