Page 39

CHAPTER 39

M alencia’s deadly magic felt like icy fingers tracing Elora’s body and head, looking for any weakness, any opening to slip in and kill her or, worse, turn her. Elora’s magic crackled against her skin and flowed through her veins, that intoxicating power so addictive. She knew how easy it would be to let the darkness in, instinctively knew how much more powerful she would become with it.

It whispered to her, caressed her skin, promising unlimited power, and oh, how Elora wanted to let it in. She couldn’t defeat Malencia without it.

No! You can do this! Concentrate!

She spoke the incantation of the ancient curse over and over, concentrating all of her magic on Malencia. Her vow to never do magic with the intent to harm someone was a tiny voice in the back of her head slowly being drowned. The man she loved would die if she didn’t kill Malencia.

Not just Jonah.

Panic washed over her. Cece was here now, too, fighting the horde of undead alongside Jonah and the phoenix shifter. The thought of losing both Jonah and Cece spiked her magic, and she smiled with grim satisfaction when Malencia winced, and Elora’s light pushed forward.

Malencia spoke faster, her light pulsing with fresh magic. Elora fought against it, but when Cece’s scream echoed in the clearing, her concentration slipped as fresh panic galloped through her veins.

“Cece!” Elora cried as Malencia’s light slipped closer. Elora fought back bitterly, calling on her magic, but Cece’s name was a steady drumbeat in her head, and while she didn’t dare to look away from Malencia, she could see Cece in her head. Could see her best friend’s body being torn apart by the undead, and it was all Elora’s fault. Her magic faltered, and Malencia shrieked in triumph as the cold yellow light enveloped Elora.

White hot pain exploded in Elora’s head, and her magic snuffed out like a candle as she collapsed in the snow. She sucked in a ragged gasp of breath, her entire body pulsing with pain as her head throbbed with agony.

She squinted up at Malencia as the dark witch stood over her. Malencia grinned, her gaze traveling over Elora’s body. “You gave it a good effort, fire witch, but you had to know you’d never defeat me.”

“Fuck you,” Elora gasped.

Malencia laughed, her hands glowing bright yellow as she raised them. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

Her body in agony, and the pain in her head excruciating, Elora used the last of her strength and magic to cast a barrier spell as the yellow light washed over her, and Malencia cast the killing curse.

The light was knocked back, and Malencia screamed in frustration, her gaze furious and her body shaking. “You bitch! Why won’t you just die!”

The light intensified, and Elora shrieked as fresh pain flooded her body. Her barrier spell was weakening under the fresh onslaught of Malencia’s magic, and she closed her eyes, whispering Jonah’s name as her magic waned.

* * *

They were losing their fight against the undead.

Jonah used his knife to stab a zombie through the temple as, a few feet away, Ronin shot one in the face.

“Gun’s empty,” he shouted before using the butt of his gun to bash in the head of the zombie trying to bite his calf.

“There’s too many!” Jonah shouted. “We need to get the fuck out of here.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Ronin said before kicking a zombie in the stomach.

A zombie reached for Jonah, but it was knocked flying by a thick tree branch, its body smashing into a tree. It fell in a heap but staggered to its feet immediately, shuffling toward Cece, who, hands glowing green and a grim look of determination on her face, was using tree branches to fight off the undead.

“Cece, behind you!” Jonah shouted as a zombie popped up behind the curvy witch and reached for her.

Ronin slammed into the zombie, knocking it to the ground. He dropped on top of it, grabbed a rock sticking out of the snow and brought it down on the zombie’s face. The dead man’s face cracked apart, and Ronin smashed the rock into his face a few more times before jumping to his feet.

He grinned at Cece. “You’re not the only one who can use nature to -”

A zombie appeared behind him, sinking its teeth into the side of Ronin’s neck and tearing it open. Blood sprayed from Ronin’s carotid artery, and Cece screamed piercingly as Ronin fell to his knees, the zombie dropping with him.

Jonah ran toward Cece as a crowd of zombies fell on Ronin, eagerly tearing into his body with their teeth, ripping chunks of flesh away.

As the zombies tore into the soft meat of Ronin’s stomach, yanking out intestines and stuffing them into their mouths, Jonah grabbed Cece and pulled her back.

“Ronin,” Cece whispered, her horrified gaze glued to his body.

“He’s gone,” Jonah said. “We have to move, Cece.”

She continued to stare at Ronin, and Jonah gave her a shake. “He is gone, Cece! Move!”

She stumbled across the clearing with him, but they pulled up short when more than a dozen zombies blocked their path.

Cece’s hand gripped his, her body shaking wildly as she glanced at him. “Jonah…”

“This way!” He yanked her to the left, stopping when more zombies appeared.

Cece stared at a pine tree, her hands glowing green again. A large branch jutting out from the trunk creaked and grew impossibly long before it moved in a whistling arc to smash into a few of the zombies blocking their path. The branch knocked them over like bowling pins, but more of the undead immediately crowded in to take their place.

“There’s too many,” Cece said, her voice filled with bright panic.

She cried out when Ronin’s body burst into flames and the zombies eating him caught on fire, their bodies turning to ash almost immediately.

Jonah gripped his knife in one bloody hand, staring at the zombies surrounding them before barking, “Back to back, Cece.”

She pressed her back against his, her body shaking and her breath coming in short, hard gasps.

“Keep fighting,” Jonah rasped as the moaning zombies shambled closer. “Don’t give up, Cece, we can -”

“What the hell?” Cece said when all of the zombies suddenly dropped to the ground, their rotting bodies going still.

Jonah kicked at one with his foot, but it didn’t move, and he turned to stare at Cece as understanding dawned in her eyes. Jonah followed her gaze across the clearing, his stomach hitting the fucking ground when he saw Elora lying in the snow. Malencia stood over her, surrounded by bright yellow light. Elora’s light was barely visible, a blue shimmer that surrounded her and was growing smaller by the moment.

“She’s had to use all of her magic against Elora,” Cece said. She gave Jonah a wild-eyed look of excitement. “Her protection spell will be gone!”

She tore free of Jonah’s grip and ran across the clearing. Jonah ran after her, his heart thudding in his chest and fresh adrenaline surging through his veins.

Cece stopped a few feet from Malencia, and green light shot from her hands. Without looking at her and keeping one hand pointed at Elora, Malencia flicked her other hand toward Cece.

“Fuck!” Jonah shouted when Cece’s body rose in the air, and she was thrown nearly ten feet, landing in a crumpled heap in the snow at the base of a tree.

Malencia grinned at Elora, her voice perfectly understandable in the sudden quiet. “Let’s give the green witch a taste of her own magic, shall we?”

Jonah watched in horror as Cece sat up, blood trickling from her head and a dazed look on her face. Malencia waved her hand, and a thick branch tore from the tree. It hovered in front of Cece before impaling her in the stomach. Cece shrieked, her body bowing before she fell back against the tree. She stared at the branch sticking out of her guts as blood poured from her mouth and her fingers traced the branch.

“Cece.” The soft cry yanked Jonah’s attention back to Elora. She stared at her best friend, her face twisting with guilt and fear. Her gaze turned toward them, and as they locked eyes, Jonah realized with horror that Elora’s light was fading completely. Her magic was failing, and she was about to die.

“Elora, no!” he screamed, charging toward them, his feet slipping and sliding in the snow. “Baby, no!”

The hot fear a drumbeat in his chest, he closed his eyes and concentrated as Elora’s sweet face appeared in his mind. Something clicked in his head, his shifting ability slotting neatly into place within him as if it had never been gone.

Fierce joy replaced the fear, and with a low roar, he shifted.

* * *

Elora told herself to keep fighting, but the pain radiated from every part of her body, and the agonizing onslaught was slowly destroying her magic. Her gaze slipped from Jonah’s as he screamed and ran toward her. She stared at Cece, deep sorrow blotting out the pain for a moment as she studied her dying friend.

“Oh, Cece,” she croaked. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

A roar tore her gaze from Cece, and she stared in mute surprise at the giant lion racing toward Malencia.

“Jonah?” she whispered as the lion crouched, his powerful back legs digging into the snowy ground as he launched his body at the dark witch.

Malencia screeched laughter and hit the lion with a beam of yellow light. His howl of pain sent fear for Jonah shuddering through Elora as she struggled to keep her failing barrier spell in place.

There was another roar, and this time a giant grizzly bear, its thick fur a deep silvery brown, lumbered toward Malencia. She tossed the bear high in the air with another flick of her hand, and he slammed into the ground.

The bear transformed into Jonah, and as he staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his nose and mouth, Malencia grinned at Elora. She was toying with Jonah, Elora realized, and she tried to scream at Jonah to run, but she couldn’t produce anything more than a strangled groan.

“It’s so cute how he thinks he can save you,” Malencia said, her lips pulling back to reveal her rotting teeth. “Maybe I should kill you last, fire witch. Let you watch as I hurt your beloved the way he hurt my daughter. He shouldn’t have messed with my child.”

“Your daughter hates you,” Elora said. “Even if you kill us, you’ll never see her or your granddaughter again.”

Malencia’s face reddened. “You shut your whore mouth, bitch!”

Movement caught Elora’s eye. A small white rat ran toward Malencia, its body barely visible in the snow.

“It’s true. Your granddaughter will grow up never even knowing your name,” Elora taunted in a low voice, desperate to keep Malencia’s focus on her and not on Jonah.

Malencia growled with rage as the rat climbed the back of her cloak, his nails digging into the fabric as he scaled her back, moving with nimble grace. The yellow light emanating from Malencia’s hands burned brighter, and Elora shrieked when Malencia’s magic broke through her barrier spell and slammed into her. Before the light could consume her, the rat appeared on Malencia’s shoulder. He sank his teeth into Malencia’s neck, and Malencia screamed, her hands flying upward and her body staggering back as blood poured down her neck.

The yellow light died, and so did the pain. Elora tried to stand, dismayed at how weak she was, as Malencia screamed again and grabbed the rat chewing at her throat.

The rat squealed as Malencia tore it off her throat and threw it to the ground. She hit it with a blast of magic, and the rat transformed into Jonah. He stared up at her, a look of dazed confusion on his face.

“You fucker!” Malencia screamed as she clapped a hand against her bleeding throat before holding her blood-soaked fingers out accusingly at him. “Look what you did! Fucking shapeshifter! I’ll make you suffer like no one has ever suffered before.”

She spat out an incantation, and Jonah screamed when the yellow light washed over him. He writhed on the ground as Malencia screeched laughter.

She’s killing Jonah!

The weakness disappeared in a flash, and Elora rose to her feet as the magic surged within her. It thrummed through her body, ancient and powerful and unstoppable. She’d always been terrified to fully accept it, to allow it in without holding back, afraid of what it would do to her.

But as Jonah screamed again, Elora let the magic in, her body humming as the magic crackled in her veins, demanding to be free, demanding its due.