Fractured Souls by Ava Marie Salinger

24

The noise levelaround them dropped. Rage burst inside Morgan, bringing forth a flurry of his powers. Wind fluttered his clothes and hair as he took a step toward the guy who’d jostled Cassius, intent on giving him a piece of his mind and a taste of his fist.

“Don’t.” Cassius grabbed Morgan’s hand and stayed his motion, his face calm. “He’s not worth it.”

He turned and started walking away.

The guy seized Cassius’s arm. “Hey, I’m not done talking to you!”

Morgan closed his fingers on the man’s wrist and squeezed. Hard.

“Yes, you are,” he growled. “Now, back off!”

The closest Occulta patrons exchanged troubled murmurs as they watched the unfolding drama. Morgan reckoned news of the incident would spread across the bar within a minute.

The guy tugged violently on his arm and glared at Morgan. “Who the fuck do you think you are, asshole?!”

Morgan squeezed harder. It took him another second to wrench the man’s hand from Cassius’s flesh, which confirmed his gut feeling. The bastard was an otherworldly. A human magic user would have caved under Morgan’s sheer physical strength by now.

The guy snarled and swung his other fist at Morgan, a crimson glow flaring in his pupils. Morgan blocked the attack and forced him back until he was up against the banister.

“Hey, Gary, just let it be,” one the demon’s friends said anxiously, glancing at the stormy expressions on the faces of the rest of Morgan’s team.

“What’s going on here?” someone said briskly behind Morgan.

Morgan looked over his shoulder. Suzie appeared through the crowd. A frown wrinkled the witch’s brow when she saw them. She looked past Morgan to the demon.

“Valencia, I thought I told you I’d ban you if you kept looking for fights in my place,” she said flintily.

The demon sneered at Suzie. “Don’t tell me you’re part of this man-whore’s harem too?” He glowered at Cassius. “This guy is just a loser. He should have died when he fell from the Nether!”

Cassius flinched. Fury burned Morgan.

The demon’s face twisted with savage delight. “Hey!” he shouted across the bar. “I just got an idea! Why don’t we rid the world of this worthless bastard right here, right now?! I’m sure we’ll be rewarded generously for it. In fact, I bet we’ll go down as heroes in history if we kill Cassius Black!”

Suzie swore as a wave of magic surged across the bar, overwhelming her aura spell.

“Morgan,” Julia warned, reaching for her dagger.

Moran clenched his jaw. “I know.”

He drew his knife and released the Stark Steel sword within. Metal hummed next to him as Zach unleashed his blades.

The three of them formed a vanguard in front of Cassius, their eyes focused on the people pressing in around them. Orbs of magic exploded in Adrianne and Bailey’s hands where they’d taken up the rear, rune-covered daggers gripped tightly in white-knuckled fingers. Charlie started murmuring the beginning of a dark-enchantment spell under his breath, perspiration dotting his brow.

Agitated voices rose from the crowd. The people inside Occulta were looking at one another and around the bar with fearful expressions.

“That magic isn’t coming from them,” Cassius said grimly.

Suzie startled. “What?”

Morgan glanced at the angel in surprise.

A muscle danced in Cassius’s cheek. “Whoever’s casting this is good, but I can taste the underlying essence of the spell.” He took out his knife and released his sword, a pulse of power flaring from him and momentarily brightening his skin. “This is black magic. The same kind I detected in the sewers.”

Suzie’s shock turned to anger. She scanned the bar. “Can you tell where it’s coming from?”

The room was starting to clear, a steady stream of patrons heading for the exit amidst a muted roar.

Cassius’s tense gaze roamed the large space. “No. The spell isn’t complete yet.” The angel frowned. “I think he’s shielding his location.”

An irate voice reached them from the direction of the entrance. “Goddammit, Julia! I thought I told you guys to stay out of my investigation!”

Zakir Singh barged through the flock of escaping people and headed briskly their way, seemingly oblivious to the panic thickening the air.

Adrianne groaned.

Suzie grimaced. “That guy is such a chump.”

“Now is not a good time, Singh!” Morgan snapped. “Can’t you see we have a situation?!”

Singh slowed, his contemptuous gaze finding Cassius before shifting to Morgan. “The only situation I see is that you brought an unsanctioned outsider to an active crime scene. Wait until I tell Strickland about this. He’ll—”

The air trembled as the dark spell finally took form. Shadows burst into life across the bar. Morgan tensed.

Singh stiffened. “What the hell?!”

“Warlock!” Cassius barked.

Morgan cursed, his pulse thumping rapidly in his veins. Even he could smell the sulfurous taint suffusing the air.

Alarm widened Suzie’s eyes as several humans screamed and fell to the ground, flesh blackening with purple, pustulant lesions. They scratched and clutched desperately at their throats, as if fighting for breath. Panicked shouts erupted from the rest of the crowd. Everyone made a mad dash for the exit.

Dazzling brilliance exploded next to Morgan.

For a moment, the Aerial thought Cassius had released his powers.

The light faded to pure-white orbs that pulsed violently above Suzie’s palms. The witch squatted and slammed her hands on the ground, her expression furious. Bright lines humming with magic spread out across the hardwood floor from the point of contact. They merged to form complex runes that snaked up the walls of the building.

Morgan exchanged a surprised glance with the others. He could tell they’d grasped what he’d just sensed.

Suzie Myers was a Level One witch.

“Help me!” Suzie yelled at Bailey.

The wizard startled. He strode forward and dropped low next to the witch, a scowl darkening his face. Brightness flared across his fingers as he placed his hands on the floor, his defensive magic melding seamlessly with hers.

The odor of sulfur faded slightly and the shadows started to abate.

“Get these people out of here!” Suzie yelled at the doorman who’d come running inside the building. “You two, give him a hand!”

This she directed at the barkeeps crouching behind the counter.

The wizards nodded, their fearful gazes sweeping the group next to the witch before they picked up several humans writhing on the ground and carried them bodily outside. Some of the otherworldly and magic users were creeping back into the building to rescue more of the fallen humans.

A pulse of seraphic power throbbed across the chamber, making the chandeliers tremble and the lights flicker. Morgan blinked, recognition jolting him. He whirled around.

Cassius was studying the back of the bar with a frown, his black and red wings unfurled and his hands fisted tightly at his sides. His skin was aglow with the divine energy that heralded his Empyreal transformation.

“Show yourself!” he yelled. “I know you’re here!”

Something flashed in the gloom. A knife darted out of a pool of shadows and sailed across the bar in the blink of an eye.

Julia stopped the blade an inch from Cassius’s heart.

“Don’t!” Cassius barked when Morgan made to grab it. “It’s coated in Dark Blight and poison!”

Julia’s eyes blazed with light as she struggled to contain the weapon. The knife screamed, desperate to evade the Terrene angel’s powers, the bloodlust of its wielder turning the air around it dark with malice.

“This thing is made out of Stark Steel!” Julia said, frustration underscoring her words. “I can’t crush it!”

The world trembled and brightened as Cassius finally let his powers free.

Many of the humans and the magic users who had yet to escape the building fell to the ground retching, faces twisting in agony, unable to withstand the sheer pressure of Cassius’s Empyreal form. The otherworldly among them froze, hands rising to shield their eyes from the incandescent light. Terror and awe widened their gazes when the dazzling glow faded and they finally saw the white wings flaring from Cassius’s back and the crackling radiance wreathing his body.

Suzie paled. “Bloody hellfire.”

“Shit,” Adrianne mumbled, her legs trembling as she fought to stay upright.

Bailey gritted his teeth and stumbled over to the sorceress. “I’ve got you!”

He braced his body against her side and grabbed her waist.

Charlie swayed and would have dropped to his knees had Zach not caught him.

Cassius was oblivious to it all, his focus on the cursed knife attempting to pierce his heart. The lightning enveloping his Empyreal form flared around his hand as he wrapped his fingers around the handle.

“No!” Morgan grabbed Cassius’s wrist.

“It’s okay.” Cassius met his gaze, his own deadly calm. “It can’t hurt—”

Blinding whiteness filled Morgan’s vision as his and Cassius’s soul cores connected with violent resonance. He sucked in air.

Cassius gasped, his aura flickering agitatedly.

Images danced before Morgan’s eyes. He blinked, struggling to make sense of the rapidly shifting snapshots. His heart thudded painfully against his ribs when he finally grasped what he was looking at.

Memories! These are memories!

Agony filled his head in the next instant, a living vice that gripped his skull and threatened to crush his brain. He groaned and let go of Cassius, nausea roiling his stomach, bringing a rush of acid to the back of his throat.

Cassius shuddered, his gray eyes reflecting the same pain. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, his aura gradually stabilizing. The Empyreal clenched his jaw and concentrated on where he still gripped the cursed, Stark Steel knife. Light flared as he destroyed the spell, the air trembling with power.

The evil aura enclosing the weapon slowly evaporated.

The blade clattered to the floor when Cassius released it. His vivid gaze locked on the fading shadows at the far end of the bar. A cloaked figure appeared from behind a black-magic shield. It swore and darted toward the back of the building.

“Found you, asshole!” Cassius hissed.

The Empyreal moved, his figure blurring in a burst of dazzling light.