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Only my mates and I were going inside.
When the moon was high enough in the sky to provide enough light, the guys drew runes on their skin and we broke off into two groups. Dason, Tye, and Kota were with me while Axel, Jolon, Syler, and Chayton formed their own magickal militia.
My magick was a vast ocean inside of me as we crept to the front of the house and slipped inside through a window Tye knew would be unlocked. The house was eerily quiet, and in the shadow of night, looked completely different.
Elan’s scent was everywhere, making me want to gag and cut off my nose. I held my breath as much as I could and trusted Tye to lead us through the house, winding first to Elan’s bedroom and then the office, before we checked the serial killer room.
He’s not fucking here, Tye growled.
But I knew otherwise. Elan was a conduit for the veil, and I felt the rift close by. It tugged at my gut, leading me back outside.
A sudden howl of warning went through the air, and shadows spilled from the treeline followed by shouts from Darbonne’s men. That was all the warning he got as the ether of the shades swarmed us, diving around and through our bodies.
Then they gathered at Elan’s side. He stepped into a beam of moonlight and grinned sardonically. At his back stood the shadow touched elders, and behind them, the shadow touched prisoners. Various supernatural races stood at their flanks, too afraid to choose the right side in a battle I would make sure they lost.
“How nice of you to visit, my dear. Are you ready to finish what we started?” he gloated as the shades took shape, their eyes glowing red and their lethal maws hanging open. Their orange blood flashed through the smoky wisps of their bodies like a lightning storm, promising pain if it was spilled.
My mates closed ranks around me, all seven of them placing me in the middle of their loose circle.
“How sweet that you think you can protect her, but if you know what’s good for you, you’ll surrender now. There’s no reason for more shadow touched to die for a bitch who doesn’t know her place.”
“Funny, I could say the same about you,” I retorted, waving toward the army of supernaturals he’d amassed.
I called on my power, letting it fill my hands.
Elan inhaled, and his eyes glowed yellow. “I can sense your mother’s power from here. You opened the grimoire.”
A greed akin to bloodlust took over, and the talking was done. Floaters dove away from him, hissing and screeching into our ears as they flew around our group and then dove into the woods to find our other allies. The shades were everywhere, and we leapt into action.
The guys paired off in groups of two and started their attack, and the witches cast spells of protection from afar while the warlocks went on the defense. The fae warriors rushed the army Elan had amassed, their magick a beautiful gold as they wielded their elemental powers and kept them distracted while we dealt with Elan and his shades.
Hands hot with magick, I summoned a weapon using the instructions from the grimoire that filtered through my mind. “Lavase,” I chanted, and blades slid from my hands with edges as dark as an oil slick.
“Demon blades,” Klah, one of the elders, shouted. “She has her mother’s powers.” He sounded awestruck, and I just hoped that worked in my favor.
I lunged for the nearest shade, throwing a dagger and watching it sail through the smokey ether. Ash fell around me from the hole I’d left in its body, and I wielded the next, aiming for the place I thought a heart should be.
As if the grimoire was physically with me, my mind flashed through the pages of the book, and I instinctively knew to aim for the right side instead of the left. I shouted that through the connections, hoping it would help my mates stay alive. My next hit melted the shade to a pile of dust, and I grinned.
Fuck yeah, baby, Axel whooped through the link. He was jazzed about fighting, and I scolded him to keep his focus. I was already terrified they would get hurt, or worse, killed. My greatest fear squeezed my heart and pushed me faster. Cutting through one shade at a time, I vanquished them with the blades so they couldn’t be re-summoned, but around every wisp of vanishing smoke, I searched for my father.
Elan had to have him here somewhere.
Where are you?I pleaded.
I couldn’t kill Elan until I knew my father was safe.
Distracted in my search for him, I didn’t notice the inky sensation that crept along my skin until the fine hair on the back of my neck rose. It was too late. Elan’s blast of magick had me sprawling across the hard ground. I skidded to a stop and grimaced as I gripped my side.
Lorn!My mates echoed through the bond, and I reassured them I was still alive.
Pushing healing into my injury, I scrambled to my feet and faced Elan.
Inhaling, he practically salivated and stalked forward, forcing me to move back with every step. “Just taste that,” he moaned. “I haven’t tasted such pure power since your mother was alive.”
“You’re the one responsible for her death. I wonder, do her other mates know that?”
Elan chuckled darkly and ignored my question. “If you won’t come to me willingly, Lorn, I’ll have no choice but to force your hand.” Elan’s eyes glowed orange, and my father emerged from the shadows with glowing eyes the same color.
