“Because I’m going to do the same thing to you.” Zoe’s hands moved so fast I thought for certain she’d managed to turn herself into a superhero. I realized what she was going to do when it was too late to call her off.
The magic she called lit the ends of her fingertips with purple fire and she aimed it directly at Emma. Rather than absorb the blow, or throw up a shield, Emma merely waved her hand and caused the magic to dissipate before it reached her. She didn’t look upset by what almost happened. In fact, she appeared calm.
“If you do that again, you won’t get your vampire back,” Emma seethed. “I’ll kill him before I ever let you see him again.”
Zoe clearly wasn’t used to people arguing with her after a magical display because she was practically frothing at the mouth. “Not if I kill you right here.”
Emma turned haughty. “You don’t have the power to kill me.”
“Let’s see, shall we?” Zoe’s hands flew up again but I reached out and grabbed her wrist before she could unleash her power.
“Wait,” I said when her eyes darted to me.
“Are you kidding?” Fury radiated off of her but I maintained my calm demeanor.
“What do you want, Emma?” I kept my voice even, although it took effort. “You’re involved in this, even though you pretended otherwise. I should’ve seen it when you visited. This is going nowhere if you don’t tell me what you want.”
She held Zoe’s gaze for a moment longer and then flicked it to me. “I want the child.”
“You’re not getting her,” Zoe hissed. “Don’t even think about touching her.”
Emma pretended she didn’t hear the warning. That was unwise but she was all ego and bluster. Apparently now that she was no longer under the thumb of vampires, she wanted to test boundaries. I couldn’t help feeling that pushing a powerful mage as part of that experiment was a very bad idea.
“If you think we’re handing over the girl, then you’re stupid,” I offered blandly. “You’re not stupid. That means you know better than to believe we would hand her over. So what’s the deal?”
“I’ve already told you my demands.” Emma was firm. “Either give us the girl or the vampire dies.”
“Those are you demands?” Zoe queried.
Emma nodded.
“Great. Here’s my response.” Rather than unload her magic on Emma, as I expected, Zoe fired her magic at Blair, one of the female shifters we’d met in the woods days before. She’d been creeping up behind Zoe, using the underbrush as cover. Obviously Zoe had sensed her when I didn’t.
Caught off guard, Blair’s initial response was a howl. It was cut off as soon as it started, because Zoe’s magic raged hot and burned her from skin to soul within seconds.
Emma was good at hiding her emotions, but she couldn’t hold back. “Don’t do that again!”
Zoe responded by haphazardly tossing a green bomb of ... something ... at the vampires. Several saw it coming and scattered but one was caught unaware, a female with brown hair and eyes. She froze in place, terror momentarily taking over her features. She didn’t move for so long I realized she’d been rendered rigid.
“Let her go,” Emma ordered.
Zoe cocked her head. “No.”
Aric, who had been standing at his wife’s side to offer support throughout the entire conversation, picked up a rock from the ground and lobbed it at the vampire. I was curious why he would choose to do that since it seemed unnecessarily antagonistic, but the instant the rock collided with the vampire, the creature shattered into a million pieces, all of them cascading to the ground like broken glass.
My mouth dropped open. I couldn’t believe she’d pulled it off. Before I could utter a single word, Emma lashed out with her magic.
I saw it coming and threw up a shield. Zoe did the same thing, her eyes narrowing as she watched Emma’s magic collide with what we had to offer, and then helplessly fall by the wayside.
“It seems we’re at a stalemate,” Emma said, fury turning her cheeks pink. “That’s ... unfortunate.”
“It is,” Zoe agreed. “It totally sucks.”
“You’ve heard my demands. Give us the child or we’ll kill the vampire.”
“If you kill that vampire, I’ll hunt down every member of your packs,” Zoe hissed, shooting the cowering wolves a pointed look. “I’ll go after your clans, too,” she said, whipping her head to the vampires. “I don’t happen to believe we’re at a stalemate.”
A restless murmur went through the two factions, and for the first time I sensed a ripple of fear going through Emma. She thought the vampires and wolves loyal to her, or at least fearful enough not to stray, but Zoe was more than she could handle.
“Fine.” Emma threw up her hands. “If you don’t want to give me the child, then we’ll settle for the Archimage.”
There it was, the demand we were expecting. I braced myself for Zoe’s laugh but she simply nodded.
“Sure. Give me the vampire and I’ll give you the Archimage.”
Emma was instantly suspicious. “Just like that?”
Zoe nodded. “I’ve had the book for fifteen years. I don’t need it any longer. If you want it, you can have it.”
Emma tilted her head and looked Zoe up and down. “You don’t have it on you, unless I’m mistaken.”
“I can get it. I can get it tonight. I want to see Rafael first.”
Emma straightened. “Oh, right. You think I’ll bring the vampire out so you can wage war on my soldiers the second you catch sight of him. I don’t think I’ll allow that to happen. I’m going to want to see the book first.”
Zoe shook her head, firm. “Vampire first.”
“Book.”
“Vampire.”
“Book!”
Zoe zipped a cloud of fire toward the shifters. A cry broke out and they scattered, feet pounding as they disappeared into the night. I wasn’t surprised, even after the fire dissipated, when they didn’t reappear. They’d had enough.
“Getting rid of my forces won’t help you,” Emma warned.
