My heart damn near stopped. She was trying to hurt my baby. My best friend was trying to hurt my son.
“We can kill him, my lady,” one of the witches proclaimed.
“No, not yet,” Liv said quickly. “I think we’ll take him with us. I’m sure the master would be interested in him.”
Fen’s jaw was open, caught in a soundless scream.
I raised my sword, ready to kill them all. I held Gladys at the perfect height to skewer the nearest one right through the heart.
And that was when I realized I was stuck. I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe. My son was being tortured right in front of me. He was trapped in a bubble of pain, and none of his strength could help him. He was the king of his kind, but three witches could take his life so easily.
I was a Hunter, but I couldn’t fucking save my own son.
“I’m not going to kill him.” Liv had moved in behind me, whispering in my ear. “I’ll find a way to let him get away, but not until you agree to come with me. And tell me where the princess is. Thanks for bringing the sword, by the way. I wasn’t counting on that. I thought I would give my master a third of what he needed, but now I get to hand him his dream on a silver platter.”
“Fuck you,” I managed to grit between clenched jaws.
I could feel her hands on my shoulders. “Don’t be so stubborn. You’ll see when I get you back to the Coven House. You’ll see how good it can be. We’ll be a family again. You have to see that you can’t win. We have all the magic of the Hell plane in our corner.”
An arrow flew by my eyes, thudding and landing right in the heart of the witch to my left. Her hand came up, but she was already falling to the ground. Well, at least I knew what Evan had been doing. She’d been going for the weapons she’d been forbidden to bring.
I was so happy that kid was a rebel.
The spell holding Fenrir up failed and he hit the floor, turning immediately and howling.
Another arrow went flying, taking out a second witch, but chaos had already begun.
Liv headed toward Fenrir, her hands out.
I still couldn’t move. The spell still had me, and I couldn’t counter it. I felt tears pierce my eyes because I knew the reason. I’d neglected learning any kind of magic because until a week ago, I’d never needed it. She’d been there. I’d counted on Liv. I’d had my team behind me and I trusted every one of them with all of my soul, and now she was the reason I couldn’t save my son.
“We need reinforcements,” Liv shouted as she somehow managed to blow Fen back. I watched as his massive body slammed into the wall behind him. “And someone catch that princess or heads are going to roll.”
An arrow shot straight for Liv but she held out a hand and it bounced off some invisible shield. She hadn’t even looked back, couldn’t have seen it coming, but Liv had known. Evan tried again but with the same results.
A swooshing sound marked the appearance of even more witches. They climbed out of the paintings, legs sliding through first and then the sleek glide of arms, pulling themselves through. Gladys pulsed in my hand, insistent and wanting. She wanted in this fight, wanted to unleash the energy she had stored up, and I’d made her impotent. It was the first time I’d felt her anger.
We had the power to wipe them all from the Earth plane, and we would use their master’s magic to do it. She loved the delicious irony of it all. I could feel all those emotions flowing through me. Something had changed. She’d taken in Myrddin’s blood and somehow converted a portion of it to give her more power, more communication with the woman who wielded her. Me.
She wanted me to kill them all, but she was stuck in my hand as I watched a group of witches surround Fenrir.
Tears leaked from my eyes, but I couldn’t brush them away. Liv had told them not to kill Fen, but would they listen to her? Would Liv decide to punish me for fighting her?
I struggled to move, fought with every cell of my being, and I couldn’t. Panic surged through me. We were being completely overrun, and they were holding Fenrir down with their spells. He howled out in pain.
“I have her!”
I watched in horror as a dark-haired witch dragged Evan into my field of vision. She had her hands wrapped around Evan’s arms, and I could see where the princess had started to bleed.
“Thank the goddess.” Liv turned, her relief obvious. “Take her through. The rest of us will follow. We need to clean up here and make sure all our people are out of the Under.”
Evan looked over at me, tears in her eyes. “Kelsey, it’s the only way. Can’t let Fen die.”
I tried to shake my head, tried to force the words out, but this spell seemed to work like the bindings Liv had placed on me earlier. They tightened when I struggled, and I felt pressure at my throat like an invisible hand choking the life out of me. If I didn’t stop moving, it would cut off my oxygen supply and make it super easy for Liv to get me through her portal.
Fucking painting. I hate art now. You really can’t trust it. One minute it’s a nice little scene, something to brighten up the place, and the next it’s a fucking portal to Hell.
We were about to be dragged through, and I didn’t know what would happen.