UNDER HIS SPELL (35 page)

As Skye watched in horror, wizard and creature took to the air.
 
The watching wizards parted to allow the
clouds to become the arena.
 
Electricity
sparkled and snapped, singeing the ground below them.
 
Sparks split the night, giving Skye glimpses
of the war raging overhead.

Frustrated, she bounced from the ground to the tree behind her
before finally propelling herself to the sidelines of the aerial
battleground.
 
She got a closer look than
she’d really wanted.
 
Her heart stopped
in her chest.

Rane lay prone and Unger stood over him, a look of glee on his
bitter face.
 
He held the dagger aloft,
the same dagger he’d threatened her with, and he raised his head to search the
air, locating Skye’s terrified gaze immediately.
 
Then, with a broad, victorious grin, he began
to lower the knife.

“No!”
 
Skye started to run
forward but an invisible hand caught hold of her wrist.

“You cannot intervene,” came a sharp voice.

She twisted for release by the hand held fast.
 
“Unger’s going to kill him.”

“A knife wound will not kill a wizard,” the same voice replied.

Just as the tip of the dagger nicked Rane’s skin, he gripped Unger’s
wrist and tossed him easily into the air.
 
The knife fell through the clouds and the thunk of steel hitting ground
was barely discernible.
 

Rane was back on his feet and Skye began to breathe again.
 
“I will not let Unger kill him,” she said to
her unseen captor.
 

“He will not.”

“Let me go,” she demanded.

“I cannot.”

“Why?”

“Because I have sworn to protect you.”
 
Jensen materialized beside her.
 
“My son asked this of me when he knew he
would be facing Unger again.
 
I will keep
my promise to Rane.”

Skye pointed toward the smoky area where wizard and creature faced
off.
 
“Even though it might mean your
son’s death?”

Jensen tightened his grip.
 
“Rane will not die.”

“Can you give me your guarantee?”

Jensen looked straight ahead and from his profile, Skye saw the
distinct family resemblance.
 
Rane had
his father’s aristocratic nose, his stubborn chin and . . . a yelp of pain
snagged her attention back to the battle.
 

Rane had nicked Unger and the creature was now bleeding profusely
from a wound in his left shoulder.

Unger held up one hand as if to ward off another attack, but Rane
kept coming, hitting him with sharp blow after blow until the monster’s head
was reeling and his knees sagged.
 
Then,
Rane took hold of Unger’s neck and raising his hand to the sky, he disappeared,
taking the creature with him.

Skye gasped and dashed forward, searching the empty air for any
signs of them.
 
But there were gone.
 
No traces.
 
No clues.
 
She whipped back around
to where Jensen still waited.
 
“Where did
they go?”

“Rane chose to finish this without an audience.”

Skye’s jaw clenched.
 
“Rane
chose?
 
How do we even know that Unger
won’t turn things around?
 
He could still
win.
 
What was Rane thinking?”

Jensen sailed forward, his hand outstretched.
 
“Come, my sweet.
 
We shall return to Mystique and await Rane’s
arrival.
 
He should be there in a matter
of minutes.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Jensen looked perplexed.
 
“Because wizards do not fail, especially when they are united.”

Her jaws ached.
 
“It must be
nice to have so much confidence.”

“If you are to marry into this family, you will need to become
accustomed to this confidence, my dear.
 
Rane has more than his fair share of it.”

“You don’t need to tell that.”
 
Skye slipped her hand in his.
 
“But I never said anything about marrying into this family.
 
I have, well, I think you know about Ostara.”

Jensen curled his fingers around hers and as the atmosphere around
them contorted, he remained silent, giving them time to materialize outside the
fortress before he responded.
 
“Yes, I
do, but if it is meant to be, there is always a way.”

She’d never met a wizard who could give Mary Poppins a run for her
money.
 
Skye smiled anyway.
 
“So how long do you think it will take Rane
to get here?”
 
She would bide her time
until she could give Rane a piece of her mind.
 
She didn’t know if he was safe or injured, the victor or the victim.
 
He had no thought to her feelings as he took
off with Unger.
 
Oh, yeah, the wizard
would get a piece of her mind, all right.

Jensen shrugged and urged the door open.
 
“Come inside and we shall have coffee.
 
Rane will arrive when the situation has been
contained.”

“Contained.
 
You make it sound
like a bacteria.”

Jensen smiled and led the way.
 
“You really must stop allowing your emotions to control you, Miss
Logan.
 
My son is more than capable of…”

“Taking care of himself.
 
I
know.
 
I’ve heard that one too many
times.”
 
Skye sighed.
 
She followed him at a much slower pace than
ordinary and along the way, she wondered if Rane was so good at taking care of
himself, where she would fit into his life.

***

Unger lay still on the ground, but Rane knew the creature was still
alive.
 
“I do not wish to kill you,” Rane
said in a quiet voice.

Unger laughed and then groaned.
 
He clutched his bloody side and cracked open one eye.
 
“Don’t tell me the wizard has a heart.”

The monster’s words had little effect on Rane.
 
He knew Unger was grasping for the final
mark, hoping to achieve some semblance of victory even in his dying
moments.
 
“It was never my intention to
mislead you into believing I have compassion for you.
 
I simply believe you have other options.
 
You do not have to lead the life you have
chosen.”

As Unger twisted his head from side to side, Rane caught a glimpse
of the man he used to be.
 
Light-skinned
with blond hair and a thin moustache, Unger was the classic bookworm.
 
Rane squatted down beside him.
 
He didn’t regret that the battle had come to
this and though there had been moments when Unger had gained the upper hand,
Rane’s victory had been assured by the wizards’ touch earlier.
 
They’d joined together, united to provide
Rane with their own power.
 
                                                                      

“Why did Ingrid curse you?”

“You already know the answer to that.
 
I tried to touch her precious baby.”

Rane shook his head.
 
“There
has to be more than that.
 
To look at
you, before Ingrid cursed you, one would never consider you a threat,
especially not to a baby.
 
Did she know
of your heart then?”

Unger closed his eyes and coughed.
 
A thin stream of blood ran from his mouth.
 
“She knew of Allessandra’s intentions.”

Rane frowned.
 
“Allessandra?
 
What does she have to do with this?”

Unger tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but failing that, he
glared up at his nemesis.
 
“Allessandra
chose me to marry your dear witch.”
 
He
laughed a little.
 
“That’s right.
 
I was your lover’s intended.
 
Ingrid would have none of that.”

Rane rocked back on his heels.
 
“I can easily determine if you are telling the truth.
 
Though Allessandra is dead, she is still
accessible.”

Unger lifted one hand weakly.
 
“By all means, call your dead witch.
 
I would be eager to hear if she will tell the truth or hide behind the
lies Ingrid told her.”

Rane surged his feet, walked around Unger’s prone body and headed
toward the edge of the cliff.
 
He’d taken
Unger to the gap which separated the covens from the Assembly, a three-mile
wide vast valley which held nothing but empty space.
 
It was an eternal yawning, one made for the
bodies of enemies.
 
Unger wouldn’t be
discovered again.

Rane stood overlooking the chasm, his hands clenched into fists at
his side.
 
He wasn’t concerned that Unger
might summon up the strength to be a danger again.
 
Rane had sufficiently disabled him.
 
Now, his only concern was the truth.
 
If Ingrid had committed this crime, then her
evil was partially responsible for what Unger had become.
 
Should he bear the punishment alone?
 
Even though Ingrid was dead, he could alter
her eternity.
 
Rane shivered slightly at
the thought.
 
Why would Ingrid risk her
own life and eternal future by condemning Unger to a life of ugliness and
brutality?
 
It didn’t make sense.
     

He whipped back around and walked toward Unger.
 
“I will summon Allessandra.”

Unger whistled low.
 
“The old
battle axe herself.
 
Good luck,
wizard.
 
I’ve heard the witch doesn’t
like to be disturbed.”

Rane didn’t listen to Unger’s words of warning.
 
He closed his eyes, opened his hands palms
out and . . .

***

“He is summoning Allessandra,” Jaxon announced to no one in
particular as he burst into the Assembly Room.

Jensen leaped to his feet.
 
“What?
 
Why would he possibly need
to summon Allessandra?
 
What is he
thinking?”

Only Falcon remained sitting, his hands clenched underneath his
chin.
 
“Perhaps we should join Rane and
discover the truth for ourselves.”

All wizards glanced around the room and then Charlemaine got to her
feet.
 
“Skye will want to go with
you.
 
I will make sure Emily and Sabrina
are taken care of and will join you shortly.”
 
She swept out of the room, her decision made.

As Jaxon turned to look at his father, Jensen lifted his hands in a
gesture of surrender.
 
“You try telling your
wife no.”

Tess nudged Jaxon in the side.
 
“Your father is right, dear.
 
We
should go.”

They joined hands and quietly dissipated into the night.

***

The appearance of the wizards didn’t sway Rane from his task.
 
He continued the beckoning until the ground
shook and rocks began to tumble from the edges of the cliff.
 
Angry, black clouds swirled overhead and just
as Skye made it to safety beside Falcon, a whirl of white silk and flowing,
blonde hair appeared.
 

Allessandra had arrived.

Silence descended as the witch trained her ice blue eyes on Rane’s
face.
 
“You have a matter of extreme
importance to discuss with me.”

Rane acknowledged the witch’s statement with a nod.
 
“It is good to see you again, Allessandra.”

The witch inclined her head regally and she flowed across the ground
to stand in front of Rane.
 
“It is
unusual for a wizard to summon a witch.”

“Sometimes, unusual circumstances call for unusual solutions,” Rane
said with a smile.
 

Allessandra looked past him, her eyes falling on Skye’s pale face.
 
“Skye,” she surged forward and took Skye’s
hands in her own.
 
“You have grown into
quite the beauty.”
 
She kissed both of
Skye’s cheeks.
 
“Your mother has told me
much about you.
 
She is very proud of you
and what you have become.”

Skye’s lips trembled with her own smile and as Allessandra moved to
greet the wizards, Skye ducked her head.
 
Rane came to stand beside her, but she wouldn’t allow him to touch
her.
 
She took a step closer to Falcon’s
side and Rane gritted his teeth.

“Allessandra,” Rane called the witch’s attention once more.

She pirouetted and her eyes fell to Unger’s still form.
 
For a long moment, she simply stared at
him.
 
Then, with a sweep of her hand, she
removed the cloak of the monster and the image of the man came into view.
 
“That’s much better.”
 
She shook her head sadly.

Rane looked down at the slender figure.
 
“Unger tells me he was Skye’s betrothed.”

Allessandra lifted her gaze.
 
“He was.
 
I chose him myself
because of his intelligence and abilities.
 
He had an extraordinary outlook on life and was destined to be a great
sorcerer.”
 
Her lips softened.
 
“And then his greed overrode his common
sense.”

Skye came forward.
 
“You’re
telling me this, this,” she pointed down at Unger, unable to summon up a proper
noun, “was supposed to be my husband.”

Allessandra patted her on the arm.
 
“He wasn’t like this when I knew him.
 
He was worthy of your attentions.”

Rane met Skye’s eyes and saw the doubt lingering in her gaze.
 
“Tell us what happened.”

Allessandra’s beautiful face crumpled and for a long moment, Rane
wondered if she would respond.
 
“Unger
made a mistake, one that he shared with Ingrid.
 
After that, she refused to allow him to become her daughter’s intended.”

“What was the mistake?”
 
Rane
demanded.

Allessandra flowed gracefully toward the edge of the cliff.
 
“I do not feel that is my place to say.”

“Say it, Allessandra,” Unger demanded in a hoarse voice.

Sympathy contorted her features.
 
“He expressed his love for another woman.”

Skye sucked in a sharp breath.
 
“There has to be more than that.
 
My mother would not curse a man simply because he fell in love with
another woman.”

Allessandra favored Skye with some of her sympathy.
 
“No, of course not.
 
Unger was cursed because he was still willing
to fulfill his promise to me.
 
He had
every intention of marrying you when you were of proper age.
 
Ingrid would not hear of it and when she
caught Unger alone in the room with you when you were just a child, she decided
it was something she simply could not allow.
 
She gave him a choice, to go back on his word to me or live out his life
as a hideous creature.”

Skye shook her head and took several steps backwards.
 
“No.
 
You’re wrong.
 
My mother wouldn’t
do that.
 
She wasn’t vindictive.”

“No, she was not.
 
She was
protective,” Allessandra corrected.
 
“She
was simply trying to save her daughter.
 
One cannot fault her for that.”
 
She glanced down at Unger once more.
 
“The choices Unger made after that were his own.”

Skye continued to shake her head.
 
“He could have come to you, asked you to make things right.
 
Why didn’t he?
 
If my mother cursed him out of spite, why
didn’t he go to you?”
 
Her voice lifted
on a note of hysteria.

Unger gave a snort of laughter.
 
“Let’s see you answer that one diplomatically, Allessandra.”

The witch gave Unger a disapproving look.
 
“Perhaps this is something best discussed in
private.”