“My family,” Louis said, waving his arms in our direction. “Here to save me.”
Jessa released me, taking a small step toward him. “Louis?” she questioned again.
Some of the joviality slid from his face. “You don’t recognize your own brother?” His tone was harder, the darkness swirling higher.
“You’re covered in what looks like a demon, dude,” Jessa shot back, no fear in her tone. I could tell this was stressing her out, though. Her nails appeared to be actually drawing blood in her palms. “What happened to you?”
Louis laughed again. This time it was a roar of sound as he sent power flying around the room. “I embraced the dark magic inside. You know all magic users have it, but we are taught to suppress it because they want us weak.”
Yeah, no, that wasn’t the reason, Louis.It was because magic users turned into evil assholes without morality or empathy when they embraced the darkness of their magic.
His eyes met mine, and it almost looked like flames flickered across his face. “What are you doing here,Elizabeth?”
The anger in his voice was real, and it sparked my own anger. I had never done anything to Louis that warranted his hatred of me, but still, he’d cut me out of his life like I was nothing. Like we hadn’t shared so much, lost someone we both loved, and somehow made it to the other side.
He’d just cut me out.
“I’m here to help save your sorry ass,” I all but shouted at him, losing control of my emotions. He did this to me every damned time. “Your soul wouldn’t have gotten out of the fire if I hadn’t spelled it apart.”
He laughed again before zooming forward, his speed so rapid that it was only an instant before he was towering over me. For the first time, I felt true fear as he stared down at me.
“I could have split that fire without breaking a sweat. I was just curious to see if you could do it.” He shot me a cold look. “I never expected to see you again. The bringer of bad memories.”
His words triggered something in me, a deep-seated fear that had held me immobile for years. “You wish I’d died instead of Regina?” I choked out, tears burning the back of my throat and eyes. “You’ve always wished that.”
I waited for him to confirm it, but he just sneered. “I’m ready to return to my body now,” he told me softly. “And I’ll finally have the strength befitting a sorcerer of my level. I’ll finally be strong enough to ensure that no one will be taken from me again. Ever.” His whisper turned insidious. “If you think you can best me, then bring your A game. Because I’m stronger than I’ve ever been.”
Fear held me as I tried to process what was happening here. How had Louis gone dark like this? I didn’t understand. The natural light of all mages kept our darker instincts under control, and Louis, more than anyone, was filled with light energy.
What did the demons do to him? How did they break him like this?
Jessa opened her mouth to say something, but Louis was so focused on me he didn’t see it. Before she could speak, there was apop, and the specter that was Louis disappeared.
I cried out, falling to my knees. Mischa dropped down next to me. “What just happened?” she asked, reaching for my arm.
My chest heaved as I fought for breath. “Louis … he’s embraced dark magic,” I said in a strangled voice. “We all have dark in our magic. Yin and yang. It’s important for balance, but we are taught from a young age to focus on the light, which is naturally a little stronger. Whatever happened here, Louis has lost his balance. He has embraced the dark side.”
“Where is he now?” Maximus asked, his voice thundering.
“Back,” I whispered, forcing myself to my feet. I felt weak and fragile, like a strong breeze would just carry me away. “He’s gone back to his body, because there was nothing more holding his soul here.”
“With a demon?” Jessa screamed. “He’s gone back with a demon in his soul still?”
“No…” I shook my head. “There’s no actual demon inside of him. This is Louis’s own darkness, the energy that had always been in his soul. In his magic.” They weren’t magic users, they didn’t understand. This was not an evil entity that we could exorcise from Louis; this was his own power.
Jessa looked confused, but Grace, who was nearby with her sisters, nodded. “Yes, it’s true. I was worse than most because I had an actual shadow inside of me, but there’s always darkness in magic. It’s just usually beaten back by the light in our souls.”
“Louis’s soul was hurt, tortured, broken down in so many ways that the light dimmed.” I realized the truth of this even as I spoke it out loud. “And now he’s back in Stratford.”
“We have to get back too.” Jessa was already moving. “We left our entire town there, vulnerable to Louis.”
There was a noise nearby, and I spun around, prepared to battle, but it was only the other Compasses. “Jessa already told me everything,” Braxton said. “What can we expect from this dark Louis?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea. I’ve never seen a sorcerer as powerful as he is go dark. I’m guessing something akin to Kristoff.”
“But he was demon touched,” Tyson said, his eyes blazing with a mix of color. “Louis doesn’t have a demon inside.”
“Kristoff didn’t start demon touched, though,” I reminded them. “He started by embracing the darkness. Once they’re demon touched, they’re completely unreachable. Louis … he should be more reasonable. Nothing is controlling him yet. It’s still Louis, just a Louis who is easier to anger and hungry for power and energy.”
