Authors: Rachel Carrington
The ropes didn’t concern her and she wondered why the witches had
even bothered.
Simple restraints were no
match for magic.
As if to reassure
herself, Skye broke free and circled the tree.
She knew the exact instant she was no longer alone.
“Unger.
We meet again,” she
said in a voice she wasn’t so sure belonged to her.
She sounded secure, confident, and as she
pivoted to face the monster, she managed not to cringe.
“I wish I could say I’ve been looking forward
to his moment.”
Unger wiped a long, thin stream of drool from the corner of his
mouth and lumbered forward.
“The
beautiful Skye Logan.
Born on
Ostara.
The savior of all witches.”
He sneered, an expression
,
which gave
his face an even more grotesque appearance.
“You’ve come to me at last.”
Skye waited for him to approach her.
She held her ground, all the while holding her
breath.
“I wouldn’t get too happy if I
were you.
I didn’t come to make myself a
sacrifice.”
Unger laughed gutturally.
He
dipped one hand inside the thick folds of the overcoat he wore and produced a
gold dagger with a dark blue crest on the handle.
“The wizards would recognize this.
It belonged to the Assembly once.”
His eyes took on a faraway look.
“Then I took it from Sabrina.
Of course, she stole it from them, so,” he
lifted his hunched shoulders in a shrug, “I couldn’t really have stolen it from
her.”
He opened his mouth to reveal
teeth sharpened to lethal points.
Skye refused to allow herself to shiver.
She narrowed her eyes and held onto her
self-control with thin restraint.
“As
much as I appreciate your trip down memory lane, could you get to the
point?”
She purposefully glanced at her
watch.
“Because I have somewhere to be.”
Unger’s humor faded.
“The
only place you have to be is right here.
Tonight, we shall end this.”
As Unger ended his statement, a searing, debilitating pain shot
through Skye’s right temple.
Agonizing
in its intensity, it brought her to her knees and as the tears ran down her
cheeks, she could only hold her head and struggle against the waves of nausea
clawing at her mid-section.
“You should have never come looking for me, Skye.”
He loomed over her, his body blocking her
line of vision were she to be able to look up.
“You have no idea what you are going up against.”
Skye lashed out with a spark of electricity, wrapping it around
Unger’s ankles.
Caught off-guard, the
monster staggered and came crashing to the ground, a surprised look on his
face.
With the pain receding, Skye was
able to climb to her feet.
Her knees
shaking, she braced herself against a tree trunk and drew in deep gulps of
air.
Unger came back to his feet in one fluid motion, his eyes deep pools
of ebony.
“Do not think you can fight me
and win, Skye.
Your powers are no match
for mine.”
Skye was well aware of that information, but giving up wasn’t an option,
especially with Emily’s life on the line.
She pressed her skin against the unyielding bark and considered her
options.
She watched as Unger approached
her again.
“I won’t let you kill me,
Unger.”
The creature’s lips parted to put the mouthful of unfortunate teeth
on display.
“You do not have any choice
in the matter.”
“I know you took Emily’s magic.”
Skye circled the tree as she talked.
“You want mine as well, don’t you?”
She managed a slight laugh.
Her
mind whirled as she sought ways to keep Unger off-guard.
She knew that would be her only chance a
survival as well as her opportunity to destroy the monster.
Unger opened his mouth to speak, but Skye cut him short.
“You know, I was thinking.”
She favored him with a bright smile in spite
of the way she was feeling inside.
“There is something you might want to consider.”
The horribly wrinkled face creased even more as Unger began to
laugh.
“You’re going to make a
proposition, a plea for your life, perhaps?”
His grin broadened even more and Skye had to lower gaze.
“Very well.
I am not an unreasonable man.”
He
lifted one hand, giving a gesture of permission.
“By all means, beg me to spare you.”
Anger simmered within Skye and she mentally counted to ten, forcing
herself to remain calm, in control.
Unger was counting on her losing her temper.
That would be her downfall.
Instead, she began to circle him slowly,
attempting to anticipate his next move.
Pain was his obvious weapon of choice.
She searched through her mental Rolodex of spells and quickly found a
pain blocker.
She said the words
hurriedly and prayed the goddesses would hear and help her.
“You assume that by killing me and taking Emily as your queen,” Skye
had to bite her lip to keep from making a nasty comment, “that Ostara will no
longer be a problem for you.”
Unger lowered his head once.
“That is correct.”
“But you are unaware of my complete bloodline.”
The monster’s head popped up.
“You and your sister are alone.”
Now that she had his attention, Skye chuckled and slowed her
pacing.
“I can see you haven’t done all
your homework.”
She lifted a finger to
waggle it in warning.
“Always know your
enemies, Unger.
I thought that was the
first rule you were taught in monster’s training.”
Unger’s eyes began to glow.
“You’re lying.
You have no more
relatives.”
Skye inspected her fingernails though every nerve in her body was on
full alert.
She wouldn’t let her guard
down around the creature.
With each
passing second, she protected herself with more and more spells, from disintegration
by fire to quicksand.
She didn’t trust
Unger to listen to her completely before he made his next move.
“Are you willing to bet your life on that?”
“If I kill you, it will be another thirty years before the next
queen can take that position.”
“That is, unless I’ve already passed the crown, so to speak, to the
next in line.”
Unger squinted at her.
“There
is no one else to pass it to.”
Was it
her imagination or did the creature sound slightly hysterical?
Skye saw the sweat pop out on his upper lip, but she wouldn’t allow
herself to relax.
“You
remember Sabrina, don’t you, Unger?”
His head shot up and his lips worked grotesquely.
“What does Sabrina have to do with
anything?
She’s gone.”
He waved a hand toward the forest.
“Dead by now.”
“Oh, I beg to differ.”
Skye
strolled toward him.
“She is alive and
well and in the custody of the wizards.”
She shook her head, making a tsking sound.
“You really should do more research before
you make assumptions.”
She lowered her
voice to a threatening growl.
“Because
assumptions will get you killed.”
She hit him square in the center of the chest with a fire dart.
Unger gave a yelp of pain and stumbled
backwards.
Skye watched him go down with
a dispassionate gaze.
She didn’t regret
taking the life of such a monster, not after what he’d done.
She turned around as Unger’s breath wheezed
out of his body.
Then all was silent and Skye stood still for a long moment, enjoying
the solitude.
As she began walking
toward the woods, the trees parted and Rane came into the clearing.
“You’re late,” she noted calmly, allowing her hand to trail over his
rib cage as she walked past him.
“Actually, I’m right on time,” Rane responded, shoving her back
behind him.
“What in the hell . . .” Skye staggered over clumps of leaves and
managed to spin back around just as Rane dove toward the center of the
clearing.
She came forward to get a
better look and gasped.
Unger was standing and as she watched, he tugged the dart from his
heart and held it aloft.
“Did you really
think this puny thing would kill me, Skye?
It will take much more than that.”
“How about me?
Will I
do?”
Rane asked and as Skye’s eyes fell
on Rane’s broad shoulders, his clothes were quickly replaced by a flowing robe
of indigo blue.
The silk brushed against
his body and swept the leaves at his feet, giving him a powerful, edgy
look.
Skye held her breath as the wizard
took the place of the man.
Unger’s eyes lit up with glee.
“How wonderful.
You’ve come to
die in your love’s place.”
He clapped
his hands together.
“Well, I certainly
hope you have more in your arsenal than fiery darts and electric bolts.”
Rane’s voice came out sounding guttural.
“You have not really battled with a wizard,
have you, Unger?”
He waved one hand in
dismissal.
“And I do not refer to those
mock skirmishes the two of us have had in the recent past.”
Unger’s beady eyes never left Rane’s face.
“You will find that you greatly overestimate
your abilities, wizard.
You don’t know
who I am, but more importantly, you don’t know what I am.”
“That is where you are wrong,” Rane contradicted him.
“You are a witch-feeder.
You drain the energy from the witches to
accentuate your own meager powers.
Without them, you cannot survive.”
Unger smiled again.
“Yes,
well, in a way, I guess you could call me a different type of witch-hunter.”
Rane held up one hand.
“Wizards appoint the hunters, Unger, and we are not interested in
rogues.”
“I see.
Well, before I kill
you, answer me one question.”
Unger
didn’t wait for permission.
“Does the
witch you love really have more family?”
From a distance, Skye saw Rane smile.
It was more an intimidating lift of his lips
than any attempt at humor.
Then, in a
voice that was quiet and low, Rane responded.
“
I
am Skye’s family.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Smoke rose above the ground, billowing around their heads in pockets
of steam.
The air grew thick with
tension as each heart beat its own separate rhythm.
Unger’s was more frantic, desperate
even.
Rane’s, a solid, sturdy beat,
unruffled, but determined.
Rane kept his position, forcing the monster to make the first
move.
Peace cloaked him, washed over him
and Rane saw his own victory.
He would
not allow anything to harm Skye again and the knowledge that she’d been in pain
earlier and he’d been helpless to come to her aid had been an unbearable
agony.
He would not allow that to happen
again.
“Rane,” Skye called out to him.
He didn’t look back.
“Skye, I
am extremely busy right now.”
She came to the edge of the clearing.
“I know, but he has this pain thing that he
does and . . .”
“I am aware of his abilities, but thank you for your concern.”
Unger slapped a gnarled hand over his breast.
“I’m touched, really I am.
The witch obviously cares a great deal for
you.
Perhaps the two of you would like a
moment alone to say your goodbyes.”
“Cocky creatures rarely thrive,” Rane pointed out mildly.
Unger gave a maniacal laugh and whipped around in a frenzied circle
before he settled down once more.
“You
know, I have a great idea.
Why don’t we
bring the entire family here to watch the show?
Surely, they would want to see you die.”
Rane tipped his face toward the sky.
“What makes you think they have not been here from the start?”
The monster lifted his head at a much slower rate and the second his
eyes connected with a blast of silver, he let out a startled scream.
Then, he stepped back, shook his head and
stared upwards again, but the clouds had covered whatever it was he’d
seen.
“I know those eyes,” he whispered.
“You should,” Rane offered mildly.
“Those eyes belong to Sabrina’s brother.
You know Sabrina, right?
The
witch you left for dead?
Yes, I am sure
you remember her.
Well, anyway, Sabrina
just happens to have a brother who is a wizard.
Actually, Falcon was the leader of the Assembly and…” Rane stopped
talking and smiled.
“I see you know
Falcon’s name.
Good.
Good.
Makes my job a bit easier.
Now,”
he flexed his fingers, “shall we continue?”
Unger had begun to sweat.
The
perspiration ran in rivulets down his weathered cheeks and though Rane could
still read the evil in the creature’s eyes, he knew Unger was rethinking his
plan.
He’d assumed he could defeat a
witch and possibly even one wizard, but now that the family had joined the
show, even Unger was beginning to doubt his own abilities.
“Don’t think I’ll allow myself to be intimidated by the presence of
the Assembly, Hansen.
I will kill you in
spite of their front-row seat.”
Rane inclined his head once.
“Excellent.”
He thrust out his
hand and popped the creature with a solid right hook.
Unger staggered and rubbed his jaw.
“Interesting.
The good guys
rarely make the first move.”
Rane grinned broadly.
“In my
family, I am not known as the good guy.”
He punched Unger again from a distance of five feet.
“I am the rebel.”
Another pop.
“I do things my way.”
A solid right hook caught the monster in the
center of the solar plexus.
“And I
seldom lose.”
Unger righted himself and let the air whoosh out of his lungs.
“I would not get too self-assured if I were
you.”
He rose into the air and kicked
Rane’s lower right jaw.
And the battle began.