The tremors in his legs stopped, and when Dorian released his heart, it did not beat again.
Lunella vomited.
I followed close behind.
We watched the madman start to stroll back to the line of vampires standing at the other end, all of them shaking with laughter.
Their king had just slaughtered a temple master, and they were chuckling.
There was a tickle in the magic of the Chasm, pulling on me again. I dropped all of my barriers and let the world fill and drip in colors.
A rope of magic was winding its way quickly and not too subtly toward the madman in the crown. I followed it back and found—
Dorian was shoving it forward. His face was red and angry, and his palms were bleeding where he clenched them, digging his nails into his hands.
There was no kindness in him. Just pure, unadulterated rage.
Ancient rage, ancient hate.
He was going to kill the vampire king.
I grabbed his arm. “Stop, stop.”
“No.”
Drawing in a sharp breath, the magic of the Chasm—my magic, my creation, the Breaker’s Cavern exposed—pulled me down to the ground.
…stop him…
How could I? The power he was wielding…
Rilen and Roran were there, suddenly, with hands on my shoulders.
“Stop him,ilati.” Both of them uttered the words.
I dove into the magic, pulling power in, and created a bubble, a void, pushing the magic out either end of the passageway lined with the white crystals.
One moment they were still pulsing with color, and the next, they were gray. Drained of power. Standing in a void. The magic guided me, making the void as long as the Chasm, and twice as tall.
With a great heave, I slammed the void into place, locking it there. No magic would pass.
Not druid, not vampire.
Rilen and Roran were panting as hard as I was, staring at what we had done, and at the vampires at the other end of the Chasm.
Gods and Savior, what the hell had become of the vampires?
What the hell had become of Dorian?
* * *
“Let go!”
I screamed at Dorian, tearing at his fingers. He was leaving bloody marks all over my shirt, after he had grabbed it and ripped it.
Worse, he was scaring me.
“Let go of me, Dorian! Please!”
