I'm not in danger. I am the danger.
THE MAN LET OUT A DEAFENING ROAR, an animal caged within Alex's iron grip. Jagged shadows and fragments of moonlight shone on his broad features, highlighting the wide space between his cat-like amber eyes, down the bridge of his crooked nose and all the way down to his snarling mouth. Blood freckled his cheeks.
Katya's hazel eyes lowered to glowing slits as she watched him, silently fuming. "I knew you would have come eventually, Kazimir." she hissed. "Did you really think I wouldn't recognize you?"
A lazy, wicked smile curled onto the man's lips. He was still struggling for breath. "I was actually hoping you would, dear sister." he spit out the word, each syllable unraveling from his lips like dripping, acid poison that burned into Katya's skin. "That way I could whisper it into your ears over and over again, as you died by my hands."
Leah drew her sword from her glamoured purse. "Alright, someone should probably kill him-"
She never got the opportunity to finish her sentence. In a single electrifying flash, the man lunged forward, escaping from Alex's hold and swiftly tackling him to the glass-littered floor. Maddie sprinted towards them, brandishing her magic. Power lurched at her fingers, her immortal blood thrumming with mingled exertion and a crazed thrill.
The ground spun out from underneath him, a strangled scream as the shards of glass found themselves piercing through his skin. Silver vines flourished from the ground, restraining the man in enchanted bindings as he flung himself forward to tear at Alex with his claws.
Before Alex could rise freely, another hold clicked into place over his ankle. This time the hands of the second cloaked man, who had wriggled free from the table Katya had so gladly thrown on him. Alex's features screwed into a scowl and he kicked at the man's chest. Instantly, his hands fell from Alex's foot and he flung back onto the ground.
Annika drove a dagger through the edge of his cloak, pinning him to the ground and just barely missing his ribcage. He heaved his weight sideways to tug it out with his bloodstained hands, wearing a murderous glare.
Kazimir twisted fruitlessly in the silver vines before gathering his breath. His lungs rose and fell in caged fury. "After all this time," he spit out venomously. "You still choose to betray us. You still choose to disappoint us. You're still an abomination-"
Leah grabbed his wrists in one hand and twisted, tearing a silver chain off of her neck before allowing it burn into his skin. He screamed. There was a loud click as her necklace wound around his hands, before finally widening in size, the silver stretching with an almost cartoon-like elastic energy as it grew into gleaming handcuffs.
Two of them were now constrained – for the time being, which was running out fast. Violet faced Alex and Maddie, hesitating for words. "Guys?" she began quietly. A broad shadow appeared behind her. "Where's the other-"
An arm snaked around her neck. A scream lurched out from Violet's lungs, tearing through the air like a bolt of blinding lightning striking the bloodied room. Katya rushed towards her, a glinting knife spinning from her fingers. Each wary step closer Violet was dragged farther away, her screams louder each time.
A smoky orb of gray light burned vividly from behind Violet, illuminating the features of the man who held her as well as the swirling horror in her glittering eyes. Limb by limb, the gray light darted across her figure. A second hand glowed in the illumination, twisting around her abdomen. A transparent, black dome of magic flickered around them.
Katya snarled, throwing her knife at his forehead. The blade shot through his shield as easily as she'd expected, but he'd thrown himself sideways and it had dug into his shoulder instead. A blast of pain spilled over his bones, and his shield flickered away just as fast.
Alex and Asher rose their hands. Bolts of blue shone from their fingers, traveling the distance between them before shattering the man's shield completely. The magic struck him in the stomach, and he doubled over, gasping for breath. There was a moment's pause.
Anger overruled the pain swirling in his eyes. Still holding Violet, he wretched the knife from his shoulder, his black robes painted in crimson. It landed with a loud clatter beside him. His iron grip resumed its place on Violet's wrists, intolerant of the magic aching to be released from her fingers.
"You'll have to catch me." he breathed through his gritted teeth.
The six magicians glanced at each other. Violet thrashed in his hold. Maddie smiled.
A fire erupted behind Violet's captor, hungry, licking flames dancing, towering over his skull. Leah, Annika, Maddie and Katya glanced at one another once more before tightening their clenched fists. The fire rose higher into the air, sparks of cinder spinning down to stab the man's spine.
A roar of pain escaped his lips. The man collapsed, bending down to the mercy of the flames as easily as a blade of grass bowing down to obey the wind. Violet's peripheral vision became laced with a blazing shade of orange, an almost unseen flash of black plummeting to the floor. His fingers slipped from Violet's skin. The man's pulse slowed.
Behind her Katya could hear her brother's furious threats. "You hurt him, I swear to Zeus I'll murder you once and for all-"
Leah and Annika remembered to breathe. Katya looked down on her brother disinterestedly, blinking. Maddie and Alex glanced at each other briefly, noting the hefty death toll of one. Their eyes hardened in mutual determination as they looked to Violet once more.
Asher murmured something under his breath. With every ounce of energy remaining, he ran towards her, a myriad of bloodstained glass crunching beneath his feet as he captured her in his embrace. Violet stumbled before landing in his arms. They stood, silently cradling each other in stricken relief.
Kazimir had finally shut up. An attempt at a lazy smile stretched unnaturally on his lips, and there was slight, hidden tension in his shoulders, like he was anticipating a single defining moment. A moment that would serve failure or fervent victory.
Then came Annika's piercing scream.
It tore through the air like paper and suddenly gravity split in half, her melodic voice ringing in the air and rising like a screeching siren's song above them, sailing towards the moon overhead and hanging with horrible anticipation in the air.
There was a rapid flutter of fabric, a darting black figure appearing and disappearing across the room, their arms amidst a blur of sequins and shining raven hair. A second scream pierced the air. Leah's heart skipped a beat, air bottled in her lungs. She turned with ferocious speed, shocked eyes sweeping across the room for any sign of her friend.
Disbelief flowed in her veins like a poison, lacing the tip of her tongue before dissolving with a hissing, scorching burn into her bones and blood. It couldn't be possible. It couldn't be fucking possible.
"Find her." Alex exhaled lowly. Then came the flood. "FIND HER!"
In the silver, shredded darkness, a cloaked man's smile glittered like poisonous water. "It's only fair, right?" he hummed. "A friend for a friend."
Violet tensed in Asher's hold as his jaw clenched. He released her, holding her at arm's length, meeting her gaze with warmth pooling in his frosted blue eyes. Then he heard the crazed laughter swirling around them, and he lunged.
Asher landed unsteady and outstretched only meters from Alex and Maddie, who had rushed to the corners of the room where the laughter had reverberated the clearest. They had barely caught sight of each other before a shatter sounded inches away.
The three of them tensed. Maddie's fingers were curled tightly around her gun, arms held out in front of her as she prepared to strike.
Another smile glinted in the darkness, and she pressed down, a golden bullet diving from the mouth of the gun into the air, spinning like a meteor aflame and sending sparks of cinder into the sky.
A sharp hisss. The bullet skimmed the man's arm, scarping against the surface of his skin. A splatter of blood dripped down like poison onto a wrecked table he'd just barely missed. But seconds later he was once again concealed in the lowly-lit room.
A sudden cry sounded from a far corner, unfamiliar and drenched in fear. "The guests." Alex whispered in realization, rushing to the noise. "Don't hurt them!"
This time, there were two laughs. One from Kazimir and the other unidentifiable. It was obvious enough, of course; the idiot with Annika in his hands. Still hidden, he was racing around the room in glee, and the moonlight exploding off of Annika's jewelry sent jolts of light down the room.
Before Maddie could predict what was going to happen, her gaze followed the trail of light snaking around the room only to realize it was heading straight for Kazimir. Letting out a cry of protest, she ran towards him and rose her hand forcefully, prepared to strengthen the bindings he lay tangled in once more. Seconds too late, she watched as the silver vines grew gray and dull, and a delighted grin stretched on Kazimir's lips.
Standing again, he shot her a sideways smirk. Magic was spilling from his fingers now, and ribbons of wind tore at the room and sent the tables whirring backwards. Maddie could hear Asher and Alex shouting incoherently in the distance, and she watched as Katya spelled bounds on the perimeter seconds after her brother disappeared in a bolt of neon yellow with Annika and his friend.
In one last burst of fury, Maddie sent her knife spinning up into the air and gliding alongside the rays of light rocketing upwards and away with her friend. The shining metal melted into the vivid blur of light that held the two cloaked men, lost in the current of their magic to wherever they were escaping to now.
Only a loud curse could be heard as the hurtling knife found itself laced with Kazimir's blood, and then a loud zap as the six remaining magicians stood in darkness once more.
AN:
I haven't updated in forever hi :) Thank you guys so much for 80k you all are amazing and so supportive! If you ever feel frustrated with my (lack of) updating schedule PLEASE just drag me on my profile and scream at me because it actually dOES motivate me to write, lol.
What are your thoughts on this chapter? How do you feel about Kazimir and Katya being brother and sister? Would you like to see more Kazimir in the future? Also, comment some recommendations for Violet and Asher's ship name! Y'all already know it's set to sail soon... And, after you've done all that, (or if you're feeling lazy) feel free to click on the cute little star at the bottom of your screen1!1! Thanks :D
Anyways, thanks for reading <3 Until the next chapter!