Page 113 of Solar Shadows

Ugh.

The fucker laughed and clapped his hands, a solar shadow coming at me in a blur of speed and blazing false light.

Shit! I jumped to the side, firing the Taser spell at Tony. He staggered back, limbs thrashing, and recovered within seconds.

Okay, this wasn’t going to be easy.

Hmmm. How to mortally wound a ghostly ex-boyfriend? Taser making him stumble was a positive sign.

“Surround!” he cried.

The shadows encircled me, spinning, sealing me inside a bright vortex.

Closing my eyes, I pushed down a spike of panic, remembering they were part of me. Spun from my essence, stolen from me.

Maybe.

I focused on them, calling them to me.

“I am the real Sun,” I said.

I felt their heat in response, hot fingers probing, curious about me.

“Join me here,” I added. “I’m the true master. He’s a fraud.”

Fingers, fingers, the faint trace of whispers and a hot wind rippling through my hair.

“Yes,” I said. “Fight with me. Let’s end him together.”

They returned to Tony in an instant, forming a line behind him and hopping from foot to foot, leaving me with a cold shiver.

Okay, so that theory was dead. They loved him more.

Tony smirked. “The wheels are in motion, babe. You can’t fight this.”

I hit him with a Trip spell. He stumbled, staying upright.

Hmmm. Resilient prick, wasn’t he?

Wait! The Binding Net! How could I have been so stupid?

I called its name, flinging the net at him. He countered it with super-duper reflexes, deflecting it back to me.

Trained to be quick on my feet, I cast the Deflect spell from my civilian witch bangle, sending the net into a car window, shattering the glass. Its car alarm wailed for attention.

Phew!

Tony tugged on the threads binding us. I resisted, yanking back. He didn’t move, only laughed, setting my teeth on edge.

“What do you want from me?” My sunlight dimmed, the threads starting to itch.

“To be inside you again.”

His followers got up off the ground, still clutching their crystals.

“Shut up!” I clapped back.

The solar figures jumped up and down, then swayed from side to side.