“Merlin,” the girl said, her voice coarse like sandpaper and her tone clipped as she and the brother kept walking toward me, seemingly calm and relaxed. “I was wondering when we’d get a moment alone.”
“I take it you’re Emily and Emmett Ryder,” I murmured, preparing myself for the worst. My eyes darted about, checking every single escape route and potential weapon I could use against them.
“Our reputation precedes us,” Emmett replied, grinning.
“No, but you keep leaving your cards everywhere. It’s a little desperate, if you ask me. It’s like you’re begging for attention,” I said, my blood boiling. I was finally coming face-to-face with two of the most vicious magicals I’d ever dealt with.
Flashbacks of Susan and Larry’s lifeless bodies rattled my brain, setting my skin on fire. I was itching for a fight. Judging by their sneers, so were they.
“Well, we had to get your attention,” Emily remarked.
“Oh, you have more than that,” I answered, taking an attack stance.
Emily laughed, her Esprit bracelet lighting up orange. “You really think you can take us on, noob?”
“Why don’t you try me, you monster!” I shouted, fury blazing through my every nerve.
She threw a fast fireball at me.
I ducked. It missed me by an inch, tops, and I smelled burnt hair. I patted the top of my head and checked my ponytail, just in case. All good. I think.
Emmett used Telekinesis on me before I could react. The invisible force gripped me by the throat and threw me to one side.
I pushed a Telekinetic pulse out from my hand, just before Emmett’s force could slam me into the bus stop. The counter-punch of my Telekinesis helped break the hold he had on me, and I dropped on the ground, then shot back up and released a flurry of fireballs.
Emmett did his best to dodge them, but one nipped him in the shoulder. The flames burst bright and orange, before he dropped and rolled to put them out. Emily, however, revealed herself to be a Herculean like Dylan, as she darted left and right with lightning speed, then rammed into me.
The tackle knocked the air out of my lungs and I was thrown backward. I landed painfully, with Emily straddling me. She tried to punch me, but the sudden jolt of energy flowing through me kickstarted my adrenaline. I served her an uppercut before she could hit me, then grabbed her by the throat with a Telekinetic grip and threw her to the side.
Emmett muttered a spell.
Knowing I only had a split second till whatever hex he’d cast would hit me, I leapt up and ran toward the other side of the street, trying to put some distance between myself and the twins. Emily got back on her feet, grunting and cursing under her breath. She threw a massive ball of fire.
I used my Elemental ability and slapped the fire hydrant next to me to summon its water. Thankfully, laws required that one of these babies be mounted every five hundred feet along the road. It moaned and trembled before a thick water jet broke out and shot upward. Keeping my focus, I spread the water out in a fan just as the blaze was about to swallow me whole. The fire sizzled and died out.
Emmett’s Telekinetic grip took hold of me again. I was nowhere near strong or capable enough to handle both of them at the same time. Once more, I was hurled into the air like a rag doll. I summoned the winds to break my fall, but it didn’t do much as Emily slammed into me. I cried out in pain, every inch of my body aching.
I rolled away, the asphalt scratching my face and hands as I tried to stop and regain control of the situation. I wound up lying on my belly, taking deep breaths and quickly assessing my physical state. Nothing felt exactly broken, but something told me I was going to be hurting even more in the morning, when the adrenaline was gone.
“Man, I was told I’d have to bring my A game with you,” Emmett sneered. “From the looks of you, Merlin, that fancy bloodline of yours isn’t worth much these days.”
I groaned, trying to push myself back up. “I don’t know much about my bloodline, but I do know a pompous jerk when I see one!” I hissed, then focused my Esprit on his head.
The Telekinetic punch was so concentrated and powerful that it knocked him back, blood spraying out of his nose. He hadn’t seen that coming, and neither had Emily, who stared at me in shock.
I didn’t give her a chance to hit back. I channeled all my anger into a second Telekinetic punch—it smacked her hard in the chest. I heard her grunt as she was flipped backward by the force.
They were both down. This was my chance to get out of here.
My knees were weak, and I felt bruised all over, but I had to move. I growled as I staggered to my feet and hurried away.
Ten yards later, Emmett’s Telekinetic grip had me by the ankles. All of a sudden, I was back down, flat on my face, getting dragged back to hell itself.
A massive bubble of blue energy shot out around us. I gasped at the sight of it. It was a time-lapse spell. My heart skipped a beat as I glanced over my shoulder, hoping to see Wade, but there was no one there.
Either way, good call, I guess. Can’t have humans watching us battle it out.
The Ryders were shocked, though, looking up and scowling at the time lapse. It was enough for me to realize that they hadn’t been the ones to cast it.
“What the—” Emmett tried to speak, but he was suddenly lifted and rammed into the blue energy ceiling with enough force to make him yelp in agony. He landed with a painful thud, spitting blood.
A shadow darted to my right. Emily’s eyes moved fast as she tried to spot the assailant. Whoever this was, they were incredibly swift. Another Telekinetic pulse came out—even more powerful than the one that had broken Emmett. It hit Emily hard, throwing her head to the side.
She collapsed, moaning.
Before I could even think of my next step, I was pulled back up on my feet and turned around. My so-called savior was clad in a black hood. I couldn’t see the face, but a feeling of urgency seared through me.
“Hold on, this is going to hurt,” the stranger said with a feminine voice.
A woman.
She put an arm around my waist and pulled me close, holding me firmly as she put her other hand out, the ring on her finger lighting up bright green.
I lost my breath as I watched the air tremble and rip open like a gash, revealing the kind of pitch blackness that sent shivers down my spine.
“No! Stop them!” I heard Emmett cry out.
I didn’t get a chance to do anything, as the stranger pulled me into the strange blackness. I may have screamed. I wasn’t sure at that point, as the very fabric of the universe warped and warbled into a billion colors. It only lasted for a second, before I found myself falling.
We both landed on the grass, from a significant height.
It was painful enough for me to employ some of my ear-burning curse words, in a litany that could make the devil himself gasp with shock. I looked up and saw the gash in the air disappear as the stranger got back on her feet with a soft grunt. Only… I wasn’t in the Smiths’ neighborhood anymore.
“What in the ever-living—” I stopped myself by covering my mouth, and sat up, taking in my surroundings.
We were in Waterfront Park.
“Sorry for the rough ride,” the stranger said. Her voice sounded awfully familiar.
“What… What just happened?!” I croaked.
“You’ve never been through a wormhole before, huh?” she replied.
A what, now?
Her tone was amused, but her emotions revealed a sense of endearment. Whoever she was, she meant well. I could feel it in my bones, along with the brutal beating I’d just gotten from the Ryders.
“Who are you?” I asked, still panting. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, thanks a bunch for saving my ass back there, but… who are you?”
She took her hood off, and my stomach dropped. I forgot how to breathe altogether as I recognized the witch standing before me.
The long black hair had streaks of white in it, but it was hers, all right. I’d seen it cascade down her shoulders like that, more than once. The sky looked at me through her eyes. And a piece of me was embedded in her smile. I knew that face.
Isadora Merlin.
Twenty-Four
Harley
For a moment, I thought I was stuck in a dream, and I wasn’t sure which kind.
Isadora Merlin, my father’s sister, was standing before me, clearly very much alive. The years had been kind to her. Fine lines accentuated her expressions, but her bright blue eyes were brimming with youth—the kind that the soul carried throughout the years.
I sat there for a long moment, controlling my breathing to ease the pain of a bruised rib. But my heart was pounding. I’d been carrying an image of her in the back of my head for days, now, a snippet of her I’d seen in a distant memory that had reemerged in my dreams.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said, smiling.
“Am I not looking at one right now?” I breathed, my eyes wide and my mind stunned.
She offered me her hand. I gripped it and, in an instant, felt a flurry of emotions rush through me, much like a spring that had just broken through a rock wall. There was concern and affection, warmth and… the sheer joy of seeing me. I gasped, overwhelmed by the sensations.
“Your Empathy must be intense,” she replied. “Then again, I do wear my heart on my sleeve.”
“How are you here? How did you find me? Where have you been?” I bombarded her with just some of the questions I had.
She chuckled, then helped me up. I groaned from the rib pain but managed to stand on my own. The adrenaline was still pumping through my limbs, but I was pretty sure I was going to suffer a lot more later. I’d been slammed left and right back there, after all.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, frowning as she measured me from head to toe.
“I’ll live. What was… Seriously, what did I just go through?”
“A wormhole. It’s one of my abilities. Extremely rare and highly sought after by the darker elements of our magical society. I’m one of two who can open such portals,” she explained. “There’s a membrane that permeates everything, the same in which we build our covens. I am able to cut open these little holes and slip through them. Space is relative to me.”