14. Sam

Chapter fourteen

Sam

Her brother ?

Until I met Nora, I thought all the Lyttons were dead.

I didn't know her father had a daughter, never mind a son.

A son who doesn't look worried at all as he faces me. His eyes sweep over Adam and Lucien but don't linger. He's not interested in them.

He takes another step closer, and I pull more magic, feeding it into my shield. I don't know how strong he truly is, only that he's holding a lot of power now.

Can he use it? Aside from teleportation, I don't know how the Lyttons trained or what their family was good at. Sure, I should have realised when we knew the mage could teleport, but one of them surviving the wars, let alone two, seemed…

Impossible.

Elliot stops a few inches away from my shield. He eyes it, and his smile grows.

"How long can you hold that, I wonder?" he says, mostly to himself. "If it were just you and me, then I suppose we'd be evenly matched, but here…"

He extends one hand, encompassing the other two mages. Are they mages? I can't shift my focus enough to feel out their magic, but what I can feel is strange.

"With the three of us attacking it, how long can you hold it?" Elliot tilts his head to one side. "Selkirks aren't known for their shielding."

I don't jolt at the name, but it's a near thing. Adam's stepped up on my right, which at least means Lucien must be standing again.

They hit him, but with what? I don't let my expression twitch.

"I can hold it long enough," I growl. I can. Long enough to get Adam and Lucien out of here, at least.

Elliot snorts. "Okay. Let's see."

I'm so busy watching him, I don't see the first spell coming. It crashes against the side of my shield, shaking it, and I push power frantically out, making sure we're safe. Adam shifts from foot to foot.

"What do we do?"

Magic bursts across my shield again, and I drag in more, noticing that Elliot's doing the same, even if he hasn't sent a spell my way yet. We've got a clear path to the door; the other mages—a man and a woman—haven't thought to obstruct it.

I tear my gaze away from Elliot and move closer to the centre of the area I've shielded. Lucien's fangs are out, expression furious—and worried.

"You need to get out of here," I say.

Adam turns to me, mouth open, and Lucien shakes his head. "We cannot—"

"You have to leave," I say. "I can't fight them if I'm shielding us."

I can't. Plus, they're faster than these mages. The other two aren't Lyttons, so they shouldn't be able to teleport, and I feel like Elliot isn't going to risk chasing two vampires when he can get his revenge against me.

"We can fight them," Adam says.

"You can't. Their magic—" I don't have time to explain, and the next spell the female mage fires at me has my shield slipping, just for a second. Something flares in Elliot's eyes, and I drag in more magic, ignoring the way it's starting to burn through me. "You have to go ."

"We're not leaving you," Adam all but snarls, but Lucien shakes his head, grabbing Adam's arm.

"If you do not join us outside soon, I will come back for you myself," he says.

I turn my head long enough to catch his serious expression. "Got it."

They haven't stopped throwing spells, the other mages, but I can feel that Elliot's pulling in power the same way I do. Whatever he sends my way, that'll be it.

"The shield's going to drop," I say to Lucien, this time not taking my eyes away from Elliot. "When it does, run."

"Sam—" Adam tries again. I shake my head.

It's coming. There's nothing I can do to stop it. But I can get them out of here.

There's always a point with magic like ours. It draws taut like a bowstring, time suspended, and I've danced on that precipice so many times myself that I see Elliot's chest move as he inhales, and of course, he's been trained just like I was—

The magic hits my shield with all the force of a battering ram, no finesse to it, and I hold out for as long as I can, absorbing the hit until the shield trembles and begins to collapse.

"Go!"

Adam hesitates, but Lucien, thank fuck, doesn't. He grabs Adam's arm and drags him from the room.

The male mage, closest to the door, lets out a startled cry. I dodge aside, moving further into the room and lifting another, thinner shield as Elliot throws a spell at me again.

"After them!" he cries.

I swear. The male mage makes it through the door, but I pull in some magic and shut it in the face of the woman. She runs straight into it and falls to the ground.

She lets out a pained groan and puts her hand to her nose as she sits up.

"Little fucker," she snarls. "Elliot, she said—"

"Fuck her," Elliot snaps back. He drops his arms and I back up into some shelves, eyeing them both warily. Now that we're alone, the pulse of their magic is even clearer. Elliot's is as refined as mine is—perhaps even more so.

The woman's is strange. She's not a mage like we are, but she's using magic like she is.

"Going to hide behind that all day, Selkirk?" Elliot asks. "You're just as much a coward as the rest of your family."

If he thinks the taunts are going to get to me, he's wrong. I'm more worried about Adam and Lucien. They can run fast, get far from the mage who made it out of the room, but I have no doubt they're waiting for me.

Are they fighting him?

I drop the shield. The woman's magic flares, but Elliot shakes his head.

"Why are you here?" I ask.

Elliot's expression twists with a sudden violent rage. "Why do you think ? You killed my sister!"

I'm surprised. I shouldn't be.

The scene was a set-up, after all.

It just wasn't for the Council.

"I didn't kill her," I say, even though I know the words don't matter.

Elliot lets out a cry and I leap aside as he flings magic at me. The shelves crash to the ground with the force of it. The woman's magic flares, a twisted mass of colour when I look at it right, and I raise a shield to redirect it, trying to hit Elliot.

He dodges, of course, but it gives me a second to get back to my feet.

"You found other mages?" I ask. Magic curls around my hands, winding up my arms. This needs to be over.

Elliot's eyes flick to the woman. Despite her strange magic, she's nowhere near as strong as either of us.

"No," Elliot says, and his lip pulls back in disdain when he looks at her. "They're here for your vampires."

I glance at the door—I can't help it—and this time, Elliot's aim is true.

The spell hits me full-force in the chest, and I fly back, all the breath escaping me as I crash against the wall.

Fuck. That hurt.

Elliot takes a casual step forward. I need to get up. Need to fight .

Adam's out there with an enemy.

Kieran will bring me back just to kill me if I die tonight.

I suck in a breath and get to my feet, bracing myself with one hand against the wall. I don't want to kill them. I don't .

I'll do it if I have to.

I drag in all the magic I can, feeling it burn through my every nerve before I send it out in a wave, aiming for the core of their power. The woman screams when it hits her, but Elliot's shield is quick and strong, and he holds it even as my magic pounds against it.

The woman goes silent. She's not dead. I pull the magic back, then aim all of it at Elliot.

His eyes widen as he realises how much power I'm about to send flying at him.

"This isn't over." He snarls, reaching over to grab the woman's arm. There's a shift in the air, a quiet pop , and then they're both gone.

Pain radiates through my torso. I sway to one side when I take a step towards the door and stop, balling my hands into fists.

"Fuck," I mutter. I have to get out there.

I draw in another flood of magic, doing my best to soothe my hurts before I head to the door. I stumble through the shop in the dark. Adam and Lucien won't have gone far, even though I told them to run. Adam won't leave me.

The other mage is out there with him.

Lucien's sprawled on the floor when I burst out of the shop and Adam's on his knees, hands clawing at his own throat. The mage is standing over him, expression set in a sneer, and he starts to turn towards me, but I don't even hesitate.

Magic leaps to meet me in the same way it did when I faced Nora in the flat. I bite back a scream when it burns through me, instead inhaling the familiar pain, the buzz of power under my skin.

The mage's eyes widen. Another surge of power comes from him—something that sends Adam listing to one side, his eyes falling shut—but I don't give him enough time to shield himself.

Not that it matters.

A cry bursts from my throat and the power inside me snaps outwards, tearing through him. I rip his magic out, punch through every organ, and when the magic reaches Lucien and Adam, it slows and soothes, and I watch the mage collapse to the ground.

His eyes are open. Unseeing.

I breathe hard for a moment. Everything hurts when I move, but I do it anyway, falling to my knees where Adam's tipped over. He's… He's as alive as a vampire can be, and relief washes through me when Lucien stirs, holding a hand to his head as he sits up.

He studies the dead mage before he stands. His expression is unreadable.

"The others?" he asks. I can't see a mark on him, and the power inside him still feels strong. His voice is hoarse.

"Got away," I say. My hands shake. It's not because the mage is dead. I pushed too hard.

Lucien looks lost for a moment. I shake my head. "We need to get somewhere safe. Get him somewhere safe. They won't get through my wards." I'm certain, now that I've felt their magic.

He nods and pulls out his phone, calling a car. Between us, we get Adam to his feet.

"Will he be okay?" Lucien asks, and now his voice is thick.

I reach out again, ever so careful as my magic meets the power that keeps vampires alive. It's subdued but there, still strong and reaching for me just like it should.

"Yeah, I think so," I say. "Let's get him ho—Let's get him back."