Chapter 9

9

Phantom Magic

According to Braeden,the Earth hideout of Lord Varen’s mage warriors was in the Blue Mountains of Australia. Jason and I didn’t lose a moment. We hopped our way there through several portals.

Night had fallen on the forested trail we popped out on. No hikers blocked our way, no tourists were here to witness our deeds. It was a good thing too because our swords and knives would have certainly turned heads—as would our magic. I didn’t think we’d be able to rescue Cameron without it.

“He’s close. I can feel him,” I whispered, my breath freezing in the air.

The falling rain sizzled against the magic flame Jason had conjured to push back the darkness—and light our way. The temperature lingered at the freezing point, in that lovely zone between rain and snow. A little colder, and the hard drops would have turned to fluffy flakes, and we wouldn’t be getting nearly so wet. A little warmer, and we wouldn’t be freezing our asses off.

“How many mages do you sense?” I asked Jason. He could feel the magical resonances of anyone nearby.

“Two. Cameron. And a Phantom.”

“And the other mages?”

“I don’t sense anyone else.”

“They could be out of range.”

He gave me a flat look.

“What is your range?”

“Far,” he replied. “If I can’t feel them, they aren’t a threat.”

“Does it ever get old being so unapologetically arrogant?”

“No.”

I snorted.

“Please try to contain your mirth, Terra.”

I arched my brows at him. “Afraid my chortles will clue the Phantom in to our presence?”

“No, he already knows we’re here,” Jason said, completely unconcerned. “But smiles are not an effective weapon against Phantoms.”

I shot him a wicked smirk. “I know how to handle a Phantom, thank you.”

My heart stuttered when his hand flashed out, but he didn’t touch me. He’d extended his arm to bar my path. He pointed down, and then I saw it: a trap hidden beneath the underbrush, just a fateful step away.

As we circled around it, I chided myself for flirting with Jason instead of paying attention to where I was going. Just because we weren’t facing an entire mage army, that didn’t mean I could get complacent. The mage waiting for us would be troublesome enough. Phantoms didn’t go down easy, and they never gave up. They were the tanks of the magical spectrum.

We’d reached an old abandoned coal mine surrounded by a swath of lush greenery. Streams of water poured down from the canopy like miniature waterfalls. The scene would have been almost idyllic—if not for the gargantuan Phantom blocking our path.

He looked like he’d stepped straight out of a bodybuilding magazine, and the fitted black vest he wore as a top wasn’t helping matters. Nor did the high-tech bow he had aimed directly at us. His shimmering bronze eyes didn’t blink, not even for a second. Gold sparks snapped and crackled inside his irises like solar flares.

I felt a rush of air on the back of my neck. A boom sounded from above. Phantom magic ripped through the canopy. Leaves rang and rustled, and branches collided and cracked as a tree crashed to the ground. Jason grabbed my arm, jerking me aside. The prickly drizzle of splintered wood tickled my calves as we ran.

The Phantom glared at Jason, his eyes burning like liquid gold. Without a word, he punched forward. A mind blast tore out of him and collided with Jason, trapping him beneath a prison of telekinetic energy. Then the Phantom turned those inhuman eyes on me. I didn’t trust myself to fight close range with him, so I drew my gun and shot him in the arm. When he kept moving, I shot him in the stomach too.

It didn’t slow that monster down at all. Ignoring the bloody holes in his vest—and in his arm—he raised his bow with liquid grace and aimed his arrow at me. It would take a falling building to bring him down.

The barrier holding Jason thundered as he slammed his magic and fists against it. The whole forest quaked from the impact. Hairline fractures began to form in the barrier, but it would take him awhile to shatter it. I wasn’t sure I could hold off the Phantom that long.

“Terra Cross.” The Phantom’s words rippled through the forest, shredding leaves and splitting bark.

Two gold eyes shone out at me, phasing brighter. He did not speak again. He just stood there, his eyes burning with a powerful, primal energy. An invisible wave hit me hard in the chest, spitting me against a nearby tree. Bark cracked and shifted behind my back, the river of crumbled wood chips sliding me down the trunk to the ground. I stumbled to my feet. My head was spinning, and I was pretty sure that was blood I felt oozing down my neck. I rushed forward—and didn’t make it three steps before a second mind blast hammered me against the tree again. The arboreal giant groaned in protest.

I peeled myself off the cracked tree; it looked almost as bad as I felt. My vision was blurry, my movements sloppy. The Phantom was too powerful. I couldn’t get anywhere near him.

I raised my gun, trying to focus through the blurry blotches dancing across my eyes. He was moving toward me. Cast in shadow, he was just one big black blob. I aimed at his legs and fired everything I had. He paused. Ha!

The barrier holding Jason shattered like a mirror. As my vision cleared, I saw he was battling the Phantom. He hit the behemoth menace with a punch of magic. The Phantom countered, trying to capture him in another telekinetic field, but Jason caught his spell with his magic and inverted it. He swooped it around the Phantom, swallowing him inside his own trap.

A flicker of movement inside the mine drew my eyes. Two icy blue eyes stared out of the shadows.

“Cameron?” I asked.

He stepped out of the tunnel. Just like in my vision, his pale blond hair was dripping water. He wore khaki shorts and a green shirt that showed off his lean muscle. He looked like a runner, quick and nimble. His clothes were splattered with mud and torn in a few places, but he wasn’t injured.

“Terra,” he said.

“You know me?”

“I’ve seen you in my dreams. You’re my sister.”

“We’ve come to free you.”

“I’m more than ready to get out of here.”

“Go,” Jason said, moving in front of us to deflect one of the Phantom’s mind blasts. “Get him to safety.”

“What about you?” I asked him.

Jason dropped a tree on the Phantom. “I’ll hold him off until you can get away.”

I really didn’t want to leave him here alone with that behemoth menace.

Jason’s hand stroked down my cheek. “I’ll catch up,” he promised me.

The felled tree burst into tiny pieces, and the Phantom emerged. Gold fury ignited his eyes. That was our cue to leave. I waved for Cameron to follow me, and we tore through the forest at top speed, fallen twigs snapping beneath our feet. Almost there. I adjusted my portal key for a tandem jump. We would hop to the neutral merchant city of Lear first.

I grabbed hold of Cameron’s hand, then we jumped through the portal. Even as our feet set down in Lear, I kept running. We had to keep moving, to keep jumping so the Phantom couldn’t find us. If he made it past Jason… No, I wouldn’t think about that. Jason could take care of himself.

As we passed through the next portal, the hot, muggy air of Lear melted away to a cool night breeze. We’d made it. Crystal Falls. We were home. I led Cameron down the street toward my office. As soon as we were inside, I closed the door and rolled down all the blinds. And, then, finally, I breathed.