Windstorm (sampler)

Chapter 6

Magic exploded all around me, hovering and sizzling with translucent tongues lapping at my skin. But they didn't touch me. None of it touched me.

Somehow, I felt the faint trickle of Cian's power lurking within me, an unobtrusive presence that kept me safe from the ward—and thoroughly pissed off the leashed demonic tendrils. I might have dropped some of my animosity towards the Fae after he had prevented me from stumbling upon a rune, but the darkness inside me wasn't convinced.

Once again, nothing new.

But what most definitely was new was the ward.

It was imbued with the power to manipulate space, because what appeared to have been a thin line of energy from the outside, was actually a corridor of solid, lethal magic. I'd heard rumors of the Fae being able to twist the powers in such a way, but even in my wildest dreams I hadn't imagined something quite like this.

In a way, it reminded me of those underwater walkways in aquariums, where there was nothing but glass separating you from the sharks and other merry creatures drifting about. Only here, the innermost layer of the ward wasn't something designed to keep you safe.

And the sight stretching beyond its translucent sheen was far more captivating than any aquarium could offer.

The Norse Rainbow bridge came to mind, yet even that paled in comparison. It was more as if an entire galaxy of magic stretched out in all directions, with the walkway we were standing on the only tether we still had to the earth.

If this was Cian's work—and I had no doubt that it was, even if he hadn't vocally confirmed it—his brother must have done the same all around the premises. After all, Cian said he had only repaired parts of the wards, and if this was one of them... Well, whoever had gotten through it had some really, really mean skills.

In all honesty, I had a hard time believing even my mother and father working as one would succeed in drilling their way through magic this potent and thick. At least not setting off every one of the implemented alarms.

It was a bad idea to poke the Fae while we were having a fairly good streak, but curiosity got the better of me. "Was this one of the parts that had been breeched?"

A ripple of tension danced across Cian's broad shoulders. He didn't acknowledge my question in any way, merely plowed on, but he was half dragging me behind him now, almost as if he were trying to get away from my inquiry.

Shit, I had no desire for my hand to slip from his and consequently end up devoured by the breathtaking monster of a ward. But he seriously couldn't continue keeping every damn thing a secret from me.

"Cian, stop," I shouted, the words dripping with determination I had no idea I could muster.

He halted mid step, then slowly, stiffly, pivoted his body towards me. "We are standing in the middle of a protective barrier, and you want me to stop?"

For Chernobog's sake, the male carried more contradictions within that fine form that even my polarized magic did. I schooled my voice, keeping it as leveled and without emotion as I could, then met his hostile but slightly amused gaze. "It's your ward. It's as safe as it gets. You could dispel the tunnel in an instant if you chose to. And if you do decide to let me go"—I motioned to our entwined fingers—"then there really isn't much I can do."

He sneered. "That's brave talk for a demon."

"Half demon," I sneered right back at him. "It's my witch side that feels your magic. The same one that gives me the ability to do the damned job you hired me for."