Chapter Seventeen

Doppler

Milo’s magic searched for me, hunting me, seeking out the mystery being that dwelled at the edges of his visions. The touch of his psychic branch elicited a quiver deep within the confines of this current host body, so much so even Ronald’s sour scowl softened when he arrived at work.

I lingered close to the door housing Finn and pressed my hands firmly against the metallic surface as I cast waves of slumber to allow him to rest through the horrors I’d soon unveil. Every fiber of my being wanted to step inside and explain it all to Finn, seek his guidance that came with a history of knowledge on magical warfare. But he wasn’t ready yet. Hiding my presence from Milo’s clairvoyance ached. All I wanted was to reach out and wrap myself in the touch of his magical embrace. Not yet. Soon. Soon, I’d have the men who belonged to me.

“With me,” I muttered, pressing my ear to the door where Finn slept. “You belong with me.”

Taking my leave, I rose to the highest heights of C.O. Kowalski’s mind, who sluggishly made his way into the cellblock where Theodore stayed. The thoughts of my host were fogged over, crumbling to dust every time I took hold of his active mind. It couldn’t be helped.

Everything had finally culminated in this moment. I’d studied Theodore’s mind enough to force my hold over him—at least long enough to control his branch and eradicate the chimera—and not a moment too soon.

“Whitlock, you’re coming with me.”

“Finally.” He shivered, clicking his teeth with juvenile anticipation.

Leaning into C.O. Kowalski’s gruff attitude, I instructed him to reel it back, then led him to the Prisoner Holding Area.

Once inside the small, warded chamber, two other guards awaited. One stood at a switchboard, reading the standard guidelines about exiting the MDC, asking questions based on protocol while double checking the sigils were aligned to contain Theodore’s casting frequency. The other performed a full-body search on Theodore. After ensuring he held no threat when leaving for the courthouse, the guard waited for Theodore to redress. Then he placed a set of cuffs around his ankles and wrists, using a long chain to shackle and limit his mobility.

“Kowalski.” The other C.O. indicated my role. A small, vital opportunity.

Reaching for the keys I carried, I did as I was commanded and prepared to unlock the dampening cuff that bound Theodore Whitlock’s casting efforts. The sigils lining the silver bracelet were specially crafted to bind his branch but were still too strong for my own magic to supersede, which meant breaking into his thoughts would be a futile effort unless I timed this exactly right.

I had one minute while his mind lay free, and his magic remained unbound.

Dampening cuffs were strongest when designed with a home base location, a spot where their energy could easily be rejuvenated. The cuffs worn in the MDC were imbued by the enchantments lining the walls of every cellblock—this detainment chamber included. He’d be issued a separate set during his transport and a final pair when bound in the courthouse.

A minute might seem relatively short, but for dangerous warlocks, some only required mere seconds to wreak havoc. The sigils lining the walls all focused on Theodore Whitlock’s channeling frequency, ready to inform of any casting discrepancies so the guards could strike him down. They wouldn’t detect my movements, my frequency, so long as I remained cautious.

The biggest issue here came down to containing Theodore once I leapt into his body, which was why I spent weeks observing him, learning his history, his strengths, his fears, and his failures, all while avoiding his detection. He had an exceptional understanding of psychic energy, so once inside his head, I’d hurl every ounce of doubt this psychopath buried and lock him within the confines of his own mind.

Would it be enough to strike him down before the guards placed the next set of dampening cuffs on his wrists and synced it with the sigils of his transport vehicle?

I unlocked Theodore’s dampener cuff, revealing his bare wrist where ink had indented his skin. The timer began. The next cuff couldn’t be placed until the residue vanished. It was basically a semi-permanent tattoo that sort of reminded me of the sticker lick-on tattoos Dorian’s students used to wear. Well, back when they were trendy in what seemed like a lifetime ago. I hadn’t thought about that first batch of students in forever.

“Happy to see me gone, Kowalski?”

“Huh?” I furrowed my brow, replacing the smile that’d inadvertently taken hold.

Theodore cocked his head, thoughts twisting into snide comments he didn’t want to press his luck by uttering aloud. Even he knew not to gamble with his chances of stepping outside the MDC. One false move, and he’d be remanded to isolation.

Now came the difficult part; I had to unleash my current host and overtake Theodore’s mind. It’d take all my magic, but I’d bombard him with so much psychic energy he’d never recover, not even after I abandoned his body. Ronald would be too weary to react, but I’d need to deal with the two guards swiftly so they didn’t interfere. I trembled as I stepped to the edge of this mind, about to leap into the ether of the world without Finn.

I’d only be abandoning Finn for a few minutes, but I couldn’t risk dragging him and the chimera into Theodore’s mind. Once I had full control of his branch, I’d command the chimera to release Finn, remove the threads that bound their connection, and unravel its demonic energy from the piece of Finn’s consciousness that still held life.

I’d pull Finn out, exorcise and banish the demon, and then leave this forsaken hellhole with Finn at my side.

“Quite the plan, puppet.” The chimera’s voice echoed from the box where I kept him contained.

I lingered at the edges of Ronald’s mind, double-checking the confinement of his prison. Every blade remained in place, and the box itself was reinforced with enough magic to contain him until I’d unraveled his connection. It’d hold. It’d hold long enough to see this through.

Leaving all my fear behind in this host body, I leapt out, lunging for Theodore’s mind.

“Quite the plan indeed.” Theodore turned his attention toward the empty air where my psychic energy floated.

Did he see me? Impossible.

“Anything’s possible if you put your mind to it.” Theodore opened his mouth wide. A white light flickered from within his throat, illuminating the bulge of his Adam’s apple, and a tiny ball floated out of his mouth.

A wisp.

How’d he acquire demonic energy? When?

“That’d be my doing.” The chimera clawed at his box, making Ronald twitch.

As the chimera wriggled loose from the blades embedded through him and fought to break from his box, I leapt back into Ronald’s mind and barreled toward the chimera, unconcerned that such an invasive burst of psychic energy would rattle Ronald’s entire being. I had to stop the chimera in his tracks while the other guards contained Theodore. Forcing Ronald’s beleaguered body into obedience, I shouted through him. “Stop his casting!”

The wisp sprang ahead into the mouth of the guard by the switchboard.

“Detain him,” I repeated before sinking into the darkness of the subconscious.

Instead of listening, the second guard went to aid the gasping officer. He wheezed, each breath making his face turn red as his throat swelled like a frog.

“That sonic branch isn’t doing you much good, is it?” Theodore snickered. “It’s a perfect feeding frenzy for my little friend, though.”

The guard’s face turned a deep purple before his head erupted, blood and tar glimmering as the last fragments of the wisp transcended into a fiendish form the size of a rat with enough limbs to make a centipede blush.

“Free me,” Theodore ordered.

The tiny fiend leapt from the falling body and gnawed on the shackles holding him in place.

“Who am I to defy such a command?” The chimera cackled, his body rumbling with such force it cracked and tore at Ronald’s insides.

Every ounce of demonic energy expanded tenfold, sending sludge circulating through Ronald’s veins and feeding on the magic to further magnify the chimera’s indomitable ferocity.

Ooze burst from every orifice of Ronald, tearing him apart from the inside, flooding the entirety of his mind. Everything I did to contain the demon failed. His thoughts weren’t his own, fading into something primal and fiend-like. Most of his demonic energy spilled out into the holding cell. Tar bubbled and popped into white wisps, which quickly went to work, eating away at the enchantment sigils lining the walls.

With a wave of his hand, Theodore slammed all three guards against the wall. His telekinesis didn’t waver for a second, unyielding and immobilizing me as I unraveled my mind from the broken, dying receptors of Ronald Kowalski’s body.

I had to grab Finn. Drag him out, take the chimera as far from Theodore as possible. Reaching the door where I kept him safely tucked away, I found tar blocking my path. Banishment cleared it away. I rushed inside the empty hospital room.

Empty.

My body trembled.

“Finn?” I shouted as the illusion I painted for him evaporated, eaten away by tar funneling into this tiny sanctuary.

“ I shall miss you, puppet. ” The chimera’s thoughts surfaced above the frenzy of the fiend that’d leapt from Ronald. Was Finn with him?

I fought my way through the demonic energy, banishing it in waves as black tendrils lunged forward, gripping me, eating my psychic magic, dragging me deeper into the depths of this hollowed-out mind.

“ I’ll send Dorian your love. You were right. Breaking Dorian is the best way to take hold of his mind; however, Finn’s survival, facing the guilt of failing him yet again when you planned to burst into his thoughts unfettered by my being— that wasn’t the way to break Dorian Frost. Oh, no. I have much better plans for my perfect host. ”

How? How’d he do this?

I sank deep into the subconscious of the dying Ronald, bound to the body as I fended off demonic energy still circulating through this form, devouring all the magic and leaving nothing but rot and waste in its trail.

A few wispy fragments of thoughts lingered by the broken scraps of the box I’d conjured, lying free and exposed. They fed on the magic of the prison I made. Deep in the darkness of Ronald’s mind, the chimera didn’t whisper horrors but suggestions.

“ You’re not the only telepath, puppet. While you studied Theodore, I conspired. A soft suggestion here, a manipulation there. ”

When?

And the moment revealed itself: the nick on Ronald’s arm from Vincent’s tattoo kit. A jab that pooled with blood and ink. Only it wasn’t ink. The black blob was a tiny inkling of fiendish tar that’d transformed into a meager wisp and fluttered away. I was so fixated on containing the chimera and reeling back Ronald’s wrath, I’d missed it entirely. But not now.

I could see his guarded thoughts so crisply.

I was a fool. He’d fluttered away in the form of a wisp, found Theodore before me, fed the psychotic warlock his energy, filled with whispers of my intentions.

“Dorian, Dorian, what’s happening?” Finn’s voice called out frantically. Startled by the shock of being ripped from the safety only I could give him.

I clawed my way to the surface, tearing through mountains of demonic energy standing in my path, doing everything I could to escape this corpse.

Two wisps fluttered around Theodore as demonic energy continued gnawing at my magic. It severed any connection I had to Finn’s thoughts, any hold I held over the chimera, any chance I had of achieving the happily ever after I so desperately craved.

With the fiend of the chimera at Theodore’s side and access to his magics, he’d be too formidable.

I failed. I failed Finn.

My knees buckled at the edge of this void of a mind, finding escape impossible. Pointless. I let the darkness of death and demonic energy swallow my very being.