“We couldn’t fade into the house. The closest we can get is a few townhomes over,” Desmond reported. “Someone locked the house down, and we believe Diana and Mal are trapped inside.”
“Diana is scared; I can tell through our bond,” Bash said. “Az, what do you feel?”
Feathers concentrated so hard that his marbled wings sprang from his back. His entire body glowed silver, and Angela and Nonna looked like they were going to pass out. One of his wings almost hit me in the chest before I backed away. The furrow in his brow and clenched jaw didn’t bode well.
“My soulbond doesn’t work the same way your claim bond does, but I do pick up on some fear. I can confirm she’s in the house and that the house is locked down. I can’t use our soulbond to fade to her.” Feathers was the most easygoing out of the entire group, and if he was upset, that wasnotgood.
How the fuck did I let this happen?I was supposed to protect her. I failed her…
This is why you’re not her favorite. You’re not good enough for her.You can’t even protect her.
Maybe the voice in my head was right. Diana was trapped in that house with Zeus knows who. This shouldn’t have happened. We just got her back and now she could be gone for good.
Chapter 16
As we stepped into the circle, I felt a force pulling me back, knowing immediately that something wasn’t right. I tried to let go of Diana’s hand so she would be able to cross through, but we were both caught.
“Mal, what’s going on?” she asked me.
Her voice wavered, and when I tilted my head down to look at her face, she was sweating bullets. I held her hand, keeping her in place next to me.
“I’m not sure, but don’t leave the circle. Bash may have rigged this to act as a portal, but it’s still a summoning circle. We’re protected from outside forces as long as we’re in here.”
“He isn’t wrong,” a snide, pitchy voice said from behind us.
We whirled around to see an average-sized man dressed in a navy blue suit. He had chocolate brown hair, pale skin, and a run of the mill Wall Street douchebag haircut that was so common in NYC’s business district. At first glance he appeared like a normal, sour asshole you’d find hanging by a pool table in a bro bar. But as I looked at him closer, I noticed his dark hair and his nose.They look just like Diana’s.
“Let me guess…” Diana drolled. “Damon Morningstar? My half-brother who’s been trying to kill me?”
“Wow, you’resmart. It’s going to be a shame to waste all that brain power when I kill you,” he laughed.
Not today, you fucking asshole.“You won’t touch her unless you want me to rip you apart and feed your flesh to Ares’ three-headed dog, piece by piece.” I grabbed Diana’s hand, pushing her behind me and trying to fade back to our suite in Las Vegas, but we didn’t move. My magic sizzled and died on my palms. I tried again, using my telekinesis to port us out, but it seemed as if we were stuck.
Damon villainously chuckled, as if he was pleased with himself. “Not so scary when your crew isn’t here to back you up, huh? I locked down the house with anti-travel wards, so your telekinesis and fade won’t work here, Malcolm. The only way to escape is to leave the circle, but if you do, I’ll kill you…if you’re lucky.”
Diana smiled at him. I thought she’d be more upset by that development, but she seemed to find it hilarious. She giggled at him, covering her mouth like she had some big secret. She peered into my eyes, and although we couldn’t mindlink, I knew she was trying to tell me something. She had an idea on how to get us out of here, which was great because neither of mine had worked.
“What’s so funny?” he asked. Her failure to take his threat seriously obviously rubbed him the wrong way. Diana squeezed my hand as Damon walked all the way to the circle line to sneer at his sister. “You’re about to die. You should bebeggingme for your life.”
“I don’t beg,” she stated. “And you’re woefully misinformed, because Mal and I aren’t dying today, or ever, actually. I’m immortal, you dumb bitch.”
A flash of surprise crossed Damon's face, but only for a moment before it was replaced by cold indifference. He puffed his shoulders and shifted his stance so he appeared larger and more in control, still only coming up to my pecs. His eyes were dead, disconnected from the world.
“That can be circumvented, young lady. I’m surprised your boyfriends didn’t teach you that,” he sighed. “I’m more powerful than you could ever hope to be, and my power signature alone could level you, and your loser man-bun boyfriend too. I’ll be damned if you ever sit on Hell’s throne.”
“Now I want to do it, just to piss you off. You’re giving off such forgotten-middle-child vibes, it’s fucking pathetic. Before we go, hear me loud and clear, fuckface. Stop sending your shifters and masked morons after us. Stop trying to kill me. You’re a fucking meager excuse for a demon who’s been alive almost as long as Lucifer himself has been,” she laughed, definitely tipping her chin up and looking down her nose at him.
Damon seemed like he was going to explode, his temper boiling right at the surface.He did not like being compared to his father…somebody has some Daddy issues.His entire face turned beet red as he launched a bolt of magic directly at her heart. It sizzled in the atmosphere around us as it was absorbed by the circle’s protection. Before he could try anything more, my entire body vibrated with a magical current so powerful, it radiated in my joints. The entire room went black, and I closed my eyes. I could feel myself moving, overtaken by inertia so strong it made me nauseous. Before I could gather my thoughts, we landed in the middle of the Las Vegas strip, about a mile from Fortuna’s Garden.
I took Diana’s shoulder, spinning her to face me and holding her at arms’ length to get a better look at her. She was fine, not a scratch on her. “How did you get us out of there?” I asked.
“We time-hopped. Hopefully we’re only a day or two in the future from when we originally left for Brooklyn, but I’m not precise… My magic isn’t that focused, yet. I need to get back on track with my lessons and figure out how to lift the remaining magical bindings my fathers put on me. I need to be able to fade.”
She walked to the edge of the street, looking up and down it for the sign for the Costa Coven’s casino.
“We should go that way,” I suggested, guiding her to the right with my hand at the small of her back. We walked at a quick pace, wasting no time in case they somehow found us here. “How did you know that would work?”
“Had a hunch. He obviously did his research on you if he knew you could teleport and fade, but Oisín never told him anything about me. There was no way he’d know to ward against time traveling. I’d even bet that because it’s such a rare, unknown form of magic, there’s no way to really block it,” she said, smiling at me.