Autumn Storm (The Witchling #2)(66)

“You’re hurt and weakening. I can wait for you to burn out.”

His words scared her. Despite the violence he committed, he wasn’t the erratic killer she expected. He was calm and calculating.

“By then, they’ll be dead anyway,” he added. “Is a slow death what you want for them?”

“I can ask you the same thing,” she said. “Decker, Beck’s your brother and Dawn carries his child. Does that mean anything to you?”

The lines of fire grew stronger, taller, in response. She struggled to pull and push enough air magick to sustain the shields around them.

“Decker is gone,” the voice said.

“No. He’s not.”

More fire magick. More air magick. Tears rose, and she forced them down, shaking with the effort of channeling the magick.

“Choose,” he said.

She blinked. “Choose what?”

“Choose which one you wish to save. We’ll see if you can do it. I want to see you try and fail. It will amuse me.”

“This isn’t a game!”

“I can take them now, or you can play.”

Autumn stared up at him, seeking some sign of Decker within the depths of the Darkness. She reached out to him. He didn’t move away, as if aware there was nothing she could do against him. He’d responded to her touch before. Her fingers grazed the skin on his hand.

He jerked back, and she gasped. A flash of something went through his gaze. Awareness? His calm slipped, and his jaw was clenched. For a moment, he was perfectly still.

Struggling.

She sensed an internal battle. Hope trickled through her. Decker was there. Somewhere. Trapped inside this … thing. After the brief battle, the Darkness moved.

“Choose,” he said again. “You I will take either way.”

Scared, Autumn looked towards Dawn. The girl glowed with Dark power. It wasn’t her as much as her baby – Beck’s child, the only true innocent in the field – that drew Autumn’s attention. Beck would hurt if he lost his baby, too, and she couldn’t let Decker take the life of a child. There was no recovering from such a mistake.

The earth warned her Beck wasn’t in good shape. If she saved him, he lost his baby girl, and Decker was gone forever. If she saved Dawn, there was no one to stand between the world and the Dark. Her gaze dropped to her hands. They were covered in her blood. No matter who she chose, she wasn’t going to make it out of the clearing in time to save anyone. What was left of Decker would crumble this night when the Darkness that controlled him killed them all.

Helplessness swept through her. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t bring help. The Darkness was toying with her like a bored predator. Maybe she had no chance anyway. She’d never be able to maintain the air magick long enough to protect them. Her breathing was ragged and fast as it was.

The earth warmed her feet. It floated through her, soothing what pain it could. She didn’t think it made a difference now, not when she continued to bleed. She trembled, struggling not to collapse and sob. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t fight the Dark. She’d never save anyone.

The only one in the clearing who could help them was Decker. He’d been consumed by his pain. Now, it would consume everyone around him. She was too weak to stop it.

Pain. She dropped her hands and stared at the ground.

“Very well. I’ll claim them both.”

“No!” she cried as he stepped towards Dawn. “I made a choice.” She forced herself to breathe more deeply. The fire crept towards her. She let it, instead pooling what magic remained.

“And?”

“I choose Decker,” she said.

The Darkness possessing Decker’s body chuckled. “Too late for that.”

“No. You told me to choose. I choose to save Decker.”

He snatched her neck and lifted her off her feet. Autumn uttered a choked cry as he began to squeeze. The Dark teen’s death had been quick; she hoped hers was, too. She channeled her pain towards the air magick, trying to protect Beck and Dawn even as black edged her mind.

The creature dropped her and stumbled back. Autumn gasped in air and shook her head. She looked up at him. It was awareness in his gaze. Some tiny part of Decker remained.

He turned away from her and stalked towards Dawn.

Autumn lowered herself to the ground and pressed her palms to the cold earth. She drew a deep breath, focused, and gathered her magick around her. The air was too freaked out to control, and the earth seemed timid. Tears dripped into the snow. Autumn sat back then remembered she had the stones with her. She pulled them free from her pocket with a hand rendered clumsy by cold. Setting them on the ground, she tried again.

This time, both elements responded.

Sensing the buildup, Decker froze a few feet from Dawn.

Autumn had no idea if what she envisioned was going to work. She had no other choice. Terrified, she released the air barriers protecting Dawn and Beck then channeled it towards Decker. Her magick slammed him to the ground. Fire flared towards her. With no air magick to protect her, she desperately shoved every ounce of magick out of her body and into the earth.

There was a rumble, then the earth yawned open, swallowing Decker. The fire fizzled before it reached her.

“Heal his pain,” she begged the earth.

Decker was gone. Night and silence fell into the clearing again. Panting from effort, Autumn waited a minute before standing. She had no idea if the earth could fix Decker like it helped her or if she was just buying herself time until the Darkness broke free of the earth’s depths.