Page 56 of A Witch Out of Time
“She was my mother as well,” Nox evenly spoke, gun steadily pointed at Matthew’s head as he awaited his father’s reaction.
“What did you just say?” Matthew’s voice was deadly quiet, although it still echoed throughout the room. I noticed his ring was now emitting a pulsing energy similar to my Riders, as if the object were in tune with Matthew’s emotions.
Tan's hand was suddenly around my wrist, pulling me away from the other men and protectively tucking me behind him. Being the “uppity” woman I was, however, I immediately snuck away, edging closer to Matthew for a better look.
The power rolling off Nox’s father was unmistakable, but I suddenly realized none of it was coming from the man himself. This explained why I’d never considered him anything other than a basic threat. He was a human who lorded over other humans through fear and manipulation, and would usually be beneath my concern. However, he was also a man who’d figured out how to harness power he had no business wielding. And that made him a legitimate threat.
“That woman you killed,” Nox calmly replied. “Was the same one who brought me into this world. And you know full well who that was, don’t you?” Matthew had gone slightly pale, although his ring continued to pulse with an unnatural glow, like a ticking time bomb ready to explode.
Which gives me an idea…
Looking around, I spied one of our bags and took advantage of the tense stand-off to quickly crouch down and grab what I needed.
“That’s right,” Asa continued, his beautiful face as emotionless as I’d ever seen it. “And there’s a certain god of the underworld who is not too pleased about the entire situation. I would suspect Perun would have a strong opinion as well, were he to find out.”
Nox smirked. “You see, being demigods apparently meanswehave to protect the best interests of those in charge. And one lessmudakin the world would be no loss.” Shifting his gaze to Asa, Nox surprised me by lowering his gun and solemnly nodding at his brother.
Asa’s impassive mask momentarily broke to reveal the wreckage hidden beneath. Something unspoken passed between the two men. Overwhelming loss and intense gratitude buzzing through our bond as the two men shared a moment only they could understand.
Quickly snapping back into the headspace of a killer, my Beautiful Sun narrowed his eyes, aimed his gun at Matthew’s head, and pulled the trigger.
As the echo of the gunshot faded, we all stared in horror as Matthew simply threw back his head and laughed. “You fools! Do you truly think I would give you the opportunity to kill me?”
Again, taking advantage of the distracted men, I quickly approached Matthew and pressed myself against him, firmly grabbing his hand. His shocked gaze shot to me as I cooed up at him. “I’ve changed my mind, Matthew. I would like to takeallthe power you can give me.”
Tightly closing my fingers over the jagged edges of his ring, I pulled on the concentrated power buried within the crystal. Quartz possessed a natural ability to absorb and dispel energy, and as I made contact, I realized the magnitude of what Matthew was storing within this single object. As my awareness expanded outward, I discovered this went beyond the ring. The concrete walls of the Facility were packed with quartz, creating a massive conductor of stolen earth energy, controlled by a single human man for the benefit of a chosen few.
You will no longer take everything from the earth, only to destroy her.
Lifting the bomb with my other hand, I pressed it against Matthew’s chest, directly over his heart. Using the earth’s energy to create a solid bubble of air around the two of us to contain the blast, I began shredding the casing with my claws. I had no choice but to trust I would survive. Or that Koschei would swoop in if I didn’t.
“What did I say about acting right?” Nox’s voice was suddenly in my ear, amusement and annoyance in his tone, even as something heavier flickered through our bond. Before I could stop him, his darkness penetrated my defenses, blocking out the light as it enveloped me and a screaming Matthew in a suffocating cloud.
No, no, no!
Nox began to dematerialize before my eyes—his limbs fading into an insubstantial mist of inky, purplish-black as his lips brushed against my neck one last time.
“Let me save your life for once, Vashka.”
I heard him whisper the same moment the bomb detonated, and a blast of excruciating pain shot down the individual tether that connected his heart to mine.
When the smoke cleared, my Darkest Midnight was gone.