Blount gaped at her, truly shocked. “He’s a bloody Space Mage?”
“It surprised me too.”
The Night Mage’s blue eyes flared violently. “And you’re Bonded?”
“We are.”
A cruel smile came to his lips. “That means I only have to kill one of you.”
“You can try,” Evylin challenged, then rushed him.
Blount sent out torrents of magic, each one with increasing power. If he wasn’t careful, he would burn up all his energy and pass out. Though Ilain had noted Blount’s impressive skill in the past. Evylin wondered if they had the power to overcome him at all.
The crystalline shards around Evylin deflected Blount’s strikes, but she felt each blow zapping more energy from her limbs. She couldn’t sustain her defense forever. An aggressive approach might be the only way to defeat the Mage.
Striking out, Evylin took the offensive. She stepped boldly toward him, and Blount had to step away from the range of hersword, throwing more shadows and flares, flames, and waves. She pressed in close to crowd his defenses. He raised a hand as she slashed, the blade slicing open the palm of his hand. But he flexed his fingers past the pain, and the diamond pendant flared with a white glow against his chest.
Within an instant, Evylin was frozen. Her muscles were incapacitated, locked in Time. No matter how hard she tried, her body was wholly halted.
His bleeding hand shook, betraying his early signs of fatigue, and Blount glared at her. He reached out, curling his fingers around the hilt of the Space sword, wetting her fingers with his blood. “I’ll take that,” he said, ice-blue eyes piercing her with their rage.
A sudden hand appeared on Blount’s shoulder. Then Rafferty’s head popped into view. “Afraid not, chap,” he said, driving a sword from behind through the Night Mage’s stomach.
Blount howled in pain, jerking away. The Space Relic clattered to the floor, and Evylin dropped to the ground as he released the Time magic.
Blount whirled, the sword still in his back. He set a stunning blast of Day out around him, dazing both Evylin and Rafferty. Then he snatched Rafferty’s collar as the man tried to scramble away.
The Night Mage’s hand closed around Rafferty’s neck, knuckles white as a shadow of the darkest amethyst seeped between his fingers. “That’s twice you’ve stolen from me, thief.”
Fumbling for the Space Relic, Evylin struggled to her feet. But Blount threw his free hand behind him, hitting her with a shocking cloud of Night. The wave caused her body to convulse, her fingers loosening around the Relic.
“I’m—” Rafferty gasped as the shadow crept along his skin. His veins protruded, turning a sickening dark purple beneathhis pale skin. His fingers trembled as he tugged at Blount’s grip. Then he wheezed, “An entrepreneur.”
Blount grunted as Rafferty used his final strength to kick out, hitting the tip of the sword sticking out of the Night Mage’s gut. He drove it down, cutting a violent gash through Blount’s torso.
But Blount didn’t let go.
Instead, his fist tightened, and Rafferty went rigid, the amethyst veins cutting ridges all along his pale skin. Then his body fell limp, his last breath stolen.
Horror and fury lit within Evylin, though her muscles still spasmed from the Night magic. Blount tossed Rafferty’s dead body aside. He reached behind himself to pull the sword from his stomach. With a trembling hand, he cauterized the wound with a swift flare of Day magic.
Somehow, Evylin found her way to her feet, the Space sword back in her hand. Her head was light, and she stumbled over the first steps. Haphazardly, she darted up the staircase. Blount raised his hands, a roiling amethyst cloud forming between them.
An iridescent black silhouette flashed, and Evylin skidded to a stop. Deckard stood on the dais, his body acting as a shield. Space coiled around his entire form, his energy restoring her. “I’d ask you not to threaten my wife,” he said placidly. “I’m rather protective of her.”
Blount spared a solitary glance at the rapidly declining number of his men. He took a step back, moving down the top of the stairs. “I’m afraid this isn’t the end I had in mind for today.”
“It’s the end you’re going to get,” Deckard replied. A hundred black shards rose with his hands. “Together?”
Evylin raised the Space sword. “Together.”
As Evylin sprinted forward, Deckard’s magic soared along with her. In the time it took to blink, Blount faded into nothingness under a shroud. However, though he was hiddenfrom the physical eye, Evylin and Deckard could both sense him, her Warrior magic surging through them both.
With heightened senses, they could see the slight shimmer of Blount’s form as he ran for the side door. His footsteps pounded, and the acrid scent of his fear could not hide from their ascendant magic.
The chase was hardly a chase at all. Blount didn’t even get to turn around as the Space sword and crystalline shards found their target, slicing through him. His body sagged, and his concentration fumbled. The Shroud dissipated.
Blount crashed to the marble floor, gasping for air. Evylin and Deckard stood over him. The Night Mage stared at Evylin, a trickle of blood escaping the edge of his mouth. “I...” He coughed, a clot seeping onto his lips. “I...deserved it. And you.”
