“Ablastal! Ablastal!” Alister shouted as he clutched Ian, trying to counter their spell, knowing in his heart it would do no good against the combined power of the group. Perhaps, if Ian had been able to speak.
He jerked his head up, trying to find Jonas through the swirling wind. He found the alpha for a brief moment.
Across the distance, he imagined his gaze caught and held and then Jonas was attacking and leading the mages away from them.
“No!” It was just like Jonas to be a hero.
His breath caught on a half-sob as the whole mass of mages disappeared over the ridge after the alpha.
“Jonas!” he screamed into the biting wind. Rocks and debris cut into his face, but he didn’t care until he heard Ian gasping.
He bent over, covering Ian’s face.
“Hang on, Ian. Pethious is coming,” he whispered, hiding his tears against his uncle’s temple, using his long-assed hair to shield them from the still blowing wind. He’d get Ian back and then go for Jonas.
The air didn’t rest. In fact, it picked up speed. But this wind was different. Instead of destructive, this wind held a purpose. It swirled in a small circle in the clearing. A circle that grew and grew to the size of a massive portal, the inside moving as if liquid.
In another moment, a familiar figure emerged.
And the grand wizard was not happy. But fuck was Alister glad to see him. Pethious could find a way to help him retrieve Jonas.
Eyes swirling like flames of gold snapped over the area before slicing back to him and Ian.
Hair that resembled black wet silk streamed behind the grand wizard, his harsh beauty ethereal and a bit surreal.
With a flick of his wrist, Pethious thrust them all through the portal and snapped it closed.
“Wait!” Shit! He wanted Ian to go through, not himself. But the world spun, pulling him apart before putting him back together, and he knew it was too late.
His ass hit the plush red carpet inside of the grand wizard’s study. Before he could utter one word, Pethious threw him a dark scowl and snatched Ian from the floor before he carried the man out the door.
If that were my brother, I would have turned me to ashes.
He stood and dusted off his pants and ran after Pethious’ retreating form.
“I’m sorry.” He reached the room where Pethious had placed Ian. Several wizards rushed to attend Ian and his injuries.
“I need to get back,” he hissed.
Pethious spun on him, fire alight in the other’s eyes. Alister took a step back. Stalking steps brought the wizard across the floor and Alister locked his knees to keep from shaking.
Hands reached out and cupped his face. He hissed from the cuts and stings.
“Are you hurt?”
“No, father, I’m fine,” he choked out, and then was engulfed into the man’s arms.
“Who did this?” Pethious ran hands over his face and Alister could feel the wounds heal and then disappear as if they had never been.
“Leopold and some old guy with blue eyes.”
Pethious frowned. “Flaming blue eyes?”
Ian gasped.
“Yes,” Alister said to his father’s retreating back.
Pethious moved his hands over Ian’s chest, the low words the grand wizard chanted sent a golden glow through Ian.
“It was reckless!” Pethious snapped, throwing him a dark scowl before stepping back from Ian and wiping his hands on a small white towel one of the wizards handed him.
Alister sighed. No one beyond the wizards knew he was the son of the grand wizard. If that knowledge got out, he’d be a marked man.
“Alister?”
“I’m here, uncle.” Alister had dropped the first name and moved closer to grip Ian’s hand. They were almost the same age. Alister’s grandmother had given birth to Ian around the same time as Alister’s mother delivered him. He and Ian were more like brothers than nephew and uncle.
“Jonas?” Ian whispered.
“They took him.” Alister spun on Pethious. “You have to send me back.”
“Impossible,” Pethious said dismissively. “Besides, I’m sure he’s no longer there.”
He squeezed his hands into fists at his sides. “Then where would they take him?”
“He might have gotten away.”
“If he didn’t, where would they take him?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” his father said maddeningly.
“I have an idea,” Ian said, slowly rolling to sit up.
“I think I’ve had enough of your ideas.” The grand wizard scowled at his brother.
“It’s time to remove the spell,” Ian insisted.
Pethious gnashed his teeth.
“I want to hear his idea!” Alister threw his own scowl at his father.
Ian laughed.
Nostrils flaring, he glared at his uncle. None of this was funny!
“Sorry,” Ian coughed. “You two just looked so alike at that moment.”
Pethious ignored his brother and reached for a book on the shelf. Opening it to a page, he handed it to Alister.
“Recite this.”
Alister repeated the foreign words out loud for a few moments.
Pethious, finally satisfied with his ability to memorize the spell, turned to Ian. “Stick together.” With that said, the grand wizard left the room with his robes billowing and guards trailing behind.
Ian snorted after Pethious and then slid from the table.
His uncle had no desire to become grand wizard and follow in his brother’s footsteps. Alister had asked Ian about it once.
“I wasn’t born with the true power you two possess,” Ian had said.
“I didn’t ask for it.”
True power only happened to one, maybe two wizards per generation.
“Would you give it back?” Ian’s brow quirked.
“Um, no. But frankly? I think it’s going to be a pain in the ass.” He’d made a face and his uncle laughed.
“To answer your question, no, I do not have the desire to lead.” Ian had slapped him on the shoulder. “When you come completely into your powers, you’ll be the chosen one to follow in your father’s footsteps.”
“Yeah, but when will that be?” Sure, he had power, but nothing like Pethious.
“When you’re ready, it will happen.”
Alister had snorted. He couldn’t see it, but he’d let the subject drop.
“Let’s go.” Ian’s voice brought him back to the room.
“Where are we going?”
He kept pace when his uncle headed out of the room and down the hall. The hole in the wizard’s chest was nothing more than a memory.
“To see the traitor, of course.”
Jonas
Once again, he went down beneath the onslaught of magic and punches.
He shook them off and lunged up a cliffside with giant leaps. An arrow pierced his side and he staggered.
A blow to the head sent him sideways and into the nearest tree. The bark chipped away and left jagged edges in his muzzle and the tangy metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
Digging down into the rocky earth, he took the cliff’s edge upward, leaving a bloody trail as he disappeared over the ridge.
Come get me, you fuckers!
If they caught him, it wouldn’t matter as long as Alister was safe. That was all that mattered.