Soul of the Storm (The Wardbreaker Book 2) Read online

  “This is it,” Ifrit said, “Hit him hard, and hit him fast. Make sure he doesn’t get up again.”

  “You mean kill him?” I asked.

  “Do what you need to do, Isabella. That man will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if you let him live. You’ll never be safe, you’ll never be free, and you’ll always curse this moment as the time when you could’ve ended this all.”

  “I’ve already killed once today, and I didn’t mean to do it.”

  “So, mean it, this time.”

  I glanced at the little fire Godling sitting on my shoulder. “Aren’t you supposed to be trying to save my immortal soul? Don’t religious types say killing is a mortal sin?”

  Ifrit scoffed. “I’m your Guardian, and that means I’m here to protect your life as well as your soul. If you spare that man tonight, you’re putting yourself in danger tomorrow. And if you believe in that whole mortal sin business, that’s up to you. But trust me, you aren’t gonna get another chance like right now to strike a blow for the greater good.”

  Asmodius had his back to me. I didn’t think he’d be able to defend himself even if he wanted to. Ifrit was right. I held that man’s life in my hands, and I had every reason to take it. Asmodius was a monster. A killer, a manipulator, someone who preys on the weak and uses them until there’s nothing left.

  He kidnapped me and made me do his dirty work. He kidnapped Karim and was keeping him in a basement somewhere. Hell, he wanted to eat my heart! The world around me slowed to a crawl. I could hear my own breathing, my heartbeat thundering inside of me; I could even hear the little crackle and pop of Ifrit’s living-flame body. Then I saw Axel. He’d come speeding around a corner with RJ by his side, only to stop in his tracks when he saw what was happening in the driveway.

  I stared at him, and he stared back at me, his eyes widening when he saw the magic charging in my hand.

  I couldn’t keep looking at him, not if I wanted to do what I needed to do. Narrowing my eyes, roaring so loud my head trembled, I drew the power of the Tempest through me and sent it hurtling straight ahead. Lightning crackled and whipped from my fingertips, raced through the air, and impaled Asmodius in the back.

  Axel’s father shook and convulsed, the whole front of the house lit up as the lightning exploded in sparks all around me. Then Asmodius fell, first to his knees, and then on his front. The lightning fell away, leaving that charged smell in the air—not to mention the smell of burnt flesh, hair, and clothes.

  Becket, who’d been shielding his eyes, let his hands fall and stared at me from across the way. Axel stayed where he was for a long moment, rooted to the spot. Then he started running, sprinting toward his father and throwing himself to his knees. He turned Asmodius onto his back, and after a frantic moment, checked his neck for a pulse.

  Holy shit, I killed him, I thought. It’s over.

  Without warning, Asmodius grabbed Axel by the throat. My heart stopped for an instant, skipped a beat. Asmodius pulled Axel close to his mouth, said something into his ear, and then poof, in a burst of violet light, he was gone. After a moment, all that was left of Asmodius was a cloud of glittering light. Axel’s eyes had flown wide open and he hadn’t moved from where he was.

  I rushed over to him, stopping just short given what had just happened. “Axel?” I asked, when I felt like I could speak again.

  Axel didn’t respond, not at first. It took him a second to slowly rise to his feet. Then he turned and looked at me. “He’s gone,” he said.

  “Gone where?” I asked, though I almost didn’t dare to.

  “I… don’t know.”

  He was talking like he was in a daze, like he couldn’t string together a conscious thought. Danvers croaked from somewhere nearby, and RJ rushed to pick her up. Becket, meanwhile, casually walked over to me, both his hands in his pockets, now. The mansion around us had fallen silent, and eerily so. I couldn’t hear voices, no marching footsteps, no walkie talkies bleeping and going off.

  This place had become a ghost town.

  “None of us are safe while he’s out there,” I said.

  “True,” Becket said, “But how is that any different from the way we’ve been living for the past three weeks? We’ll manage.”

  I was shaking. I hadn’t realized until then, but through a combination of magic and emotional overload, I’d started to tremble. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and turned to look at the mansion. Karim was still in there. Our job wasn’t finished, yet. But I had no idea how to gather our team and make our move inside.

  And if Asmodius had been able to—what, teleport?—away from his mansion, then maybe he’d done the same to Karim.

  Becket gestured across my shoulder with his eyebrows. Turning around, two more figures were emerging from the mouth of the mansion. My entire body stiffened, and I prepared myself to fight whoever was coming at us next. One of the two people heading out of the mansion, I didn’t recognize.

  He had long, black hair, a goatee, and a naturally muscular kind of build that made him look like someone who absolutely should not be messed with. I had no idea who he was, but instantly that didn’t matter, because he had Karim with him.

  My heart surged into my throat. I was preparing myself for the very real possibility that I wouldn’t see him again for a long time, and that when I did see him, he’d be covered in cuts and bruises. But he was fine. A little grouchy on the outside, a little unimpressed that he’d been kidnapped by the same crime syndicate—again—but in good health nonetheless.

  I stepped in front of Becket, putting myself in the path of the man who was ushering Karim out of the mansion.

  “Jones,” Ifrit said.

  Of course, I thought. He had been the guy who had taken Karim after he’d been shot. He was the second in command of the security division. A new guy, but one who’d been fast-tracked to the top by Asmodius himself.

  “Your boss is gone,” I said.

  Jones stared at me, his eyes narrow, his face severe. “He’s not my boss anymore,” Jones said, undoing Karim’s tie-wraps. “Take him.”

  “Take him?” I asked, “Just like that?”

  Jones shrugged. “Just like that.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t get it. Who are you?”

  “I’m also here,” Karim said, waving, “Hello, recently kidnapped? I’d love to get the bloody hell out of here, if possible. I’m freezing my bollocks off.”

  “He always like this?” Jones asked.

  “You get used to it,” I said, shrugging.

  Jones walked Karim over to where I was standing. “You’re Isabella, right?”

  “Depends on who’s asking.”

  “I’m a Legionnaire working for the Magistrate.”

  “Prove it,” RJ said, “Let me see your badge.”

  Jones flashed the palm of his hand and displayed what looked like a pentacle tattoo burned into his skin. With a twitch of the muscles, the pentacle started burning with soft, blue light. It was the same star I’d seen atop the Athenaeum.

  I looked up at RJ. “Does that check out?”

  RJ nodded. “Magistrate brands all its Legionnaires that way.” He showed me his hand, only he didn’t have a tattoo there, but a scar. “He’s one of them, alright.”

  “A couple of months ago I was assigned to go undercover and infiltrate this organization,” Jones said, “I’ve been working from the inside, relaying information to the Magistrate. Then this guy showed up. He was lucky they didn’t kill him outright.”

  “Does the Magistrate know what happened here tonight?”

  “Not yet, but they’ll find out something happened soon enough, and they’ll want a report. I don’t know enough to give one, so, I’m offering you a chance to give me a narrative I can spin.”

  Becket stepped in. “You go on ahead and do what you need to do,” he said to me, “I’ll take care of this part.”

  I nodded, knowing better than to argue with Becket over something like this. If anyone could keep us fly
ing under the Magistrate’s radar, it was him, and right now the last thing we wanted was local notoriety for attacking high-profile mage’s compound.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The ride back to Becket’s place was mostly spent in silence, and I hated every second of it. I hadn’t said a word since I’d gotten in the car. None of us had. Not even Karim, who I’d totally expected to hear complaining about his second stint spent in captivity.

  I wish I could’ve said knowing he was with us now was a comfort. It was, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t enough. I’d tried to kill Asmodius tonight, and I’d failed. But the worst part about all that was the effect that may have had on Axel, and how he wasn’t talking about it. He’d barely said a word to me since we left the compound, and it was killing me.

  I tried to focus on what was going to happen next, tried to keep my mind on the scroll and how tonight was the night where we’d finally learn what lay behind the ward. Part of me was buzzing to know. It’s what we all wanted, it’s what we were all here for, it’s what was expected of me. I had to be the one to unlock it, and I had to do it tonight, but all I wanted to do was talk to Axel; make sure he was okay.

  I’d almost killed his father tonight, and as much as he hated him, what I’d done was a big deal.

  The others started heading up the stairs toward Becket’s study as soon as we arrived at the house. I stopped in the foyer, summoning the courage to call out to Axel as one by one the others disappeared up the stairs. All except Karim, who turned around to look at me.

  “Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

  “I will,” I said, “But I need to talk to Axel first.”

  Axel, who was almost at the top of the stairs, stopped, but he didn’t turn around.

  Karim glanced up, then back at me. “Can it wait?”

  “Not really,” I said.

  Slowly, Axel turned around. He had a kind of blank look on his face, like he was having an outer body experience or something. Without saying a word, he walked down the stairs, going past Karim and toward me. A moment later, Karim disappeared around the corner, leaving Axel and I alone.

  It was close to dawn, now, so the house was eerily silent—and cold, deathly cold. I could see the puffs of steam forming around my lips, around Axel’s. I walked up to him, my eyes low.

  “I wanted to talk about tonight,” I said.

  “I’m not sure I do,” Axel said.

  “And I get that, I just…”

  “You tried to kill him, didn’t you?” he asked, ripping the band-aid off.

  Swallowing, I nodded. “I did.” I shook my head. “I kept thinking of everything he’d already done to us, to other people. He was a bully, one who would never leave us alone if I didn’t do something about it there and then. I wanted us all to be free of him, and I know that was probably the wrong thing to do.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I hadn’t stopped to consider what something like that might do to you. I know you don’t like him, but he’s your father. If someone did that to my father in front of me, I don’t know how I’d take it.”

  “But you didn’t kill him… he’s still alive, wherever he is.”

  “I know, and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Relieved, I guess? Part of me, at least. But the other part of me knows what this means. He’s gonna come after us again, and it’s probably gonna be worse than ever. But at least I didn’t make the mistake of murdering him.”

  Axel shook his head and took hold of my hand. “Stop,” he said.

  “Stop? Why?”

  “Because. Just… listen to me, okay?”

  I nodded, but said nothing.

  “My father is an piece of shit,” Axel said, “He’s a controlling megalomaniac who uses and abuses those around him to get what he wants. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he punishes them. If he does, he discards them like trash. I’ve had to live in his shadow my entire life, and if it hadn’t been for you, I would’ve probably stayed there for the rest of it. I didn’t know I had a choice until I met you.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t understand. What are you saying?”

  “What I’m saying is, my only regret about tonight is that I didn’t finish the job when I had the chance.”

  “You… what?”

  “That man isn’t my father anymore. I’m not part of that family anymore. All my life he had me thinking family was the most important thing to him, that family came first. I’d always assumed that meant our family, his family, but the truth is, family is earned.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “They’re my family, now. You’re my family, now.”

  “That’s beautiful,” Ifrit said, tiny flame-tears falling from his fiery face. He sniffled hard. “Just beautiful.”

  “Oh, be quiet,” I hissed, giving Axel my attention again. “Do you really feel that way?”

  “I do,” he said, “These last three weeks I’ve learned more about life, about the real world, than I have in the past ten years living as another one of my father’s assets. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make up for the things I’ve done, the things I’ve contributed to over the years, but I want to try.”

  I turned my eyes up at him. I wasn’t going to ask, but now that we were here, I decided I should. “What…” I started, “What did he say to you?”

  He shut his eyes. “Do you really want to know?”

  “I’m not sure anymore. I mean, yes, I do want to know, but if you’d rather not tell me—”

  “—he told me when this is all done, he’s gonna cut my heart out, too.”

  A shudder pulsed through my entire body, rooting me to the spot. It was one thing to know Asmodius had those plans for me, but hearing he’d said the same thing to Axel suddenly made it all more intense. More real, somehow; as if the original threat hadn’t been real enough.

  “Axel…” I started to say, but the rest of the words never came.

  “I don’t want you to think about that,” he said, “He has to kill us first, and he’s not going to. We just rooted him out of his mansion, scattered his employees, made a dent in his resources. It’ll be some time before we see him again, and when we do, we’ll be ready for him.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “We have to be. There’s no way I’m letting him get what he wants. One thing is for sure—by the time he rears his head again, he’ll have all of New York City against him.”

  I frowned at him. “What? How?”

  “We’re gonna tell the Magistrate what happened to Karim. We’re gonna tell them what he said he’d do to me. The Magistrate won’t be able to let something like that slide. They can’t convict him of anything if he doesn’t show up, but the rumors will spread, people will talk, and soon enough everyone will know what he’s really capable of.”

  “Aren’t you worried that’ll put you in the public eye too much?”

  “I’m tired of living under a shadow. It’s time I came out into the light.”

  I nodded. “If this is what you want to do, I’ll back you up.”

  “Thank you. That’s all I need.”

  I glanced across at the stairs, then back at Axel. “I guess we should head up there and see what’s really in that box, then, huh?”

  “Yeah,” Axel said, trailing off. “Once we open the box, there’ll be no way of putting back whatever comes out of it. You know that, right?”

  “I do. I also know you mean that literally because, well, for all we know unlocking the scroll will release all manner of evil into the world. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done something stupid.”

  “And it won’t be the last.”

  I smirked at him. “And just what’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Nothing,” he said, letting go of my hand.

  I turned away from him and started heading toward the stairs, but he grabbed my other hand before I’d gotten more than a couple of steps away from him. Axel spun me around, pulled me toward him, and pressed me against his chest. My heart was racing, my mind
along with it, but I let the moment take me where it wanted me to go. I didn’t resist.

  Even as Axel pressed his lips against mine, I didn’t pull away. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. His touch was firm and warm, his lips warmer still, and soft. I remembered, then, that this wasn’t the first kiss we’d shared. But of the two, this was the most real; the most intimate.

  I wrapped my hands around his neck, and he plunged his fingers into my blue hair. We were locked together, living in a world of our own making, a bubble out of time and space. There was no one else here. Not Danvers, RJ, or Karim. Not Becket. Not the drowned Queen, and certainly not Asmodius.

  It was just us, and I didn’t want it to end, but it had to. It had to end because Becket had walked in through the front door of his house. He cocked one of his eyebrows, his red eyes flashing vibrantly for an instant before returning to more of a dim glow.

  “Am I interrupting something?” he asked, an amused look on his face.

  “No,” I said, pulling away from Axel and wiping the back of my hand across my lips. I wasn’t sure why I’d done that. Instinct. Reflex, maybe. “We were just about to, uh—”

  “—open the scroll, I should hope?”

  “Yeah. We’re heading up right now.”

  “Good. I’m glad I didn’t miss it.” Becket gestured up his stairs. Axel and I glanced at each other, looking a little like scolded children, and then we headed up the stairs; Becket walking behind us.

  It was time to see what this was all about; time to unlock the scroll. The only problem was, I didn’t know if I was ready for that yet.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  One shot was all I’d get. That was how this worked. You got one chance at disarming the ward, and if you failed… well, that depended on the person who’d set the ward up. Maybe nothing would happen, maybe the ward would trigger a silent alarm to its maker, or maybe it would vaporize you, turn you into a pile of ash.

  No pressure, or anything.

  Modern mages didn’t often install killing spells into their wards’ failsafe mechanisms, but this scroll thousands of years old. Probably older than that, still. There was also a chance it had been created by the drowned Queen herself. Was she the kind of person to vaporize mages who crossed her?