mage, my rock, always there when I needed him and supporting me without my asking. Ellis, my unicorn, was my water, he could be cold or hot, fast or slow, and he wore down my defenses, even though at first, I’d hated him. And Azrael, my grim reaper, was my air, he was the one that breathed life into us all.
My grandfather may have used hate and anger to fuel his magic, but that wasn’t me. I was a healer. I’d only ever tried to save people. If I was going to truly channel my magic, then I needed to do it through love.
I had a theory, one I needed to test and fast, if this was going to work. I called on the magic I’d felt in the graveyard, the stuff that had brought my grandfather crawling out of the dirt. The same cool green magic I’d felt before coursed through my body, like stepping out of the house on an autumn morning when frost covered the ground and mist clung to my skin.
The green mist seemed to well up in my hand, and as I watched it, I saw Grim jerk out of the corner of my eye. My gut instincts had been right the first time. It had never been my magic, I’d been channeling Grim the whole time. He watched for a second in awe as I let the connection between us open even wider. Before he could get too distracted, I shut it down as much as I could, letting only a trickle of his magic through.
I siphoned a little of the magic off of what I was collecting and used it to bring two of the bodies on the floor back to life, like I had with my grandfather, sending them out into the hall to guard against any other attackers. I figured the guys had taken care of every threat before they came into the auditorium, but I needed to be sure.
With the green of Grim’s magic swirling in my hand, I did the same with Hunter, pulling on his darkness, which came readily to me, as though recognizing me as a creature of the dark. I kept the connection open until shadow and green light were dancing in my hand like they knew each other already. When I did the same with Ellis’ magic, I wasn’t sure what to expect.
A white, almost sparkly liquid filled my hand next and swirled with the shadows and green magic. It was thick and reminded me of a lava lamp, bubbling up through the other two magics as they all began to spin together.
Finally, I thought of my love for Alastair. He and I hadn’t had a chance to get close until recently, but what we went through in that fairground changed us, changed our bond. His strength flowed through me, suffusing my body and mind as a flame burst from my hand. My mage may have been the quiet, bookish type, but he wasn’t weak or lacking for power, which made the claims of his family even stranger.
The flame seemed to form a sphere around the other three, the crackling orange and pale yellow warming me enough to make beads of sweat erupt from my forehead and all down my back, until I felt one bead connect with another and the droplets began rolling down my spine. As much as I was overheating from the magic I was holding, it was also the anxiety of whether or not this would work.
I knew time was of the essence, I could tell from each swing of the Horseman’s sword, each clang as it connected with one of my guys’ weapons. If I didn’t act soon, this was all going to be a moot point, but it also felt like this was my only shot before the Horseman realized what was going on. Would this magic be enough? Or was I making the wrong assumptions?
34
Mae
I couldn’t risk it being a paltry blow. Before I could release the magic orb I’d been forming, I pulled as much magic from my guys as possible into it, at least as much as I could without weakening them. After all, they were the ones currently fighting him physically.
The heat and power that was coming from the magic I held was overwhelming. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I launched it at the Horseman. My breath caught as it sailed through the air, a shimmering mass of magic that was hopefully going to