The Darkest Magic

She met his gaze. “I’m happy to help.”

  Barnabas finally tore his attention away from her and cleared his throat. “All right,” Barnabas grumbled as he made for the horses and cart. “Enough with this little show. Let’s move. We should have already been on our way by now.”

  Maddox sent him one more annoyed glare and then helped Becca gather up her old dress and shoes and escorted her toward the cart. They all climbed inside, and Barnabas sat up front to steer.

  “You know the way?” Liana asked from the back as Barnabas took hold of the reins.

  “Well enough,” he replied. “I’ll keep heading south until I see a palace fit for the vainest goddess in the land. Off we go.”

  He guided the horses away from the village and along a dirt road leading south, while Maddox, Becca, Liana, and Al endured the shaky ride in the cart that was normally meant to transport things like bales of straw or bags of grains to and from the village market.

  They rode hard and fast for the rest of the day, until they were finally approaching the official border of Southern Mytica: a massive wall of a forest that stretched from the jagged black mountains in the east to the edge of the sea in the west.

  “This is the forest that Her Radiance created with her earth magic,” Al explained as it came into view. “It was her way of telling the southern goddess to remain separate and apart from her and her territory, lest she wished to face the northern goddess’s wrath.”

  Liana snorted. “Is that what Valoria told you to write in her official record? Is the whole thing filled up with fantasy tales?”

  “I believe it is the truth.”

  “This forest has been here since the beginning of time,” Liana said. “No goddess made this. There is a legend about this place and how it came to be that gives it its unofficial name: the Forest of Demons.”

  “Lies!” Al piped up. “Her Radiance created it. She said so!”

  Maddox pressed his lips together so as not to argue with the head. It seemed pointless when discussing Valoria.

  Becca turned to Liana, her expression etched with worry. “Is that true?”

  Liana shook her head. “Don’t worry, there is no true magic or demons to be found here.”

  “Plenty of magic here,” Al scoffed, clearly offended. “Earth magic.”

  “Still so loyal,” Liana replied. “I wonder when that will finally fade.”

  “I wouldn’t call myself loyal so much as respectful of the goddess’s incredible magic.”

  “What about the other goddess’s magic?”

  “Bah. She is no match—in either beauty or strength.”

  “I certainly hope you’re wrong,” Barnabas growled from up front. “Since that would make this journey we’re on completely futile, wouldn’t it? Besides, even if this place were full of wild fanged beasts and evil demons, we’d still be going through it. It would take far too long to go around it.”

  “Really?” Maddox said. “You mean to say that if a fanged beast were to greet us at the edge of the forest, you wouldn’t change your mind?”

  “Not for a moment.”

  Al cleared his throat. “Whether or not I believe this, I request to remain safely inside my sack for the rest of our journey.”

  “Fine by me,” Barnabas replied.

  Maddox and Becca exchanged furtive smiles, but Liana looked off in the distance, strangely contemplative.

  Barnabas looked up at the sky, which held only about a minute or two’s worth of daylight. “We’ll make camp for the night here. This is the perfect place—the forest will give camouflage.”

  • • •

  Barnabas and Maddox gathered wood for the campfire.

  “You look far too pleased with yourself,” Barnabas said.

  “Do I?”

  “I don’t think I need to ask why.”

  Maddox rolled his eyes. “It’s really her.” He was sick to death of arguing about it.

  “I know.”

  “Oh.” Maddox blinked. “Well, good.”

  “Not good. Not at all, actually. Why is she here?”

  “She doesn’t remember.”

  “Perhaps that’s true. But it’s clear that something happened to her in her world—something important, Maddox. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but she didn’t make the long trip back here just to give you a big kiss.”

  “I know that.” Of course he did. But why did Barnabas have to pull the joy out of absolutely everything?

  “Pleased to hear it.” But he didn’t look pleased; he looked troubled.

  They returned to the campsite, and Barnabas got to work at once on building a fire with the wood they’d brought back. Maddox tied up the two rabbits his father had caught and prepared them to be cooked. Becca eyed them uneasily as they worked.

  “I suppose this isn’t a good time to tell you I’m a vegetarian, right?” she said.

  “A vege-what?” Maddox asked.

  “Never mind. I can deal.”

  “The riddle-maker never rests!” Al said happily. He’d been so enchanted by the warm fire that he changed his mind about staying in his sack. “It’s a delight to listen to you talk, lovely Becca. It’s as if you speak a completely different language.”

  “You say tomato, and I say toh-mah-to.” She frowned. “Only I don’t actually ever say it like that.”

  “Exactly!”

  When the rabbit was finished cooking, Barnabas gave them all their portions. Becca eyed the meat with trepidation.

  “It’s good,” Maddox told her.

  “I’m sure it is.”

  “I wish I too could partake in this meal,” Al said glancing downward, where his stomach would have been. “It smells delicious!”

  Maddox watched as Becca tentatively took a small bite of the meat, grimacing.

  “It’s fuel,” she said sadly. “I have to remember that. Sorry bunny.”

  After they’d finished eating, Barnabas cleared his throat and poked at the fire with his dagger. “Perhaps we can take a moment to discuss what happened during our little visit from Valoria and Goran earlier today.”

  “What about it?” Maddox asked.

  “They had us. Even if I hadn’t stopped to retrieve this”—he held out the ring, which he now wore around his neck—“they would have easily taken us. If not for the air magic that swept through the village at exactly the right moment, we would have been at their mercy.”

  “You truly think it was air magic?” Maddox asked. “Liana? What do you think?”

  The witch nodded. “Yes. I’m as sure of it as I am that the rainstorm and the earthquake were caused by water and earth magic.”

  “Given the sequence of events,” Barnabas said, “I first thought that Becca might have had something to do with it. But now I know she didn’t.”

  “Then what caused it?” Liana asked.

  “Not what. Who.” He looked directly at the witch, and this time his gaze wasn’t soft, as it had been ever since he kissed her. “Who caused it? And I think we both know the answer to that question.”

  Liana frowned. “I don’t understand. I told you I possess fire magic, not air magic.”

  “Yes, your fire magic is incredible. I’ve never seen another witch create a wall of fire like yours with only her inner magic. Light a candle? Yes. But a fierce barrier of flames?” Barnabas stopped to give a little scoff of disbelief. “At the time I was simply impressed by it and . . . by you. But the more I think about it, all I have are questions.”

  Maddox found that he was holding his breath as watched these two discuss Liana’s magic calmly—which was strange, because there was something about this situation that was very not calm.

  He glanced at Becca. She met his gaze, and judging by the guarded and uneasy look in her eyes, she felt this strangeness too.

  “Questions?” Liana asked. “What questions?”

  “Who are you really? Where are you from? What is your family name? All of the questions you’ve been unwilling to answer so far.”

&
nbsp; “The answers to those questions are so inconsequential that they would be a waste of breath and good hearing to say aloud. Are there any others?”

  “One comes to mind. Do you possess air magic?”

  Liana let out a sharp laugh. “I think I’d have shared that with you if I did.”

  He studied her for a silent moment. “A witch who possesses air magic can use it to change her appearance. I’ve witnessed my friend Camilla do this before. But since she is merely a common witch—no disrespect to her intended—she is only able to effect subtle changes, and even then you can still see the shimmering and shifting of the air magic on her changed features. I assumed that the stronger the witch, the better and more impenetrable the disguise. Originally, I suspected that Becca was such a witch, but not anymore.”

  As Barnabas had been speaking, he’d made his way over to Liana. Liana now stood to face him. She raised her chin, glaring at him defiantly.

  “Get to your point, Barnabas.”

  “How long did you think you could fool me?” Barnabas asked, his voice soft but dangerous-sounding.

  “After you kissed me, I assumed I finally had you completely fooled into thinking that I was nothing more than I said I was: a young woman looking for something or someone to believe in. A young woman who might follow that someone to the very edge of the world.”

  Barnabas’s jaw tightened.

  “What’s going on?” Maddox demanded.

  “Apologies, Maddox,” Liana said. She turned to him, a sad smile on her face. “It seems that our strange little family will be broken up much sooner than I would have liked. But it was inevitable, I suppose.”

  “What are you talking about?” He shook his head. “Who are you? Who is she, Barnabas?”

  “It’s all right,” Liana replied. “I’ve nothing to hide anymore. I’ll show you myself.”

  She straightened her shoulders and stood as tall as her petite frame would let her. Then something very strange began to happen.

  Golden wisps formed, born from nothing at all, and began to float and wind around her. Maddox was unsettled to find that the wisps reminded him of the magic Valoria had used as she’d entered Cassia’s village.

  He watched, gaping, as that golden magic spun around Liana, encircling her face, her hair, her body.

  Within the tornado of gold, she began to change.

  Her dark blond hair grew lighter and longer, until it became bright gold and flowed past her waist. Her muted eye color shifted to an intense blue. Her freckled skin turned glowing and flawless. Her plain traveling dress transformed into a gown of glittering orange and gold, like a sunset.

  In a matter of moments, Liana had transformed from a pretty witch into a young woman so ethereally beautiful that she was fearsome.

  So beautiful and fearsome that she was worthy of being called a goddess.

  And all Maddox could do was gape at her, mouth open and eyes wide.

  “It’s true what they say about me, Maddox.” Even her voice sounded more powerful now, traveling across sound waves and penetrating his very body, holding his rapt attention. “When people speak my name, I can hear it, carried on the wind—thousands upon thousands of times a day. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve come to loathe my true name. It’s maddening.”

  “Cleiona,” Maddox whispered.

  Becca reached down to clutch his hand.

  “Oh my goddess!” Al exclaimed.

  The goddess swept her gaze around the campsite. “I recognized Barnabas immediately. After that, it didn’t take long to realize who you are, Maddox, and why Valoria is so desperate to get her talons on you. I needed to know your motivations, your heart. Why you wished to seek me out. I needed to know about your magic and how dangerous you might be.”

  “Stay the hell away from him,” Barnabas growled. He gripped his dagger and pointed it at her, but she merely glanced at the blade and then met his gaze.

  “Really, Barnabas? Do you really think that tiny weapon will have any effect on me? You of all people should know better than that.”

  She flicked her wrist. The dagger flew out of his hand and embedded itself into a nearby tree.

  “You hateful bitch,” he snarled, his hands now clenched at his sides. “You deceived me!”

  “And this from someone who is desperate for my help?” Cleiona shook her head. “I’d suggest starting with honey rather than venom.”

  “I despise you.”

  “Of course you do. And this is exactly why I chose to conceal my identity from you.”

  Maddox stared at them, knowing that to get in the way of this fight would only amplify it. This was the woman that, just a short time ago, Barnabas had kissed very passionately, and, to his recollection, she hadn’t tried to stop him.

  Now his father looked at her as if he wished her dead every bit as much as the other goddess.

  Becca remained at his side, holding tightly to his hand.

  He would protect her. If Cleiona tried anything, he swore he would use his dangerous magic to protect her.

  “I needed to learn more about you—about both of you,” the goddess said. “And I knew that, in my true form, you wouldn’t allow it. So I chose another. One that wasn’t so familiar to you.”

  “I didn’t come to know you,” Barnabas snarled. “I came to know a secretive young witch named Liana.”

  “This conversation is over,” she spat. Slowly, she stretched her arms out to her sides, revealing two marks—the fire-magic triangle and the air-magic spiral—one on each of her palms. The symbols began to glow. “If you wish to continue this journey, make haste. You must arrive at my palace before my sister catches up to you. I will consider speaking with you again at that time.”

  Cleiona swept her gaze over them all. Maddox saw both pride and regret in her eyes as she regarded them.

  Their color may have changed, but they were still Liana’s eyes.

  A sudden wind picked up, swirling around the goddess until it gathered into a tornado. It disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, and so did she.

  Barnabas remained standing in the same spot, his expression fierce, his body trembling.

  Maddox had no idea what to say.

  “Incredible,” Al breathed. “Absolutely incredible!”

  “Oh no!” Becca cried. She clapped her free hand over her mouth.

  “What?” Maddox turned to her with alarm.

  She pointed at the spot where Cleiona had been standing. “That was . . . oh crap! I just remembered! It’s all rushing back to me now. And she was here, right in front of me the whole time!” She grabbed the front of Maddox’s tunic. “We have to go after her. I need to speak to an immortal!”

  “What? An immortal? But why?”

  “I—I can’t explain it all now. There’s no time. My world is in danger. I was sent here—Markus sent me here.”

  “Who’s Markus?”

  “He gave his life, all of his magic, for this! So that I could come here and deliver a message to an immortal. I hate the man with everything I have, but for him to do something like that . . . Oh, Maddox, I need to talk to Cleiona. It’s so important!”

  “All right, all right.” He gripped her shoulders. “We will. Everything’s going to be all right.” He glanced over his shoulder at his father. “Barnabas, we need to—”

  “We need to do nothing of the sort,” Barnabas said through gritted teeth. “We’ll not chase after that evil creature. That’s exactly what she wants us to do. There we were, traveling with her all these days, and she said nothing. She knew what was at risk, what we wanted. And yet she stayed silent.”

  “Barnabas, I’m sorry, but I have to go,” Becca told him. “Just point me in the right direction, and I’ll go on my own.”

  “Now you’re speaking nonsense,” Barnabas replied.

  Becca stiffened. “Nonsense? Are you saying that me trying to save my world is nonsense?”

  “Your world is of no concern to me. Maddox, gather your belongings. We’re goin
g back to the North to make a new plan.”

  “No,” Maddox said flatly.

  Barnabas raised his brow. “No?”

  “That’s right, no. We’re going south, to the palace, to talk to Cleiona.”

  “Maddox . . . ,” he growled.

  “My decision is final.” Maddox turned his back on the stubborn man and took Becca’s hand in his. “We’re going to see Cleiona, with or without you.”

  Chapter 26

  FARRELL

  The first three marks had made Farrell feel like a billion dollars. They had increased his strength, his senses, his ego.

  Now it seemed the fourth mark had taken all of that away.

  Markus had been dishonest, to say the least, about its side effects, which so far included debilitating weakness and random bursts of massive pain.

  And now that Markus had once again drained him of his strength, this time rendering him all but feeble, most of his new skills and sensory advantages had also been dampened.

  Terrible timing, really. As Julia Hatcher marched him and Crys out of the dressing room, all he wanted was to be able to overtake her, to use his formerly quick reflexes to come up with a plan to free themselves. But he couldn’t do anything except follow her.

  Silently too—it seemed that even his gift for conversation was currently lacking. Perhaps he had Crys and not Markus to blame for that—he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d stolen his tongue entirely when she’d kissed him in the closet—a handful of moments that had perfectly defined the words torture and bliss for him.

  He glanced at Crys out of the corner of his eye as they walked down the hall in front of Julia, who had Angus’s gun trained on them. Crys’s face was flushed, her pale blond hair covering half of it.

  As he looked at her, two polar opposite compulsions raced through his mind:

  Kill her.

  Kiss her.

  And then a third compulsion butted in:

  Save her.

  “Mom, don’t do this,” Crys said, her voice strained. “Fight this. Becca needs us. Both of us.”

  She laughed lightly. “Damen speaks, and I obey, Crys. His power is without equal in this or any universe.”

  Crys’s face blanched. “Mom, you have to break free of this.”