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Lord Egretz flashes a ghastly grin, one that makes his soft and previously handsome features disappear, his true intentions shining through as a shallow, pithy, greedy man.
I don’t know everything there is to know about demons, but I know that time is certainly of the essence. I take a step in front of Systorak without thinking twice, then raise two hands, my palms facing forward.
“That’s enough talk if I do say so myself.”
I feel Systorak’s eight eyes burning into the back of my skull, but I pay it no mind. I give neither of the demons a chance to respond before I summon the abilities of my ancestors, a secret I’ve managed to keep hushed for years.
It swells in me like an organ coming back to life. It beats weakly, then trembles, remembering its calling, its true ethos, blood surging through it like the ventricle of a heart. I feel it move up my body like a gentle possession, cascading through my stomach, finding the pathway of my nerves, and tingling them sweetly like a forgotten lover at dawn. Electricity makes my hands buzz like pins and needles rising from the depths of a long hibernation. The look on Lord Egretz’s face is one of judgmental amusement.
Good, let him underestimate me.
He takes a single step forward, peering into my palms as the small storm turns into a catastrophe. He only has time to utter three words before I nearly annihilate him with over a decade of built-up sorcery suppressed.
“What are you …”
Lightning comes from my hands, the color of Systorak’s skin, pushing me backward into Systorak’s waiting arms. It smashes directly into the demon’s gut, pulverizing him with a shockedumphsound and sending him into the old stone wall.
For a second, I panic. The lightning from my hands is controlling me more than I can control it. But the moment I feel Systorak’s hands grasp my forearms, I am centered, calm, and more than capable.
“Just let it flow,” he whispers. “Let it flow and let it go.”
Lord Egretz’s body shakes as my powers hold him to the wall. I take Systorak’s advice and breathe, remembering the intuitive strength that it takes to control something so naturally untamed. Eventually, the lightning stops, and the demon falls flat on his face on the floor with a loud slap.
“Fuck,” I mutter.
I feel faint, but Systorak has me. He holds me up as my arms dangle at my sides, my head tipping back to rest on his chest. He keeps me steady until I find myself, and when I do, I am fueled by the powers that have returned to me.
“Lana,” he whispers, stroking my cheek. “Are you okay, love?”
My heart beats madly in my chest as his voice soothes me. I find my footing and turn to him, the look of amazement and shock in his often indifferent expression.
“I’m more than okay,” I whisper. “You came for me. Even after everything.”
He smiles with sorrow, looking away from me but continuously holding onto my arms.
“I know demons like this one intimately,” he says softly. “They don’t see any other option but ultimate domination.”
I sigh, thinking it was all over, finally, then we both hear a groan coming from across the hall.
I go into battle mode with the flick of a switch. The return of my witchcraft roots has me humming, and I escape from Systorak’s arms and leap across the room like a magnificent hare. My feet land directly in front of the demon, who is still living somehow and is writhing around.
My anger poisons my powers, and I take him by the neck, ready to crack it and have the delicious sound ring through the hall like the separation of a chicken bone.
“Lana, wait!”
At the moment, I don’t think anything can stop me, but something does. Systorak leaps over to me, holding out his hands. I don’t realize it, but my teeth are exposed, a thirst for revenge coming through with the resuscitation of my abilities.
“Don’t kill him, Lana,” Sys pleads. “It isn’t worth the whole lot of trouble that will come to you afterward. Trust me, demon court is the furthest thing from justice.”
I have the lord’s words in my head like a fruit waiting to break open for the juices, his eyes glazed over in semi-consciousness. My fingers rest on his neck, ready to take him from this realm with a flick of my wrists.
“He was going to take my arm,” I say, and my voice falters. “He was going to kill me.”
“I know,” Sys whispers, coming in closer. “But his death will only mean more pain for you. If we let him live, he will go the rest of his days drowning in humiliation.”
Reason returned to me, and I let out a deep, heaving sigh. I let the lord’s head drop back to the ground, forehead pressing against it like a praying monk. I take Systorak’s hand, which he is holding out to me.
I step over the lord’s body, and I come to Sys, finally able to rest in his arms. He is warm, and he is soothing with his hands engulfing my body. He is home.
