feel triumphant, as if he had gained what he wanted—her terror so she would cooperate. It wasn’t that. She knew the moment she struck at him, he would retaliate just as hard, just as fast, or even harder and faster. She was so afraid of him.
Steeling herself, she burst through the soil, practically right at his feet, giving her command.
Earth surround me. Air encircle me.
Thunder sound loudly. Lightning strike.
Bring this evil down as I rise.
Fire surround him.
Earth help bind him.
Vines entwining so he may not rise.
Barnabas fell to the ground, slamming his head hard as he went down; his arms went limp like those of a rag doll, unable to cushion his fall. She lifted her hands to give him a second command and found herself on the ground, a rag doll beside him. He had simply used her own spell against her, so that neither could move.
I am in your head, Julija. I know what you think to do with that dagger.
The dagger began to slip from her pocket and move into the air above her throat. She countered quickly.
That which is made of finest steel,
I know your maker, I control your will.
Steel that would cut and harm,
I command your movement and order your return.
She reached for Isai, knowing she had only seconds before Barnabas would counter the simple spell she used. She was already doing so, which would help him do the same.
Your Carpathian lover has abandoned you, left the battlefield like the cur he is. He will not save you from me.
She was on her feet first and she exploded into action, catching at the dagger, stepping into him as he rose to plunge the blade into his heart. She’d forgotten her own blood was on the blade and the moment it entered him, those fresh drops gave him the advantage. He caught her hand with both of his, preventing her from shoving it all the way in. Looking straight into her eyes, using a blood sacrificial spell, one of the strongest, he commanded her body to come under his complete authority.
She fell into his arms. He held her, shaking his head, and then he took the knife and plunged it into her abdomen just above her baby. Not deep, but it hurt like hell and scared her, wondering if he knew about the child. When he pulled out the blade he licked at the drops of blood. “I had forgotten how good you taste, Julija. I dream of your taste and yet when I actually have the blood in front of me, it is even better. We will leave this place. I have no doubt the Carpathians will succeed on the battlefield, defeat Anatolie and the hellhounds, but in the end, they lost the war, didn’t they? I have the prize.”
* * *
• • •
He was locked out of Julija’s mind. Isai couldn’t reach her and had no idea what was happening to her. He knew the moment she had fallen to the ground beside Barnabas, and that her intent had been to use the dagger on him, then he was completely closed off from her. Barnabas had constructed some kind of spell. Isai wasn’t mage, but he had mage blood running through his veins. He had no doubt he could find a way to reach her. It was imperative since he couldn’t tell what was happening to her.
Dividing his attention could get him killed. He was dragged along the ground right through the thick of the hellhounds. They went after him as if he was a fox and they had been let loose to exterminate him. Better Anatolie had killed him outright. He had all of his weapons and even as he was dragged, he continued to shoot arrows dipped in hyssop oil straight into the eyes of the hellhounds.
His mind raced. He needed to open communication with Julija. He didn’t fight the whip. Anatolie’s attention was riveted to the wild ride he was forcing the Carpathian on. His sense of power was growing the longer he wielded the lightning, something only Carpathians did. Isai gave him that. Anatolie was a powerful mage, dark and dangerous. As long as he was concentrating on keeping the whip under his control, he couldn’t think of other, much more perilous spells.
Anatolie’s wild laughter echoed through the battlefield. Around them, the snow thickened. The wind howled, spinning great funnels of snow into columns. Isai felt them at once. The brethren had arrived. His brothers from the monastery.