Shadow Magic (25 page)
Authors: Cheyenne McCray
BEFORE HE STARTED THE transference, Garran's knees almost buckled at the pain he felt through his link with Hannah.
Fury roared through him. He drew his sword. Caused his dark magic to infuse him, surround him. And followed Hannah's pain from the transference stone.
Red light blinded him. Smells of smoke, fire, and the stench of rotten fish assaulted his senses.
Before he even had the opportunity to assess the situation a ball of fire slammed into the dark shield he had protected himself with.
Hannah. In a ball of flame. Naked. Bare of any protection from the fire.
With a quick sweep of his gaze, he saw that he was in some kind of tower. Fomorii demons surrounded him and Hannah.
Anger arrowed through him as he saw Hannah writhe in the great ball of flame, and he felt the depth of her pain. On the other side of the flames were a Fire Dragon and Ceithlenn. The goddess scowled and flung another fireball at him but it ricocheted off his magic, out of the tower, and exploded, lighting up the dark sky.
Demons dove for Garran, but bounced off the power shielding him. If he did not have the shield up, he could have fought off the demons with his sword, but he would not be protected from Ceithlenn or the Dragon.
Hannah continued to scream and roll in agony in the fire and Garran shook with fury.
Instinct drove him forward. Sword in one fist, he dropped his shield and dove for the ball of flame.
Fire seared his skin as he entered the sphere and the pain he had felt through his connection with Hannah multiplied. His sight blurred as he landed across her legs, bracing his arms and barely keeping his weight from crushing her.
Blocking out as much of the fiery agony as he could, he scooped Hannah in his arms and flung out a dark spell of protection that surrounded them at once, a soothing fabric of magic.
Instantly his body cooled and Hannah stopped screaming. She wrapped her arms around his neck before releasing him at once, as if realizing she did not have time to waste on comfort.
When Hannah was on her feet, he felt her trembling beside him from the power of her pain. From the corner of his eye he saw her hair and naked body were damp from sweat.
Ceithlenn stood outside the bubble and folded her arms in front of her chest. “Now I have both you and the witch,” she said, her eyes focused on Garran. “Your powers cannot withstand mine and the Fire Dragon's for long. You will pay for what you have done with my demons.”
“No.
You
will pay for all that you have done to the people of this world.” Garran prepared himself to use his power gifted to him by the Great Guardian. He might only send a few of the Fomorii to Underworld, but he would rid them of Ceithlenn at the same time he saved Hannah, too.
You
will pay for all that you have done to the people of this world.” Garran prepared himself to use his power gifted to him by the Great Guardian. He might only send a few of the Fomorii to Underworld, but he would rid them of Ceithlenn at the same time he saved Hannah, too.
“Such a cocky Drow bastard.” Ceithlenn smirked and walked closer to the fiery sphere. “It seems that I have you atâwhat would you call it? A disadvantage.”
The Guardian's power built within him. He closed his eyelids for just a moment, and as in the cavern, every Fomorii's image and presence firmly imprinted themselves in his mind.
His eyes snapped open and he drew on the power, bringing it from his core and letting the silver magic encase his body so that he glowed with it.
The fiery sphere blew apart into red sparks.
Garran dropped the shield and Fomorii dove for them.
Ceithlenn stumbled backward. “No!” she shouted.
A fraction of a moment before Garran set the Guardian's power free, Ceithlenn wrapped her wings around herself and vanished. Along with the Fire Dragon.
The magic blasted into the Fomorii and, with a thought, Garran sent them all to Underworld.
He felt a moment's triumph at saving Hannah.
A moment's regret at not capturing Ceithlenn.
And a moment's fear at using the power twiceâand that he would have to do so a third and final time.
Leaving his people without a trained leader.
All the thoughts raced in his mind right before agony speared his body like a thousand swords. He dropped to the floor of the tower and darkness stole him.
EVERYTHING BOMBARDED HANNAH AT once. The appearance of Garran, the safety and protection of his magic, the fire sphere exploding, Ceithlenn and the Fire Dragon vanishing, blinding silver lightâand then the Fomorii demons gone.
Dizziness threatened to overcome her until Garran collapsed.
Hannah cried out and went to her knees beside Garran. She put her hand on his heart and felt instant relief at the strength of its beat. But he was out cold. His skin was clammy and his breathing shallow. The bluish-gray tint of his skin paled so that it was more of a stark bluish white.
The seemingly permanent lump in her throat growing, she held her palms over Garran and let her magic flow to his chest. She put almost everything she had into giving him part of her essence so that she weakened even more.
Nothing
. The pallor of his skin didn't change. He didn't move. His chest still rose in shallow puffs.
. The pallor of his skin didn't change. He didn't move. His chest still rose in shallow puffs.
“Dear Anu.” Hannah looked up at the opening at the top
of the tower, up at the night sky. “Please lend me more of your strength to help Garran.”
of the tower, up at the night sky. “Please lend me more of your strength to help Garran.”
She closed her eyes, but felt nothing.
What was wrong? Why was she failing in so many ways?
Sirens shrieked, and she knew law enforcement would be here soon. She couldn't let them see Garran. A bluish-gray man with silvery-blue hair and pointed ears? Not to mention they were at the top of the tower illegally, and
no one
would believe her story.
no one
would believe her story.
“Wake up.” She shook Garran's shoulder, hard, but he didn't even stir. “Come on.” More urgency infused her voice. “We've got to get out of here.”
Not even the flicker of an eyelid.
She whipped her gaze around the tower. They were alone, and she had no idea how she was going to get herself and Garran down from the tower and back to headquarters.
For a brief second, she had the absurd desire to laugh as she thought of herself as Rapunzel, trapped in a tower with no way down. No long hair, either. She did have her magic ropes, but she didn't think she'd ever be able to use them to get Garran down a two hundred foot tall tower,
and
get him back to the warehouse.
and
get him back to the warehouse.
The sirens cutting through the night were so close she knew the police had arrived. Hannah peeked out to see police cars approaching and coming to a stop. Strobes flashed red and blue against the white of the tower. The sound of police radios crackling and more sirens met her ears.
Hannah racked her brain. To keep the police from seeing her and Garran, she could hide the two of them with a glamour. With the power Garran had lent her, she was certain the glamour would be strong.
That wouldn't keep police officers from possibly tripping over Garran, though, when they searched the tower. And once the police left, how would she get Garran down? He was too big for her to carry. She looked him over from head to toe. Goddess, was he big.
One thought after another traveled through her head and she discarded each one.
The D'Danann!
The great winged Fae warriors could carry Garran with ease.
The great winged Fae warriors could carry Garran with ease.
Could she get their attention? They constantly surveyed the city by flying over it for signs of the Fomorii. As compact as San Francisco was, Coit Tower wasn't that far from the warehouse.
So where were they? The D'Danann should have been investigating the strange activity in the tower by nowâall the red magical flames.
What if Ceithlenn came back before she could get Garran out of there?
Knots in her stomach that had never gone away tightened until she thought they might snap. Her flesh still felt as if it were burning and shriveling from the power of the heat that had encased her. She might be imagining it but she thought she smelled smoke mixed with the remnants of the demon's rotten-fish stench.
A sense of urgency rose in her like a hot fountain, bubbling and gurgling and ready to spout out of her. She had to get Garran to Cassia so that she could heal him.
When she got to her feet, Hannah's legs shook enough that for a moment she had to stand still to compose herself. When she was steady enough, she hurried to the side of the tower that looked out in the direction where she'd be able to see the warehouse. The floor was cool beneath her feet and the chill air welcome after what her body had just been through. It was only then that she remembered she was naked. Ceithlenn had caught her at her most vulnerable.
The police car and fire truck flashers were even brighter and she saw a group of firemen breaking into the tower. The fiery sphere was gone, the top of the tower dark, but she was certain they weren't planning on taking any chances.
Another wave of dizziness caused her to hold her hand to
her forehead as she looked down from the two hundred plus height. Not a good idea.
her forehead as she looked down from the two hundred plus height. Not a good idea.
Fear nearly choked her. Goddess! What could she do?
The sensation of someone behind her made her head buzz. With a rush of icy fear Hannah whirled.
Hawk, Keir, and Tiernan.
Relief flooded through Hannah, the ice melting away. The D'Danann had come.
They folded their great feathered wings away so that the wings vanished beneath their shirts.
“What happened?” Hawk said as he knelt beside Garran.
“I'll explain when we get back to headquarters.” She glanced toward the stairs that the firemen and cops would use to climb the tower. They wouldn't use the elevator in case of a fire.
Hawk nodded. He and Tiernan picked up Garran's dead weight, Hawk holding Garran under his arms and Tiernan grabbing Garran by his boots. They hoisted Garran, unfurled their wings, and they vanished from sight.
Keir drew off his long black coat and settled it over Hannah's naked shoulders. She stared at him as she pushed her arms through the enormous coat and wrapped it around herself. He kept proving to her he wasn't the barbarian she'd always accused him of being.
She'd been carried by a D'Danann in flight before, but it still sent a burst of nerves through her belly. Keir secured his arm around her waist, spread his great wings, and rose from the top of the tower into the night. Not looking down at the police units and fire trucks, she clung to him as they flew at dizzying heights. Once the D'Danann were in winged form, they could not be seen by the human eye. Anyone they were carrying was also invisible.
Still her heart raced as they flew. The coat flapped in the wind and her hair got in her face.
When she and Keir finally reached the warehouse, Garran had already been taken inside. Hannah hurried in as soon as her feet touched the ground, pushing her hair out of her face at the same time.
Hannah counted her sister witches. Relief flowed through herâthey were all there.
Thank the goddess Anu.
The witches looked wound up and had obviously just been in a fight or battle, but they were fine. They were alive.
Hannah thanked the Ancestors, the Elementals, and Anu again.
Ceithlenn had apparently been telling the truth when she said she had a “surprise” in store for the D'Anuânot that Hannah had doubted the evil goddess. It hadn't been a threat. It had been a statement.
Now that she knew her sister witches had survived whatever had happened in Hannah's absence, she had to focus on Garran.
Her heart gave a hard jerk-twist-pull.
At the same time Silver carried some vials of creams and oils, she ushered Hannah down the hallway to the room Hannah had shared with Garran.
When they reached the room, the door was already open and she hurried inside to see Garran stretched out on the sleeping bags, still looking pale and out cold. Silver came into the room with Hannah, and the only other person there was Cassia.
Cassia held her hands over Garran's chest as her healing magic flowed from her to Garran. Her brow was crumpled with concern. “He's very ill, but I'm not sure why.”
Hannah cleared her throat. “I think he made more demons disappear.”
When Silver and Cassia looked up at Hannah, she continued, feeling as if her words were tumbling over each other like rocks in a landslide. “Ceithlenn and the Fire Dragon had me in a burning ball of fire at the top of Coit Tower and I was surrounded by Fomorii.”
Silver's jaw tensed. “The Fomorii that attacked the warehouse were probably just a diversion so the D'Danann couldn't rescue you.”
Hannah looked from Silver to Cassia. “Ceithlenn told meâshe sent them after all of the D'Anu here.”
Silver said, “Explain to us what happened.”
“I'm not sure.” Hannah looked down at Garran. “He arrived out of the blue and managed to protect me with a shield of his own.”
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