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Chapter Twenty-Four

AYO

I’ve never been more grateful than I am right now that generations of sorcerers have kept our ability to access ley lines a secret.

I’ve spent the last however long since Nyoka walked out in a meditative state, the way my mum used to get me to do when I was little and didn’t have a focus to help me channel my magic yet.

Without my focus, it’s taken me a while to achieve the mental state necessary, but I’m now tuned in to my magical core and am carefully filling my magical well from the ley line I’ve tapped. I don’t want to rush the process and overload myself.

It’s already risky enough with no one to pull me back out. A sorcerer can completely fry their core if they stay connected too long, something I didn’t feel the need to mention to Ethan when I told him about ley lines.

I don’t have a choice, though. I have to stop Nyoka.

It’s still hard to believe my cousin is a deranged serial killer. I don’t understand how he can justify killing others simply to increase his own power.

Goddess, I wish Qadir was here. He’d have figured out what Nyoka was up to much sooner than I did. He would have stopped his brother. I don’t believe he looked after me out of guilt; Qadir loved me like a parent, or perhaps an older brother.

But I don’t have Qadir, or my parents, or even Ethan and our pack. I have no doubt they’ll be looking for me—Ethan will tear the city apart to find me—but how can they possibly know where I am? I don’t even know where I am.

No, I’m on my own.

My pulse races and I break into a sweat.

My magic is almost fully topped up and I can already feel the telltale tingling of ley line overuse in my core.

The moment my magical well is full I attempt to break the paralysis spell pinning me to the bed.

It takes me three attempts, because performing magic without my focus is extremely temperamental, but the moment I’m free I tear off all the wires, withdraw the cannula from my hand, and leap out of bed to grab my focus.

I yank it over my head and settle it under my gown, resting against my skin.

A massive wave of relief swamps me. My headache disappears immediately. My magic clicks into place.

Everything looks a little hazy, the way it always is when connected to a ley line. Ordinarily, only my own magic is visible to me, but the ley line connection provides me with a visual overlay of any other magic surrounding me; something I can normally only feel.

I falter when the room shakes, dust raining from the ceiling tiles. The silencing ward prevents me from hearing anything going on outside, but I quickly erect a personal shield anyway. If someone has found me, I need to get out there to help them. They won’t be able to defeat Nyoka without me.

My heart fills with hope that maybe I won’t have to do this alone after all.

The emerald green glow of a mage’s magic shimmers from the runes on the control panel, which I ignore in order to study the emerald green grid ward surrounding the room.

It’s not simply a silencing ward though, it’s more like a wall, or maybe a bomb shelter.

Magical instead of physical. The equivalent of concrete ten feet thick.

I open the unlocked door, aware I can’t walk through it yet as I watch Ethan’s silent howl. His aura glows pure gold, just like last time.

There’s a chaotic fight going on around him and what I assume is Nyoka in his Nagual form with his back to me, mid-leap at Ethan. His aura is grey, tainted and vile, almost black with evil.

He’s going for my mate. Ethan can handle any shifter, but even he won’t be able to take on the magical power of a Nagual.

I must protect my mate.

To do that, I have to get out of this prison cell. I could work on altering the ward, or finding a crack or flaw like I usually would, but after all the time Ethan and Cal spent training me and building my confidence, I decide that if ever there’s a time to use my full magical ability, this is it.

I forgo finesse and blast the ward apart with pure, raw power.

No one keeps their feet as the shock wave radiates outwards, levelling half the building. Nyoka must be using a personal shield because he’s the first to recover, turning on me with those same yellow eyes that have haunted my nightmares.

I hesitate for a moment, using my magical sight to check the orange and crimson auras of shifter and vampire life signs. There are more green auras too—mages.

A couple of the auras are faint. Shit. I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.

My breath catches as Ethan shakes off some rubble and gets unsteadily to his feet. Fuck, did I hurt my mate?

No, his gold aura remains pure and strong. His eyes glow blue as he catches sight of me, a wolfy grin momentarily lighting up his face.

Reassured, I turn my attention to Nyoka, as does Ethan. Caught between us, my cousin turns to me, apparently deciding I’m the bigger threat.

I lob a fireball at him to see what happens. There’s a flicker of surprise in those yellow eyes before the fire dissipates harmlessly across his personal shield.

Others are coming out of the rubble now—Aunt Lexie, as well as Zaiden, Jack, and SJ in their animal forms. Goddess, it’s good to see them. They acknowledge me before turning and getting back to the fight as several other shifters and members of the task force attack them.

Ethan pays them little attention, so I don’t either, trusting my friends to be able to handle themselves. We’ve got a Nagual to defeat.

From what I read in the grimoire, Ethan will be able to handle Nyoka as a shifter if I can get rid of Nyoka’s magical protections first, which means it’s up to me to clear the way for my mate.

Just as Nyoka leaps at me, I throw an amped-up disintegration spell at his shield.

The shield fizzles before scattering into magical ash.

“Now!” I yell at Ethan.

Nyoka knocks me to the ground with a yowl as Ethan pounces, knocking my cousin off me before Nyoka can do more than snarl in my face.

They start fighting; tumbling, biting, and clawing.

From how evenly matched they are despite Ethan’s size advantage, it’s clear Nyoka is using more than just the shield spell I removed in order to give him a magical advantage, especially since he somehow overcame the rebound aspect of my own personal shield.

Frustratingly, Nyoka’s charcoal aura is so dark it seems to be having a masking effect on the spells he has active. I get unsteadily to my feet and focus on seeing through the inky aura, trying to glimpse any of the spells he’s using, but I’m distracted when Fraser stands in my way.

“Give it up, Ayo.” Fraser sneers. “You couldn’t defeat me during the enforcer test. What makes you think you’ll be any more successful now?”

His betrayal of the coven hurts, not gonna lie. Are Lola and her sister in on this too? Is it just the members of the task force I can see, or are there others involved?

How dare they turn on our people. Leaders and police are supposed to protect, not destroy.

I don’t bother to explain to Fraser that I’ve had training since then. I simply raise my hands and all the rubble around us rises into the air.

“Power,” I explain, my voice resonating deeply due to my connection with the earth.

“What the hell?” Fraser’s eyes widen. He starts backing up even as he throws a concussion spell at me.

It bounces harmlessly off my personal shield as I advance on the traitor in front of me. He’s between me and my mate.

He attempts more failed spells as I send the rubble spinning around the two of us in a mini tornado. I don’t know if the burning in my chest is fury at this man’s betrayal or my core objecting to the prolonged connection to the ley line. Either way, I need to end this quickly.

I send the rubble flying at Fraser, burying him under it. His green aura is faint, but still there. He’s alive. Contained.

I turn my attention back to my cousin and my mate just as Nyoka squirms away from Ethan, his black fur wet with blood. Nyoka leaps at me, this time with his claws extended.

My personal shield is as ineffective as it was the night he attacked Irving and me behind Love Bites. Pain sears through my chest as Nyoka’s claws shred my gown and skin easily, even while my shield protects my back from injury as I land hard on the floor with a yell.

What the fuck? How is this possible?

Ethan rams into Nyoka, sending him tumbling off me and crashing into the rubble on top of Fraser. Nyoka gets to his feet as Ethan stands guard over me, snarling at my cousin.

Zaiden catches sight of me struggling to get up. He tries to rush over but is stopped by a tiger shifter attacking him. Ethan’s howl must have brought everyone to our location, because the fight seems to be getting larger and more ferocious around us.

“Ethan,” I try to whisper, although it comes out low and rumbly and not all that quiet.

Ethan cocks an ear in my direction, not taking his eyes off Nyoka.

“Bring him to me,” I rumble.

Ethan snarls and leaps at my cousin. I watch them fight as I struggle to my feet, clutching my shredded hospital gown to my chest to try to stem the bleeding. The moment Ethan guides their fight close enough, I throw myself at Nyoka, landing half on his back.

He yowls and tries to throw me off as I grip on with all my strength and examine his active spellwork. He has active runes on his body, which I expected, but he also has some sort of magic on his front paws. His rings?

Oh, goddess. There’s a faint, familiar hint of navy blue. Magic I haven’t felt in ten years.

Mum’s core. Or rather, what’s left of it.

I don’t hesitate. I channel power straight from the ley line, the magic combining with mine and coming out purple as I shred every rune, blast apart every ring, and destroy the last remnants of Mum’s core.