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Instead, Sylvan controls her, seemingly without effort.
He yanks her through evolved shifters, possessed by shadow, and members of the Cult, feverish in their adoration. The farther Sylvan drags her, the more frenzied the beings seem.
They move through twisty corridors and down several flights into the basement of the mansion. Her stomach churns. What’s Sylvan done to her? What kind of Fae magic is he using to suppress her own powers? She’s a vampire and a warlock. He shouldn’t be able to do it at all.
Her thoughts swim through fluff and fear squeezes her throat. Finally, they reach a large room in one of the lowest points of the mansion. Large maps cover the walls. Pins mark points on each and every map. An expansive table takes up the center of the room, and multiple ancient volumes lie open over its service. It’s as though she’s strolled into history and every underground war room from every world war documentary she’s ever seen.
Maybe it’s fitting to be here since they stand on the cusp of the end of all things. If she could move, her teeth might be chattering, her body might be trembling.
But Maddy still can’t move. A shadowy figure turns toward them, and Maddy recognizes him.
At the far end, Malcolm Merrick waits, a snake poised for a deadly attack. His eyebrows meet over the bridge of his nose, and dark hatred burns in his eyes.
Heavily armed cult warriors surround him, each one wearing a Malcolm-matching snarl.
She scrambles to try to put together an attack spell.
Balls of fire… Brimstone… Lightning… Anything…
But nothing happens, and Malcolm closes the distance between them.
Sylvan pulls Maddy into the middle of the war room and stands her there. He releases Maddy, and she remains there, unable to move, barely able to keep her balance. Sylvan takes a step to the side, and she tries to watch him through her peripheral vision.
Malcolm studies Sylvan. “I see keeping her bound has exacted a toll. Anything left of the amplifier?”
Sylvan holds up a crystal just as it dissolves to ash in his hand. Sweat glitters on his upper lip. “She fought the whole way, but it held enough to get her here. All of what…five minutes?” He shakes his head. “If she’d been any stronger…any more practiced, the amplification crystal wouldn’t have been enough to hold the spell at all, and we don’t have another.” He grimaces. “She’s your problem now.”
Malcolm chuckles. “So she is. Release her to me.”
Amplification crystal? Is it something like the pendant Caleb wears? Maddy works the information in her mind. Stones amplifying self-control and crystals amplifying magic. It makes sense, doesn’t it? She glances from Sylvan to Malcolm and back again. They don’t have another one.
The straitjacket of magic around her loosens as the crystal ash settles on the floor, and Maddy wiggles her fingers to test her ability to move. She grimaces as she reaches for her magic, and nearly laughs when she can feel it just out of reach.
Sylvan moves to a chair which rests against the perimeter wall, and he takes a seat, practically sagging. “I hope you’ve brought enough warriors.”
Maddy wants to argue with Malcolm, warn him of her strength, but Sylvan had incapacitated her with the crystal.
Malcolm glances around him, his look encompassing all the warriors he has. “I don’t require them.”
Sylvan snickers. “Don’t you plan to fight her?”
Malcolm arches an eyebrow. “Of course. I intend to put her in her place.”
Sylvan frowns at him. “You’re going to risk everything on your ego?”
A burst of foul air gusts through the war room, making the corners of the maps on the walls flap in the wind. It swirls in tighter circles until it dances as a whirlwind on the table, turning pages in the tomes.
A smile splits Malcolm’s face as the display continues.
Abruptly, an alarm sounds through the mansion, and a beast appears on the threshold. “They’ve breached the mansion.” The beady eyes cut to Maddy. “They’re looking for her.”
Malcolm turns to Sylvan. “Take my guards and target her mate. He’s weak and human now. End him.”
Maddy bites her bottom lip to keep from crying out. Sylvan doesn’t do much more than give Malcolm a curt nod. He gestures to the guards surrounding Malcolm, and they all race out of the war room.
How could Malcolm be such a strategist? He sent all his support away, and he’s completely ignoring how dangerous Maddy could be. His foolishness will be his downfall.
Maddy doesn’t move yet. She wants him to believe she’s still fighting the spell.
