Lightning cracked around me, sparks flying from my fingertips. Raven watched me. Her lips moved, but nothing came out. Brianna must have cast a silencing spell, the bitch.
As tempting as it was to counter the stupid spell, I couldn’t afford to lose focus.
I stepped forward, fully intending to blast my father into the fucking demon realm, but when I reached the table, the sight of a slumped figure behind Dad distracted me.
Uncle Adam lay unconscious. Or dead. It was hard to tell.
“What have you done to him?”
Dad smirked. “Nothing permanent, I assure you. Besides, if it wasn’t for him, I’d never have found your little mate.”
I froze, unable to stop myself from looking at Raven. She shook her head furiously. Did that mean Adam wasn’t to blame for her capture?
“Did Uncle Adam tell you where to find Raven?” Naturally, Dad couldn’t stop himself from bragging.
“No, he’s much too loyal. But luckily for me, one of his witches was more than willing to give me the information I needed in return for a new coven position.”
Raven mouthed something.Pillow?
“Yes, it was me.” A witch pushed through the mages by the door. Like Brianna, she wore a purple tailored dress with a long silver pendant stamped with the insignia of the Nightshade Coven.
I vaguely recognized her but couldn’t recall where from. She didn’t seem especially powerful, so why would Brianna recruit her?
“And you are?” The witch flinched at my hostile tone before pushing her shoulders back.
“Your mother’s new executive assistant.”
I couldn’t help it. I fucking laughed. “That bitch isn’t my mother.”
Raven sneered as the witch flushed bright red.
“No, Alaric. Your mother is dead.” Brianna’s admission rocked me, but I forced my expression to remain neutral.
The other witch frowned in confusion at Brianna’s statement and then shook her head. Raven rocked in her chair, making a face at me.
Was Brianna lying? My father remained hale and hearty, so she had to be. If Mom had died, Dad would be suffering from bond sickness at the very least. Not even he could survive the severing of a soul-bond with no repercussions.
“Darling, enough,” Dad snapped at Brianna. Realizing my window for acting was about to close, I lunged for Raven while blasting lightning at my father and Brianna. The younger Nightshade witch screamed as Brianna used her as a shield against the lightning bolt. The scent of scorched flesh filled the room as her smoking corpse dropped to the carpet.
Dad cackled, not at all fazed by another dead witch.
Needing a few seconds to recharge my lightning, I grabbed Raven’s wrist as Brianna pulled a potion from her pocket and smashed it on the floor.
Thick, sludgy magic enveloped us, obliterating the protection spell I’d cast. I fell with Raven in my arms as the dark enchantment took hold, strangling my lifeforce with tendrils of pure darkness.
Raven’s eyes burned into me, bright violet with a rim of pure fire, her mouth open in a silent scream. I tried speaking, but the magic had paralyzed me.
“Forgive me,” I told her in my head.“I love you.”
Death yanked my soul from my body and sent it toward a gaping black void of nothingness.
47
Maverick
“They’re at the Mage Council headquarters,” Olaf told us as Rasmus opened a hidden doorway down in the cellar.
Racks of swords, axes, and other weapons lined the walls. Most were antique, but all could cause serious damage to a mage, which was all that mattered.
