Page 82 of Only You, No One Else

Pierce waved a hand over his body. “Part of me is with him right now, but we need to act fast. He is sinking.”

The fear of losing Mark surged through his body, infusing his muscles with the energy they needed to move. He gripped his sword tighter, needing the reassurance it brought, and looked Pierce in the eye. “Help me!” A demand had formed in his mind, but a plea left his lips.

Pierce nodded and then glanced at his sword. “Where did you get that?”

Caster looked at his hand and returned a questioning gaze toward Pierce, still unable to form the right words.

Damien held up his own weapon. “They’ve been in our family for generations, why?”

Pierce paused for a moment, as if searching for a long-lost memory, and then nodded to himself. “They will work. Come on! We don’t have much time.”

His brand of teleportation spell swirled around them, the suddenness of it drawing Caster further away from the fury and into the fear of seeing a helpless Mark again. But as they materialized not in his bedroom, but in Marcus’s study, hope bloomed. Perhaps he had misjudged Pierce.

No. Your instincts are always right. Trust them.

Caster caught the demon’s eye and nodded his gratitude, but he still refortified his mind, creating a double wall against the intrusion. They should clean up, but he was too desperate to hear Pierce’s plan.

The demon did not make him wait too long, urgency apparent in the way he failed to rein in his power. “Where is the powerful one?”

Caster screamed for Riley in his mind, and an irritated Riley teleported into the room. He frowned at the state they were in, but didn’t question them.

“We need to act fast. I am doing my best to keep him from slipping under, but…” Pierce said as Marcus walked in.

Marcus narrowed his eyes at Caster. Found what you needed?

His answer was a small nod, too consumed with Pierce’s frantic energy.

“What are you talking about?” Riley asked, his confusion apparent.

Pierce stopped pacing and reached for Caster’s sword and then Damien’s. He looked at Riley. “What do you know of talismans?”

Riley narrowed his eyes. “Objects that can hold power?”

Pierce handed both swords to Riley. “I need you to take most of my power and most of yours and infuse these two objects with the combination.”

Riley gasped. “Why?”

Caster did not understand what it meant, having never seen magic of its kind, but it seemed significant enough to startle Riley.

Pierce’s patience was at its breaking point as he all but pushed the weapons into Riley’s hands. “It is the only way to save the Magicae Lupus. We need to hurry. He is slipping away from me.”

Riley glanced at him. His hesitation was clear, but they didn’t have time to discuss the merits of the plan. Those instincts Pierce had begged him to trust told him this was the right call. He trusted Pierce’s conviction. His desire to help Mark may be selfish, but Caster didn’t care why he wanted to help, only that he did.

“Riley, please…” He wasn’t above begging.

“Have you found anything else?” Marcus asked.

Riley sighed, defeat apparent in the sag of his shoulders. “No. Not yet.”

“And you might very well find something,” Pierce said, “But he can’t wait that long, and losing him is not an option.” He looked at Caster, yellow flashing across the blue of his eyes. “Not when the witch yet tries to open another tear.”

Riley nodded then. “OK. But how will our combined power in these help Mark?”

“We will use the swords to create our own tear, and I will guide him through it.”

“Mark is in the Underworld?” The fear his blood lust had staunched returned with enough force to zap all his strength.

Pierce’s denial, apparent in the subtle shake of his head, gave Caster some of his hope back. “No. He is in the space between the Veil and the Underworld. But even Magicae Lupus cannot remain there for too long.”