"Ianthe!" Lucien yelled.
"Over here!" She lashed out with her remaining mage globe, and sent it crashing at Lorenzo's feet as he made another brief appearance.
Cursing, Lorenzo scrambled backward on his hands, then rolled out of the way, his coattails fluttering as he dashed behind a tombstone. Ianthe flung another globe and marble shattered as it struck. Another popped into being and hit the next gravestone as the sorcerer darted behind them. Fine dust powdered the air.
"If I see you again," she called, "I'll have you delivered to the Prime in chains!"
Turning, she strode right into a wave of force that knocked her off her feet. Ianthe cracked her head as she went down, landing on the grass on someone's grave. Bloody hell. She pressed her fingertips to her temple, and they came away bloody.
"Mama!"
"Louisa," she breathed, and grabbed hold of the headstone to haul herself to her feet.
Louisa reached for her over Sebastian's shoulder, as if she could somehow grasp Ianthe's hand.
Mama. The first time she'd ever heard the words from her daughter's mouth. White-hot rage quivered within her, an inferno of fury, fear, and need.
Staggering, with blood dripping down her face, Ianthe went after him. Power lashed within her, and the air turned cold as she drew in as much energy as she could hold.
There was a hot numbness in her head, just behind her right eye, as if a needle had slid straight into her brain. A warning sign. Ianthe hesitated. She had no clear shot at Sebastian. There was nothing she could do to him without hurting her daughter.
An explosion of gold sparks went up to her left. Remy? What on earth was he doing here? That was one of his stage tricks.
Shouts arose, someone rampaging through the cemetery in that direction. Remy's laughter sounded like a gleeful cackle as he led some sort of diversion. Heart in her throat, Ianthe threw one last mage globe, shattering the right wing off an angel just in front of Sebastian.
He froze.
"Don't move," she snapped.
Sebastian faced her slowly, backlit by the moon. He held Louisa carefully in his arms. "You don't want to do this, Miss Martin."
"Try me." She advanced a step, another pair of mage globes springing to life and circling her head. I have been blackmailed, threatened, and assaulted. I've had barely any sleep in the past week. And you bastards took my daughter and killed her parents. I have had enough.
"Give me back my daughter," she said, stepping forward with her hands raised warily, fingers crooked just so as she wove strands of sorcery through the air.
"Can't," Sebastian gasped, "even if I wanted to."
He sank to his knees, teeth ground together, his hands quivering in the air as he let go of Louisa. One hand curled in the little girl's skirt, as if to hold her there, until, one by one, his fingers unclenched.
What the hell was wrong with him? Heart in her throat, Ianthe took a step closer, watching him warily. "Lou, come to me, please."
"Run," Sebastian whispered to Louisa as his eyes bled to black.
With a squeal, Louisa darted toward her, hitting Ianthe around the waist. Ianthe dragged the little girl into her arms, straining under the weight. "Oh, God," she whispered, sliding a shaking hand through Louisa's hair. "You're here. You're really here."
"Don't hurt him," Louisa replied, looking over her shoulder at the stranger on his knees. "He's the nice one."
Can't promise that. "Don't make a move, and I won't retaliate," she called.
Sebastian sucked air into his lungs, his nostrils flaring with pain. "Run, you stupid bitch. She's coming, and then I might not have a choice."
Morgana. Ianthe went cold.
There was that pressure system lurking on the edge of her awareness. She was not the only one drawing in huge amounts of power right now. It sucked at her skirts, at her skin, and she could see the heat shimmer in the air as energy leeched off her, spiraling toward the man on his knees. Cold pricked at her, gooseflesh springing into being all down her arms. "What on earth—?"
Her breath fogged in the air in front of her.
Sebastian shuddered.
