Braving the Elements (Darkness #2)(13)

Stefan stared at me grimly.

The lethal poise of the Boss’s body shook my confidence. Flouting his dominance in front of his subjects was definitely the stupidest thing I’d ever done, and I’d done some pretty eyebrow raising stuff. He wasn’t a guy I would fight and live long enough to gossip about. I needed to go, and I did not plan to let Charles the Double Crosser bar my way. Not ever again.

“Move, Charles, or I will move you.”

Pity overcame his expression. “This is best for you, Sasha. You have to see that.”

“This is the second time I ask. There will not be a third. Please move.”

“Sasha.” Stefan took another step toward me. His face held a command, stern and disapproving.

“Just beguile her,” someone said with exasperation. “Make her listen. Your plaything is out of control, Boss, excuse me for saying. She—“

Way wrong term.

I turned with a now-black blade, my other hand outstretched, pointing at a man with a round face and double chin. Black smoke surrounded him, binding him to his chair. Magic taxed my body, prickling my skin with heat. I was close to the cusp. I pushed my palm through the air. His chair flew backward, knocking a lamp and globe out of the way before hitting, then putting a hole through, the wall behind him.

“If you do not stop this right now, I will be forced to stop you.” Stefan had his sword up. The tattoos on his arms glowed that burnished gold.

It felt as if something scrabbled through my chest. He searched for the link. He could use it to smother my magic. And he would. He could control all of this. He knew how to work the elements just so, how to build—whatever Master Bert had said—and hone…that other thing. He operated with calm and level-headed knowledge.

I operated by the seat of my pants. I’d been lucky so far. My butt tingle told me it was about to end.

A wildness crept into me, something primal and fierce. I moved like a rabid animal from a net. Pointing my sword at the door, I blasted a hole through the handle, turning my blade back to white; I didn’t have much stamina—magic required energy to use and sustain. Like a runner, you had to work at endurance. I hadn’t been at this for long.

Charles stood his ground with the grim faced courage he was known for throughout the clan. I darted at him, slapping my hand against his arm, and electrifying it as I did so. He flew sideways as if from an explosion.

A quick glance told me Stefan had started running, seeing that my escape attempt would work.

“Sasha, please, don’t!” he shouted.

Too late.

Already weakening, I ran like the devil was chasing me, lighting through the hallways, rooms, and corridors, letting my inner compass guide me. It had never led me astray, even before all this magic mumbo-jumbo, and I trusted it now.

I burst out of the doors into the bright sunlight, my vision a cloud of white while my pupils tried to contract. I stumbled, hitting a tree and falling to my knees. Up a second later, shouting sounding off behind me, I started to run, no destination in mind.

Chapter 3

Stefan exploded into the sunlight and immediately had to shield his eyes, the rays like daggers stabbing into the back of his skull. Someone handed him sunglasses. He straightened up slowly, still squinting, working at that damn link. She shouldn’t have been able to disguise it. That wasn’t how it worked.

“Which direction, Boss?” Charles asked, stepping to his side. His voice held traces of worry. He’d grown attached.

Stefan shook his head, scanning the tree line. “Woods, but I have no idea where. I can’t…” He shook his head again.

“What does a black blade mean? I haven’t heard of black. Is it between white and gold?”

“It’s a step beyond white.”

“Couldn’t be.” Jameson stepped to Stefan’s other side. He didn’t care about the human—about Sasha—but he had figured out Stefan’s claim on her, the soft mark, and knew she was important in some way. For that alone, Jameson would rally. He was a solid choice as Second.

“That’s a myth,” Jameson stated.

“You were in that room,” Stefan said simply, working at that damn link. When her power faltered, he’d uncover it. He’d find her. He just hoped it wasn’t too late.

“Theatrics?” Jameson walked forward, eyes low on a tree trunk.

“She’d just picked that blade off the wall at random,” Charles said, shaking his head. “It wasn’t theatrics. She’s been doing weird things. Weird magic. Bert is flabbergasted. James probably is, too, though he only saw it for a second. She took that pet stuff very…badly.”

Charles, the f**king master observer.

“I can track her.” Jameson slowly walked to the tree line. “She didn’t take it easy. Her footprints are messy.”

“Do it!”

“If she has black magic, she could turn the war…” Jameson let the thought trail away.

“She’s completely untrained.” Stefan’s eyes searched the ground behind Jameson, finding a shoe print. “She was the one who disbanded all the Dulca in the battle, I’m sure of it. They react to her, are drawn to her magic. They speak to her in a language she can understand.”

Jameson straightened and looked back at him, his face clouding with uncertainty. It was Charles who responded to the silent accusation.