Thank the Goddess I had the Elements with me.
“Hello, my love,” the Corrupter said as he laid a hand on the ward.
The magic reacted violently, coalescing beneath Ara's palm in bursts of purple and bolts of bright white. The Corrupter chuckled as he drew his hand downward, drawing the chaos in his wake like static over skin.
“Ara,” I said softly and placed my hand over his, directly in the mini storm. I ignored the sting of magic and fought the urge to weave my fingers with his. “I love you.”
“Do you?” the Corrupter drawled. “I know you've taken another lover. How many do you have now? Six?”
“Yes, if you include yourself.”
The Corrupter's ice-blue eyes went even colder. “I do not.”
“Yes, you do,” I said gently. “Our love is blessed by the Goddess.”
“The Goddess,” he scoffed. “Where is she now? You need her, Ember.” He leaned forward and smiled maliciously. “Even now, I'm working my way through the Emperor's ward.”
I blinked. Now,thatI didn't think was possible. Because it wasn't. He was bluffing. I would have sensed it if Death were weakening the ward. That was the great thing about wards—if you were allowed through, so was your magic. Mine could cross the barrier, but the Corrupter's couldn't.
And then I felt them—my lovers. They had arrived. Their strength flowed to me. But they didn't show themselves. We would hide what we were doing for as long as possible.
“And yet, she's not here,” the Corrupter went on. “It's just you and me.”
“And Death,” I said as I eased my magic down the line between us. Just a trickle.
“Yes, he's here too. But he's staying out of this.”
“Right. He's staying out of this while he's inside you. Corrupting you.”
The Corrupter's eyes twitched and a hint of Ara peeped through. I wasn't sure if he had felt my magic enter him or if my words had gotten through to him. Whatever it was, he'd been shaken by it. Death's hold loosened just a little.
I pushed more magic through the ward, gathering it around the Corrupter as well as inside him.
“We're with you,” Air said. “You're doing well, Spark of the Goddess. Keep it slow. Death hasn't shown any hint of suspicion yet.”
“Keep him talking,” Fire said.
It's difficult to focus on casting a spell while speaking, but I had trained for this. The spell was as familiar as breathing now. So, I sent a bit more of myself into the Corrupter as I said, “You know he wants to kill me. Is that what you want?”
The Corrupter flinched. Again, I wasn't sure what it was in response to, but if it was my gathering spell, it was perfecttiming. Hopefully, Death would assume Ara had been affected by my words and nothing more.
The Corrupter straightened. “Death doesn't want you dead. He still has hope that you will join us.”
I laughed. “No, he doesn't.” I pulled more power from my lovers. “He knows that I can end this war.”
“Yes, by joining us.” He held out his arms to either side, and an army of the Corrupted stepped forward, appearing from among the trees. The ward was right at the edge of the clearing around the tower, so they couldn't reveal their full ranks, but it was enough to tell me that the Corrupter had backup.
“What happened to it being just you and me?” I asked.
“They don't count.” The Corrupter smirked. “They are only weapons. You have yours, and I have mine.”
Speaking of which, I gathered mine.
“Now!” Air shouted.
My lovers appeared around me and laid their hands on my shoulders and back. With their increased proximity, our bonds widened, more power flowing down them to me.
I sent Spirit shooting down the line between Ara and me, a dark ghost puffing from my chest and into the Corrupter's. He bowed back as it hit, but it wasn't an attack. Not exactly. Spirit joined the hovering elements, churning them into a solid mass that covered the Corrupter in a second, then hardened, turning him into a statue. But that was only to physically keep Aranren there. The real work happened on a deeper level.
