“He wasn’t in the building,” he cut in again. “He was taken. He’s alive, but in the hands of the heretic witch.”
Chapter Thirteen
Because of the wellspring, I realized. Because Ashworth’s magic now protected it.
But why? Belle asked. Surely a heretic with decades of dealing with the darker forces of this world could have easily gotten past Ashworth’s spells?
I would have thought so. After all, while Ashworth was a far more powerful witch than me, he was here rather than in Canberra for a reason. The high council very rarely let those of exceptional abilities or power leave the confines of that place.
Eli reached forward and grabbed my hand. His grip was tight, as desperate as his expression. “He’s still alive, Lizzie. I can feel it. We have to help him.”
“Hang on, there,” the paramedic said. “You’ve more than likely got a concussion. You need to go to the hosp—”
Eli flicked his fingers and the paramedic’s words stopped. Just like that—there’d been no surge of power, no telltale sign of magic, and yet magic had just been applied. The paramedic’s eyes went wide and his nostrils flared as he sucked in a deep breath.
“My partner is out there in the hands of a madman. I will go after them, and you will do nothing to stop me. Got that?”
The paramedic raised his hands and nodded frantically. Eli made another motion and the paramedic sucked in air. “Fucking witches,” he muttered, and sat back on the nearby chair.
I swallowed my uneasiness and said, “Eli, if the three of you couldn’t defeat the heretic witch, what hope have you and I got?”
“Probably very little,” he said. “But we do have one advantage he doesn’t know about.”
I briefly closed my eyes as the uneasiness got stronger. “Using the slivers of wild magic that randomly float around this area is very different to calling the stuff that surrounds the wellspring. I’m not sure—”
“If he’s heading toward the wellspring, he’s not going to get far,” Aiden said. “We’ve set up patrols—”
“Which will mean jack shit to a witch capable of hiding both scent and sight,” Eli cut in. “Your people will never know he’s there until it’s too fucking late.”
?
??None of which,” I said, “negates the fact that the two of us will never be enough—”
“If he gains control of that wellspring, you can kiss this entire region goodbye. He will be undefeatable—even the most powerful witches in Canberra might not be enough.”
“No single witch, no matter how strong, has ever been undefeatable,” I said. “Especially when the high council has gotten involved.”
“That’s because no single witch—light or dark—has ever gotten full control over a very large wellspring,” he bit back. “But thanks to the fact the fucking idiots in this reservation allowed a major spring to go unprotected for over a year and gain at least some sentience, that’s the situation we now face.”
“There was reason enough for their actions,” Aiden growled. “Don’t start playing the blame game, because if the council’s fucking witch—”
“Don’t,” I said, touching his arm in warning. The last thing we needed was anyone knowing there was a second wellspring here. Gabe and Katie might be all the protection it would ever need, but who was going to protect them from the high council if they ever found out what had been done there?
Aiden’s gaze shot to mine. After a minute, he nodded and then said, “I no more want Ashworth to die or the heretic to get hold of the wellspring than you, but the fact of the matter is, unless we attack on multiple fronts, you two aren’t going to be enough to defeat him.”
“But the wild magic—”
“Can’t be relied on, Eli,” I said. “I used it tonight to save your ass, and my reserves are damn low. It’s doubtful I’ll have the strength to even control it.”
It’s doubtful any of us will have the strength to do any sort of magical damage, Belle commented. And he has to be aware of that.
I’m sure he is, but you can’t blame him for needing to try, Belle. You’d do exactly the same for the man you loved. Or, in fact, me. And we both knew I’d do the same thing for her.
Good point.
Eli hesitated, his gaze sweeping from me to Aiden and back again. Then he blew out a breath and said, “How good are you with a rifle, Ranger?”
Aiden’s smile had little in the way of humor. “Good enough.”