“Fuck. Cadmus, back away, now!” Jonas thrust a band of energy between us.
Cadmus jumped back and roared with frustration.
Coming out of what felt like a dream, I watched in horror as Cadmus and Jonas fought, both men suddenly in truth, like Djinn warriors I had heard about from Jonas’ many tales of Djinn battle.
They flowed like cinematic art against the alien world around us. Two mystical forms flaming bright, surrounded by shadow against the hazy pink sky and giant, red-leaved trees. Streams of black energy visibly swirled between them before Cadmus’ Light blazed between the bands of Dark, streaming into my cousin in a painful rush of fury.
Jonas bellowed in pain, and I finally found my wits. “Cadmus, stop! You’re in truth again. Damn it, Earth Lord, listen to me.” Nothing I said made an impact, and the ground beneath us trembled.
A Storm Lord, burning in truth, had my cousin in a death grip.
And his anger and energy continued to burn.
Chapter 13
Ellie
Roots massed and surged from the blue grass. Black strips of bark and wood wrapped around Jonas with ease. The beams of Light mingling with the Dark rays pouring from Cadmus’ fingertips dug into Jonas with painful teeth. I could see my cousin’s aura pulsing with hurt as he tried, unsuccessfully, to free himself.
Shocked and growing more alarmed, I watched easy-going Cadmus bloom into a monster I had only seen in my nightmares. He seemed invincible, his power amazing in scope, pushing through Light and Dark with a strength I wouldn’t have credited him.
Jonas’ aura began to dim, and I realized it was only a short matter of time before he lost consciousness, or worse, his life. Cadmus couldn’t control his Darkness. I imagined I could feel Foreia begging my to help, the need to soothe Cadmus compelling, overwhelming.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped between my lover and my cousin, gasping with pain as Cadmus’ Light seared through my body. “Cadmus.” I tried to reach out but couldn’t find a hold in his fractured mind.
Then suddenly, blessed ease filled the aching burns within me, healing the invisible wounds that bled…magic.
Magic. Inside me.
Acknowledging the truth about myself for the first time felt almost anticlimactic. My heart rate slowed as the adrenaline rush began to ease. But instead of feeling drained, I felt revitalized. Cadmus and I remained joined. Our energy had fused together.
I blinked at the world around me, seeing it through eyes laced with Storm Lord power. Everything looked more vivid, sharper, the Dark saturating everything standing out in firm contrast to the Light of my Storm Lord.
A deep groan brought my gaze back to Cadmus. My energy soothed his, climbing over the Dark bands connecting them until my magic infused itself within him.
Like one giant Djinn, our Darkness settled over us like a comforting blanket.
“Ellie? I don’t…” Cadmus shook his head, his entire body flaming. His Light tried to burn out the black flames encasing his body in truth. “I can’t think. I need, I need so badly.”
He paused, as if he knew but didn’t know how to express what he had to have.
But I knew. Conscious of Djinn approaching and that Jonas lay nearby, watching us with wide eyes, I grabbed Cadmus by the arm and hugged him to my side, startled not to feel a burn from his fiery body. He felt hot yet soothing, and so very right.
“Ellie?” he whispered.
“Jonas, we have to go. We’ll be fine. And so will you.” Knowing the others would take care of him, I pulled the information I needed from Cadmus’ mind and teleported us both to an isolated spot deep in a wooded area away from the scene of his battle.
Cadmus had come here often in his first trek to Foreia. He’d found a spot to commune with the land, a place where he felt at home in the midst of his enemy.
I knew he couldn’t help what he’d thought upon first arriving here, considering Djinn the enemy. I could only hope he spoke the truth when he’d said he didn’t mind the Djinn now, and that he didn’t hold my heritage against me.
“I know what you need.” Though I wasn’t sure how I knew, I easily drew him out of his Djinn-like form back into solid flesh and bone.
Stroking his arms, his neck and chest, I murmured soothing words of comfort, promises of togetherness I wished might come true. Soon, he returned my strokes with large, callused hands, assuring me of his return.
I wasn’t prepared for his sudden kiss.
Or the way my body lit up at his touch.
