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Demon!
He forced a smile while sending out a thin tendril of magic, hoping he could glimpse into his brother’s thoughts. “How have you been?”
“Good. You?” Thorin asked, throwing out a painful barrier that made Selig’s magic coil in fear.
Great goddess, he’d never sensed such strong magic in another mage, not even in Malvolia. Thorin had been playing with dark magic and in the process had let a demon corrupt his soul—just as their uncle had done nearly fifty years ago. That explained Thorin’s advanced aging. Warily eyeing his brother, Selig swallowed back his fear. “My queen keeps me busy.”
Thorin arched a bushy brow. “Still treats you like her dog?”
“She’s been on edge,” he answered, though he refused to state why. Her seers had sensed a great calamity, predicting unrest and war. As usual, the mists had been vague, so they weren’t sure where the attack would come from. Selig had a sickening feeling his brother would be the cause. “And what have you been doing all these years?” he asked, hoping to glean anything, so he could warn his queen, though he wasn’t sure if the warning would do any good against a demon-possessed mind spinner.
Thorin held up his hand, and a glowing white ball of light hovered above his palm. “Practicing my magic.”
Great goddess! The energy that pulsed off him was unlike anything he’d ever felt!
“My powers are stronger,” Thorin said while being mesmerized by his own light, admiring it the same way Selig stared at his naked lovers.
Selig shuddered to think what that ball of light could do. “H-how much stronger?” he asked, unable to mask the tremor in his voice.
Thorin snarled, revealing decaying, chipped teeth. His demon was eating him alive. “My spells are more complex, and they last years.”
“Years?” Last time he’d seen his brother, his spells had only lasted hours.
“Yes, brother.” Thorin flashed a triumphant grin. “Years. Are you impressed?”
“If-if my queen learns of this,” he stammered, “she will have you executed.” Selig decided not to tell his brother he suspected Thorin’s magic was far stronger than Malvolia’s. “She already promised to kill you if you ever returned to Delfi.”
Thorin’s hoarse laughter was like a thousand tiny spiders burrowing beneath his skin. “Let her try.”
It was then Selig knew that Thorin was the great calamity, the new wave of darkness. He took a step back, pressing his shoulders against the wall. “Why have you come?”
His brother advanced toward him, the ball of magic still glowing brightly above his palm. “To warn you.”
Selig swore the temperature in the stairwell had dropped twenty degrees. He pressed his shaky palms against the cool stone behind him. “Of what?”
Thorin tossed that ball of magic from one hand to the other as if he was playing with a child’s toy. “Delfi is about to descend into chaos.”
“Why?” Selig rasped, his throat suddenly bone dry.
“Why do you think?” Thorin pouted. “They didn’t invite me to the wedding.”
Thorin had gone mad. “That was over thirty years ago.”
“A mage never forgets.” Thorin’s lips twisted into a hateful scowl, and he leaned into Selig, hovering so close, they were just a breath apart.
Selig breathed through a wheeze as a bone-numbing chill sunk beneath his skin. “Think before you do this.”
Thorin pulled back, his eyes glossing over, that ball of magic still floating above his hand. “Flora was the only one who refused to shield her face, who treated me with dignity. But then the way she looked at me that day, like I was a monster...all because of them.”
A warm trickle dripped down Selig’s leg. “Of-of who?”
“Malvolia and the dukes.” His eyes flashed with malice. “They turned her against me.”
“Thorin,” Selig implored, hoping he could still reach his brother, that his madness hadn’t eclipsed Thorin’s Fae heart. “Flora’s happily married to her fated mates. She’s expecting twin daughters.”
Thorin clutched his chest as if he’d been stabbed through the heart. “She’s pregnant?”
“She is.” He tried his hardest to infuse a note of calm into his voice. “There’s a green witch on the southern border with amazing fertility powers. Many Ravini have fallen pregnant these past few years.”
