welded that way. She persisted, never changing the light touch, but once she made a little bit of headway in separating them a paper-thin amount, she pushed her magic between them, hoping that even a tiny fragment had opened in the weave. She continued to pick at it.
Without warning, the strands twisted open, so a gap appeared. Vile hatred, malicious, spiteful vindictiveness poured into her. Evil fought with light. She gagged. Vomited. Began dry heaving. It was nearly impossible to breathe. She would have screamed if any sound could be made, but there was no air in her lungs to produce noise—not even a cry.
She felt Isai stirring in her, his strength pouring into her, his breath moving through her lungs. She wanted to tell him to stay away in case she failed, but she knew he wouldn’t. He would divide his attention, risk his life, even his soul for her. He might think he was wholly dark, but he had honor. Integrity. He was a man who walked in light even when he didn’t see it around him.
Knowing her lifemate was at risk enabled Julija to strengthen her resolve in spite of her exhaustion. She fought back against the evil threatening to eat her from the inside out. Everything she’d ever wanted was dangled in front of her as an enticement. Every vanity she might have had. The temptation of having anything she wanted, anything she wanted to do with no repercussions, it was there in her mind, calling to her.
Julija forced herself to relax into the churning mass of evil. She sank into it, surrendering as if overcome. The moment it closed around her, surrounding her, she threw her magic out. The colors burst through the darkness, consuming all black magic, eating through every spell, ripping power from her brother.
Now, Isai. Attack now. He is not without tricks and illusions, but his true power is gone for the moment.
As she sank onto the ground, limp, unable to move or speak aloud, she heard the dark mage shriek in sheer shock and anger. He had never once conceived that she might try to steal his magic from him. Or that she could do such a thing.
The shadow cats surrounded her, pressing close, turning outward toward any threat, but the birds had disappeared as if they’d never been. The rain was gone. The tentacles fell to their sides and withered. The ferocious wind died down as well as the turbulent tornado it had spawned.
She waited until she could get to her hands and knees and crawled and pulled her body to the edge of the bluff, so she could see below. She didn’t have any energy left, but if Isai needed her, she would give the last of everything she had for him. Never in her life had anyone ever come to her aid. Not a single time. Isai had done so without any thought for his own safety or the safety of his soul. He’d spent centuries guarding his soul and yet in that moment, he had risked it without reservation—for her.
Tears leaked out of her eyes, blurring her vision, but she dashed them away and peered over the edge of the bluff to see the man who was her lifemate step out into the open, facing her brother. Her heart pounded, and she tasted fear in her mouth. She wanted to scream to Isai to be more careful. She’d removed most of Vasile’s defenses, but he still had an arsenal.
Blue rushed to Phantom as Vasile moved out of his useless stronghold to face his opponent. Blue nudged the fallen cat. She couldn’t see if the other male was alive or dead.
“So you think you have won. Clearly my treacherous sister wants Xavier’s great book for herself,” Vasile said. “She will use you and then kill you as she does every living thing that gets in her way. She’s murderous.”
Isai didn’t deign to speak. He simply threw his right hand forward and took a step toward the mage. Vasile tried to dodge, but the invisible weapon didn’t emerge in time for him to see which angle it was coming from. A spear materialized from thin air just before it penetrated his flesh, narrowly missing his heart as he lurched sideways.
He howled in agony as the force of the throw drove him backward. He landed on his butt, hard, the spear vibrating. He ripped at it with both hands, murmuring a hasty spell. At first nothing happened. The spear remained