Demons (Darkness #4) (3 page)

I eyed its
cage as it did, sensing the weakness of it. The shaky spell barely held together. Even as I stood there, the thing was starting to eat away at its cage.

Super.

Was this a terrible spell by design, or some sort of failed attempt?

“We gotta get out of here!” I roared at Jonas, backing away as quickly as possible. “This thing is way,
way
stronger than other
Dulcha
I’ve seen. It’s feeding off of the magic containing it, somehow. We need Toa for this one.”

Jonas flicked his gaze at Tim, whose eyes were directed in a flat
stare, at the scary monster pacing within its sphere. “You wanna go check if the dead body is one of yours?”

Tim started forward immediately.
When that thing’s hollow gaze locked on him, his step did not falter.

“Don’t touch the orange cylinder surrounding it,” I whisper-yelled as he passed.

“When he’s done, pull your magic out, but you’ll need to seal off the building,” Jonas instructed as I neared.

“Yes, Jonas, I know. I’m not an idiot.”

His face had turned to point down at me, the area around his eyes tight.

“This isn’t just a normal
Dulcha,
is it?” I asked in a tiny voice, following Jonas as he backed away from the opening. My eyes scanned the enormity of the building. I thought of the spells at my disposal—the ones I could do well. “I’m not really sure how to seal off something of this size. I mean, containment spell, obviously, but it seems to be eating away at the one locking it in right now. How did the wielder create that thing?”

“Old magic,” Jonas said in a low voice, stepping aside so a grim
-faced Tim could exit the door and move past. “More power makes the process easier, but humans that don’t know how to work their magic can call them, too. It takes chants and sacrifices. Blood and death.”

His haunted
eyes took me in. “I’m only orange. You are black. If that thing breaks free, my magic isn’t going to stop it. Which means you need to work this shit out. That thing cannot escape this building.”

I grimaced
. True words.

“Don’t blow up the building, either,
” he added. “It’ll laugh at the fire and keep on coming.”

I groaned. “That didn’t need to be said…”

We backed out to the center of the quiet street, the shape changers all waiting for us.

Tim’s gaze
touched mine, tight and serious, before finding Jack. “It was Dom in there. He didn’t make it to his fox form. He was a fast and fearless fighter. No chains or manacles to secure him.”

“
How did he get taken so easily? Do your people get manipulated like humans do?” I asked, because that would be a good explanation.

Tim shook his head solemnly
.

“I found Phillip,
” Ann said quietly. “Killed with a sword. Apparently he was just in the way.”

“The person that
called this thing didn’t need two sacrifices—one was enough,” Jonas growled, gaze skewering the decrepit and hulking warehouse in front of us. “Seal this place off, Sasha.”

Him using my name
straightened my back and sent tingles down my spine. His eyes, a dark shade of brown with specks of gold, were intense and serious, a spark of fear deep within their depths. That thing in the warehouse had shaken him. Shaken Jonas, the meanest, most fearsome badass in Stefan’s clan.

Not good.

Survival mode washed over me, that glimmer of fear peeking out of Jonas’ stare infusing my courage. I had to stop that thing from getting out. Only seriously bad news could scare Jonas, and only I had the ability to cut it off.

It was not shaping into a good day.

I opened up and let the elements rush in, filling me to capacity, then taking just a bit more. For me, unlike for others, magic shock was a very real issue every single time I used my magic. I couldn’t draw too heavily, or the dam would burst, the elements blasting into my body until my body became overloaded and shut down. So far, that shut down was just for a few hours, or even a day or so. I’d been lucky. Worst case, however, meant that the shutdown would be forever. I had to be careful.

I envisioned placing a huge blanket over that warehouse,
draping it in suffocating power. No holes. The weave was water tight. I used mass quantities of earth for the lock, keeping that spell put.

I’d learned a thing
or two from Toa. It had given me stress wrinkles, but I was getting somewhere.

As the billowing cloud of magic enveloped the building,
I could feel my energy sucking out of my body. I had limitless magic, yes, but like running or lifting something heavy, it took energy. I did not have limitless energy. It was another way things could go wrong.

For all the things I had going for me in the magic world, I had just as many that would result in death if I wasn’t careful. I was forever walking on that razor’s edge.

I reached through my link with Stefan, tugging, needing his special power. The distance softened the connection, lessening his help, but he was with me immediately, balancing the flow. Distributing it.

He was a
lso growing concerned. This was supposed to be a routine stop along his—our—territory. I shouldn’t need his help. That I did would alert him something was wrong.

Gaining a burst of energy,
I sprinkled an invisibility charm that would have the eye glancing off of the building should someone wander by. I also tied off this spell, keeping the magic in place. I stepped back, panting with fatigue.

Jonas’ brow had furrowed. “You did more than just disguise it, right?”

I continued my eye-rolling marathon as Tim stalked up, having left with Ann around the building when I started my spell. “Obviously.”

“There’
s nothing obvious when you do magic…”

“He was taken down cleanly,” Tim said, glancing around the area.

“What were they doing here?” Jonas asked suspiciously.

“We h
ad notice of a wilder in this location. They came to check it out.”

Jonas and Tim stared at eac
h other for a moment, before Jonas took one more glance at the building and headed back to the car. “C’mon, we gotta let the Boss know.”

A thrill ran through my stomach
at the mention of Stefan. As always, I couldn’t wait to get back to him. It was like an extended honeymoon period with him—part of me wanted to just hang out in the same room and stare at him while drool dribbled down my chin.

At the moment,
however, unease ate away my longing to touch him. He knew something was wrong, and he wanted me away from whatever it was. Like any alpha male, he was protective and possessive to a fault, wanting to wrap me up in bubble wrap and stow me away from harm. Obviously that was as harebrained as it was impossible, but it didn’t prevent his agitation when he couldn’t protect me.

Scared Jonas on one hand, partially irrational clan leader struggling for control on the other.
The day was not getting any better.

As I turned toward the car, Tim said,
“We’ll hang on—I want to see to Phillip’s remains.”

Jonas nodded and motioned for me to hurry up
and get in the car.

“Alright, this is your time to assert yourself,” Jonas coached as he
started driving. “This is an important and valid discovery that you made.”

“We did it together—
”

“
You
are the Black Mage, which means you technically led this expedition. You are in charge—”

“Which no one can tell since you constantly
bully me.”

“—and you need to
demonstrate that if the Boss has people around him. You need to start showing that you pull rank with everyone but the Boss. Got it?”

“Yes
.”

“You need to act mature
and professional. Can you do that?”

Not a chance.
“
Absolutely.”

We pulled up to the front of
the mansion, only a faint glow seeping from the front windows. Jonas slammed the gear shift into park and opened the door. “Alright, let’s go.”

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the room my link told me Stefan occupied. Jonas stepped forward and pulled open the door. I got an impatient thumb jerk from him, telling me to enter. As I crossed the threshold; the world fell away. All I could focus on were those intelligent, dark eyes, looking at me out of that earth-shatteringly handsome face. My stomach exploded in butterflies as my chest tugged, wanting to close the distance and touch him. The emotion through the link held the same longing, the same single-minded focus as Stefan paid homage to me entering the room.

In the beginning, this would irritate people to no end,
no one understanding why everything ground to a halt so we could share a moment meeting our other half. After Stefan scared the crap out of a few people for interrupting, or I accidentally zapped them with magic, they all got the hint. It only lasted about thirty seconds, but in that time, nothing existed in the world but each other.

“
And
they’re back,” Charles said as I exhaled, taking in the scene.

Stefan
stood near the far wall, holding a sheet of paper with that sexy muscular arm. His rippled body stood in repose, in the middle of some business meeting that must have to do with our journey in a few weeks, because all of the top army guys and gals, including my new adopted dad and his staring side-kick, were present. Stefan’s slacks fit him oh-so-right, showing off that defined butt and his strong thighs. A dress shirt strained across his enormous width of shoulders and hinted at his mouthwatering pecs. Those washboard abs were hidden, but I salivated knowing they were there.

“Having a hot flash?” Charles asked with a smirk, the only one allowed to back talk to me in
Stefan’s presence.

Charles had been through
serious crap on my behalf—he’d earned it.

“Sorry, where were we?” I
swung my gaze around the crowded room.

“We were discussing the needs of the clan in our absence,”
Stefan said smoothly, eyes devouring me instead of going back to his paper.

I cleared my throat and noticed an intense stare from Jonas.
Oh yeah. Lead.

“Well, we might need to put that on hold. We found something.” I just barely left off the
uncertain, “is that okay?”

Stefan
’s eyes cleared of heat. Anxiety crept back into the link, having disappeared when I arrived in one piece. “What is it?”

I quickly ran through what we found
at the warehouse, watching carefully as Stefan’s face got grimmer and grimmer with some emotion he was trying desperately to suppress. The link warred with shock and fear and determination. When I finished, more than a few people, including Dominicous, were subtly glancing at him.

“You contained it?”
Stefan asked in a low voice.

I nodded. “But we need to get rid of it somehow.”

Determination took over the link as his jaw set. “You stay here. I’ll deal with it.”

“She has to remove her charm,” Jonas said in
as small of a voice as I’d ever heard him use.

Stefan
’s gaze skewered Jonas.

“Orange was containing it,” I rushed in quickly, knowing
Stefan didn’t want me anywhere near that monster, and also knowing the decision came from a man in love, not a leader. Nothing would undermine me faster than if Stefan tried to put Baby in the corner.

“If it escaped orange power, then Jonas wouldn’t be any good, since he is also orange. It’s my job,
Stefan.” I straightened my back against that scorching, dominating stare. My warning butt tingle sounded, screaming at me to
flee.
Still I stood my ground, nearly letting terrified chuckles escape my throat to let the tension out of my body.

That intense, black-eyed gaze retracted before he grudgingly nodded.
I took a silent breath, trying to ignore the sweat dripping down my back.

“Let’s go
.” Stefan moved across the room. “Jonas, assemble a team. Charles—”

Stefan
cut off, his eyes flicking to me. Jonas was staring again.

Oh yeah. Lead.

“Charles, get Adnan,” I jumpstarted. “You two are mine so Stefan can use Jonas.”

Stefan
gave me the briefest of nods, indicating I did the right thing. Thank god.

“You’re going to take a juvenile for protection?” Claudia, a red power with a mean right hook, came as close to a snicker as was possible for it not to be a challenge.

I stared her down, trying to get my gaze to shock into her like Stefan’s always did. Condescension stared back.

“You’ll c
hallenge him to a duel tomorrow,” I noted smoothly. “We’ll see how you hold up against a juvenile. I will personally tell you you’re right if you win. Now,” my gaze swept the room, “let’s get going. That thing was too smug for my taste.”