Autumn Storm (27 page)

Decker faced them. Autumn paled. His eyes
were filled with shadows, his face like a mask. There was no trace
of humanity in either.

Fight it, Decker,
she willed him
silently.

“Go. I’ll deal with this.” Beck rose,
pulling her with him. He pushed her towards the forest then leaned
down, slicing Dawn’s amulet free.

Decker strode towards them. Beck took a few
steps forward to meet him, and Autumn was still, unable to leave.
Air magick was nudging Dawn, trying to wake her. Beck and Decker
stopped feet from one another. Their voices were too low for her to
hear. Decker started past Beck, but the Master of Light stopped
him, holding up the amulet.

Decker snatched it and crushed it with his
hand before tossing it. Shadows crept from where the amulet landed,
skating across the snow back to him. His gaze was on Dawn. Autumn
read his intentions; whatever he’d turned into, he wasn’t going to
let anyone leave the field alive.

Her eyes went to Beck. She saw the
resolution there before the pulse of magick filled the air. The
silent challenge stopped Decker in his tracks. He whirled, fire and
shadows flaring around him.

The earth rumbled beneath her feet, and the
air grew hot as the two faced off. Autumn glanced at Dawn,
realizing she needed to get the girl out of there somehow. She
moved forward and lowered herself to the ground, touching Dawn. The
pregnant girl was in shock. Autumn pulled earth magick up through
her legs and pushed it into Dawn.

With a flash, the battle between the twins
began. Autumn shielded her eyes. The air sparked with magick. She
looked down at Dawn and rose. Autumn looped her arms under Dawn’s
and began pulling her. She willed the air to clear a path for her.
Frantic, the air kicked up snow as it obeyed.

Relying mainly on her good leg, Autumn
concentrated on moving step-by-step, dragging Dawn towards the
forest. She’d learned to walk this way. One leg. Then the other. It
was like the early days of rehab: weak, hurting from wounds that
hadn’t yet healed, inching along because she wasn’t willing to give
up. She’d made it through that. She’d make it through this.

Step, pull. Step, pull.

The field was filled with lightening, fire
and fury. Autumn choked down her tears and forced herself to
focus.

Step, pull.

Sam’s summons woke Rania from her place on
the couch, where she’d spent the past week sleeping. She sat
quickly, sensing the urgency. She yanked on her boots and stood to
snatch her coat. She had just released her shadows when she heard
Michael’s quiet step in the hallway behind her.

“I’m going with you,” he said.

She faced him. He was dressed to leave, his
dark eyes on her. Rania hesitated. For days, she’d largely avoided
her husband as much as possible while they lived in the same house.
Michael never pressed her, but her conscience was killing her.

“Sam’s orders,” he said with a small
smile.

She held out her hand. Michael took it, and
she resisted the urge to sink into his arms. She didn’t deserve to
be comforted after all she’d put the family through lately. She
took them to where Sam was.

The yeti stood a few feet away, as still as
one of the trees. The night was cold, and magick sizzled in the air
with intensity that made her bristle. She let go of her husband’s
hand and set up wards around him to protect him.

“What’s going on, Sam?” she asked.

“It’s time.” Sam pointed.

Rania turned to face a familiar field near
the school. She stepped closer to the natural ledge of a rocky spur
jutting from the nearby mountains. It overlooked the clearing
beside Miner’s Drop.

Autumn was in the clearing with Dawn and two
Dark teens. Rania’s heart quickened as she realized what exactly
Sam was talking about.

“Michael shouldn’t be here for this,” she
said.

“Yes, he should,” Sam replied.

Rania looked at them, meeting her husband’s
dark gaze. He was calm and steady, as always. He offered his hand.
She shook her head and turned away. If things went as badly as she
expected, she’d be headed down the same path as Decker, once
Michael left her for destroying the lives of their kids.

“Whatever it is, you know I believe in you,”
Michael said, approaching her.

“You don’t know what I’ve done, Michael,”
she whispered. “You don’t know what it might cost us.”

“I figured most of it out.”

She didn’t dare look at him, terrified he
really had.

“Beck dropping of a mystery girl he wasn’t
sleeping with was the first clue. Her scars, the accident in Boise
three months ago. The chain.”

“What chain?” she asked.

“The silver one. I gave it to you when you
turned eighteen. The link patterns are for protection.”

Rania almost cursed aloud. Weeks ago, she’d
dug through her jewelry box to find a chain for Autumn’s amulet.
The worn, silver one jammed between the drawers had seemed
unassuming. She should’ve noticed the draw of his earth magick
guiding her to the chain. Hurried to return to the hospital before
Autumn awoke, she hadn’t thought twice about the silver
necklace.

“I love you, Rania, and I believe in our
boys.”

She squeezed her eyes closed. He wrapped his
arms around her and rested his chin on her head. She didn’t resist;
instead, she rested against him. After all, it might be the last
night his touch silenced the Darkness within her.

“We are watchers,” Sam seemed amused.

She glanced at him as he moved to stand
beside Michael.

With Michael there, she felt as if her soul
was stripped bare. Everything she’d risked the past few months, all
the distance she’d been forced to put between herself and those
she’d loved, every fear … he was about to discover everything. He
knew part of the story and was going to learn how much damage she’d
caused.

This was her day of judgment, and all she
could do was watch.

The scene unfolded slowly. Not much happened
for a few minutes. Rania studied Autumn’s slight shape, once again
humbled by how far the girl had come and how strong she was to
survive what she did. It gave Rania some hope, though not much when
it was clear the three in the field meant to hurt Autumn. The girl
wasn’t physically able to fight.

The night Autumn stayed at the cabin, Rania
had stood over her bed for a long time, marveling and terrified.
The girl touched both boys, and Rania had tried hard to figure out
what her trial was going to be. Even now, she wasn’t certain.

Fury filled her as one of the teens hit
Autumn, and she shifted. She had the power to help.

“You cannot interfere,” Sam reminded
her.

“I know, Sam. I’ve done my part this whole
time.” The anger in her voice was at herself, not him.

She watched with increasing unease as the
three surrounded Autumn, with Dawn brandishing a knife. She gasped
as Autumn blocked with air magick. Heart pounding, Rania began to
think the girl was going to make it, if she’d figure out how to
defend herself.

The four began to fight. Concerned, Rania
tried to figure out what was going on, why the two Dark teens
suddenly turned on Dawn. It wasn’t clear until Dawn’s magick lashed
out at Autumn.

Rania felt the slap of a soul going bad. She
pulled away from Michael, still affected by the instinct to silence
the alarm that went off whenever a soul went Dark. Pacing, Rania
kept her eyes on the field.

Decker was coming and bringing his madness
with him. She shuddered, feeling her son’s magick as he
materialized. A flash of black but also a flash of white. Rania
froze as Beck appeared as well. Closing her eyes, she touched
Decker’s mind.

Darkness. She didn’t sense her son at all.
When she opened her eyes, Beck had stepped in front of the girls
while Decker strode across the field towards him. Distraught, she
faced the yeti.

“Sam,” she urged.

He said nothing, grave gaze on the clearing.
Magick ripped through the air, the charge of both her boys readying
themselves to fight.

Rania spun, unable to watch her sons kill
each other. She had to act!

Michael grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
She looked up at him, expecting him to condemn her. She tried to
resist the affect his magick had on her, needing her anger to
counter her terror.

“We can’t help them,” he said in his calm
voice. His jaw was clenched and his eyes on his sons.

“I can!”

“No, Rania. This isn’t your battle.”

“It should be.”

“But it’s not,” he said, meeting her
gaze.

Something within her broke. He was as scared
as she was, but he looked at her with the same compassion and love
he’d always held for her. He’d known what she was from the start.
She didn’t know how he accepted what she’d done without question.
She deserved nothing but his anger.

“I did this, Michael. I gathered so much
Dark, Decker can’t fight it. I let Beck trade his soul for Decker’s
mate to have a second trial after she went Dark, and she can … she
can hardly stand, let alone pass another trial,” Rania choked out
the words. “If we lose our sons, it’s because of me.”

He took her face in his hands and kissed her
forehead. His body shook.

“Watch, Rania,” Sam urged.

She felt the elements battling and pulled
away from Michael’s gentle touch. When she faced the clearing
again, she saw her sons trying to kill each other. Tears started
down her cheeks. Michael’s arms wrapped around her, his own
attention riveted on the clearing. His earth magick battled with
her agitated shadows.

It was when the boys went to physical blows
that Rania dropped to her knees. All she’d done over her lifetime
had led to this moment, when she’d be lucky to have one surviving
son when the night was over. Decker was Darkness now and Beck
unprepared. Both were her fault.

Pain filled her. Decker’s pain, Beck’s pain,
the girl’s pain. It made her nauseous. She was as linked to their
lives as they were one another, and the magick from the clearing
swept through her as if she stood among them. Their emotions ran
through her mind, too, blurring her vision.

Michael knelt behind her, his arms circling
her again.

A glance at Sam showed him holding his head.
Her breathing was ragged and hard, her body straining under the
influence of magick that wasn’t hers.

“I’m here, Rania,” Michael said. “I believe
in all of you. We’ll make it through this.” His voice was strained
but filled with conviction.

She leaned against him, numbness falling
over her as his earth magick cleared her mind. Helpless to do
anything, she did as Sam bid her and watched.

Autumn’s injured shoulder was shaking, the
blood streaming down her arm and making her hands slippery. She
paused to wipe the warmth away then linked her hands and began
again.

Step, pull. Step, pull.

Gritting her teeth, she continued the small
steps. It felt like she’d been dragging Dawn forever. Her breathing
was ragged, her body losing what strength it had. Her anger and
fear weren’t going to give her enough energy to save them. Autumn
paused once more to wipe her hands and glanced back.

She was almost to the forest. If she made it
there, she might make it to the school next. Hope sprang within
her, until she risked a glance towards the twins.

The clearing was as bright as day from
Beck’s white magick and Decker’s fire. The two had been locked in a
silent battle of the elements. The balance between them snapped as
she watched, and they slammed into each other physically. Blows
fell without restraint, often aided by sparks of magick.

They’d fight until one of them was dead.

Autumn stopped, cold despite the heat of
exertion. She didn’t want to lose either of them. The world
couldn’t afford to lose Light, and she refused to believe Decker
was gone. He’d been there a day ago, gazing at her in a way she
couldn’t get out of her head. He was there. He had to be.