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The furious thing inside me howled, trying to break free and screech its fear at the world. They’d hurt him! They’d hurt him and I had to hurt them back! I would kill them. I would rip their pitiful minds to shreds.
I felt Kaylee gathering her power for another blast, her mind a brilliant white star.
Inside me dark wings flailed, straining, trying to emerge, their tips glowing with ruby red. They wanted to rip open my body and mind and burst forth like a butterfly from a chrysalis. They wanted to punish, kill, and protect.
No. I was in charge. I would decide.
The thing inside me clashed with my will, screeching to be let free. I grasped it and held it firmly.
I would not screech.
Wings opened at my back and for a torturous moment my feathers were a muddy grey.
I would not screech.
This was my magic. Mine. I didn’t answer to it. It answered to me.
I opened my mouth and sang. Color burst through my feathers, bright vivid green and gold.
Gabin saw me and faltered from sheer surprise.
I held out my sword, drew more magic from the circle, and let the melody rise out of me. It was a beautiful song full of promises and forgiveness. It spread from me like a wave, washed over Kaylee’s mind, and swept away her meager defenses. She knew how to attack but she had no idea how to defend herself.
Alessandro sprinted between two beasts with unearthly grace. His hand brushed mine, I let go of the sword, and he caught it.
My song soared, higher and stronger, spreading through the house.
The three beasts bore down on us, Gabin in the lead, his father right behind him, and Luke still staggering a few yards behind.
On the Juliet balcony, Kaylee wept like an overwhelmed child.
Alessandro slashed through Gabin’s leg, whipped around, carved through Nathan’s deformed skull, and then buried the blade in Luke’s barrel chest. Nathan collapsed. Luke sagged onto his knees. Gabin ran, jerkily, picking up speed despite bleeding from the stump of his left paw.
My magic surged through the mansion, finding the bright sparks of other minds. I sang to them, promising safety, and kindness, and love.
Orange magic swirled around Alessandro. The Winchester appeared in his hands. He sighted the fleeing mage and fired. The three-legged creature dropped like a stone.
The front door opened, and people walked out, their gazes fixed on me. Elias, and an elderly couple, moving slowly, three middle-aged men, and one woman. Kaylee climbed over the iron rail and jumped to the pavers below. Her left leg snapped like a twig. She tried to stand, fell, and crawled toward me.
I needed to separate her from them. As long as I held her mind, she wasn’t a threat.
Alessandro was walking toward me. His shirt hung in shreds, red gashes crossing his chest.
Black pulsed through my wings. I wrestled the control back, forcing the green to wash away the jet feathers, and kept singing.
A deafening metal groan rolled through the air. I turned toward where it came from and saw a giant metal cylinder rise above the treetops. It was thirty feet long and eight feet wide. It hovered in the air for a moment and spun. Blades slid out of the shaft.
The Grinder. Connor’s House spell. Except this wasn’t my brother-in-law, because Connor’s Grinder had three cylinders, not one.
I had to get those people out of here. Where was safe? The Scarab wouldn’t stand up to the Grinder. The house wouldn’t either. If the Grinder didn’t cut or crush us, the debris from the house would end us. We had to scatter, except everyone was bound to me. If I tried to run, they would just follow me like baby ducks and if I yanked my magic away, they would collapse.
The Grinder dropped, rolling forward. The trees between it and us snapped like toothpicks and behind them Xavier stood in the middle of a basketball court, a complex arcane circle glowing around him. He wore headphones. A deranged grin lit his face.
I reached toward him.
Too far.
Alessandro spun, snapping the Winchester to his shoulder. A shot cracked. Xavier laughed without making a sound.
Alessandro didn’t miss. Xavier’s circle had created null space. Our reality ended at that outer chalk line. The bullet didn’t penetrate. Nothing would penetrate, not even a missile launch. As long as his magic lasted, he was invulnerable. The only way to survive was to get out of his range and line of sight.
Kaylee’s elderly grandparents stared at me with adoration. They had no idea they were in danger. I had sung to them and promised them that everything would be all right. I could run away, but Xavier would kill everyone I’d beguiled.
The bladed metal cylinder rolled forward, spinning through the air three feet above the ground. Alessandro lunged to me.
