Magic Undying (Dragon's Gift: The Seeker #1)(28)

One reached out, snagging my shirt and pulling me into the crowd. Its arms wrapped around me, enveloping me fully.

It felt amazing.

Like coming home. Pleasure buzzed in my head, comfort and joy.

All around me, my friends cried out in fear and pain. But what were they complaining about? This felt great.

“No!” Cass screamed, lunging toward me.

My friends hacked at the Phantoms with their weapons, trying to free me from their grasp. Cass’s gaze was fixed on my chest, horrified.

I glanced down, my head woozy with pleasure. My chest was a transparent blue.

Shock snapped me out of my daze.

No! I didn’t want to be a Phantom. That was impossible! Terrible.

But my body had turned a silvery blue, and my sword glowed like cobalt flame.

My friends attacked the Phantoms that surrounded me, but their blades did nothing. The Phantoms were impervious. And more were converging on Nix, Cass, and Aidan. One of them grabbed Cass, and she shrieked in pain. They grabbed Nix and Aidan as well. Tears poured down Nix’s face.

These bastards wouldn’t take them, too!

Rage took over, clearing my confusion. I raised my fiery blue sword and sliced off the arm of a Phantom who held me. It howled, then collapsed.

My blade worked against them now!

It was in Phantom form, like me, and it made all the difference.

I whirled on the Phantoms surrounding me, slicing and jabbing. New speed and strength rushed through me as I cut down the monsters who had turned me into one of them. The Phantoms shrieked and fell.

I lunged for the one holding Nix, severing its ghostly head. Take that, you bastard.

With the heat of rage coursing through my veins, I plunged my sword into the shoulder of the Phantom who clutched Aidan, then jabbed at the side of the one who held Cass. It was surreal to watch my transparent blue arm and cobalt blade hack down the Phantoms.

“Run!” I screamed.

“Not without you!” Cass yelled.

“I’m coming.” I beheaded another Phantom. My friends were still human. I was the only one who could fight them. “Go!”

Indecision warred on Cass’s face, but she nodded sharply, then turned and ran. Aidan and Nix followed.

Good.

This was my fight now. I spun through the crowd of Phantoms, faster and more graceful than I’d ever been before. My silvery blue hair whipped around my face as I cut down my enemies. Anger filled my chest every time one laid a hand on me. Because it felt good when they touched me.

I didn’t want to be one of these monsters that fed on pain and misery. But they’d made me one of them.

I killed them all, filled with joy every time one of them fell.

When their ghostly blue forms littered the ground around me, some fading, some still intact, I turned to join my friends.



Cold dragged me back to the present. I blinked, staring up at the dark night sky. A chilly breeze whipped over the hill upon which I lay. There were no stars and just the faint glow of the moon behind some clouds.

Why had I just remembered the time I’d first turned into a Phantom? I’d never remembered it in such clarity before. When it had happened, I’d been so panicked that it had gone by in a blur.

But now I remembered. With a level of detail I never had before.

And it sickened me.

I’d liked being with the Phantoms. I’d been enraged that they’d changed me and afraid it was permanent, but I’d liked them. What kind of person liked such horrible beasts?

The memory of the ghostly blue force that had dragged me here flashed in my mind.

What had that been? It’d looked almost like a dragon, though it’d been made of wispy blue smoke. Not real, but made of magic.

And where had it taken me? Was it really gone?

My breath grew short and my skin chilled. The grass was wet beneath my hands as I struggled to my feet, and my burns ached. Damned fire-throwing demons.

I was in the middle of nowhere. But there was no ghostly blue force. A light rain fell, cold and damp on my face. I shivered, sheathing my sword and clutching my arms around myself.

Roarke was stuck back in Merlin’s Cave. He could handle himself, which was a good thing, since I had no way to get back there. And I had no idea where I even was.

Still, worry for him dogged me. Which was annoying. It’d be a good thing for me if he got offed by some demons. Right?

Logically, yes. I wouldn’t have the Warden of the Underworld on my tail.

But I really didn’t like the idea of him getting killed.

Fortunately, it was unlikely. And standing here worrying wasn’t going to do any good. I fiddled with the tracking bracelet on my wrist as I took in my surroundings, so desolate and dark.

Moonlight shined on the land that rolled gently into the distance in all directions. The ground cover was scrubby and hard to distinguish, but it was clear that there were few trees and no houses or roads. Here and there, massive piles of stone punctuated the horizon, crouching on top of hills like giant beasts.

They looked vaguely familiar. I had to be on a moor somewhere, and the rock-topped hills were tors. Possibly Dartmoor or Exmoor, both of which were close to Tintagel. Or I was all the way up in Yorkshire.

A wolf howled in the distance.

Right. Great. I was on Dartmoor, and that was the Hound of the Baskervilles. Even in my Phantom form, I didn’t want to run into some giant hellbeast.