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Authors: Jenny Schwartz
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levitated one ton of golem into the air, breaking its connection to the earth. Her muscles trembled at the flow of power required. She rummaged through the lines of magic animating the golem and holding its body together.
Here and here and running back, centering at the solar plexus .
She gasped at the pain, closed a mental hand around the object buried deep in the golem and twisted it.
The golem exploded.
“Stop.” Fay fumbled with the door handle, pushed it open and fell out. She rose from her knees immediately, all her attention on finding the object.
Concrete dust rose in a miasma of city decay.
“They must have built it of the demolition site down the road,” Steve said.
Fay found the object and shuddered. “God, I wished I was wrong.”
“What is it? An amulet?” His eyes flared yellow in the night. “A blasted demon?”
“Yes.” She wrapped her own warding around the amulet, binding the demon again. “Not one I bound, but…”
“It looks like the amulet you brought to the Congo,” he said flatly.
“Collegium issue.” She straightened. “Powering a golem.”
“A golem chasing you.”
She climbed back into the SUV. Her knees hurt, but the jeans weren’t torn. Bruising. Her soul hurt and that was from betrayal, both personal and of ideals she’d bled for.
“So where are we going?” Steve asked. He put the SUV in gear.
“Where else? The Collegium.”
It was at least a thirty minute drive to the Collegium, even in the empty streets of 3 a.m.
Fay picked up her bag from where it had fallen in the foot space and dropped it onto the back seat. The movement brushed her right arm against Steve’s shoulder. “I didn’t think you’d wait for me.” She retreated to her own space, unnerved by her sensory hyper-awareness. He felt warm, strokable, as if touching him stroked her. In the silence, the click of her seatbelt sounded loud.
Her breath came a fraction fast. The golem was scary, the implications of the amulet that had powered it were ominous, but what terrified her sat inches away driving with relaxed precision. The angular, arrogant lines of his face were part lit, part shadowed by the dim dashboard lighting.
“I said I would wait for you.”
He’d promised on the steps of the Collegium, after she’d accepted him as a lover, then changed her mind.
She’d been crazy that morning, tearing apart with need and fear and so many conflicting emotions. The scars the demon had left on her soul ate like acid. But her desire for him had been real. It was with her still, heating her skin and tensing her muscles. Her denial came automatically, drilled into her. “I can look after myself.”
“I know.” He stared straight ahead. “But I couldn’t forget the fear in your eyes. Do you have any idea what it did to my self-control?”
He stopped for a red light and looked at her. His eyes were leopard yellow. “My cat wanted out to protect you. God, I stood on those steps fighting for control. I didn’t think you’d appreciate a were guard in the Collegium and my only other option was to snatch you away. The last three days, I wished I’d done so. Hell, when I heard you’d broken with the Collegium, I knew your fear had been real.”
The lights changed and he accelerated.
“I’m not scared of the Collegium.”
“So why did you resign? No one’s ever done that before, broken ties. Everyone else negotiated a release by the Collegium.”
“Did they?” She wasn’t interested. “Probably the Collegium kept silent about other renegades. They’re good at keeping secrets.” She stretched, but tension remained locked in her muscles. “The Collegium was using me. I always knew they used my talents. I vowed to serve. I believed—believe—that power brings responsibility. But Dad didn’t want me as me. He wanted a weapon. That’s what he was turning me into. He admitted it. He wanted the emotion burnt out of me.” She tipped her head back against the seat. “He
Here and here and running back, centering at the solar plexus .
She gasped at the pain, closed a mental hand around the object buried deep in the golem and twisted it.
The golem exploded.
“Stop.” Fay fumbled with the door handle, pushed it open and fell out. She rose from her knees immediately, all her attention on finding the object.
Concrete dust rose in a miasma of city decay.
“They must have built it of the demolition site down the road,” Steve said.
Fay found the object and shuddered. “God, I wished I was wrong.”
“What is it? An amulet?” His eyes flared yellow in the night. “A blasted demon?”
“Yes.” She wrapped her own warding around the amulet, binding the demon again. “Not one I bound, but…”
“It looks like the amulet you brought to the Congo,” he said flatly.
“Collegium issue.” She straightened. “Powering a golem.”
“A golem chasing you.”
She climbed back into the SUV. Her knees hurt, but the jeans weren’t torn. Bruising. Her soul hurt and that was from betrayal, both personal and of ideals she’d bled for.
“So where are we going?” Steve asked. He put the SUV in gear.
“Where else? The Collegium.”
It was at least a thirty minute drive to the Collegium, even in the empty streets of 3 a.m.
Fay picked up her bag from where it had fallen in the foot space and dropped it onto the back seat. The movement brushed her right arm against Steve’s shoulder. “I didn’t think you’d wait for me.” She retreated to her own space, unnerved by her sensory hyper-awareness. He felt warm, strokable, as if touching him stroked her. In the silence, the click of her seatbelt sounded loud.
Her breath came a fraction fast. The golem was scary, the implications of the amulet that had powered it were ominous, but what terrified her sat inches away driving with relaxed precision. The angular, arrogant lines of his face were part lit, part shadowed by the dim dashboard lighting.
“I said I would wait for you.”
He’d promised on the steps of the Collegium, after she’d accepted him as a lover, then changed her mind.
She’d been crazy that morning, tearing apart with need and fear and so many conflicting emotions. The scars the demon had left on her soul ate like acid. But her desire for him had been real. It was with her still, heating her skin and tensing her muscles. Her denial came automatically, drilled into her. “I can look after myself.”
“I know.” He stared straight ahead. “But I couldn’t forget the fear in your eyes. Do you have any idea what it did to my self-control?”
He stopped for a red light and looked at her. His eyes were leopard yellow. “My cat wanted out to protect you. God, I stood on those steps fighting for control. I didn’t think you’d appreciate a were guard in the Collegium and my only other option was to snatch you away. The last three days, I wished I’d done so. Hell, when I heard you’d broken with the Collegium, I knew your fear had been real.”
The lights changed and he accelerated.
“I’m not scared of the Collegium.”
“So why did you resign? No one’s ever done that before, broken ties. Everyone else negotiated a release by the Collegium.”
“Did they?” She wasn’t interested. “Probably the Collegium kept silent about other renegades. They’re good at keeping secrets.” She stretched, but tension remained locked in her muscles. “The Collegium was using me. I always knew they used my talents. I vowed to serve. I believed—believe—that power brings responsibility. But Dad didn’t want me as me. He wanted a weapon. That’s what he was turning me into. He admitted it. He wanted the emotion burnt out of me.” She tipped her head back against the seat. “He
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