“Well, Joclyn,” Sain said with a growl, his own inability to remain emotionless shining through, “it seems you have finally come into your own … Would you like to test the limits of that magic of yours? Test it against someone who can actually match you?”
He didn’t give me any warning; he just attacked, his eyes moving to the black sheen of sight that was so familiar as his attack sprang forward in a stream of silk that slithered through the air like a fish, moving right toward where I stood as it doubled in size.
Sending a counterattack right into it, I jerked, screaming with exertion, only to watch Sain’s magic devour my defense. The weaving ribbon of power shimmered with light as it absorbed the blast, the perverse creature swelling.
Gasping in fear, I felt my magic flare in warning, my usual ability to feel and track magic, to understand how to counter it, failing. I jumped to the side, Ryland and Ilyan following suit as the attack sped past us, impacting with the road where we had just stood.
I screamed at the assault, scuttling over the road in an attempt to get away from whatever was coming. Before I had moved more than a few inches, though, the street before my face exploded, attack after attack following as I was forced back.
Crawling on my belly, I moved as fast as I could, hissing in pain as magical residue and burning rocks fell over me.
“Joclyn!” Ilyan’s voice boomed as I stared wide-eyed at the smoldering pothole inches from me.
The street erupted in green as Ilyan ran, intent on protecting me, his attack streaming toward my father, only to fall to the ground in a shower of sparks as Sain moved his hand toward it. One movement and his power had faded as simply as if the attack had lost momentum.
“No, no, I don’t think so.” The hiss in Sain’s voice increased with the words, the dangerous ripple of his warning echoing through me. “This fight is between my daughter and me. But don’t worry, my lord, I will keep you and your brother busy.”
I heard Ilyan’s scream as his magic moved away from me, Sain throwing him through the air and into one of the buildings that surrounded us without so much as a twitch of his fingers.
“Ilyan!” His name cut through my fear as I jumped to my feet, turning to face my father whose eyes were still shrouded in black, his white teeth flashing in a menacing grin.
“I doubt you can stop my power, Ilyan. If I say she is mine, she is mine. Besides, I have a much bigger job for you.”
I stood still, my heart longing to run to my mate, but I knew I wouldn’t get more than a step before Sain would attack. I could feel his longing, feel his worry. Even he had frozen. We had all underestimated him.
“No more games, Sain,” I growled, unwilling to look away from the enemy before me.
“Oh, I beg to differ, Joclyn. We still have many games to play. Why don’t we play the best one right now?” His eyes dug into me as he tapped his toe, the hollow sound of his shoe against the street echoing menacingly around us.
I jerked at each tap, not knowing what to expect, and then the carelessly thrown away corpses in the street behind him began to twitch, began to move.
Horror filled me.
Sain’s menacing smile was forgotten as I looked away from the demon, staring as the lifeless flesh convulsed in harmony with the tap of his shoes.
With each beat, I shivered. With each beat, Ilyan moved toward me. With each beat, Ryland stepped back, ready to protect us from whatever was about to emerge from within the pile.
Then the pile itself began to disband, one body after another rising from the dead, their heads lolling to the side as legs jerked and twitched below them, pulling them forward. Pulling them toward us.
“Beautiful,” Sain whispered without even looking away from where we stood, our focus glued to what was happening. “It’s something Edmund never mastered, no matter how hard he tried. Him and all those beating hearts he devoured … He never understood the full depth of that magic. Keep the magic alive and you can use it. You can mold it into whatever you want.”
I could feel Ilyan shake in fear beside me, his thoughts moving into overdrive as he tried to understand what he was seeing, tried to understand what was happening, tried to understand how this was possible.
Magic this powerful shouldn’t be possible. It was a desperate hope that was destroyed by the gleam in Sain’s eye. The way he looked at us made it clear magic this powerful was possible. Magic this powerful was in him.
And if it was in him, then it was in me, as well.
Don’t forget that, Joclyn. You must defeat him.
I will.
“Go get ‘em, boys,” he sneered as he stepped toward me, his magic sparking as it pushed Ryland and Ilyan away from me, their bodies soaring through the air as he separated us.
My shout was loud as I reached for Ilyan, realizing too late that, no matter how hard my magic tried to reach him, I couldn’t. A wall lay between us, keeping me from him and him from me.