"You treacherous bitch," Morgana snarled, and then everything happened in the space of an instant. Morgana flung her arms out, a trio of battle globes springing into fluorescent green life in front of her, the men at her side began chanting, and Lucien's pistol fired with a sharp crack that somehow sounded on the other edge of the clearing.
The first battle globe struck Lucien, and a shower of sparks detonated in the clearing, bright enough to sear the eyes. He vanished.
"Lucien!" Ianthe screamed, flinging a wave of pure force at Morgana.
No time to think about the consequences. Everybody was off balance. Ianthe seized her chance and launched herself forward, unleashing another torrent of crude power in the woman's direction. The copper bracelet on her wrist flared white-hot as her wards activated and deflected something that Morgana had flung at her. Then she was crashing into Sebastian, carrying him to the ground in a flurry of skirts.
"Run!" she screamed at Louisa.
Her little girl hesitated for a moment, then took off into the darkness. The flash of her white petticoats was the last thing Ianthe saw before the woodlands swallowed her up. Lucien? Where was Lucien? What had happened to him? He'd simply vanished.
The warm body beneath hers jerked, and Ianthe pushed herself upright, her corset straining and her hands covered in blood. Blood from his shirt, where the bullet had struck. Sebastian looked shocked, gasping a little, and it was difficult to steel herself against the pain in his eyes when he looked so much like Drake.
But she had other matters to worry about. Her daughter. Her Shield, who had followed her here, completely unprotected except for the wards in his matching copper bracelet, and weakened by the drug. Hell, what had Lucien been thinking?
Her mind blanked for a second, but then cleared as an image of Louisa sprang to mind. Nothing else mattered.
Nothing. Not Lucien. Not Drake. Not herself. Not even the consequences of her actions. She had to find her daughter before it was too late.
Rolling to her feet, Ianthe ran into the woods. There was no sign of Luc in the clearing, which could mean anything. Morgana and her trio of sorcerers were gaining their feet after some assault and sorcery flashed like the Northern Aurora over their Wards. It couldn't be Lucien. This was delicate, dangerous magic that tasted somewhat like burned cinnamon and was wielded with the expertise of a whiplash. Which meant that someone else was here.
Had to be an ally, but who?
"Louisa?" she whispered.
An owl cooed. Behind her, someone yelled, "Spread out! They have to be here somewhere!"
"Louisa?" She stumbled blindly forward.
A crack sounded nearby, someone crashing through the undergrowth. A little girl cried out, causing a stab straight through Ianthe’s heart. She grabbed her skirts and darted in that direction. The moon was a thin sliver through the trees, casting just enough light to see by.
A flash of white. Lou. She turned in that direction, but a shadow jolted out of the trees and picked Louisa up. Sebastian.
By gods, she would—
A man stepped out of the shadows between her and Sebastian, his white teeth flashing in a smile. "Well, now. Miss Martin, I presume." White mage globes sprang to life in the cup of his hands. "I've been dying to meet you."
"And you are?" Ianthe took a step toward him, calling forth her own mage globes. They crackled with brilliant red, reminding him that she wasn't messing around. It was the most difficult globe to control, and required the most power. Ianthe peered over his shoulder, seeing her daughter kicking and yelling at Sebastian.
"Easy now, luv." The stranger darted a look at her globes. "We don't have to be enemies."
"Unfortunately, you're standing between me and my daughter. That means you chose your side long ago."
"Lorenzo, wait," someone barked, and then a second man caged her in. He wasn't mucking about. His globes burned the same fiery red as her own, lighting up the clearing. Stronger than this Lorenzo, perhaps, but his control wasn't complete. His globes wobbled on their axis as they spun, hinting at power, but not finesse.
"Oh, good," Ianthe spat. "I should hate to slaughter an apprentice, but you..."
With a single word, she sent her globes spinning toward each man. Eyes widening, Lorenzo threw himself aside, and she plucked her globe back toward her with a delicate flex of her hand. It spun in circles around her, spitting sparks of red lightning.
"Shit." Lorenzo's white globes evaporated, and he scrambled behind a tree.
One down... These idiots knew not whom they were facing. Morgana might give her pause—Sebastian certainly did—but she was both an adept of the sixth level and the Prime's right hand. She'd been facing adversaries like this for the past five years, and coming out on top.
She sent her globe spinning toward the stronger sorcerer, and his remaining globe turned to match it. With barely a sneer, Ianthe flung a wave of force at him. Both mage globes rippled as it passed, his eyes widened, and then he was flung backward into a tree, his head cracking sharply. Distraction always was the greatest weapon.
Slumping onto the ground, he croaked something at her, and his mage globes exploded with a faint popping sound.
"Amateurs," she muttered, striding after Sebastian. He was the real threat.
