Authors: Rebecca Airies
woman with long, black hair. She walked and then swept her foot over the ground. She
was looking for something. A wave of magic cleared a layer of dust away from the
rocky surface.
“Do you think they would have left it in such an obvious place when they realized
the town was going to fall?” Meagan crossed her arms over her chest.
He knew Meagan wanted confirmation that the woman was a Dark Sorceress. She
might be able to feel magic, but she couldn’t feel the taint as Jaeson could. Meagan
stood stiffly at his side. He probably wouldn’t have been as composed as she was if
someone he’d known had turned to the dark arts. Meagan seemed totally calm, as if this
were just another mission.
“Ah, Meagan. And you brought your friends.” The woman turned and swept her
eyes over the gathered witches, vampires and dragons with a look of disdain. “I wasn’t
expecting you so soon.”
“Those
tandini
you sent weren’t much of a challenge.” Meagan’s voice was light, as
if she were discussing the weather.
“Well, I didn’t expect so many people. I would have given you a little more to think
about if I’d known.” The woman turned to face them fully.
“You never did work well with others, did you, Doria? In fact, didn’t you once
leave the group you were with when the fighting got a little tough?” Meagan’s arm
brushed his as she shifted her stance a bit.
“If they don’t know when to get out, that’s not my problem. I know how to take
care of myself.” Doria shrugged, completely unconcerned.
What amazed Samiel was that she wasn’t denying anything. Most Dark Sorcerers
tried to deny the taint until they were blatantly caught or it suited them to reveal it.
Doria was brazen and uncaring who knew. He wondered if she’d ever really hidden it
or if only luck had kept her secret until this point.
“You should have paid more attention to working with a group. Then you might
not have been so surprised that we showed up with help.” Meagan looked over at
Samiel then slid a glance at Jaeson.
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“Oh spare me the ‘I’d trust them with my life’ speech. It’s all a bunch of shit. If
things fell apart, they’d leave you without a second thought.” Doria shook her head and
swept her hand in a wide arc.
A wave of dirt swept toward them. It hit a shield in front of them and fell to the
ground. Samiel barely had time to register what was happening. He didn’t have time to
throw up a shield. He was astonished when the wall of sand hit a shield and fell to the
ground. Glittering, triangular shards of sharp rock littered the ground when the dust
settled. He hadn’t seen anything like the dark, mottled projectiles before.
“Did you seriously think I wouldn’t be expecting something like that? You like
grand gestures. The starburst explosion in the coven when you became a full witch is
one of many examples.” Meagan shook her head. “You’re going to have to do better
than that, Doria.”
“Better. I can do better.” She raised her hands above her head, a smug smile on her
face.
The air in front of Doria shimmered. Samiel watched as a horde of
tandini
and
merdanons
appeared in front of her. Samiel saw Meagan take a step forward and sweep
her sword in an arc gathering power. She let a ball of magic fly toward one of the huge
merdanons
. The beast disappeared just before the bolt hit. It reappeared in another place
a moment later. He saw Meagan tense, but she didn’t say a word. She gathered power
for another bolt as he threw his first ball of fire. His orb hit a
tandini
. He saw a glowing
orb fly from the tip of her sword. The
tandini
the orb had been flying toward
disappeared. He knew Meagan was getting frustrated. He could see it on her face.
Laughter rolled from behind the mass of enemies. “Is that good enough for you
Meagan?”
He saw Meagan’s frustration grow. Every time she threw an orb, her target
disappeared before the energy could find its mark. The Dark Sorceress didn’t seem to
care what anyone else did. She was focused on causing problems for Meagan. The other
vampires and dragons took down the
tandini
and
merdanon
without the Dark Sorceress’
interference. Finally he heard Meagan heave a sigh as she stepped back.
“You’ll have to do it. She’s determined to thwart me, but you take them down and
I’ll take the power. I’m not going to stand here wasting my power playing her game.”
She took position behind the line of vampires and dragons.
“Are you sure?” Samiel knew what it must be costing her in pride to take herself
out of the battle. He looked back at her.
She smiled at him, but it looked a little tight. “You take these creatures down. I’ll
definitely move up beside you again if Doria decides to stick around and fight. I trust
you, Jaeson and the others to handle it.”
Samiel felt something inside him loosen, but he didn’t have time to think about it.
He went back to work on the horde of creations slowly pressing forward. He threw a
ball of fire toward one of the
merdanons
. It screamed as the fire spread over it. He could
see the wall of beasts thinning. Meagan stepped forward. She pressed the remaining
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Rebecca Airies
beasts back. The others kept working on the mass of creations. Samiel kept a worried
eye on Meagan. The Dark Sorceress had a grudge against Meagan and Samiel wasn’t
going to let his witch get hurt.
Meagan kneeled and drove the dagger into the shoulder of a
merdanon
. The beast
dissolved into a gray mist. She moved to the next. He kept a ball of fire ready.
“If that burns me, I’m going to burn you, dragon.” Meagan didn’t look over her
shoulder as she spoke.
He laughed. “It’s not that easy to burn a dragon.”
“Maybe with fire, but I wonder just how your hide would take being stewed.” She
stabbed the dagger into a
tandini
.
“Vicious little witch. You wouldn’t want to boil my hide. You like what my body
does to yours.” He looked at the group of
merdanons
and
tandini
still standing. They’d
thinned so much that he could see the Dark Sorceress looking around worriedly.
She laughed. “But I have a spare.”
He shook his head. “You wouldn’t want just him. You’d be bored in no time.”
“Save the bickering for later,” Jaeson said, the humor in his tone obvious. “Let’s
deal with the Dark Sorceress then you can tease each other.”
“I think he’s a little jealous.” Meagan shot a grin over her shoulder toward Samiel.
“You’re right, but so is he. We’ll finish this and then we can continue our
discussion.” Samiel watched as she finished taking the power from the last of the
merdanons
on the ground. She rose, moving slowly, carefully. She titled her head to the
right then the left. Just the deliberateness of her movements told him the power had
grown very high. He moved over and hooked an arm around her waist, pulling her
back against him. He could give her a little relief even though he didn’t need the power.
He gave her the antidote and bit. Power rushed into him as soon as his teeth broke her
skin. When he drew back, he could still feel the tension in her body.
“How does it feel to be their tool, Meagan? Do they give you a pat on the head and
a few good words after you’ve supplied them with energy and serviced them?” Doria’s
voice dripped with scorn.
Samiel felt anger rise at the slur. He felt Meagan straighten but she didn’t try to step
away from him. Her hand settled over his arm and rubbed briefly. The sound of her
laughter surprised him.
“It’s a little the other way around, Doria. They’re more useful to me than the other
way around. But that’s a nice try. Care to give it another go?” Meagan’s hand smoothed
over Samiel’s arm as if to sooth the tension in his body.
Doria glared at them. Samiel released Meagan and stepped to the side. He began
throwing magic at the few remaining
merdanons
and
tandini
. He could see the Dark
Sorceress’ nervousness. The woman would flee soon.
“We will get that piece of the generator, Meagan. Don’t doubt it. You can’t stop it.”
Doria’s eyes moved to the woman she obviously saw as a rival.
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“You won’t ever touch it.” Meagan stood beside Samiel.
“How do you think you’ll accomplish that?” Doria scoffed. “When you’re not even
hunters enough to fully come after me.”
“There’s a time for everything, Doria and I’m smart enough not to press into an
obvious trap. We’ll have that piece, Doria. If you think you’ll be able to find it then
you’re even more stupid than I thought after discovering you’d given in and become a
Dark Sorceress.” Meagan shook her head slowly. “You’re already lost and are just too
stupid or blind to see it.”
“You can’t already have it. It’s impossible!” Doria shouted.
Samiel held back a smile. Somehow, she’d misunderstood what Meagan had said.
“Not too much is impossible for me. I’m not alone. I don’t have to do everything on
my own.” Meagan took a slow step forward. “I’d bet that with the help of the vampires
I can work my way through your traps and shields in no time.”
Doria’s eyes widened and she fled. Samiel knew that Meagan was aware of the
facts. They would have to face Doria again, but there hadn’t been much chance of
catching her this time. And Doria wasn’t the only problem. There was more than one
Dark Sorcerer involved here and Doria was probably one of the weaker pawns. They
needed to find the Dark Sorcerer who controlled the others. It was likely he would
decide to move once he discovered there was no chance to create the kingdom he
planned. There was also the slight chance the Dark Sorcerer could go for another goal
here. It all depended on his ego and his belief in his ability. If he thought he could craft
something like the generator he might try it.
“You let her go,” Lissandra said accusingly.
“We weren’t going to catch her today regardless of how much energy we poured
into going at her. This was a test to see how I’d behave, if I could be lured away from
Samiel and Jaeson as well as to see what we can handle.” Meagan glanced back at
Lissandra.
Samiel wished they could have caught the witch, but Meagan was right. There
hadn’t been any chance that Doria would have stayed and fought. The Dark Sorceress
wasn’t prepared to risk her life yet. He personally thought the woman wouldn’t ever be
ready. She was the type who’d probably run if possible at any time.
Clearing the area took some time. The vampires took care of the traps the Dark
Sorceress had left. Meagan finished taking the power from the last of the
tandini
. She
stood. He saw her hand tremble as she sent her weapons into the
Fa’ed
. She’d definitely
need some power taken.
When they finished with the traps, the vampires turned and looked around the area
to make sure there wasn’t any lingering danger. Meagan supplied power to those who
needed it and they returned to the village. Meagan left them to make a report. Samiel
remained outside waiting for her. His mind was slowly beginning to focus on other
things besides the battle and the Dark Sorceress. Meagan’s trust immediately came to
the front. She made him feel invincible.
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“Jaeson.” He turned his head to look at the silver-haired man. “You want to have
some fun with Meagan tonight?”
Jaeson’s brows rose, but a slow smile curved his lips. “Definitely. Do you have a
plan?”
“Yes, I think she’s going to like it.” Samiel turned to Jaeson.
“Tell me what you’re thinking of.” Jaeson’s voice lowered.
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Those two were up to something. Meagan had known it since she’d stepped out of
the coven house. They’d been talking quietly. She’d walked down the steps before they
noticed her. When they did, they stopped talking and moved forward to meet her. Their
smiles had given her the first clue. Those smiles held such anticipation that she couldn’t
possibly miss it. She had no idea what their plan was, but by the heat she could see, it
would curl her toes.
They took her in their arms and almost without a word to her, transported them
back to the lair. Samiel held onto her. His lips moved over her neck. She relaxed back
into his hold even as Jaeson walked away from them. That did send a pang of sadness
through her. She didn’t want either one of them to be the one left to the side. She
certainly didn’t want to be the odd one. They hadn’t made any move to bring their
threesome together. It had always been one on one. She hoped to be able to bridge that
distance, because she didn’t want to tear them apart.
“I bet your power is still high even though you gave power to most of the dragons
and vampires.” Samiel’s palm skimmed over her stomach. She could feel the heat of his
palm through her shirt. His hand rested just below her breasts. She drew in a slow
breath, waiting for his hand to move up. At the thought of his hands on her breasts, her