Page 39 of Claws for Celebration (Hollow Oak Mates #3)
LUCIEN
T he ancient clearing thrummed with malevolent energy that made every instinct Lucien possessed scream warnings of immediate danger.
Trees that had stood for centuries leaned away from the ritual site as if the very earth rejected what was taking place at its heart.
The air itself felt thick and wrong, charged with power that tasted of corruption and endless hunger.
Moira stood at the center of the binding circle, her mahogany hair whipping around her face despite the absence of any natural wind.
Golden magic poured from her hands in streams of liquid light, but Lucien could see the strain in every line of her body.
The dimensional barriers were fighting her, resisting the banishment with a force that made the ground beneath their feet tremble.
"The binding is weakening," Elder Varric called from his position at the circle's edge, his voice barely audible over the growing supernatural maelstrom. "She's breaking through the containment."
Lucien's panther paced frantically beneath his skin, every protective instinct demanding he rush to Moira's side.
But he held his position just outside the ritual circle, knowing that interfering now could destabilize the entire working.
His role was to anchor her through their mate bond, to provide stability while she channeled enough power to tear holes in reality itself.
"Come on, Moira," he murmured, pouring every ounce of his strength through their connection. "You've got this."
The moment the dimensional barriers cracked, everything changed.
Darkness erupted from the binding site like blood from a severed artery, spreading across the clearing in waves that made the assembled supernatural guardians step back in instinctive fear.
But this wasn't empty shadow. This was something alive, aware, and absolutely furious after centuries of imprisonment.
When Malphas began to manifest, Lucien's first thought was that no amount of research could have prepared them for the reality of facing a corrupted fae lord.
The entity that took shape in the swirling darkness was beautiful in the way that poisonous flowers were beautiful, deadly perfection wrapped in seductive appeal.
Tall and elegantly built, with features that belonged in classical sculpture, Malphas appeared as he must have before his corruption.
Silver hair fell in waves to his shoulders, framing a face that spoke of ancient nobility and terrible intelligence.
But his eyes gave away his true nature. They held the deep purple of storm clouds shot through with veins of pure shadow, and when they fixed on Moira, Lucien felt his mate bond shiver with recognition of a predator far more dangerous than anything they'd imagined.
"My dear child," Malphas said, his voice the cultured warmth of a favorite uncle mixed with undertones that made reality bend around the words. "At last, we meet properly."
Moira's magical output faltered for just a moment, but that moment was enough. The banishment ritual wavered, its carefully constructed energy patterns beginning to fray at the edges.
"Don't listen to him," Lucien called out, desperation creeping into his voice as he felt their mate bond stretch thin under the pressure of competing magical influences. "Remember what we planned. Complete the working."
But Malphas smiled, and the expression was like watching sunrise over a battlefield. Beautiful and terrible in equal measure.
"Such harsh words from your devoted pet," the fae lord said with gentle mockery. "Does he truly believe that you need his permission to explore the magnificent destiny that awaits? You are Shadowheart blood, child. You were born for so much more than these provincial concerns."
"Moira," Lucien said again, but her attention was fixed on the partially manifested entity with the intensity of someone witnessing a miracle.
"You know who I am," Malphas continued, circling the edge of the binding circle with fluid grace that made Lucien's panther bristle with territorial rage.
"Your ancestor and I were... intimately acquainted.
She understood the true scope of what blood magic could accomplish when freed from mortal limitations. "
"That's a lie," Moira said, but her voice carried uncertainty that made Lucien's chest clench with fear.
"Is it?" Malphas gestured elegantly, and the air around them shimmered with visions that looked disturbingly real.
"Seraphina came to me willingly, you know.
Sought out the knowledge that would elevate her beyond the petty squabbles of human and fae politics.
She learned to reshape reality with a thought, to command the very elements with casual gestures. "
In the magical visions, Lucien saw a woman who looked remarkably like Moira working impossible spells alongside a figure that could only be Malphas in his uncorrupted form.
They moved together with the fluid synchronization of true partners, their combined magic capable of feats that defied natural law.
"She betrayed you," Moira said, but her magical output continued to waver as she watched the seductive images play out around them.
"She feared what she was becoming," Malphas corrected with gentle sadness. "The power we discovered together was beyond anything she'd imagined possible. But fear of change, fear of transcending her mortal origins, made her choose imprisonment over evolution."
Lucien felt their mate bond growing thinner with each word the fae lord spoke. Whatever influence Malphas was exerting, it was specifically designed to weaken connections that might anchor Moira to her current reality.
"The binding she created was never meant to be permanent," Malphas continued, his purple eyes holding Moira's gaze with hypnotic intensity. "It was meant to preserve me until her descendant was ready to complete what we began. Until you arrived to claim your true inheritance."
"My inheritance," Moira repeated, and Lucien heard something dangerous in her voice. Something that sounded too much like hunger.
"Unlimited magical power. The ability to reshape civilization according to your will.
Immortality that will let you protect everyone you love for centuries to come.
" Malphas's smile was pure temptation wrapped in sincere concern.
"Why settle for being guardian of one small town when you could become a goddess who protects all magical beings everywhere? "
The visions shifted, showing Moira as she could be with unlimited power flowing through her veins.
She stood at the center of magical workings that spanned continents, her enhanced abilities creating barriers that protected every supernatural community on Earth.
Witches, shifters, fae, all of them safe under her benevolent rule.
"Think of what you could accomplish," Malphas whispered, and his voice seemed to come from inside her head rather than the ritual circle.
"No more hiding from human persecution. No more careful concealment of abilities.
A world where magic is not just accepted but celebrated, with you as its rightful queen. "
Lucien watched in horror as Moira's posture shifted, her shoulders straightening with something that looked dangerously like royal bearing. The golden magic flowing from her hands began to take on darker undertones, shadow threading through the light like corruption spreading through pure water.
"You could save everyone," Malphas continued, his form growing more solid as Moira's resistance weakened. "Your mate, your adopted community, every supernatural being who faces extinction at human hands."
"Moira, no," Lucien said, but his voice sounded distant even to his own ears. Their mate bond was stretching to the breaking point, overwhelmed by the psychic pressure Malphas was exerting.
"The shifter fears losing you to your destiny," the fae lord observed with cruel accuracy. "He would rather keep you small and manageable than see you achieve your full potential. Is that the kind of love worth preserving?"
In the magical visions, Lucien saw himself aging and dying while Moira remained powerful and eternal, their brief mortal connection nothing more than a footnote in her immortal existence. The images were designed to make their bond seem not just temporary but actively limiting to her growth.
"I could make you immortal too," Malphas added, apparently reading her thoughts. "Both of you, eternal and powerful beyond mortal comprehension. The choice is yours, child. Transcendence or the slow decay of ordinary existence."
Lucien felt the exact moment when Moira's resolve began to crack.
Through their weakening bond, he sensed the war raging in her mind between duty and ambition, between love and the promise of unlimited power.
The part of her that had always craved recognition, that had built her academic career on being the smartest person in the room, was responding to Malphas's seductive offers with terrifying enthusiasm.
"Think carefully," the corrupted fae lord said, his form now almost completely solid as the binding circle continued to weaken. "This opportunity will not come again. Choose wisely, Moira Shadowheart. Choose your true destiny."
The banishment ritual hung in the balance, its energy patterns flickering like a candle in a hurricane. Moira stood frozen at the center of the circle, golden magic and creeping shadows warring around her as she wrestled with the most important decision of her life.
And Lucien realized with crystalline horror that they had catastrophically underestimated Malphas's power of persuasion.
The entity wasn't just offering temptation.
He was rewriting Moira's understanding of reality itself, making corruption look like enlightenment and imprisonment sound like liberation.
Through their fading mate bond, Lucien felt Moira's hesitation growing stronger with each passing second. The woman he loved, the witch who had become his entire world, was slipping away from him one seductive promise at a time.
And there wasn't a damn thing he could do to stop it.