Breaking Free (20 page)

“I shouldn’t have doubted him.”

“Has he always been in control?”

“No.”

“Then don’t,” Fallon pushed him back. “Maybe whatever they broke inside him was fixed when he was changed. Maybe he’s gained some of himself back. You couldn’t have known that would happen.”

Devlin
had a bad feeling about what was coming. Dad might be in control now, but if he’d fought for that control, and finally had it, what was he planning?

* * * *

Devlin came to the door, putting out feelers for any extra magic. The dark mages were all contained somewhere close, but not in their path. “It’s a trap.”

“Of course it’s a trap. They knew we were coming,” Preston
snipped.

Hayden grabbed Fallon’s wrist before she could open the door. “Not you. Let me.” Only, the fae didn’t touch the knob, he kicked the door down and pulled up his hands.

A wall of earth rose on the other side of the door and pushed forward, spreading out as thunks from spells slammed into the earthen shield that wiped through the room.

Muffled grunts and screams filled the
air, and then shouts and curses.

Devlin turned to Hayden, “What just happened?”

“Those mages can’t get out of the earthen cells I created for them. They are locked away until I let them out.” Hayden gave Robert a look. “Unless you can put them all under for the time being? Then you can sort out what to do with them later.”

Robert nodded, walking to the new wall and began a spell as he spread his hands out. The mages voices stopped
, replaced by muffled thumps as people started to hit the floor.

“There are more somewhere. That was only a dozen. But where is the door?”

Hayden made a gesture, and the wall parted down the middle, pressing outward. There were accompanying dragging sounds.

Devlin’s eyes narrowed.

Hayden gave Devlin a shrug. “I was careful not to crush anyone. Give me some credit.”

“
Trust me, they meant to do far worse.” Devlin’s gaze swept to Brody and they shared a dark look.

Hayden nodded
. “Killing won’t be my first option, but I won’t shy away from it.”

“With the
Shadowstalkers and dark mages, killing ought to be high on the list,” Devlin answered. There was a point after a dark mage crossed where their own magic was severed, and to simply live, they relied on stealing it from Others. Everyone they would encounter was past the point of no return.

“Sense anything?” Fallon asked.

Devlin looked over, but she was staring at Preston.

Frowning, Preston
shook his head. “Sarah and your father are the only ones in that room. You ready for it?”

Fallon nodded, and this time she pushed
through the door. There was a dazzling shield around Declan and Sarah. A medallion dangled from their father’s hand.

* * * *

Sarah stood within the protection of the shield as Fallon walked into the room. Brody followed her, and when she stopped, only a foot away from him, Brody’s hands closed over Fallon’s shoulders.

The bond bet
ween the two of them was so strong Sarah could feel it. “I’m sorry.” It came out as a whisper. “I had everything so wrong. I didn’t understand.”

Fallon spoke, her voice
surprisingly gentle. “When we get out of this, you can find another way. You won’t have a master to warp your thoughts, and take away your choice. This doesn’t have to be the end.”

Sarah looked into the druid
’s green eyes and was shocked to see warmth.

She took a breath and looked to Brody. “You don’t hate me?”

“No.” he let out a harsh breath. “I’ve seen enough of Malachi’s ways. I forgive you. I’ve moved on, though. I thought you were dead. After mourning you, and our unborn child, for years, Sarah, I can’t go back.”

Tears filled her eyes, and she finally let him go, truly understanding it was for the best. “Be happy.”

Declan touched Sarah’s shoulder and gave her a sad smile. “I told you that you’re no monster.”

* * * *

Fallon stared at her father. He looked like Devlin, but there were a few wrinkles around his eyes, and silver streaks through his fiery red hair. He’d let go of his magic, and now was a Shadowstalker, but she didn’t feel darkness swirling around him.

His head tilted to the side as he met her gaze. “I’m so proud of you
, Fallon. Please believe me when I tell you I’m sorry things turned out this way. I didn’t want to send that dream, but I gave you a way to escape.”

She nodded, seeing the truth in the statement. “Don’t give up yet.” She shifted her attention to Sarah. “Either of you.”

Devlin spoke up, “We have to do something, but we’ll be back soon. There’s another solution.”

“Son,” Declan said, “
whatever happens, you’ve given me hope. You are an amazing man. Don’t forget that.” He blinked, his eyes shiny from unshed tears. “Go. Do what you must.” Looking toward the door at the far end, he nodded.

Fallon closed her eyes briefly, then walked past the glittering shield to the door.

Jamie fought through the overwhelming doubt and sadness. What she
’d witnessed with Declan and Sarah, felt like a goodbye. She squeezed Devlin’s hand, and he gave her a hope-filled smile.

It was times like this she wished she had no gift. Sarah was resigned, full of defeat. Jamie didn’t even want to think what that
meant.

Then she felt the malice, hatred, desperation
, all laced with fear. She stopped, her heart pounding. Devlin turned to her, his expression dire. “What is it?”

She forced a slow breath and shook her head. There was no
going back. The mages were filling in behind them, but their emotions were missing, like they were drones, but it left a signature.

Jamie
hoped taking DeMarco out would put the mages down. “Keep going,” she finally answered.

They didn’t have to though. A hidden door opened in the far wall and a nightmare walked through.

White wispy hair fell around a sickly gray face. Never having seen him before, it was obvious Jamie was looking at DeMarco. Papery eyelids were all but gone, his lips cracked and pulled back like the skin had been dried out. There was a putrid smell that seeped from oozing wounds on his face, and likely under his clothes. Still, she could feel magic building as he walked into the room, almost floating instead of his feet touching the ground.

“So that’s what you did, Fallon.” DeMarco’s laugh was maniacal
when he lifted off the ground, his head falling back as the sound filled the room. “My power comes rushing back with you near. If I had known that was all it would take, I would have bound you to my feet long ago.”

“I’d love to see you try,” Fallon answered coldly. “Malachi
couldn’t find chains to hold me.” She looked around, an evil glint in her eye. “Where is that sick fuck? He afraid? He should be.”

God, Jamie loved Fallon and her lack of fear. She was quaking in her boots, staring at death walking
…
floating
.
And Devlin is no stranger to this monster. Shit, he’s stronger than anyone in this room.

“And you,”
DeMarco sneered, his dull, pale eyes slicing to Devlin. “You came back. Did you miss your little bitch? The one who wants him?” He pointed at Brody. “Sarah will torture you until you both break.”

The liche lifted a hand and pulled it back. The dazzling shield that contained Declan and Sarah was pulled into the room.

“What’s this?” DeMarco snorted. “Did you somehow retain your magic, Declan?”

He held up
Devlin’s medallion in his hand. “Some spells never die.”

“Instead of
taking your opportunity to feed from the feast before you, you’ve locked yourself in with the woman who will tear you apart to get what she wants?” DeMarco laughed.

Declan shook his head. “I think she’s realized
all the lies you and your pet have been feeding her were just that. She’s not going to dole out your punishment anymore. She’s finally remembers who she was, and who she chooses to be.”

De
Marco floated to the shield, a look of sheer disgust on his face. “You don’t want to tear into your husband for replacing you? You don’t want to take him apart for moving on? How about the woman who stole everything from you?”

Sarah didn’t look at anyone. Her eyes looked dull and dead as she stared at nothing
. “The love is gone. I want him happy, and he has that now.”

Brody’s head snapped up, and Jamie felt a shard of his pain slice through her. He didn’t let Fallon go. In fact
, he squeezed her tighter and his relief flooded her.

Jamie was trembling from the weight of emotions in the room. Then
powerful hatred crashed into her so hard it drove her to her knees as Fallon spun.

Fallon’s
hands whipped up, old words leaving her lips on a breath as she wove a circle of protection, around their group, and a smaller more brilliant shield in the center, locking DeMarco within his own wall of inescapable light.

* * * *

Fallon wove her spell, and DeMarco flew directly at her. He was flung back, hit the other side of the shield and crashed to the ground.

“
Come on, DeMarco. That all you got?” Fallon taunted.

She saw Devlin as he moved to the opposite side of the circle. He wore a mask of concern as he watched her, but he didn’t open his mouth.

“A shield? What’s next?” DeMarco spat as he picked himself up, but a sickly green glow began to churn through him.

“Do you think it’s going to be easier to finish me as a full liche?” DeMarco laughed coldly.

“You’ll never be a full liche,” she answered. Her voice rang out, crisp, clear, melodic as she sang a haunting melody that wove through the chamber.

Liz
joined in, then Devlin.

“No. You can’t!” he screamed as the light grew brighter.

Preston, Tremaine, Robert, and Erik added their voices as they reached out, joining hands. They stood in a circle, the air whipping around them, the earth trembling as fire leapt up inside of the shield.

DeMarco’s skin split, the ooze bubbling free, and black tendrils seeped out of his body, reaching for the wall like a hundred flailing black jellyfish. His scream was full
of power, but that power was being torn asunder.

Even older words tumbled from his lips as he desperately attempted to pull the fire into his own body to use as
fuel for his counter spell. The green light inside his skin erupted and smoke billowed from his body, but he managed to sling huge fireballs at the shield.

Cracks formed in the wall of magic, but mended, strengthening as it absorbed magic and flung DeMarco’s taint back at him.

Fallon concentrated on the ground under DeMarco’s feet, imagining twisting vines breaking free from the ground, twisting up to rip his rotted flesh and bone apart. Liz pushed her power into the magic. Flowers sprouted and thorns grew into razor sharp blades.

Fallon’s voice grew louder, as the
vines whipped and thrashed through DeMarco, tearing him apart while Devlin unraveled the spells their parents had cast decades ago. DeMarco’s head was severed from his body, the strike sending it rolling to the shield. His pale eyes stared up at her while the last of his soul was torn from him.

Devlin uttered
the final lines as his knees gave out.

De
Marco burst into flames and Fallon kept singing her song with Liz until there was nothing but scattered ash and ooze strewn about.

Fallon looked to Preston
, and then Liz, as they started the next spell, opening a vortex in the floor beneath the liche. Grey wisps spun in the center. Wails of the dead filled the room, as what was left of DeMarco rose from the ground and shield to be sucked into the portal.

A sound almost on the edge of hearing, a scream really, but lost between dimensions echoed through the room as the last of DeMarco was pulled from this world.

“He’s gone,” Declan said and laughed. “Finally gone.”

* * * *

Jamie managed to get to her feet once DeMarco faded into nothing. She felt dizzy as a wave of freedom, eagerness, and darkness spilled into the room. She looked up in time to see the shields come down and Malachi charge for Devlin, who was still on his knees with his hands on the ground.

A surge of energy licked through Jamie, cutting out every single emotion as she snapped into protection mode. She rushed forward, meeting Malachi across the room, shifting as she went.

She didn’t land on four feet as her clothes shredded. No, she managed half-beast form, something she had never even attempted. The claws of one massive hand ripped into Malachi’s chest and she shoved him to the ground, grabbing his head with her other clawed hand, taking out one eye.

He shrieked in rage,
flipping, pinning her to the ground, but she got her leg between them and kicked, sending him flying across the room. Jamie shot to her feet, tuning out everything as she ran headlong to him.

Jamie
felt the blade slide through her stomach as she fell. She rolled to her back watching as a glowing mana-blade flashed through the air, catching Malachi in the chest as Devlin transformed into a massive lion and knocked Malachi to the ground beside her.

Malachi’s
blade fell, and she saw the steel glinting in the dull light. The mana-blade burst into light and seeped back into Devlin as his claws shredded into the vampire.

Hayden shouted something, and the sun broke through in the center,
where the ceiling caved in. There were mages and vampires pouring into the room and all Jamie could focus on was Devlin’s lion wrestling Malachi on the ground, a vicious snarl that left his mouth.

Her wound was already healing, but it hurt. She refused to let the pain take her away, and fought for consciousness
as her skin mended.

Preston shouted and she saw the flash of his man
a-blade as he swung the weapon at a mage casting a spell at Devlin.

She couldn’t move fast enough to knock Devlin out of the way. He was thrown into the wall, and Malachi was on him, sinking his fangs into Devlin’s throat.

“Oh, not a fucking chance!” Jamie screamed, throwing herself into motion. She pulled Malachi from Devlin, who shifted back, his hands going to his throat which was ripped open. Efficiently slashing Malachi’s throat with her claws, she threw him to the ground before falling at Devlin’s side.

* * * *

Chaos had broken out. Sarah watched as Fallon and the rest of the casters destroyed DeMarco, freeing Malachi from bloodoaths keeping him locked in the liche’s service.

His power came roaring through
. He may not have compulsion over her any longer but she could still sense him. She fell to the ground as she watched Malachi rip into Devlin’s throat and then turn to tear his own wrist open.

Devlin could handle becoming a wolf, but the gentle-natured healer
would never make it as a vampire.

The center of the ceiling came crashing down, flooding the room in sunlight.

Sarah took one last look at the love of her life, fighting side-by-side with Fallon. He was majestic in his half-beast form, tearing through anyone who threatened him or the people she once called friends.

With nothing left to offer
Brody, and nothing more she could give, she did the only thing she could to end Malachi and his rein. She tore the medallion that held Devlin’s shields from Declan’s hands and threw it to the ground, stomping on it, before fading to shadows. Sarah flew across the room and wrapped around Malachi, dragging him kicking and screaming into the sun streaming down through the center of the room.

The sun didn’t immediately tear through her shadows, but she wrapped herself tight under his coat, as he caught fire. One of the mages trapped them in a shield that let the sun shine through.

Agony sizzled through her, but she finally beat her maker. He was disintegrating as she reformed.

The sun took her quickly, and the last thing she heard was Brody whispering her name and then a roar as he took down a vampire going for his mate.

* * * *

Fallon saw the shield protecting Sarah and Declan go down. She flung her hand out and sent a shield around them but didn’t have time to look. She slashed her sword at the mage closing in on Brody who was busy with another.

Declan started screaming. “Save her,” but it barely registered as she hacked through the mage’s spinal cord and spun toward the vampire rushing up beside her.

Then Robert’s shield flared. She glanced up to see Malachi burning to ash as Sarah materialized in time to join the roaring flame.

Because he was her mate, she felt Brody’s pain as he whispered her name, and then his roar snapped her into motion as he took down yet another vampire. She spun to find Jamie rocking back and forth over Devlin, tears streaming down her face.

“Shit,” she sh
outed, ducking, and taking out another mage before dashing across the room to kneel beside Jamie. Brody was right there with her.

“Jamie, change him,” she told her sternly.

“He doesn’t want to be a monster,” she whimpered, her growling voice distorting the words.

Fallon grabbed her face and forced
Jamie’s gaze to hers. “Are you a monster?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Fucking change him.”

“Heal him, please,” she begged, tears leaking down
her currently furry face.

Fallon shook her head, wishing she could.
“You know I can’t. Now do what you have to in order to save him, or so help me, I will make Brody do it.”

Devlin stared up at Jamie and nodded slightly.

“You won’t hate me?” she whispered.