Chapter 9
Acid burned from my arm up through my body. I screamed as the zenyar pulsed like electrodes into every cell. I convulsed on the ground and couldn't stop shaking, long after the seizure subsided.
“Bites like a bitch, doesn't it?” Herbert grinned down at me.
I'd have shot him the finger if it didn't hurt to move. “What did you do?” I panted, trying to catch my breath. Had he brought the electrocution chair out here so he could have his fun?
“It was the sacrifice spell to open the portal, and you nearly wrecked it with your interference. But I guess that's what I get for working with a damn witchard. Your zenyar's corrupt.” He shook his head. “The council should've listened to me when I suggested reproductive surgery to sterilize all those foolish enough to intermarry.”
“Guess we're lucky that you don't rule the world then.” I cringed and forced myself to stand. A small groan escaped my lips, and my legs felt as if they were made from noodles. I glanced over at Sarah. Her body lay broken, twisted, bleeding. Why wasn't she getting up? Shifters healed faster than humans or zenyar users.
Her ebony skin had turned ashen and she wasn't moving.
“You bastard.” I swung at Herbert, but he scrambled back before my fist made contact. Damn, was I that sluggish or could the old man move quicker when he wanted to? “Dibre—”
“Regan, enough.” Mason pointed a pistol at me. A patch of fading sunlight illuminated her dark skin. “I know you can block the first bullet, but this gun has been magically charged to keep firing at the witch or wizard who stops it.”
“I fashioned the magic around it myself.” Herbert rocked back on his heels. “Kinda like a learning AI.”
“So they adapt… become immune.” I laughed. “Got news for you, I know a lot more spells than bullets in the chamber.”
“Yes, I thought you would.” He smirked, and I wanted to slap him.
How could he be so arrogant when he'd just killed someone in cold blood and was now bragged about a weapon he'd enhanced?
“In order to account for that, the last bullet multiplies into a hundred. Unstoppable.” He grinned and his wrinkles deepened. His eyes, though, took on a mischievous glint. “Because whatever spell you cast to stop them all, will be absorbed by one. And you'll have ninety-nine more to go.”
“You've got a twisted mind.”
“Thank you.” He bowed his head.
“It wasn't a compliment.” Goddess, I hated wizards. All of them had their heads up their asses and Herbert could give the best of them lessons. “They should strap you to the electric chair when we get back.”
With a flash, he zapped me. His wand shot a blast that hit me so hard, it knocked me into a tree. I crumpled into a heap, paralyzed.
“Now, now Regan. You must calm down.” Herbert walked toward me. “Remember, if you harm me, or any of us, then you turn into a zombie.”
“What about Sarah?” I squeaked out since I couldn't move my jaw, but I could manipulate my tongue. Apparently, his hex only worked on parts of the body with bones. Smart, considering a witch was burned at the stake in the 1500s for doing the same thing, but then even the heart, lungs, and brain stopped working. Herbert being a wizard wouldn't have heard that lesson. As angry as I was, would I have remembered to only target non-vitals?
“You're not a zombie because she willingly chose to be the sacrifice.” Madam President straightened her shoulders. “She knew the cost and paid it.”
Didn't make me feel any better. I'd ended her life. Even though it wasn't intentional and I was tricked, grief pierced my heart, and I couldn't catch my breath. And my wand had betrayed me. Was it because of the Terin? Here I was about to go fight goddess knows what baddies, and I couldn't trust wizard power.
“If you're calm, I'll release you.” Herbert raised his white eyebrows.
“Sure.” Zombie threat or not, I was gonna get him back. The magic unlocked and it felt as if all my restricted muscles suddenly loosened. I stood and punched him in the jaw. I didn't care that he looked ninety. “That's for Sarah, and for fucking me over.”
He rubbed his face, but didn't cower or cry as I'd half expected him to.
Before I could ask about it, Mason waved her gun. “Let's go.”
“You're coming too?” Why risk her life? She was human and only had a magical pistol.
“Yes, this mission is too important to leave it in the hands of two bickering mages.”
Her on-target insult made my jaw drop, but I shook out of my shock and retrieved my billy stick. The Rowen wood was cold against my palm. I stuffed it in the loop and rubbed my hand down my jeans.
Lights pulsed in the center of the circle. “We need to bury Sar—” Her bloody body was gone. A flare of hope filled me, had she recovered?
“Her body was absorbed into the portal to open it,” Herbert said over his shoulder as he marched toward the light. “I suggest you hurry so we make it through. Otherwise, we'll have to find another shifter.”
“You're such a bastard.”
“Thank you.” He disappeared into the opening.
There was something off about Herbert, and it wasn't just his arrogance. I didn't trust him. Unfortunately, I couldn't contemplate his asshole ways all day long, and instead stomped through the passageway. The entry prickled my skin. Mason came up after me, pistol in hand.
“I don't break vows,” I nodded to her, “So you can put away your gun.” Or at least stop pointing in my direction.
“Sorry.” She swallowed and lowered the weapon, but didn't holster it.
On the other side of the trail stood bent pine trees. We three stepped through into another realm. The grass was a dark purple and the trees black and twisted. Spots of forest were scattered around us. A cold breeze brought the scent of pungent herbs and stagnant water. Spider webs hanging from a few of the charcoaled branches appeared more foreboding than usual.
Herbert was several feet ahead of us, and I clenched my hands, hoping my instincts were wrong and he wasn't leading us into a tangled trap that none of us were going to escape.