Immortal Reign(105)

Lucia didn’t understand why. They could stop him so easily.

She shot a worried glance over to Cleo, and the girl didn’t appear at all surprised by what Magnus was doing.

Had her brother tried to kill someone with this death magic before today?

The next moment, the ring of fire extinguished around both Magnus and Ashur.

“Don’t kill him,” Ashur snarled, just as Kyan fell to his knees.

Magnus pulled his hand away, glaring at the Kraeshian prince over his shoulder. “You broke my concentration.”

“You promised me that you wouldn’t kill him.”

“Some promises were meant to be broken,” Magnus snapped. “Nic would understand.”

Kyan hissed out a breath as he collapsed to the floor.

Magnus nudged him with the toe of his boot. “He doesn’t look nearly as bad as Kurtis did. Much less dead.”

Lucia shook her head. “Oh, Magnus, do you even know what you’ve done?”

“Yes. I stopped the bad guy.” Then Magnus eyed the other two Kindred who were observing silently from a dozen paces away. “Don’t come a step closer, or you’ll get the same.”

Lucia held her breath as she watched the red wisp of fire magic rise from Nic’s unconscious body.

Then that wisp of magic swirled around Magnus for a moment before it morphed into a ball of fire and shot into his chest. He jumped as if he’d been struck by lightning, then doubled over, bracing his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

In a single motion, Magnus then pulled the golden ring off his finger and threw it to the mossy floor.

Then slowly, very slowly, he straightened up, squared his shoulders, and swept his gaze around the throne room.

Lucia’s heart stopped at the sight of the fire magic mark now on the palm of Magnus’s ringless left hand.

“Yes . . .” Kyan now spoke with Magnus’s familiar deep voice. “I like this vessel very much.”

“No!” Cleo cried out. “No, you can’t do this!”

“I didn’t do anything.” Kyan walked over toward her, then hunched down so he could level his eyes with hers. “The little prince did this because he thought he was smart. That he was the hero. He thought he would save his beautiful bride and all her friends. He should have stayed in the shadows, where he belonged.”

“Get out of him right now,” Cleo snarled.

When Kyan smirked it was Magnus’s smirk. Lucia’s heart sank at the sight. “No. In fact, I think I’ll keep this vessel for all eternity.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucia saw Ashur move to Nic’s side, where the prince pressed his fingers against the young man’s throat.

“Is he dead?” she asked.

“No. Not yet, anyway.” Ashur scowled at her. “This is your fault. I blame you for all of this.”

“You’re right,” she replied. “It is my fault.”

Confusion crossed Ashur’s expression. Perhaps he’d expected her to argue with him.

“Kyan,” Lucia said, and her brother turned to face her. She swallowed hard. “I will begin the ritual now.”

“Good,” he said with a nod. “And here I thought you might give me more of a problem than you already have.”

“Why would I? You have everything that I care about at your mercy. My daughter, my brother, my . . .” She frowned. “Well, that’s about it, really.”

He raised a dark brow. “No more tricks?”

“I’m finished fighting,” she said, and it felt as honest as anything else she’d said that day. “Now I just want this to be over.”

“This is your destiny,” Olivia said, nodding. “You should take pride in this, Lucia.”

“You will be well rewarded,” Taran added.

Lucia cast a glance at Cleo, who watched the fire Kindred’s every step, every movement.

She’s searching for some small sign that Magnus is still here with us, Lucia thought. She still has hope.

However, Lucia wasn’t as optimistic.

Lucia moved behind the table that bore the four crystal orbs—aquamarine, obsidian, amber, and moonstone.

Olivia stepped forward and presented Lucia with her bare forearm.

With a small blade Lucia kept in the pocket of her cloak, she sliced a shallow cut into Olivia’s perfect dark skin. Blood welled to the surface and then dripped onto each of the four orbs.

Even without any words spoken, or any specific magic focused toward them, the orbs began to glow with a soft inner light.

Olivia nodded, then backed away.

All eyes were on the glowing orbs. Lucia considered her next step as she held the blade against her own skin.

Follow through with the ritual as Kyan had described it to her?

Magnus . . . he stole Magnus. Her brother, her best friend. She’d failed him again . . .

No. She forced herself not to despair, not to dwell on what had already happened.

How could she do this? To hand Kyan so much power, to ensure his hold upon her brother’s body . . .

But she couldn’t figure out how to break the orbs. She could try, but if she failed, the ramifications would be catastrophic.

Before she could decide whether to bleed or not to bleed, an arm came around her from behind, yanking her back against a firm chest.