Black Spring

But Nathaniel is safe, I thought. The knowledge that the shifter was no longer killing him by degrees while I fought its magic helped me relax, helped my own magic flow more freely. I gave a great push with my power, envisioned it shoving the shifter’s spell out of the house.

The creature did not expect the sudden surge, and its magic seemed to rear back for a moment. That allowed me to send my own spell around the house like a protective bubble. I slumped against the wall, panting with effort. It shouldn’t have been that difficult to get rid of the shifter. I had enough magic to kill some of the most powerful creatures that had ever walked the Earth.

Too much of myself was bound up in the darkness now, I realized. By not accessing that part of my power, I was cutting myself off from my strength.

I noticed Samiel had left the kitchen, and Beezle was sitting on the counter watching me.

“I saw some of that,” he said. “Didn’t expect something so low could give you so much trouble.”

“I didn’t expect it, either,” I said. “Did Samiel go to help Nathaniel?”

“Yeah,” Beezle said.

I straightened, intending to go to the bedroom to check on Nathaniel, when I suddenly buckled in half with pain.

“What is it?” Beezle asked, alarmed. “Is it the baby?”

“No,” I said. “It’s the shifter. He’s shoving against the protective spell, trying to make it break.”

Because I put so much of myself in the spell, I could feel the probing magic of the shifter, looking for cracks, and realized I would not be able to relax and let the spell do its work. As long as the creature was outside, it would try to get in.

“This thing is like the effing Terminator,” I said, pouring magic out to reinforce the bubble. “It’s not going to go away.”

“I’m not sure this is good for you,” Beezle said. “You look kind of sick.”

“It’s not going to be good for any of us if it gets inside,” I said.

Rivulets of sweat poured down my face as I chased the shifter’s attempts to crack my spell, patching weaknesses as I went.

Samiel and Jude came out of the bedroom and saw me slouched against the wall. Jude’s shirt was covered in Nathaniel’s blood.

“What’s happening?” Jude demanded.

“The creature is trying to break Maddy’s protective spell,” Beezle said. “It would be really helpful if Daharan came home right now.”

Is this good for the baby? Samiel signed.

“Not a lot of better options,” I said through gritted teeth. “I need you all to go away. I can’t concentrate when you’re talking to me.”

“If the creature is performing a spell, it’s probably nearby. This is our chance to catch him,” Jude said.

“You can’t go outside,” I said. “If you go after the shifter, you’ll break the circle and then we’ll be right back where we started.”

I lowered my head to the cool tile of the kitchen floor, lying on my side, and closed my eyes. I don’t remember a lot about what happened that night. The shifter’s magic tried to break, and my magic blocked. And this seemed to happen over and over again. I never sensed any anger or frustration on the part of the creature, only a relentless determination.

There was darkness and pressure, and I resisted it with everything I had. Then suddenly it was morning, and the sun was streaming in through the windows. The pressure abruptly eased, and I opened my eyes.

Nathaniel sat beside me, cross-legged, on the floor. He was pale and somehow appeared thinner. But he was alive. His eyes had dark circles under them.

“You’re okay,” I said, reaching my hand toward him.

His fingers wrapped around mine. “As are you.”

There was a lot unspoken between us, as usual. And as usual, it didn’t really seem like the time to go into it.

“The shifter’s gone,” I said, slowly easing into an upright position. Every part of me was stiff from spending the night on the kitchen floor.

“Did your magic force it to leave?” Nathaniel asked.

I shook my head. “It was all I could do to keep it out. I think maybe its master called it back.”

“Why was it so difficult for you to hold the creature away?” Nathaniel asked. “I have felt, and seen, the breadth and depth of your power. This should have been child’s play for you.”

I explained my theory about my power being bound up in the darkness inside me.

Nathaniel nodded. “And you did not wish to lose control, yes?”

“I thought that would be a bad thing,” I said.

“We must find a way for you to draw upon that magic again,” Nathaniel said. “Without it, you are too vulnerable to threats.”

“I don’t know how I’m going to do that without becoming a tool of Lucifer,” I said. “No matter how hard I’ve tried, it seems that he’s winning.”

“That is not my Madeline talking,” Nathaniel said. “My Madeline does not give up. She spits in the eye of immortals.”

I gave a little laugh. “Your Madeline is really tired right now.”

“Then you must rest,” Nathaniel said.

And he reached for me. I thought he was going to put his arms around me, help me up or even carry me.

Instead he put his hands around my throat and started to squeeze.

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