Black Magic

KYRIL

As Kyril looked at the vampire standing before him and at his brother, Zion, lying on the cave floor in a pool of blood, he thought of how his plan had gone awry.

At first, it had been smooth sailing. They’d hidden on a hill near the Corban Coven’s fortress, a few hundred yards away, using the dark of night as their cover.

Their scouts had identified a few different routes that would lead to their dungeons.

If Serena really was alive, they could have extracted her and escaped without anyone being the wiser.

But then something happened nobody had accounted for.

Zion scented her.

The guards were exiting the east end of the fortress, headed toward the cave, with a hooded female figure in chains.

The second Kyril had seen Zion’s nostrils flick up, he knew. It had been true all along.

Serena was alive. ~She was right there.~

“Zion!” he had pleaded. “Don’t!”

But at the sight of his mate, Zion had lost his mind and broken off from the group, chasing after her.

That stupid impulse had alerted all their guards and brought swarms of vampires upon them within minutes.

The violence had been relentless. Wolves biting, vampires slashing, blood everywhere.

Finally, Kyril had managed to catch up with Zion, following him to the edge of the cave, where he knew the dungeons lay.

But to his surprise, Zion had been captured and lay at the feet of the vampire leader himself.

Two of Stavros’ henchmen, Deacon and Maximus, were hunched over him, feeding, slowly draining Zion’s life.

Kyril knew it wouldn't be long before Zion was dead.

“Well, Alpha Vasilio?” Stavros prodded. “Will you admit your defeat or not?”

~Never~, Kyril thought. But instead, he stalled. “Tell me, Stavros. Why her? Why take Serena?”

Kyril knew, given a chance to rub salt in the wound, Stavros would take it. He was a talker, and talkers loved the sound of their own voices.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Stavros asked with a condescending sneer. “Her magic, of course. Serena, understand, is no ordinary witch. What she is capable of...the energy she can tap into, it’s unlike anything in this world.”

“So you wanted it for yourself?”

Stavros nodded. “When she tricked you all those years ago, Alpha Vasilio, I don’t believe Serena intended to reveal just how powerful she was. But then, she didn’t know that I was watching, waiting. In fact, I was the one who loosened your chains, allowing you to escape...and to prove Serena’s skill.”

Kyril’s eyes bulged with uncontrolled rage.

The day he’d spent years regretting, the blood he’d shed, the lies—they all came back to Stavros Tadd.

“I know, I know,” Stavros admitted. “A petty move on my part. But it did work. What Serena did, the illusion she cast...it’s become my life’s work to replicate it. Can you imagine the many worlds a vampire could conquer with such power?”

“You don’t deserve a life at all,” Kyril growled.

“Maybe, but I have lived many. And never have I encountered a lycan quite like you. One so close to going feral. One who can still tap into that animal rage when necessary. It’s valuable. It would be a shame to waste it.”

Kyril realized Stavros wanted to make a deal.

He knew, even if he killed Zion first, that Kyril would use his last breaths to end him.

“If you’re proposing something, spit it out already.”

“Simple, Alpha Vasilio,” Stavros replied. “Turn around and go. We will forget this ever happened. Have I lost some men today? Yes, but so be it. A truce with a lycan as powerful as you is worth it. And I accept my own responsibility in...provoking you.”

“And what of my brother?”

Stavros smiled and looked down at Zion, pulsing red, trying to shift...but too weak while the vampires had him restrained, fangs bleeding him dry.

“Him? Why, he’s no brother of yours, is he? How many times did he betray you? How many times did he try to kill you and your mate? From what I understand, he nearly killed your beta. What is one ugly demon worth? Honestly.”

Kyril could feel Stavros lulling the worst of his lycan instinct into hating Zion.

For years, after all, Zion had brought Kyril nothing but grief and anger. Maybe he was better off without him.

But then Kyril, the man, remembered what his mother had asked him.

~“There’s still a man in him, Kyril. There is still love in his heart. You have to promise me…You mustn’t spill his blood.”~

He remembered his promise to her.

He remembered the joy in Zion’s eyes when he’d learned that Serena, his mate, might be alive after all.

He remembered the regret on Zion’s face for what he’d done to Jon.

And then he remembered all the years they’d spent together as brothers and best friends.

Whatever Zion’s sins were, whatever demon had taken hold of his heart, Kyril wasn’t going to let him die like this.

Never.

Kyril

Jon!

Kyril

Are you ready?

Jon

About time.

Jon

You’ve been keeping me out of the action all night.

Kyril

Well, here’s your chance.

Kyril

You in position?

Jon

Of course.

Jon

You just tell me when.

Kyril

Three…

Kyril

Two…

Stavros Tadd was still staring at Kyril, waiting for a response, when his expression shifted.

He could sense that Kyril’s eyes were foggy, that he was communicating with an outside force.

“NO!!!” Stavros yelled out, baring his fangs.

But he was too late.

High above the cave, waiting in ambush, two lycans and four werewolves flung themselves toward the entrance and ripped Deacon and Maximums away from Zion, attacking them with all their might.

Kyril grabbed Stavros by the neck and began to squeeze the life out of him.

“I’ll take every life you have, vampire,” Kyril growled. “And it still won’t be enough.”

But when he should have been wheezing and struggling for breath, Stavros began to laugh maniacally. “You think you’ve won, Alpha?!”

Kyril felt a strange sensation in his hand. As he clamped down, there was no windpipe to crush. No lungs taking in air. No blood rushing through this vampire’s veins.

But how could that be?

Before he could question Stavros Tadd, however, a red figure leapt toward him and tackled him to the floor of the cave, ripping and tearing the vampire’s body to pieces.

It was Zion, back in his demon form. “YOU TOOK HER!!! YOU BASTARD!!!”

“Zion!” Kyril cried.

But he could barely hear him.

He was slamming Stavros’ head against a rock over and over and still the head wouldn’t split. Still, Stavros continued to laugh.

“How…what…” Zion barked in confusion.

“It’s not him, Zion!” Kyril said, pulling him away.

And as they both leapt backward, the body of Stavros Tadd began to disintegrate before their eyes into a black swirling cloud. Merely a mockery of the real man.

A duplicate.

As the cloud circled above their heads and disappeared, Stavros’ voice echoed across the mountains.

“Serena’s magic is mine now,” the voice cackled. “You will be hearing from me again…”

The black cloud dissipated into dust, and the vampire, at last, was gone.

Kyril turned to Zion, still weak and recovering from blood loss, returning to his human form.

“Zion, are you all right?”

He nodded. “Thank you, Kyril, for saving me.”

“Thank Jon.”

Zion turned to see Jon shifting back into his human form, panting. His body covered in scars from what Zion had done to him.

He waved it aside with a casual shrug. “No big deal.”

But to Zion, it clearly meant the world.

Kyril didn’t have time to let them reconcile, though. Any minute, the rest of the vampire horde might arrive.

“C’mon,” Kyril said, getting up and offering Zion a hand. “We have a witch to save.”

ZION

They ran into the cave toward the dungeons as fast as their feet could take them.

Zion could feel his energy waning. Having his blood sucked by multiple vampires at once had left him on the verge of death. But still, his heart beat a mile a minute.

He had scented her. His Serena. She was here.

They ran deeper into the depths until they started to see a smattering of cells with the most wretched creatures in the world locked up inside.

Jon stopped by each gate, freeing them, while Kyril ordered his wolves to pan out in search of her.

But Zion could sense her now. He could almost hear her voice...calling to him.

~Zion...is that really you?~

Zion slowed down, realizing how he must look.

Covered in blood, without so much as a cloth to cover himself. But worse than his physical appearance was the nature of his soul.

Or what was left of it.

Now that he was finally on the brink of reuniting with Serena, he wondered if she would still even love him. The perepetia, the turning point, where the mating bond was broken…

~It could still happen~, Zion knew.

He took a shaky step around the corner and looked into a cell where a woman wearing a dark cloak looked back.

~Serena…is that really you?~

Serena

At first, Serena wondered if she had conjured this image before her. Had her magic devolved to such a degree that she was actually taunting herself with the impossible?

Because, surely, this couldn’t really be her mate before her. Could it?

“Serena,” he said. “It’s...it’s me.”

The sound of his voice, though, Serena knew no magic in the world could capture.

Her knees began to give out, and she felt like she might faint.

So many years as a slave, as a mere witch, as a tool to extract some ancient magic...and now someone was looking at her as a real person.

With love and heartbreak and confusion in his eyes.

“Zion,” she whispered. “It’s me.”

She didn’t know what else to say but to repeat his words.

Quickly, he ran toward her cell and searched for a key to unlock it. When he found none, he shifted into his demon and ripped the door off its hinges.

It was him, all right. She would have recognized that beautiful red monster anywhere. The monster she once loved.

But was their love still there?

Slowly, they approached one another, he returning to his human form and she lowering the hood of her cloak.

There were horrid scars she was scared to let him see. But not anymore. Not after seeing his disfigured face. And the real scars, the ones within.

The witch and the demon, Serena and Zion, after so many years, were reunited.

With one more shaky step, the two finally embraced. And it was as if all the painful memories, all the cruelty, all the death, washed away and there were only these two souls in the world.

These two, who still loved each other despite everything.

They kissed, and all that mattered was now.

This moment would last forever.