The Council (Darkness #5) (18 page)

Panting and half-terrified, I pushed a wolf out of my way and got the first glimpse of the scene.

Stefan, head lolling, sat tethered to a chair in the middle of a circle. Blood dripped down his hands and onto the floor. His chest and arms were covered in wounds and more blood. One pair of bindings were broken at the base of the legs, but a fresh set put on. At least five stab wounds pumped blood out of his body; some superficial, but at least two fairly deep.

Andris stood at the top of the circle, ignoring the mayhem around him, working on calling something into that circle. Something to take Stefan’s offered soul.

I shot an exploding spell at Andris, only to hit off an intensely strong shield. He was linking with everyone around him; he must be.

Fine.

“Link up. Everyone link up!” I ordered, running forward. My Watch kept up as best they could, fighting around the cluster of magic workers clinging on to each other to stay together.

“Get them out of the battle zone!” Jonas roared. “Get the magic workers out of here. They don’t need to see what they’re doing to use magic.”

“I can’t link with them, Jonas.” I grabbed onto Zeke. “You have to stay with me. Be the focus point. I’ll tell you where to direct the spells and how.”

“I’m sure if you linked with all of us, we could sustain it,” Zeke yelled back, trying to be heard above the roaring of the wind. A small but rampant demon battled a group of shifters off to the right. The fighting thrashed all around us.

“You don’t understand. I have an endless supply of magic. It never runs out. I never have to strive to pull in more. It’d fill you up and keep looking for more.”

“Then why do you need us?”

“I need the energy. I need to link for energy.”

Zeke shook his head, frustration raiding the determination on his face. “Okay. Then let’s get to work.”

I pointed at Andris. “Work on that shield. Get me in there.”

I glanced at the demon to the right as a huge green sword swung into my vision. I didn’t even have time to open my mouth in surprise before it slashed down. Charles leaped in, faster than thought, stabbing the man in the arm and wrenching his hand. The trajectory of the sword altered at the last second, slicing across my upper arm.

I cried out, slapping my palm to the wound. Pain radiated outwards, burning my skin and searing down my arm. I pushed the pain away as I focused on the demon at large. It was small in comparison to what was coming, easy to knock out. But knocking that out would take at least half of my energy, and I’d need everything I had with my only linking partner all but unconscious.

“Shit, my magic sucks! C’mon Zeke, knock it out.” I grabbed his arm and led him forward, trusting the guys around me to keep us safe. It was a lot of trust—the enemy knew who we were. Knew that we could tear this all down. We were target number one.

A flash of white blasted to the side, smacking into a wolf. I strained behind us, looking for the source, and connected eyes with the freaking caped crusader. “Trek’s here. Damn.”

I blocked his next spell and hurled a spinning razor ball at him. Some unfortunate shmuck got in the way, though, taking the pain. I fired off another, lobbing this one over everyone’s heads. He saw it coming and threw up a shield, the blast knocking him back. Some spell got through, but not much. I was stronger, but not by all that much.

“In the air!” Charles pointed next to my face. I had to take my eyes off of Trek for a moment to look at that circle.

The air sliced in half near Stefan, slowly, the fabric of air ripping apart. It was the demon’s big entrance.

“No!” A spell blasted us. My legs went gumby and spilled me onto the ground. I couldn’t see to shoot one back, so I threw up a shield to work out how to disentangle that spell.

“Get Delilah on that spell!” I yelled at Zeke. “This is taking too long. He doesn’t have any more time.”

Jonas hoisted me up and held me. I zipped another spell off, but that coward was playing hide-and-seek behind anybody he could. It didn’t matter if it was his enemy or not, if he didn’t get hit, he was happy. What a jackass.

“She’s working on it,” Zeke muttered, his voice lost in strain. “Just… trying to keep… the link balanced.”

“Wake up, baby. We need you,” I begged Stefan.

The slice in the air got bigger. Wind whirlpooled around the gym. Another blast hit my shield, weakening it. Too many. There were just too many elements to this battle. I couldn’t do all this alone.

“C’mon, baby, wake up,” I begged, another blast from Trek hitting me. Soon I wouldn’t be able to keep the shield over everyone. “Would someone just kill that fucking idiot!”

“On it!” Harry hollered.

Oh, great. The one that couldn’t fight.

The slice in the air became a hole. My fingers dug into Zeke’s arm, begging them to work faster. “Do you need more people to link with?”

“Can barely… hold this one.” Sweat drenched Zeke’s pale face. His body flagged.

I swore under my breath as something nearly invisible stepped into the circle.

“Oh God, no. Please, please no.” I wrung my hands. My heart thumped in my chest. The dust creature, seven feet high and packing so much damn power it prickled my skin, looked down at Stefan.

“We need a miracle. Right now we need a miracle. Please,” I begged, tears clouding my eyes. “Please don’t take him. Please, please don’t take him from me.”

“Got it!” Zeke panted. The shield winked out. Andris tore his eyes away from the circle. From the nearly invisible creature stepping toward Stefan.

A blast of white hit my shield, knocking me forward. I zipped a spell at the guy right behind Andris—a really nasty one. It hit the center of his chest and exploded. The force slammed into Andris’ back, knocking him forward.

I was running a second later. Arm burning but forgotten, feet tingly from Trek’s spell, I didn’t care. I stumbled and slid nearer, Charles and Jonas racing to catch up. Andris stumbled past the blood line into the circle. The reaching claws of the demon stopped. Its head snapped up.

Andris’ arms flailed, windmilling, trying to get his balance. Eyes as big as the world, he stared at the demon.

“You offer yourself?” the demon rasped.

Charles crashed into a guy reaching forward to pull Andris out. Jonas stabbed his sword through someone stepping towards us. I reached the circle a moment later and shoved
Andris as hard as I could.

He was bigger, stronger, but already off-balance. The momentum carried him forward, right into the demon’s waiting hands. Claws gripped his shoulders and jerked him off the ground. With strength no human could possess, the demon lifted Andris high over his head and said, “I accept your sacrifice. I will use it well.”

Andris’ scream was cut short in a stomach-turning crack. I heaved, averting my eyes, but stumbling forward nonetheless.

“No, Sasha!” Charles screamed. “You can’t go in there.”

“Someone has to pull Stefan out!”

A huge being loomed in front of me, leathery hide scaly and repulsive. A massive mouth grew a row of one-inch fangs. Claws clicked as they flexed. “This circle cannot contain me.”

I curled my fingers around the back of Stefan’s chair. My right arm screamed in agony as I started to pull. The demon stood over, watching me. He found the sight of me in pain funny.

“Yes, I realize how dumb this is, but after I pull him a little more, I plan to stand in front of him, and then take control of you. Just so you know the whole gamut of my foolproof strategy.”

“You wish to control me?” Its scratchy laughter raked through my body, dizzying my mind.

I yanked again, Stefan impossibly heavy, one hand nearly useless. The chair groaned as it reached the back of the circle. Charles and Jonas pulled it to safety, and then grabbed for me. I was too quick, though. I shimmied away to the other side.

“Stay out of that circle, Sasha,” Charles begged. “That circle will contain it.”

“You did not tell him what I said.” Hollow eyes regarded me. “Why, I wonder.”

“This way, they won’t try to take me away.” My vision went foggy as it stared at me, reaching into me and squeezing.

“Control is mine. I am too powerful for you.”

I focused on Stefan. On our link. On his body pulling me closer, a chemical reaction born into us, made stronger by the blood link, but not made entirely by the blood link. Fate had chosen us for a reason.

I was his other half. I was the other part of his heart. I helped make up his soul.

I was his.

What I was not, was this filthy demon’s.

I grabbed onto our link with everything I had. Grinding my teeth, I ripped my conscious out of that thing’s grip. I stared at it, hard. I flexed my fingers. Then slapped at my wounded arm. Pain, the smelling salt of the moment, cleared the rest of my vision.

“You are mine!” I yelled at it. “You belong to me
. I command you
.”

Hopefully one of those phrases was the right one.

It stepped toward me. The haze resumed. I fought it off, bracing myself. I slapped my arm again and yelped. “I command you!”

It roared in my face, its putrid smell singeing my senses. But it didn’t push forward.

I slapped my arm again, pushing away those clouds. Focusing on Stefan. Focusing on my love.

“Step back!”

It roared again. But haltingly, it took one step back.

“Another one you ass-face!”

No, I didn’t need to call it names, but it helped with the bossy factor.

Another step. One more roar.

“Okay, so… now what?”

“Disentangle it!” Charles yelled. “Get rid of it. Or whatever. Kill the fucking thing, Sasha!”

“I don’t have enough energy. Get Zeke. Get them to start working on it. I’ll start—I’ll lessen it, but they’ll have to finish it off.”

“Why?”

“Because this will kill me, Charles!” I cried.

“Then don’t do it. Hold it!” Panic lanced Charles’ voice.

“Get out of there, human. We’ll kill it with swords.” Jonas braced on the edge of the circle, the fear in his voice not for a battle with a demon. Not for himself dying.

For me dying.

I blinked back tears. Swords didn’t kill demons. They hacked them up, yes, but it would just take another sacrifice and regenerate its body. No, I had to do this. It had to be me. I knew how to do it, had the power to get a good whack at it, and was the only way they’d be able to cut it down with lesser magic after.

I slapped my arm again, clearing the fuzz. “Just stop trying. I’ve got you now.”

“You will get weak, human, and then I will kill you.”

“Ugh—you sound like Jonas.”

“I take that as an insult,” Jonas growled, inching right up to the circle. “C’mon, Sasha. Get out of there.”

I focused on that spell. On the lacy quality. On its lifeline connecting it to this world. Taking a hold of it, I felt Delilah’s magic holding hands with mine. Near me. Supporting. Working with Zeke and the large link everyone else had.

“Tell Delilah not to wrap her magic around me. A link will be established and it’ll wipe you all out.”

“Just come out of there and tell her yourself,” Charles whined. “Don’t do this, Sasha. Just hold it, we’ll find another way.”

“I can’t hold this forever, Charles.” I slapped my arm and sat down heavily. Focusing on control, and that spell… I set the spell in motion to unravel it. I closed my eyes.

A roar assaulted my senses, but my control held. My spell toiled. Another roar—it knew what was happening. Its power in this world was draining, and draining my energy right along with it. My muscles sagged even as the creature did. Another roar, not as loud now.

Was that because of its power drainage, or because I was drifting away?

My body, so heavy, bent. I couldn’t hold myself up anymore. I lay down, focusing solely on the demon and Stefan. On my control, and my love.

Each breath became laborious. Needles pricked my skin. Magic swirled around me, playful and happy, doing my bidding. Taking my energy to do so. Stealing my life as it worked.

Blackness clouded my vision. Arms encircled me and picked me up. My head lolled on a muscular shoulder.

“Open to link, Sasha. Open to link.”

I weakly tried to push someone away. Barely holding on to the leash. Barely keeping in charge. “Can’t.”

“Open up to link!” Fingers pinched my face. Pads of fingers pushed open my eyes.

An angelic face with a halo of white. Heaven, then? The door to the afterlife?

“Link with me, I know how. Cato showed me!”

Cato?

Toa?

“How did you get here?”

Was that out loud? I couldn’t be sure.

Energy sapped from my body. No more roars, so that was good. If there was, though, would I be able to hear it?

Eyes fluttering, I gave in. I opened up to the person shaking my face. I felt the sticky magic and connected, except… the configuration changed. Parts of the connection bent in on itself, twisting out of the way. Like wires, some joined, but others tied off.

I felt his energy pour into me in a sweet rush. More was coming in than going out; as many magical people as possible flooded the link. It pumped into the spell, quickly. Gratefully.

My vision cleared slowly. My hearing turned back up. Dominicous held me with a dirty and disheveled Toa standing next to him, staring at the growling demon. Its claws clicked one last time before it vanished, a wash of sticky black coating the ground.

“We did it,” I panted, laying my head on my father’s shoulder. “Is Stefan okay?”

“He’ll live. Thanks to you, we all will.” Dominicous kissed my head and carried me out.