He didn’t have to tell her that. He could have kept that admission to himself. Elation swept through her. She forced her mind and body under control.
I built that shield myself using spells I created without the foundation of any known mage invocation. I don’t know how he was able to mark me.
He put the mark on you at birth. He took no chances. Remember, he bred you for your blood, not to be a mage to help him with his plans. He needs you alive. That cat was meant to return you, not kill you.
She knew that, but she hadn’t considered just how much her father and brothers needed her. He knows I’m after the book. He’ll think we want to use it against him. I want it destroyed.
Is there a way to destroy it?
She was silent for a moment, feeling him in her, waiting. Filling her. Making her feel as if she wasn’t so alone. I think it is possible. I’m still working it out in my head.
Then let’s find a way to keep him out. Show me the spell you used for your shield. We will weave safeguards around what is in place. The weave needs to come from both of us, so that each safeguard is intertwined. I will cover the mark while we work and then once it is done, destroy his hold on you.
It sounded so simple. Do you want me to again invoke the spell to shield me from any intruder I don’t wish to give consent to?
Yes. When you reach the end, you will add to your weave one line and then I will until it is done.
Mirror reflect all hostile intent
Black salt repels that which is negative sent.
I sweep away that which would bind
I call to the directions to wall off my mind.
As air is to earth, fire is to water
None may enter, nor shall they bother.
Together, Julija, he said softly, I will weave a strand then you. He didn’t wait for her response.
Mind to body
Reflective mirror shall hold.
She didn’t hesitate.
Through pain and darkness
Seek to unfold.
He wove the next strand.
That which is pure
Shall remain untouched.
Julija finished the last strand.
Allowing no illusion or falseness to touch.
With her magic he wove his own, so together they were twice as strong.
Isai didn’t wait, he shed his body and entered her mind as spirit only. She felt the intense heat. At once he poured everything he was into pure light, concentrating the beam on the tiny dark stain her father had placed in her at birth. The light burned right through the darkness.
The moment the brilliant ray hit the mark, Julija felt Anatolie strike at her. He slashed at her mind with what felt like razor blades. She cried out, but the mark was already burned away and with it went the pain.
The last thing she heard was the shriek of fury her father gave just before the last of the mark was gone. There was a moment of absolute silence as if the earth was holding its breath. Isai returned to his body but didn’t leave her mind. They waited. Isai took her hand, remaining kneeling in front of her.
Anatolie struck at her. It was a decisive blow, trying to get into her mind. She felt the contact, as if there was a punch aimed toward her outer temple, but she countered it with a brush of her hand as if she could brush him away. He hit from every angle, over and over. Around them, the bluffs shook, sending boulders crashing down. The cats leapt to their feet with terrified yowls, going from black substance to shadow.
Isai waved his hand to the crumbling chamber, and it remained intact without so much as a small bit of dirt falling to the floor.
Anatolie retreated for the briefest of moments and then struck again, this time at her throat, wrapping hands around her and squeezing. Isai’s hands got there before hers, destroying the illusion by simply covering the hands with his and removing them. The two countered illusions and strikes for the better part of an hour, then Anatolie was suddenly gone.
Julija knew it wasn’t over and she found herself holding her breath again, looking at the man in front of her. Waiting for the axe to fall on them. She heard the snarl almost before Isai.
6
Isai had given the shadow cats his blood. He felt the difference in them immediately. Pain amounting to agony stabbed deeply at both cats. The two became enraged and looked for a target. He wasn’t the target because Anatolie hadn’t yet gotten Isai’s blood from his two sons. He turned, placing his body squarely in front of Julija’s as he rose, pinning the male cat with a predator’s stare. He reached for the animals at the same time, mind to mind.
The high mage was in a fury. He struck at the two cats, directing them to find Julija and hurt her. Rip her to shreds within an inch of her life. They could take her life’s blood until there was little left. He wanted her alive, but just barely. More, he would not let up on the agony the cats suffered until the job was done.
Anatolie stabbed at their minds over and over, deliberately hurting them, taking pleasure in it. Both cats could feel the mage’s enjoyment of the cruel act. He wanted them to know he liked hurting them, and that he would continue until they did as he ordered.
“Merge with me, Julija,” Isai instructed. He kept his voice very low, soothing even in an effort not to provoke the cats any further.
She did so without hesitation, filling his mind with—her. She was feminine, but very strong. He could feel her power sliding up against his and then merging completely. Her hand bunched in his shirt at the small of his back. He was utterly aware of her, every breath she took, every small hitch as she fought to maintain their connection when her father’s cruelty was torturing the two cats she’d come to care for.
“We are going to concentrate on Blue first. We have to drive Anatolie out of him and build a barrier fast. We will not have much time. He will try to kill Belle, so we will have to be able to quickly get to her and throw him out.”
“Isai, perhaps I should take one cat and you the other.”
“We will be far more powerful together. Your father is extremely formidable. He is already in control. We have to surprise him with speed and attack.”
“Hurry,” she urged. “Isai, what he’s doing is so painful to them. I hate that anyone would hurt an animal like that. It’s not right.”
He didn’t point out that hurting her wasn’t right, either, but her father had no problem doing so. Anatolie clearly didn’t consider Julija his daughter, not in the way most fathers would think of their child. She was a possession. He had created her for his use, not out of love. In his mind, he could torture her and use her for feeding because she existed to serve him, just as the cats existed to serve him.
“Blue,” he said very softly, pulling the cat out of his fight to keep from obeying.
The shadow cat was all shadow and red glowing eyes. It took one reluctant step toward Julija, its body shuddering with the effort to keep from attacking her. The black fur was gone as were the roped muscles, leaving only a shimmering transparent shadow, insubstantial, but very lethal.
“We will stop him,” Isai promised.
He took the lead, leaping into the cat’s mind, Julija completely merged with him. He caught Anatolie unawares.
That which is bound, acting in pain.
I call to the heart, to that which remains.
The bond that was forged through evil and spite,
I now clear the cord to give you clear sight.
Bound there were two, now become one.
Separate the evil so no harm will be done.
Immediately the two hurried to weave the spell to build a shield for the cat.
Shadows upon me, be trapped by light.
Return to your darkness, never find sight.
Together they intoned the last of the protections so Anatolie couldn’t cause Blue any more pain.
I send you back from whence you have come,
Never to cross over or shadows become.
Blue shook his head repeatedly, the red beginning to fade from his eyes.
Belle lifted her head and screamed in agony. Anatolie had done exactly what Isai had prophesized. He’d redoubled his efforts to strike at the female, forcing her to comply with his demands. Belle stalked Julija, trying to get around Isai, who kept turning to face the cat, making sure to keep his body between Belle and her intended victim.
Belle began to whirl about in circles, becoming more and more agitated. Discipline allowed Isai to finish the spell to place a barrier in Blue’s mind.
Scatter, dissipate, disperse, dispel,
I free you now from evil’s spell.
The moment the shield was there, he leapt into Belle’s mind and attacked Anatolie.
The cat screamed and launched herself at Isai, mostly to get through him to Julija. Isai caught her in his arms and tossed her back across the cavern. In her insubstantial form, Belle was light. She nearly hit the wall on the other side of the chamber.
Anatolie fought hard to stay in the cat, directing her back to the attack, lashing at her over and over with stabbing pains through its skull. Belle rushed them again. Blue intercepted, slamming his body into hers to drive her off her feet, giving them a few moments without distraction.
I see you, Carpathian. Anatolie used the shadow cat to speak. The voice sounded eerie and high-pitched.
“Strained,” Julija whispered. “He’s a good distance away and he’s guessing.”
“Answer him. Take the forefront. I’ll boost your energy, so it seems seamless and easy for you to communicate over such a distance.”
“It is easy,” Julija informed him with a little sniff of disdain.
Father. It is true I am mostly Carpathian, but you made me that way. You insisted on a Carpathian mother and that gave me the power of the mages and the power of the Dragonseeker. For that I must thank you.
As long as she talked to her father, he was distracted from his brutal attack on the shadow cat. That gave Isai time to study her father’s position.
You cannot defeat me, daughter. Come home and all will be forgiven.
I will be punished with pain the way you are punishing these animals for doing exactly as you programmed them to do. They found me and attacked, yet you continue to punish them.
The stabbing pain in Belle’s head eased as Anatolie considered how best to answer his daughter. He wanted her to comply, and harming the cat was clearly making her aggressive toward him.