Firstborn (The Legacy Series) (18 page)

“Meaning she could create life, but not like this,” said Gil. “This morphing must be the Sin’s power. That’s what driving her to feed off people.”

“I need a way to kill her, Gil,” I responded irritably.

My sister ignored me. “But something’s wrong he
re. After the angels damaged her, she can’t fully control her transformations.”

I remembered the vision Rose gave me right before she killed me.

“She defected from the rest of the Sins,” I said. Of course − that right there was a piece of valuable information that I had completely ignored.

See? This is why I’m the brawn.

Gil glared at me, clearly on the same train of thought.

“If that’s the case then the Sin itself is no longer under her control and it’ll turn on her.”

“English, Gil.”

“She’ll go back to her original self – a monster spewing mess. Except this time
, they are all inside her. She literally won’t be able to hold herself together.”

“Interesting,” I said. Now
, that was something I could use.

I willed Djinn back to me and pulled on the tendril. The sword was pulled back like an oversized, killer yoyo.

My fingers wrapped around the hilt and the blade exploded in azure light.

“I’m not sure that destroying her will be the best of ideas,” said Gil. “I would much rather capture her.”

There it is – the Warlock instinct. Capture and experiment on.

Until a traitor comes along and releases her again.

No. Hell no. Lilith had to die. Period.

I pointed the sword at the Sin.

“No way, Gil,” I said. “She’s getting destroyed.”

“I don’t think –”

“Enough with the thinking,” I yelled. “There’s the enemy and our job is to take her down before she kills us all.”

Gil lowered her eyes.

“You can’t contain her,” I said a little gentler. “No one can.”

My sister may be stubborn but she can see reason. Slowly
, she nodded.

“I can manage one more spell,” she said. Her expression became steely. The mental battle inside her head had ended and she was back to her ruthless self.

“Any ideas?”

She smiled. I hadn’t seen that smile in quite a while. That devious grin that could only mean that she was going to pull the ace up her sleeve.

“Magnet.”

Magnet was a combination we used when we were kids and still in training. It was Gil’s invention – capture the enemy in space time barrier with a twist
. Any attack from the outside is magnified tenfold. We used it a couple of times − usually Gil providing the lockdown and me swooping in for the final blow.

Last time we had used this was when we were still teens – still learning the ropes of magic. There was very little power behind our spells back then.

Nothing compared to now.

Now,
with Djinn and my shadow, I shudder to think what ten times that power could generate.

Ah, well. Only one way to find out I guess.

I nodded at Gil and smirked. Let’s see Lilith try to walk out of this one.

23

When Gil said she could do one more spell, she meant she could cast her magic but would faint immediately afterwards.

I should have known – my sister and I were both stubborn and headstrong.

I could see sweat glistening on her face as she summoned the very last reserves of her power.

There was no motion, no yell or chant or magic word. My sister’s power was in her mind. She knew every spell and counter spell in the books and exactly when to use them. Her brain could spin circles around Einstein’s and leave him wanting more.

Only problem was that she lacked the raw power to perform most of those spells. So
, instead of crushing the enemy like I do, she uses magic in a way to rely on her concentration rather than brute strength.

The air around Lilith distorted. Her wings were crushed into her main body. It was like she had the most powerful magnet in her chest and everything was being driven inside.
That explains the name comes from.

Lilith struggled and t
hrashed wildly. Anything that grew from her was immediately crushed back down. It seemed like Gil was winning – but she was only human. It took extraordinary concentration on her part. She had to analyze whatever grew out of Lilith and apply the correct amount of pressure on it without sacrificing power from other areas.

She had a computer mind – able to do three high concentration things at once.

Meanwhile, I rage quit Spider Solitaire when the cards move too fast.

She gave on
e final push and I actually heard Lilith’s internal organs rupture. Remind me never to mess with my sister. She can fuck you up with her mind.

Gil fell down, completely spent.

Shadow tendrils reached out and caught her gently, easing her on the ground.

She had done her part
, now it was my turn.

But first – her safety.

I knelt down and pulled her sleeve up. There, on her forearm, was an intricate tattoo – a summoning sygil. I reached behind her ear, where a small cut was oozing droplets of blood, and smeared some blood on the tattoo.

I felt the air shift and Mephisto emerged. He took one look at Lilith and then at me, and a glare appeared on his face.

“Where the hell were you?” I growled. Having a demon with her might have saved her a lot of pain. I mean, for chrissakes, I had an asshole for a familiar and he would never just leave me. She could have died, just because this guy didn’t do his freaking job.

His thin eyebrows arched up. “That is between me and Master Gil.”

You know how some guys make you want to hit them repeatedly? This guy was one of them. But I didn’t have time to fool around. Gil had to be gone from here before I finished off Lilith.

“Take your master and leave here,” I ordered.

He remained there, with his arms folded. “Master Erik.” He spat my name out like a bad taste. “I do not take orders from you.”

There was a burning sensation in my stomach, like someone poured acid down there. At the same time
, I felt Lilith struggling – Gil’s magic was only temporary and the Sin was breaking it down.

I had to act fast – and the last thing I needed was this guy’s bullshit.

You remember when I said stress, fear and anger can kick your magic up a notch? Well, I was bathing in those feelings and it started to show.

I felt my shadow flare and something deep inside me click. All that untapped potential was released and my entire body tingled.
Bones cracked as they shifted. I didn’t see the magic penetrate and enhance every bone, muscle and fiber of my body – I felt it. I just knew it happened. It also helped that I stood up. My five foot, nine frame was now nearly head to head with Mephisto’s six foot figure.

I cast one look down at my own body.
My clothes dissolved and it was like someone had drenched me in black paint. I was covered in liquid darkness form head to toe and had become Dark Erik.

I felt my bones lengthening at my fingertips
, breaking past the skin and hardening into claws. The same thing happened to my elbows, shoulders, knees and ankles – the bone grew past the skin and formed a protective cap around the joints. I reached behind me and felt each vertebrae protruding.

Something pressed against my lips. As my tongue explored, I realized I had developed fangs just like Amaymon’s.

I caught a glance of myself on a polished piece of metal The color of my eyes caught my attention. My red eyes.

It felt powerful – I felt powerful.

Darkness flared around me like a robe and as I exhaled, steam came out of my mouth. And best of all, Mephisto recoiled backwards in terror.

“Dog!” My voice had become more glottal and feral. I pointed one clawed finger at him. “I am Erik Ashendale, heir to the Ashendale Power and Title. I am a descendant of the first Warlocks.”

I had never uttered that before. I guess that was my subconscious finally vocalizing when I always wanted to say to this jackass. Maybe this was me finally accepting who I am and saying it out loud was a way of setting it in stone.

I glared at the demon and smirked, baring my fangs.

“Don’t fuck with me.”

And here I was worrying about losing who I was.

Then, Mephisto did the thing I least expected him to do.

He bowed.

“As you wish,” he replied. He looked nauseous. If I ever figure out how to use this power I am reserving this voice for every time he visits.

The demon scooped my sister bridal style and stood in front of a portal.

Before he stepped through it he turned around.

“Congratulations
on discovering your roots, Master Erik.”

There we go again with the cryptic crap.

“Is there something you want to say?” I snapped.

“Nothing you will not understand with a little self-discovery.” I did not like the look in his eyes. He always wore that look when he taught us magic as kids – like he knew something we didn’t. Like he had all the answers and just wanted to toy with us.

Before I could say anything, he disappeared. Which was probably a good thing – Lilith was about to break free.

“You!” she screamed. She clawed at me with something that resembled a mangled hand. “I recognize that power. You and
him are the same. Did he give you his power?”

Is everyone here aware of what’s going on except me?

“What the hell are you talking about, you crazy bitch?”

“
He. The one that matters. The only one that ever mattered. The first and last.” Her head jerked around erratically. “No, no it can’t be. It’s similar power but not the same. But you and I are the same, Warlock. We have the power to shape the world as we see fit. Join me, Warlock.”

Seriously? After all she did she expected me to just up and join her cause? She must really be cracked.

“Don’t you wanna see my resume first?” I replied as I picked up Djinn. The blade glowed intensely as shadows encased it.

“What?” She was just about to break free. “Speak clearly
, Warlock. Will you join me?”

I let out a bark of laughter. Djinn’s blade engorged disproportionately and the tip embedded itself in the metallic deck. The azure energy blade had widened to about my width.

Even if I were evil, I doubt I’d join her. I mean, she doesn’t get my jokes – it just wouldn’t work out in the end.

“First off, I am not
Warlock
,” I replied. “The name is Erik.”

My body shifted into a battle stance and held Djinn’s blade pointed backwards, ready for a horizontal slash.

“And as for your offer, here’s my answer.”

My magic flared and I poured it all into the sword. Layer upon layer of energy and shadows piled around the blade until it was
twicemy size. Shadows and dark red pigmentation mixed with the raging blue light of the sword. The metal of the deck sizzled and paint evaporated.

And I kept pouring more magic.

Djinn could take it all – this wasn’t some cheap gun. This sword was a family heirloom from my deceased mother’s side. It was thousands of years old and seen magic that was long lost. This was my channel – as much a part of me as my magic.

My new powers extended to the area around me – not just space but also time. I saw Lilith’s mouth stop mid-sentence. She was probably going to spout more bullshit. The waves stopped mid
-crash as if someone had hit the pause button on the universe and it froze.

All except me.

I kept charging Djinn until it reached a critical point.

That’s when I heard myself exhale and time flowed normally again. Lilith said something but I couldn’t hear her over the loud pitch of Djinn and all that power inside of it.

Lilith was floating a few feet off the deck and was seconds away from liberating herself.

That was enough time.
I swung with all my might.

“FUCK YOU!”

The gargantuan sword was brought around in a horizontal slash. Metal crunched and the waves below were pushed backwards. The entire ship rocked to one side.

Djinn’s energy blade shot out towards Lilith’s screaming figure, distorting space and time.

The already immense energy met Gil’s Magnet spell and multiplied. The resulting energy mass carried Lilith upwards and exploded violently. I was sent backwards from the blast and the ship threatened to capsize.

At the point of impact, a small vortex appeared and sucked everything in. A pillar of water rose up and exploded in a shower of rain. I stabbed my sword, which had returned to normal, into the metal and held
fast against the rocking ship. The aftershock came later, in another explosion. I was momentarily blinded and deafened.