Chapter 745: Demetrius
I paused at the bottom of the stairs, caught Liam's hand where he stood, face a mask of emptiness, though I could feel his misery. He bent over me as I slid my hands into his hair, kissed him with all the passion I could muster. Felt the heat inside me, deep and thrumming, wake in answer to spread from my belly down my legs, anchoring me to the earth.
To him.
When I finally let him go, Liam pressed his lips to my forehead.
I love you so much, he sent. And I'll be waiting when you get home.
No doubt.
I hugged him hard, let him feel exactly what my heart thought of him. Showed him the oak tree he was to me, felt his power flare in answer.
"I'll be home for dinner," I said, turning to smile at Shenka who blinked back tears even as she smiled in return.
"We'll be here," she said. Grasped my hand a moment. Let me go.
I bent and lifted Sassafras into my arms, stroked his soft fur as his ears lay sideways, whiskers drooping, tail hanging low.
But his power hugged me all the same, the taste of it full of demon and witch alike.
No words. None were needed.
Mom took him in her arms as I handed him over. Rubbed my palms on the thighs of my jeans. Wondered in a brief, weird moment if I should go upstairs and change into a dress or something.
Silly. Get on with it then.
Right.
There was so much hate in Ameline's eyes when I met her gaze, I had to smile. "Too bad you don't have anyone to see you off," I said.
Nailed it.
She snarled and turned her back, shoulders rigid and, for a second, I actually felt sorry for her.
Naw.
Max held out his hand to me and I went to his side, amazed the butterflies I expected to make an appearance had yet to show up. Calm like I'd never known settled around me as he smiled down on me.
"Are you ready, Syd?"
Mom's question on my wedding day. Dad's.
But this day, this one was much bigger, wasn't it?
So was I?
"Let's do it." I reached for Demetrius, felt his eager quiver through our touch, turned to smile at my family.
And fell back through the veil as Max took over.
No fear, though I was falling, even then. And none when the veil opened again behind me, the endless sky above, the emptiness of the plane below, my body rushing down toward the ground.
Caught by the broad, warm back of the drach.
This time my maji power kept us safe, all of my egos flowing together, sorcery blossoming outward to mesh with all of my magicks. The world around me was suddenly brighter, cleaner, the air not quite so gray.
Full of promise. Waiting.
For me and this moment.
Demetrius laughed and clapped his hands from his perch beside me, crouching fearlessly on Max's broad shoulder. I giggled, my heart weightless, though, as I looked down, I saw them.
The army of the Brotherhood, ranks of black-robed enemy watching our approach.
They didn't attack, to my surprise, not even when Max back-winged softly to the ground, settling his forelimbs on the dead earth. A quick glance to my left showed Mabel only a moment behind, Ameline barely waiting for the drach to settle before slipping from her shoulder in a rush of maji power.
Demetrius and I dismounted together. I spun, shields protecting me from the push of air as the huge drach king rose into the air again, Mabel joining him.
Leaving us alone to face the Brotherhood.
I needn't have worried. He had just reached altitude when the sky overhead cracked in half, a giant chasm in the veil opening wide.
And the drach came pouring through.
The vision I'd seen, the one Fate showed me, had come true as what looked like an entire race of dragons hovered in square formations over our heads, waiting.
I took Demetrius's hand as he beamed at me.
"Skippidy do dah," he said. "We're off to kill the sorcerer."
I'd take that yellow brick road.
A tense wall hovered between the forward ranks of the Brotherhood and the three of us. Ameline kept a few feet distance, but stayed close enough I felt her dark maji power against mine even held tightly in check. Worry about her role in this, what Fate said to her, tried to worm its way into my calm. After all, hers was the side of chaos, the bad ending. Was she working to make it come true or did Ameline have other goals?
I just couldn't see her letting everything fall apart. She craved power over the Universe too damned much. And that fact alone eased my fear and sent it scuttling.
Fate had plans for her, I had no doubt. But the success of the Brotherhood couldn't have been on Ameline's agenda. I'd worry about what she was really up to when this thing with Belaisle was over.
Oh, wait. She'd be dead. Right. Problem solved.
I stopped about twenty feet from the first line of sorcerers, grinned when one of them looked up with a flash of fear.
"Impressive, aren't they?" I tilted my head, waving at the drach. "And they breathe fire. Did you know that?"
The line wavered. Fear pulsated so hard I felt it, not just saw it, through the sorcery part of my maji power, no longer alone but tied together with all of my magicks.
"So nice of you all to line up like this," I said. "So the drach don't have to hunt down their dinner." I grinned, letting my demon show. "Chomp chomp."
I almost had them, knew their fear traveled back through their connection to their fellows, felt it flow like a river through their ranks.
Liander Belaisle had to go and spoil my fun, didn't he?
The line of sorcerers parted in a rush as he stomped his way through them, red faced, vibrating with fury.
"Nice army," he snarled.
"Checkmate, asshole," I said.
In a rushed exodus, black holes appeared, the sorcerer's lines falling into them as they ran.
Cowards.
When they were done, only a handful remained, the empty plane now truly gaping and endless. But I didn't feel small, not in the least. In fact, my soul radiated, growing by the moment as my maji power spread beneath me, touching the heart of the plane.
Feeling the promise of life beneath its surface as the stronghold's power greeted me.
It was difficult to drag myself away from that hopeful feeling, to focus on the job at hand. My gaze drifted over Belaisle's shoulder to those who remained with him. Recognized faces easily.
Rupe, hulking over Mia, though, I had no doubt, not to protect but to control her. His fear felt as strong as the sorcerers who fled and I welcomed it.
The former Dumont leader alternated between shivering in her own terror and flares of fury. I moved on from her, my old concern for her well-being burned away. Her fate was her own. She'd chosen, as I'd chosen.
Destiny sucked sometimes.
"You'll get yours now!" Mia's high-pitched shriek ended in a choking sob as she pointed at me, Ameline. "You two high and mighty bitches. We'll see what's left of you when this is over."
Disgust flashed over Belaisle's face as his eyes flickered to the side. But he ignored her, expression solidifying into a smirk as his gaze settled on Demetrius.
"Brought the big guns with you, I see." He laughed even as the damaged sorcerer beside me wiggled and wriggled his continuing happiness. "What's he for? Mascot?"
Rupe laughed, too, an edge to it, Mia tittering a hysterical giggle. The only person who didn't respond on Belaisle's side glared at me with hate in her blue eyes. Alison appeared so pale, ghostly, but the taint gave her solidity at last. She might have been real and tangible again, but she wasn't the girl I knew, the bestie I'd lost to a car accident. This evil couldn't be allowed to continue.
I'd deal with her after Belaisle was a glob of bloody smear on the ground.
Belaisle's power snapped at me, tried to push me back, but my maji magic was more than a match.
I shrugged as he snarled his frustration. "I guess this will play out the way it's meant to," I said. "No cheating."
Belaisle shrugged, still cocky as he tilted his head, stroking his goatee as though things were going exactly according to plan. "We'll see," he said.
Demetrius moved, so quickly he almost pulled my arm out of its socket as he jerked me forward. Stopped and placed me exactly, giggling as he bent to move my feet just so. His hand slipped into his pocket, pulled out a sparkling blue crystal. I almost kicked myself, accepting it from him as the tiny soul inside woke and whispered its love for me.
How had I forgotten to take it?
Didn't matter. Even broken, Demetrius thought of everything.
He left me there, went for Ameline. She snarled at him but did as he said, standing across from me, south to my north, her own crystal in her hand. Belaisle came forward without urging, taking west, a flash of stone appearing out of his pocket. When Demetrius was finally satisfied, he stuck out his tongue at the dark sorcerer before stomping his foot.
Belaisle roared in anger, hopping on his undamaged one, but Demetrius was already spinning away, laughing.
Infectious, his attitude. I couldn't help but grin.
The small sorcerer turned at last, feet planted in place, east. Stopped and fell still, smiling yet, but silent. Watchful.
I had to force myself to breathe then, as time itself seemed to draw in air.
And stop.
Waiting.
This was it. The moment.
And I was ready.
***
