Chapter 17

Carrow

Fear shivered through me when I saw the man. If black holes were human-shaped, they would look like him. When he moved, it was with a sinuous, snakelike motion.

Though he had no eyes, I could feel his gaze upon me. His voice was cold and smooth, evil incarnate. "So, you are the cause of all this trouble."

I drew in a deep breath. "You'll never succeed, Rasla."

His laughter made the hair stand up on my arms.

He turned his attention to Grey. "Ah, Devil. You live yet, in your fashion. Did you like what I did with your memory?"

"It was a delight." The ice in Grey's voice rivaled that of Rasla"s.

My mind raced as I watched the two of them. Rasla's personal diary had crowed about his plans and accomplishments, but it had provided no clues about his weaknesses or how to beat him.

I touched my comms charm and whispered into it, hoping to reach Quinn.

"Yes?" His voice was quiet.

"Come around from the side, along the wall. Not through the alley. We'll surround him."

"Be there in one minute. I've got four shifters for backup. More on the way."

We needed to buy time, but behind Rasla, the ramshackle tower began to pulse with dark magic. The walls seemed to expand and contract. The pressure in the air changed, making me lightheaded. The wind shrieked louder, and a sense of foreboding crashed over me.

The windows in the building shattered with a bang, exploding outward. I ducked and covered my head, hissing as glass rained down, cutting into my flesh.

When it stopped, I looked up. Midnight smoke seeped out of the gaping windows, reeking of decay and death. It twisted through the grass, moving as quickly and sinuously as snakes.

The coils of dark smoke wrapped around my ankles, then Eve's. It went for Mac and Seraphia last.

Behind Rasla, Quinn and four shifters appeared, entering the courtyard from the other side. The black smoke raced toward them, wrapping around Quinn's ankles as well.

I gasped as the oily slickness shot through me. The sensation quickly faded, but Eve and Quinn doubled over, retching. Mac and Seraphia stumbled but didn't appear to be as hard hit as the others.

What the hell was going on?

"It has already started!" Rasla crowed. "My magic grows, and my curse knows how to find outcasts like you. The worst manner of villains. You'll be gone soon, along with your precious Shadow Guild, once and for all."

No.

This was my home. I could feel it. My gift could feel it. The very air I breathed in this abandoned part of town screamed that I needed to protect this place from him.

A shard of window glass gleamed at my feet. I reached for it, letting my magic flow through me.

How can I stop him? How can I protect you?

The answers came quickly, as if my gift knew there was no time to spare.

I was the one he'd written about in his journal. The one who would arrive and bring back the Shadow Guild.

Somehow, we were linked.

I had the power to stop him. It was why my eyes glowed neon green, why the curse didn't debilitate me like it had Mac and Seraphia.

The knowledge—the power—pulsed inside me, drawing me to him. I had to touch him, to use my magic to destroy him. Then I could save the tower.

I dropped the shard of glass, the answers whirling inside my mind.

Grey stepped forward, drawing a sword from the ether. Rasla raised his hands above his head, and the smoke that hovered over the ground rose, forming creatures of swirling black glass held together by smoke. They were shaped like humans, but every part of their bodies was a weapon.

A dozen figures formed a protective circle around Rasla. He laughed, the sound eerie against the crack of thunder.

"Obsidia demons," Mac said. "Deadly bastards."

"I need to get to him." I reached into the bag Eve had given me, drawing out a potion bomb. "I can stop him."

Grey started forward, so fast he was a blur. He clashed with one of the Obsidia, his blade slicing through an arm. The limb dropped off, but the creature swiped out with his other, delivering four deep gashes to Grey's chest.

Across the square, the shifters roared. Instead of transforming into their animal forms, they drew swords from the ether and charged.

It was wise. Shifters fought with teeth and claws, but the Obsidia could tear them apart if they made contact.

Eve launched herself into the air, her wings carrying her high as she raised her hands and shot a blast of lightning at one of the Obsidia. The creature exploded in a burst of glittery, pulverized glass.

At my side, Mac raised her blade and staggered forward. Seraphia did the same, pulling a wicked looking dagger from the ether. She reached into the bag that Eve had given her and withdrew a potion bomb. She passed it to Mac before taking one for herself.

"Stay back here," I said. "You're too weak."

"We'll be dead if we lose," Mac said.

"Just keep your distance," I implored.

She nodded. "Be careful."

I sprinted toward the horde of Obsidia that stood between me and my target, hurling my potion bomb at one of them. It collided with the creature's chest, and the beast shattered into a thousand pieces.

The battle raged, glass and smoke flying. The monsters were deadly but brittle. They weren't particularly hard to kill, but one of their blows was devastating. As soon as our forces took out one of theirs, another would appear.

A pair of Obsidia sprinted for me, their eyeless faces turned toward mine. I yanked a potion bomb out of the bag and hurled it at the closest one. The beast exploded, but the second was already on me.

The Obsidia lashed out. Glass sliced into my arm and shoulder, and pain flared. I stumbled back, grabbing another potion bomb. I threw it at the creature, my aim true. The beast blasted apart.

Blood poured from my shoulder and bicep. I spun around, searching for the next threat. One of them lunged for me, and I ducked, narrowly avoiding a hit as pain burned in my arm. I dug out another potion bomb and chucked it in the face of my attacker. The creature shattered.

In the distance, Grey fought like a whirlwind, so fast that he was nearly a blur. His sword cut through the Obsidia with ease. Beheading them worked well, but there were so many. The shifters and my friends kept up the attack, but we were outnumbered three to one. My friends were covered in wounds, and blood stained the dirt around us.

I sprinted for Rasla. It was up to me to take him out. But another group of Obsidia cut me off, three of them advancing. Black glass glittered ominously within the smoke that held them together. I hurled my potion bomb at one, but the pain and blood loss had killed my aim. The bomb detonated at the creature's feet, and it leapt over, sprinting for me.

From the sky, Eve hit it with a blast of lightning, taking it down. There were still two more, though, and they were nearly on me. I plunged my hand into my bag, arm singing with pain. I drew out another bomb and managed to hit the second monster. It erupted in a burst of sparkling glass, but the third was on me in seconds, taking me to the ground.

As I fell, I caught sight of Mac going down, then a shifter.

There were just too many.

I thrashed and struggled, pain nearly blinding me as the beast wrapped its entire body around mine. It felt like falling into a pit of glass shards, thousands of cuts that gouged deep.

My blood poured onto the dirt, leeching out of me Too fast. Too many cuts. Too deep.

Dying.

A roar sounded in the distance, and a second later, the monster on top of me was gone.

The pain remained, so strong and blinding that I could barely see.

Grey leaned over me. "Carrow," he said, terror in his voice, "can you hear me?"

I nodded, my head already foggy from wounds. I could barely think, but I knew one thing—the blow had been too much.

I was dying. We were losing. It was over. "We're…outnumbered."

"We're not," he said. "More shifters have come. Open your eyes."

I struggled to open my eyes, barely able to see the shifters behind him. There were over a dozen of them with shields and long swords. Screams and shouts sounded, and explosions of glass flew into the air as the shifters took out the Obsidia.

Eve's lightning lit the sky, and I caught sight of Mac and Seraphia out of the corner of my eye. They hurled potion bombs at any Obsidia who came close. Rasla was nowhere to be seen, but I could still feel his presence.

The battle continued to rage, but I was too weak to sit up.

"Take my blood." My voice was so faint that I wasn't sure he could hear me. "I won't make it, but you could. End the curse."

"Absolutely not." Fear echoed in his voice. Fear for me.

Cordelia appeared at my side, wringing her hands, her eyes worried.

Poor Cordelia. Who would buy her kebabs?

Cordelia tugged at Grey's sleeve. Heal her.

"I can't." Grey's voice broke slightly. "The curse has taken my healing ability."

"I'm dying, Grey. I can feel it."

I could see the truth in his eyes. It would take an enormously powerful healing charm to get me out of this, and with the battle raging…

If Eve had had one, she'd have put it in my pack.

It took all my strength to grip his arm. "Take my blood and save yourself."

"You're out of your mind with pain," he said.

He was right about that. I'd never been in such agony. It tore through me like fire. I could never come back from something like this.

"I'm not doing it," he said. "I don't want immortality. Not if it steals your life from you."

Stubborn man. "My life is already gone."

A figure appeared at our side, falling to his knees by my head.

I blinked up, confused. "Michael?"

The big man of unknown species stared down at me. The last time I'd seen him, we'd been waving at him from Xavier's canal boat.

I brought him, Cordelia said.

I blinked.

"You need to take this." Michel pulled a tiny vial out of a wrist cuff. "You don't have long."

"What is it?" Grey demanded.

"Powerful healing draft. Strongest one I've ever made." He uncorked it and held it over my lips. "Drink. Now."

I did as he said, gulping down the bitter liquid. Strength surged through my muscles, and I gasped. My vision cleared, and after a few moments, I was able to sit.

Shocked joy surged through me, and I looked between Cordelia and Michael.

"She was paying my chickens a visit when she sensed you were in danger," Michael said. "She dragged me along."

"Thank you." I stumbled upright with Grey's help, taking in our surroundings.

The battle was slowing, but Mac was still on the ground. Two shifters as well. I spun back to Michael. "Will you help them? Please?"

He nodded and ran toward Mac.

The sounds of battle raged as I searched the darkness for Rasla. He'd retreated when we'd started to gain the advantage.

"He's by the tower." Grey pointed.

"I'm going for him." Magic surged inside me. The connection between us burned, strange and unholy. I needed to get rid of some of this power, shove it into him until he exploded. I was an atomic bomb ready to detonate.

I sprinted toward Rasla, and Grey joined me. "Let me. You were just wounded."

"It has to be me." My power pulsed inside me, drawing me toward him. Rage boiled in my veins.

Grey took out two Obsidia as we neared the sorcerer.

Dark magic pulsed around Rasla, and the tower that loomed at his back seethed with the same darkness. I was determined to drive it from Guild City. From the Shadow Guild tower. From my friends.

I could grab a potion bomb from my bag, but it would do no good. I was sure of it. The power was within me, the magic of Orion's Heart, and it needed to go somewhere. The atomic bomb feeling intensified.

Rasla saw me and charged with a roar. I hurled myself at him, grabbing tight to him as my magic erupted. His grip sliced at me, sending electric pain through my limbs, but I was stronger. My power blasted into Rasla. He shrieked, flailing backward.

Before my eyes, he turned to ash and blew away on the wind.

But the Shadow Guild tower still vibrated with dark magic. The curse was alive and well.

"Why didn't it work?" I cried.

The sounds of battle around us faded. The Obsidia had disappeared along with Rasla, but some of the dark magic remained, polluting the tower in front of us.

It called to me, singing a siren song that I couldn't resist. Desperate, I hurried to a window on the first floor and scrambled through it, cutting my hands on the glass shards. I barely registered the pain.

"Wait up!" Mac's voice sounded from behind me.

But I was already inside. Grey followed. We stood in a large, empty room that looked like it had housed only rats for the last four hundred years. Dust and barren stone walls echoed with Rasla's evil curse.

Mac climbed in behind me, then Seraphia, Quinn, and Eve.

"I feel drawn here," Quinn said.

"Me, too." Eve stepped deeper into the tower.

"I feel better." Mac's voice had brightened. "The curse. I don't feel it as much."

"Neither do I," Eve said.

"We had to come in here," Mac said.

"It's still polluted, though," I murmured. I could feel it like I could feel the pull of gravity. "His stain is still on this place."

I walked forward, searching for the source of whatever called to me. An enormous fireplace beckoned from the far side of the room. A black gem was set into the stone mantle,

gleaming dully with evil. My magic surged to the surface, and my palms itched to touch it.

"Your eyes are going wild again, mate," Mac said. "Neon green."

The black stone beckoned. When I pressed my palms against it,

I could feel the darkness inside the stone, inside the walls. But goodness, too. I pushed my magic into the gem, willing it to drive the curse away. Warmth flowed through my muscles and bones, along with a sense of rightness.

"It's working!" Mac said

I studied the stone in front of me, watching in awe as the gem began to turn dark red again. Slowly, the curse leeched from the walls, until the entire building felt…normal.

Exhausted, I pulled my hands away.

"Are you all right?" Grey gripped my shoulders, supporting me.

I leaned into him. "Yeah. Tired, but fine."

"Your eyes look normal again."

"I feel a lot more normal." Finally, I was able to look at Grey properly for the first time.

He looked like hell. Pale and covered in deep gashes, blood covering most of his clothing and skin. His eyes were dull from pain or blood loss. Or both.

Fear shot through me, and I spun. "Where is Michael? We need a healing potion for Grey."

"It's—"

"Not fine." I cut him off, knowing what he would say.

Michael shoved his huge body through the window and climbed inside. He took a potion from the cuff at his wrist and handed it to Grey, then disappeared again with some muttered words about seeing to the rest of the wounded.

Grey took the vial and drank it. The wounds knit themselves back together, and the color returned to his skin.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"I'm all right. Don't worry about me."

How could I not, considering what I knew about us? About our fate?

I turned to Mac and Seraphia. "How do you feel?"

"One hundred percent." Mac frowned. "That was so strange. Maybe I wasn't really cursed at all, like the Curse Diviner said. Maybe I just needed to come here."

"This place called to me," Seraphia said. "It was trying to bring us here. We felt the effects of Rasla's curse because this place was cursed. Not us."

I spun in a circle, looking around at the dusty old room. It looked like a castle. A freaking dragon should appear any minute.

"So, what does this mean?" I asked.

"I think you have a guild." Mac grinned widely. "And so do we."