Bloodspell (The Cruentus Curse, #1)(103)

"Corpus venenum!" roared the other warlock at the same time. Victoria barely had time to use a shield charm against Gabriel's spell, diffusing it completely, before blasting a lightning bolt in return. In the seconds that she saw the bolt send him flying backwards into space, the corporal poison spell from the other warlock hit her dead center in the middle of her body. Curiously, she felt nothing at first and then she realized that her blood was boiling hot, bubbling like lava as it absorbed the most brutal part of the spell. Still, she staggered backwards, a sheen of sweat coating her forehead as her skin glowed red.

"Curo," she said, and felt the immediate cure eliminate the rest of the poison. She could see the warlock who had delivered the spell staring at her with newfound trepidation. At the very least, the poison spell should have knocked her unconscious. Instead, she was barely afflicted.

Victoria inclined her head in gracious challenge, recalling the poison spell he'd cast and flung it back toward him. The warlock blanched and dove out of the way. It missed him by inches. Working her way backwards toward Angie and Christian, she noticed that Enhard had silently entered the room, staying out of sight, and she whispered a non-detection spell to help shroud him in secrecy.

The darkened room was clouded with smoke and dust from the menagerie of spells flying back and forth, and Victoria moved stealthily, searching for Gabriel. She didn't want him anywhere near Christian. Inching herself toward the back, she leaned against one of the walls and edged to the right feeling her way along the cold stone, kicking through the debris that littered the floor.

Just a few more steps, she thought.

Without warning, a dust-covered hand snaked out from her left and grasped her by the throat. Victoria kicked wildly but her captor jerked her against him, his forearm braced against her neck.

"Not so tough now, are you?" the warlock said, his breath hot in her ear. Victoria flung her head back connecting with the bridge of his nose and the soft tissue of his cheeks, and she heard bone break as his arm tightened convulsively, blood spattering from his nose onto her back. "You'll pay for that," he screamed. "Excrucio!"

She barely had time to react before her blood reacted in her stead, deflecting the blast of the pain spell and rebounding the curse onto the man holding her prisoner. A high-pitched scream burst from his mouth, and she could smell the singed flesh of his blistered arm as he ripped it away from her incandescent skin, staring at her like she was a demon. His skin peeled off in sheets as the pain spell was magnified a hundredfold from the blood magic.

Victoria could taste her blood's metallic desire in her mouth, clamoring for its reward. She gave it. The warlock's face distorted in horror as her eyes metamorphosed from luminous green to darkly black, and her lips shaped the death spell.

"Mortis omnino," she said, watching as his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears bled rivers of red, as his internal organs collapsed. What was left of him folded like string to the floor. Victoria's blood sang and she swayed unsteadily, feeling drunk with its power.

"Illustro!" roared a voice from the other corner of the room. The lights came on blindingly. Victoria's bemused gaze registered that Gabriel had Angie's neck in his hands, his face black with suppressed fury. Christian lay unmoving on the ground to the right of them, about fifteen feet to her left just inside the doorway of the small room. She searched for Enhard and saw him crouching behind a chair, and imperceptibly nodded for him to try to get closer to Gabriel.

"What makes you think I care about her?" she said. Gabriel laughed wildly.

"Oh you should care, Tori. Have you forgotten so carelessly what she does? You think your new magic is safe from her?" he said shaking her body like a rag doll. "That's all she's good for."

"My new magic, Gabe?" Victoria mocked with a grim smile. "Don't be na?ve. Do you really think the Cruentus Curse can be controlled? And did you honestly think that I would come here alone?" She saw his eyes widen and he looked around calling her bluff. She took an imperceptible step closer toward Christian and met Enhard's eyes.

"Libero!" she shouted, freeing Angie from Gabriel's grip at the same moment that Enhard leapt from his hidden crouch straight toward him, and knocked Gabriel to the floor.

Gabriel looked stunned even as Enhard snarled and tore at his body with ferocious blows. He rolled away and jumped to his feet only to be knocked to the ground again by Enhard, who was lightning fast, his attack unpredictable and fierce. Before Gabriel was even able to gasp a spell, Enhard had him flat on his back or on the defensive, physically running away from him. Enhard moved so swiftly, he was a blur!

Victoria rushed to Christian's side. "Christian," she said, cradling his head in her lap and caressing his face, "can you hear me?" He moaned. She could see his teeth fully extended beneath his lips and she knew it was because of his constant state of unconscious hunger. They were sharp and white and still lethal. Angie crouched near to them and her face was lined with concern.

"Is he going to live?" she asked.

"He's alive but he needs blood, lots of blood," Victoria said. Angie stared at her for a moment and then hesitated.

"He can have mine. I'm human. I mean, not a witch ... sorry ... I mean ..." she said, suddenly unsure of what she had offered. Victoria was amazed at her generosity even now after her own considerable injuries at the hands of her brother. She couldn't believe how badly she had misjudged Angie; she was stronger than anyone she knew.