Judgment stares at us with wide eyes, a hint of terror flashing in their dark depths.
Again he attempts to call forth the fire, but this time it doesn’t work. His magick is failing him. Without the Wand, he’s impotent now.
“My father,” I say, taking a step toward him, “spent the better part of his life trying to convince me I was nothing but a cruel, worthless monster. You will not have that opportunity.”
“Bold words for a mage who just lost the only person in this world who professed to love him. You should’ve protected her, Cassius Devane, but you didn’t. You couldn’t. You are nothing but poison.”
His words cut through my heart with the pain of a rusty blade, just as he intended. I feel them trying to take root inside me, blackening my soul like the very poison he speaks of. It’s the same tactic he used on me the night Stevie and I discovered the Chalice. The night he showed me a vision of my dead brother, Xavier.
That night, it was almost enough to destroy me.
But now, it only reminds me of Stevie. Of her words the morning after we retrieved the Chalice.I’m not naive enough to say love can totally counter that kind of hate—not when people in power decide their personal beliefs are carte blanche for the murder and imprisonment of others. But I do believe love is where we start.
Yes, love is where we start. And love is wherethisends.
“You are nothing butpoison,” Judgment taunts again, sealing his fate.
I don’t have a spell jar. Don’t have a single ingredient. The last of our potions from Professor Broome were spent on campus.
All I have now is my fury.
My determination.
And my undying love for a woman whose light I fuckingrefuseto believe is out.
Right now, that’smorethan enough.
“You’re right—Iampoison,” I grind out. “A poison you’re about to taste.”
Amplified by the shared magick of my brothers, I close my eyes and call on the energy of the dark Moon.
My words fall as easily as a breath.
Black rider, void of light
I call upon the Mare of Night
Unleash the darkness in his mind
For evil sown is reaped in kind
Black smoke rises off my palms, curling in my hands as if my skin is mere seconds away from igniting. There’s no heat in this magick, though. Only ice. Only darkness.
Judgment laughs. “Your illusions won’t work on me, Cassius.”
With little remaining magick at his command, he goes for blunt force instead, slamming his fist into my chest. It flames to life at the contact, but fizzles out once again.
There is no pain he can inflict on me now. No punishment to rival the sight of my fallen Star.
I hold up my hands before me, palms out. The black smoke thickens, sensing a fresh victim.
I see the change come over Dark Judgment in an instant. He knows he’s staring into the face of death. He knows there will be no mercy and no escape.
His eyes widen with fear. “But that’s… that’s impossible. You don’t have the ingredients. You’re just… It’s impossible!”
“Not impossible. Magick.” In a blink, I grab the back of his head and cover his mouth with my hand, unleashing the full power of my wrath.
He screams beneath my hold, fighting me hard, but I don’t relent.
