Ever After

before he threw a curse at me.

“Now!” Trent shouted, and I felt a twin tug on the line as both Quen and Trent threw up a bubble. Ku’Sox’s energy tore through both of them, bouncing off my smaller bubble. Black and gold shimmered like oil as Ku’Sox’s magic slammed into mine. I gasped when my hold on the line faltered, then held firm. Ku’Sox’s magic hung, stuck as it tried to burn through, and I panicked, not knowing what to do. It was better—my hold on the line was firm. I didn’t think anyone was wearing the ring. I could do this. I could fight back.

“Eram pere!” I shouted, exploding my bubble out. It took Ku’Sox’s magic with it, slamming it into the ceiling to rain down like evil pixy dust.

Trent tripped on something and went down, hand reaching for a counter. “Bis!” I shouted as the gargoyle darted to the last screaming infant as Ku’Sox ducked. “We have to go!”

Trent pulled himself up, tall and proud. “Digitorum percussion,” he intoned, the heavy black in his hand growing darker, his golden aura racing over it to make it glow. My eyes widened as he pulled back, aiming for Ku’Sox. I could feel him pull on the line, he was so desperate. But he was aiming for Ku’Sox.

My God. The baby. “Trent, no!” I cried, and I lunged for him. Quen’s foot tripped me, and I plowed into Trent, grabbing him about the knees instead of his middle where I’d intended.

We went down, my teeth clenching as we hit the floor. Trent cried out in anger as his magic went wild, slipping from his hand to roll into a bank of machines. I ducked as it hit, sparks flying as machinery suddenly vanished, replaced by the smell of ozone and twisted metal.

Shouting, Quen launched himself at Ku’Sox. The two of them went down in a tangle of arms and billowing fabric. Twin bursts of aura-tinted magic flared, and then Quen was flung back, sliding to a halt against the machines, his expression showing his pain and one hand clenched into a fist against his chest.

“What are you doing!” Trent shouted at me, pushing me off him as he stood, and I backed up onto my knees before spinning to face Ku’Sox.

“You might hurt the baby!” I yelled back at him, hunched and ready for the next attack.

“That child is already dead!” Trent shouted, furious.

“Put the baby down!” I exclaimed at Ku’Sox, moving to stand between him and everyone behind me. I didn’t know how I was going to stop him, but I was having a much easier time now that I was a slave with no master. Can I trust him? asked a small voice inside me, and I ached at the coming betrayal.

“This child?” Ku’Sox said, swinging the screaming baby like pendulum, tossing him into the air to land in his arms. Behind him, Bis tensed, too far away to snatch him to safety. His eyes went behind me. “Dolore adficere,” Ku’Sox whispered, his fingers moving.

I tensed, but all Ku’Sox did was smile as the child in his arms wailed even louder, hardly able to breathe.

Fire suddenly erupted against my back, thought-stealing pain radiating out from my spine. I couldn’t breathe, and I collapsed to the floor, my fingers scrabbling behind me to find what it was. The heat spread to my hands, and I cried out, pulling them to my front to see that they were covered in a burning, golden-hued aura—burning me from the outside in. Ku’Sox’s curse had come from Trent.

“Valeo,” I gasped to counter it, flooding my mind with a numbing cold, sucking in the air as I heard Ku’Sox laugh and the baby scream. His shoes were crunching on glass, and fear gave me the strength to force my head up, seeing him past my strands of hair. Heart pounding, I scuttled backward. Quen was struggling to stop Trent. Trent had hit me. He had cursed me. But by his frustrated, pained expression, he hadn’t done it by choice. My God, Ku’Sox was nuts. He was laughing, knowing full well I’d rip his head off if I could. But maybe he knew I’d never get even half a chance.

“This is not me!” Trent shouted, his face creased and sweat darkening his hair as he shoved Quen off him. “It’s not me!” he said again, grunting with the effort to keep his hand from rising. His eyes widened in a sudden fear. “Flee, Rachel . . .”

“Sa’han!” Quen cried out, ducking behind a bubble when Trent threw another spell. It was aimed at me, and I threw up a circle, but my reaction was too slow and it tore through it, the spell hitting me square on before my barrier could fully form.

Pain crawled over me like ants, skittering from my chest and working its way through me, and I screamed. If it reached my mind, I was dead. “Valeo,” I sobbed again, curled on the floor within my bubble, shaking as the pinpricks faded and died.

“Interesting,” Ku’Sox said, that baby still wailing in his arms as he sat on the broken window frame and crossed his ankles to watch. “Do that one again. I want to know if she can do it any faster.”

“Damn it all to hell!” I shouted at Trent as I looked up, seeing Ku’Sox’s frown; he was not entirely pleased that I could counter that one. “You do that again, and I’ll smack you!” I said to Trent as I trembled with adrenaline.

“I can’t help it,” he rasped through gritted teeth, and then he dropped to one knee, groaning as he fought whatever Ku’Sox was making him do next.

“Yeah, well, sorry then,” I said, gathering my will. “Alta quies simillima mort!” I shouted, flinging half of the curse at Trent, holding the rest in my palm, burning. The curse tore through my bubble, absorbing it and pulling it over and around me like a dirty shirt. It smacked into Trent, and the man went down, his neck nothing but cords of muscle. He gave one spasm, then lay still, his chest rising and falling peacefully.

“You struck him!” Quen said, clearly shocked.

“He hit me first,” I said, then flicked the rest of the charm at Ku’Sox.

The demon deflected it with a hasty pop. I knew it wouldn’t land, but at least he had stopped laughing. Trent lay unconscious. It wouldn’t last long, and I got up, hurting, tired, and pissed. Flee, Trent had said. It sounded like a good idea. If Bis could snatch us from a ley line, then he could by God jump us out as he had the babies.

“Rachel?” Bis said, looking scared as he landed beside me on the rolling chair. “He’s got the only baby left.”

“I’ll get him,” I said as I stood up and tugged my shirt straight. “Get Quen and Trent out of here. Catch me when I jump.” If Trent wasn’t here, then he couldn’t try to kill Ku’Sox using me to do it.

“No!” Quen said, arm up to fend Bis off, and then they were gone.

I took a deep breath, glad Quen was safe. If Bis didn’t come back for Trent or me, then I’d die happy. Ray would not grow up without her father.

“Give me that baby,” I said, shaking as I listed to one side, and Ku’Sox took his pinkie from the now quiet child, charmed to sleep with a curse.

“One step closer, and I squeeze,” he said, smiling down at the sleeping infant.

I froze as Trent stirred behind him. “You want me, not him.”

Ku’Sox raised an eyebrow. “Offering to take his place? But I already have you. Come sunup, I will be pleading to the collective to spare your life. And they will give you to me because otherwise, I’ll kill them all and they know it.”

“Not unless I kill you first.” Maybe Trent had the right idea after all.

Bis popped into existence, right on top of Trent, and I jerked. “You will regret this, little rat!” Ku’Sox shouted, and I flung up a bubble around them as Bis popped Trent out. Ku’Sox’s magic winged into the nursery, quiet and empty. “Enough!” Ku’Sox shouted, throwing the baby from him as if the infant were trash.

“No!” I shoved myself into motion, arms outstretched as the baby screamed in fear. I hit the floor front first, eyes closed from the impact and stretching forward. My hands were empty. An awful thump echoed through me, and I curled up in heartache. I had jumped too short. I had missed. Knowing what I’d find, I opened my eyes, tears blinding me as I gathered up the silent, limp baby and stood, my knees shaking in anger.

“You will behave, Rachel, or you learn obedience from the back of my hand,” Ku’Sox seethed.

The baby was dead, and I held him, rocking him and aching inside. “Now you’ve done it,” I said, voice low and threatening. Trent had been right. The baby had been dead the moment Nick had stolen him. “You will account for yourself,” I intoned, shaking as I felt a tweak on my thoughts.

“Who will force me? You?” Ku’Sox snarled, his hand reaching for me hazed with power dripping to hiss on the floor.

The lines echoed in my head as Bis landed on my shoulder, and I gasped when their jagged existence flooded my mind.