Page 70 of Transfiguration
“He knows something.” Con wondered again about Hart’s power. It was hard to get a read on him. As they made their way down the hall, not another person in sight, the waves of energy that normally made Con’s teeth ache had intensified. He also felt like he kept seeing shadows or movement on the edge of his vision. Was he unraveling? “Do you sense something, Rou?”
“Dark magic? Pressure? I don’t know how to explain.”
Con didn’t either, as he’d encountered nothing like it. It was pressure, weight even, slowing their pace as they got closer to the office. Was it a spell? He trembled, pausing at the door as it was hard to breathe.
“Feels like the Ascendance circle,” Seiran said, gripping the back of Con’s shirt like he needed an anchor. “Ants on my skin. Death magic, but not the kind Gabe has, more like lots of people died violently and that negative energy absorbed, or corrupted? I’m trying to shield Bryar.”
“Is your fairy lover about to lose control?”
“He’s not my lover, but maybe…”
Would any of them survive if they battled the master vampire or the fae warrior out of control? Con reached for the door, but it opened and Page stepped out. His expression strained.
“Page,” Seiran said.
“Now is not a good time,” Page said and glanced past them. “You didn’t bring Sam or Luca?”
“No,” Con said through gritted teeth. “How about you call the golem and we get this party started? I need to talk to a vampire soul about a missing kid.”
Page shook his head, his eyes wide. The surrounding area darkened. Waving lines like black smoke curling around them. Was it dark magic?
“What are you doing, Page?” Seiran demanded.
“It’s not me. But he’s not well…” Page tried, putting himself firmly in front of the door.
“Then call the fucking golem and put the soul in. Hart can sit and stew in his madness without us,” Con said.
“It’s not that easy,” Page insisted.
Con grabbed Page by the throat and slammed him against the wall, the wind rising around them. He heard windows shatter, which shouldn’t have been possible since they would all be bulletproof glass, but he didn’t care. His men were in the ground, he was unfettered, and there was a little girl missing. “This is the last time I ask nicely,” Con said. The wind whipped around them, and Page choked.
“Con…” Seiran said, trying to pull his hand away from Page’s throat.
“Golem first. I’m done playing games. They murdered Luca. I need to find them before they hurt Bella and rip them apart with my bare hands.”
Page couldn’t breathe, and Con didn’t care.
The door beside them opened, and a force smashed Con into the opposite wall, breaking his grip on Page. The sensation of darkness oozed over him, like slugs dotting out all of existence with slime. Con gasped, struggling to breathe as he stared into Hart’s face. Con changed his mind. Bryar hadn’t looked like a demon, Hart did. Gone was the polished man in a suit with the handsome face and immaculate posture. In his place was something dark and menacing. His face was a mask of writhing black lines, eyes glowing, teeth bared, but more like a beast than any vampire Con had ever seen.
“What did you say about my son?” Hart slurred through distended jaw and giant teeth.
The ooze coated Con like tar, freezing his body, his lungs, and slowing his brain. The wind vanished as dark slime suffocated his power. He blinked, the world narrowing on the terrifying face before him, and he knew he was dying. Snuffed out as if he were a bug under Hart’s foot.
“Max, stop!” Seiran called, the weight of his power filling the hallway and the entire building swayed, or maybe that was Con and his lack of air. “Someone murdered Luca, used him for a spell. He and Sam went to ground. Con is not the enemy. He’s just trying to find Bella and whoever hurt Luca.”
But Hart didn’t ease his grip and Con felt his muscles give out.
“Luca and Sam helped him balance this,” Page said. “I don’t know if we can stop him without them. Luca gave him mental strength to fight it and Sam absorbed a lot of the extra energy.”
“Fuck!” Seiran shouted. “Bryar?”
The fae warrior appeared and launched himself at Hart. The demonic looking thing Hart became let go of Con to meet the challenge, but it didn’t appear to be a fight at all as he smashed a fist into Bryar that sent the giant fae hurling down the hall, into and through the wall out into the night. Holy fuck.
Con sunk to the ground, the sludge receding with the distance, but still feeling weak as a baby. If this terror was Hart without Luca and Sam to balance him, they were all fucked six ways from Sunday because he was the most powerful vampire in the world and tied to hundreds of thousands of vampires. Would they all turn to this sort of monster? Was this the end game of these Kresnik assholes?
Bryar reappeared, popping in behind Hart and taking another hit that broke another wall, leaving the building gaping wide to the elements. The dark ooze clung to Bryar, his form darkening as if the energy latched onto him. Seiran tugged Con away, his Father Earth persona feeding energy into Con that helped him breathe again. “We need to get out of here,” Seiran said.
Page kept back, and Hart paid no interest to him. The monster kept Page behind him as he glared at Con and Seiran. Each time he attacked, Bryar reappeared, distracting him. The fae was taking a beating for them. Con’s muscles felt like jelly. His magic zapped, this far off the ground. Even Rou couldn’t exactly demand the earth reclaim Hart to stop him without destroying half the city.