“That’s right,” I said. “I’ve got stuff to do and no time for Outsider insanity nonsense. Quit it.”
The thing twisted up Lara’s face in fury and began to send more psychic force toward me.
I lifted my right hand and sent out another jab of will into the circle.
The Hunger flinched back slightly, mouth agog.
“I said I’m not having it,” I growled. “Stand down.”
The Hunger grimaced weirdly and then lifted one hand toward me, crouching slightly lower, a gesture of apparent submission that I would be wise not to trust.
Its voice whispered through my head again, sending odd tingles up and down my spine.What does it wish of me?
I took a deep breath and lifted my right hand again, fingers spread. With a slow exhale and a far gentler effort of will, I sent more magical energy coursing into the circle, and into the Hunger. For a moment, Lara’s face looked shocked—and then the silver eyes glazed over with white, and her head fell slowly back. She let out a mewl like a small, starving animal.
And then raw psychic force seized me like a sudden, treacherous undertow as the Hunger drank in the energy I’d poured into the circle and clawed at my thoughts for more. It was like suddenly experiencing a new axis of gravity, and for a frantic second, I felt myself wobbling, being drawn forward into a silvery daze of sensation. I realized, with a shock like being hit with a bucket of cold water, that the magicalconnection of channeling energy into Lara’s Hunger went both ways, as it frantically tried to draw more energy from me. If I lost focus, lost the spell, the thing could rip my life force out.
And it wouldn’t even be in the sexy way.
I held firm against the pull of the Hunger, the construction of the spell giving me all the leverage, while focusing more and more intention upon sending a steady, controlled stream of energy for the Hunger to feed upon. It was famished, and I could feel it devouring what I provided ravenously. Lara’s body fell to its side, convulsing.
And this was the test. When a wizard uses magic, we draw it from all around us, yes—but some of it also comes from inside us. That’s why we get tired when we keep throwing spells around. It seemed that I could use a stream of magic to feed the Hunger, maybe because some of it was inevitably the life energy of one of the starborn. But the question remained: Could I feed a ravenous Hunger enough magical energy to pacify it? Or would it just keep taking it out of me until there wasn’t enough left to keep my nervous system functioning?
I don’t know how long I stood there, eyes closed, locked in a psychic push-and-pull with the Hunger. I had to focus so hard upon just keeping myself centered, my intention clear, in the face of the pressure the Hunger exerted on me that there wasn’t much brain left over for things like taking notice of the passage of time.
Eventually, I felt the pressure begin to ease. I kept the energy going, feeling that my shoulder was tired from holding my right hand out, that my shirt had gotten soaked with sweat despite the subterranean chill. My legs had locked in place, and my feet ached enough to tell me that I’d been there for a couple of hours, at least. My extended hand felt weak, like it might be about to start shaking.
I opened my eyes slowly.
Lara’s eyes rolled back down, unfocused and bluer than sapphires. She was shivering and shuddering on the floor within the circle. I could feel her Hunger subsiding, like a serpent that had swallowed a large meal and begun to sink into torpor.
Stars and stones.
I’d done everything perfectly on a greater circle. I had all the leverage and held every card—even home field advantage. And Lara’s Hunger had still come close to doing me in.
Lara gasped and twitched for a few seconds and then began to relax. Her eyes fluttered closed in evident exhaustion.
I closed my right hand and lowered it slowly, gently easing off the flow of energy. As it vanished, Lara made a small, disappointed sound. Then she wrapped her arms around herself, curled into a ball, and fell into what appeared to be desperately needed sleep.
I stood there for a moment, taking deep breaths. I was worn out. It had been a considerable amount of work, but I’d been this bad and worse before, plenty of times. I wouldn’t go looking for a battle at the moment or anything, but I’d fought them in worse shape than I was in now, more than once.
If Thomas’s Hunger was a challenge on a scale similar to Lara’s, then maybe I could actually pull this off. Maybe I could bring my brother back from the brink of death.
And if I couldn’t pacify his Hunger, maybe I could still cut it out of him. I’d designed the circle to encompass that function, too.
If I had to do it to save Thomas’s life, I would.
I bowed my head and slumped to the floor to sit and rest.
I felt someone’s gaze on me after a while, and looked up to find Lara staring at me, the oddest expression on her face, her blue eyes troubled.
“Hey,” I said.
Lara blinked several times, smoothing over her expression, and said, “It worked.”
“Yeah,” I said. “You all right?”
“I’m…” She swallowed. “I think I should go.” She got her feet beneath her and rose. She swallowed and looked around at the circle. “Harry,” she said, voice tense.
