Wings and Shadowthief by May Sage
Trust
The funny thing about beginnings was that they often felt like endings, too.
That kiss was their first in too long, and perhaps their last. Hunter didn’t kid himself. He was strong, but so were his enemies, and his allies were ridiculously outnumbered. The knowledge that Gwen was secure within his cocooned shields was the only silver lining.
He’d been on countless missions with Jack over the years, and never had he walked in with less certainty, or more to lose.
He saw his six friends wince as his magic set their cuffs on fire, but none of them gave it away. They suffered in silence as metal melted. Then, as one, they all leapt, attacking Aveka from different directions. Hunter’s instinct was to take to the air, but he had no projectile weapon, so he remained close to his cousin, who handed him one of his knives.
Aveka’s guards were well trained, jumping in to protect her. The witch queen shielded herself with spells, displaying no concern for any of her followers—they were vampires and more durable than her, objectively, but Hunter read her utter disregard and indifference for their lives.
He focused his magic on her, surrounding her shields with heavenly flames, and destroying them one at a time.
Hunter saw an arrow shot right at him. Knowing it had likely been loosed by Vlad, one of the queen’s most deadly acolytes, didn’t distract him from his purpose. He trusted Tris to protect him, and his cousin did, intercepting the flight of the arrow with one of his well-practiced blades.
Spells spewed out of Aveka’s mouth, ancient words Hunter didn’t recognize. That couldn’t be good. He focused on his work, knowing that if they let her escape, none of this would have been worth it. His friends were fighting against some of the strongest opponents they’d ever faced, and while drunk, passed out, or otherwise distracted, this island was still full of seasoned enemies who could descend on them at any time. They had to hurt her now, and leave before it was too late.
Hunter winced as a blade found his flank, on the side Tris wasn’t protecting. He pulled it out and threw it back at its owner, planting it in his neck.
The shields continued to melt. “Now!” he screamed at his friends. Aveka would rebuild them any moment. His fire moved to attack her. A bolt of lightning parted the sky, arcing right down toward her. To Hunter’s annoyance—though not his surprise—he also saw a dozen spikes aimed at the witch’s heart.
And Aveka smiled. She was done with her spell, and she cast it on Seth just as his lightning struck her.
Aveka screamed, hit by the bolt, burned by the worst of the fires, and pierced by several black ice blades.
Still, she smiled.
Blood pouring out of her breast, trembling, her face scarred by the burn of the lightning, and flames still licking her skin, she fell forward.
An order crossed her lips. “Kneel.”
Seth’s silver eyes dulled to a stormy blue as he cursed. He turned to their friends, and said one word as he knelt. “Run.”
Blair.
Blair.
Blair, Blair, Blair, Blair…
She was good at ignoring him. Well-practiced at it. It had been about a year since she’d first been foolish enough to open her mind up to a psychotic demigod who considered the entire world his playground. She’d closed the doorway, and when he knocked, she pretended not to hear it.
Tonight was different.
Something was wrong. Not here in Oldcrest on Night Hill. Tonight was the very best night she’d ever known since she’d enrolled in the Institute freshman year.
A baby. There was a baby in her arms. A pretty little girl with brown eyes and silver hair. She was going to be a looker. How could she not, with parents like hers?
And Blair was Ruby Eirikrson Devillier’s godmother.
She didn’t want to let the prick ruin today for her, but Blair, unlike the rest of her friends, knew where Seth and their missing friends were. Certainly not in Rome, as they’d told Chloe. In freaking Atlantis, attempting the murder of a queen.
Seth was almost begging her.
Begging and Seth didn’t belong in the same sentence.
What?
“I need you to listen to me carefully and do as I say without protest.”
She snorted. Right. That sounded like something she’d do.
“You’re either going to listen, or I will kill every single one of your friends.”
She froze.
Are you threatening me?
“I’m stating facts. Aveka’s put a spell on me. It hasn’t worked yet, but it will. I will be hers to command, and trust me when I say that I am capable of horrors you cannot imagine.”
For once, she did trust him entirely.
What can I do?
“Open up to me right now. Entirely. No shield, no barrier. Let me in.”
That was against every instinct of a witch. Letting him so deep inside meant that he’d be able to control her, bind her to him as he sat fit.
“Quite the contrary. I’m not after your soul. I need to give you mine for safekeeping.”
What he asked of her meant complete trust, because whatever he said, he could take her soul. He could harm it. Drive her to madness.
She also happened not to have a choice.