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That wasn’t true, though. I had fae magic, and the sad fact was that Turk had dark magic.
He realized it about the same time I did. When he shoved it at me, it was like hot tar in my face, blinding me, burning my skin. I growled and fell back.
“This wasn’t exactly how we were going to kill you, but dead is dead,Alpha.” Turk scratched me, and the dark magic ripped open my skin, burning me. I felt the poisonous sting that I’d felt when he’d attacked me before.
Shit.
“Bishop!” Rory shouted. “You can’t beat him. He’s in his element down here, a demon!”
The realization hit me. Turk was more demon than shifter right now. He had to be at least half demon, if not more. So much started to make sense, but I couldn’t think too hard about the revelation. I had to get out of here. I had to get us both to safety.
Turk had me pinned down with his dark magic, but Sabrione had taken care of me. The fae magic fought the darkness, and it bounced off me like I wore some sort of magical armor.
I threw Turk physically off me and jumped to my feet. I ran to Rory.
“Brace yourself,” I ordered.
Turk was on my heels. I felt him coming at me like a dark wave.
I lunged myself forward and tackled Rory, wrapping my arms around her. We fell toward the ground, and Sabrione’s fae magic burst outward so that instead of hitting the cavern floor, we hit the ground in the lake home where Sabrione lived instead.
Rory scrambled to her feet and looked around, her eyes wide with fear and panic.
“It’s okay. We’re back,” I said. “It won’t last. He’ll be back to get you, but it bought us some time.”
“How did you find me? How did you get us out? How did you…” Her words cracked, and her voice broke. Her eyes filled with tears. “You came for me.”
“I should never have let you go.”
I pulled her tightly against me, and she shuddered as she cried. I stroked her back in circles and crooned in her ear. Everything was going to be okay. She was still alive. We still had a big fight ahead of us, but I hadn’t lost her, and that was a start.
Slowly, I felt Sabrione’s magic fade, until it was only me and Rory left in its wake. Our shifter magic had been restored now that we were on Earth.
“I can’t believe that son of a bitch betrayed me,” I growled when Rory finally lifted her head and looked at me with tear-stained cheeks.
“It’s not just Turk,” she said. “He told me everything. We’re in a hell of a lot more trouble.”
I would let her tell me everything, but right now, I held onto the fact that she’d saidwe. She was safe, and she was alive. I’d nearly lost her, once as a mate and once to death. I wouldn’t let go of her again. Rory was mine, and I would protect her no matter what.
24
RORY
The moment Bishop had sent word that the shifters should come together, they crawled out of every corner and hovel in the Twin Cities, coming from far and wide, and gathered at the Night Owl. I hadn’t seen this many shifters in one place in a long time.
Bishop stood to the side, talking to Sabrione. I leaned against the wall, my arms wrapped around myself. I felt lost and cold. The darkness of the cavern still clung to me, and even though we were in broad daylight and back on Earth, I couldn’t shake the sense of dread.
“Rory?”
When I turned, Nina stood in front of me. Was she still here? Colter had sent her to look out for me—or spy on me and report back to him, rather—but after I’d had a fit about it, I’d thought she might have gone back home. “Oh.”
“What?” I asked.
“I thought you were dead.”
“What?!”
“I followed you that night after you were with Bishop, and you were gone. I thought…” She swallowed hard.
