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Quinn strode from the tree line as Belador warriors spread out wide around the area where Veronika posed next to the dragon. He glanced at Reese who followed close beside him. He’d asked Evalle and Storm to wait among the trees with more Beladors until he needed them.

Sparing a glance for the dragon heaped on the ground, Quinn had a moment of hesitation. Daegan had said not to worry, because he could handle Veronika, but not a muscle moved in that giant dragon body.

No one knew what Veronika was capable of when she accessed her ancestral realm.

Daegan had said to stick with the plan no matter what. They all had a duty.

Quinn’s voice boomed, “Give me Phoedra or prepare to take your last breath.”  He’d changed into a pair of cargo pants and a T-shirt, now prepared to fight as he wielded a Belador sword.

Time to put it to good use.

Veronika said to Cathbad, “Bring the girl and come with me, druid.”

Cathbad had Phoedra by the arm, but stayed where he had positioned himself with Phoedra, off to the side.

Quinn’s heart tried to fight its way out of his chest when he took in Phoedra. His daughter. He wanted to snatch her away, but believed what Cathbad had said about her being majikally bound to him. She had better not be harmed.

When Cathbad failed to join her, Veronika’s eyes lit with excitement as if she saw an opportunity anyhow. She asked Quinn, “Where is Adrianna? I might consider trading the girl for that witch.”

Quinn snarled, “I will not make any deal with you. Phoedra is mine.” He shoved his gaze at Cathbad. “Hand her over now or face the consequences.”

Veronika’s gaze went to Cathbad. “Now it is time for you to show me your value, druid.”

“I would be happy to do so if I believed you could back your word, but I fear you’ve overstated your value, Veronika.”

She had an expression of total confusion as if she couldn’t comprehend his meaning.

Cathbad lifted his hands, uttering a string of words as he backed away from Phoedra.

Quinn kept an eye on Veronika when he told Reese, “Go get Phoedra.”

Reese rushed toward his daughter.

Veronika whipped her hand faster than the eye could follow. She struck a blast of energy like a lightning bolt that scorched the ground between Reese and Phoedra.

Reese jumped back at the last second.

Phoedra started shaking her head as if coming out of a foggy state. She took a look around and froze in place.

Twenty Beladors had fanned out in an arc behind Veronika, each holding up a kinetic shield, but Quinn had told them not to link. Veronika could knock them down like a string of bowling pins with one strike if they linked their powers.

Quinn had seen enough.

He lifted his hands and hit Veronika with a megaload of his power, knocking the bitch off her feet. She landed backward and literally flew upright, floating above the ground.

“Touch that girl and you die now,” Quinn warned Veronika and anyone else, like Cathbad, who had pulled back only to the edge of the field. Stepping toward Veronika, he told Phoedra, “Go with Reese.”

Phoedra stared at him, then looked up at Veronika floating in the air, then turned her gaze on the dragon.

Evalle came out of the tree line. “Reese?”

“I’ve got her.” Reese lunged forward again.

When Veronika turned to strike at Reese and Phoedra again, Quinn stepped in between and threw up a kinetic wall that sent Veronika’s power bouncing back at her.

The energy slapped Veronika and burst across her body. She screamed, but Quinn doubted that one hit would seriously harm her.

His plan had been to minimize her targets until they had a clear advantage. He had plenty of Belador power here, but no one knew for sure what Veronika was capable of, which made her too dangerous to attack with all they had.

Ossian had been standing still, watching the byplay. “My queen?” 

“Kill him, you fool,” Veronika ordered, clearly talking about Quinn.

Ossian had a moment of looking kicked in the nuts, then nodded as if to himself. He rushed forward, stopping a stone’s throw from Quinn, who still held a kinetic field in place. Evalle and Devon jumped in, adding their kinetic fields to Quinn’s.  

Reese had taken Phoedra to the trees where Storm had agreed to protect Quinn’s daughter with a team of three Beladors until Quinn could get to her.

Ossian opened his arms and created an arch of power flying from hand to hand. The energy thundered and rumbled.

He controlled an electrical storm.

Quinn had no idea what Ossian could do with that, but before he could say anything, Ossian’s face and body wobbled and blurred, then warped into ... Lionel Macaffey?

Lionel was a Belador who had gone missing six weeks ago after finishing guard duty at VIPER.

Evalle said, “Do you see what I see, Quinn?”

“Yes, I think we know what happened to Lionel.” Quinn warned, “Evalle and Devon, that energy may break through.”

Evalle said, “Don’t even think that we’re leaving you to fight alone.”

“Nope,” Devon agreed. “Whoa. His face just changed again. He looks like the one she called Ossian a minute ago.”

Quinn said, “If we can’t stop him, we can’t stop Veronika.”

Reese stepped up between all of them and ordered, “When I say go, give me an opening in your kinetic wall.”

Quinn wanted to toss her over with Phoedra, but he took one look at Reese and realized she would not be shoved aside. She had told him point blank that she made her own decisions. He had to respect her choices, just as she had to respect his.

He told Evalle and Devon, “You two keep your shields. I’ll drop mine.”

Evalle didn’t like that one bit. “Are you serious, Quinn? That guy might kill you before she does whatever the hell she does. This isn’t a demon fight.”

Reese shouted at her, “I’ve got this!”

“You better,” Evalle snarled right back.

Quinn might die from an overload of static energy between those two.

“Ready, Quinn?” Reese asked, sounding calm as she gripped the medallion in one hand, rolling the fingers of her free hand into a fist, then opening them. She did that twice.

“Just say when.”

Stretching her power arm back, Reese kept her gaze on Ossian and said, “Now.”

Quinn lowered his shield.

Ossian must have known immediately. He shoved his hands at Quinn. Explosive power shot away from him in a rolling storm of lightning popping in all directions.

Reese whipped her loaded hand forward at the same moment.

Her power spiraled out in a deadly lash of demon energy that clashed with Ossian’s. She walked forward, pushing everything she had into the force she drove.

Quinn said, “Stop!”

“Can’t.”

She kept pouring power at Ossian, until he dropped to his knees under the pressure. They stood ten feet apart in a fierce version of power arm wrestling.

Veronika moved in the air as if to attack Reese.

Quinn lashed out with kinetic power, popping her sideways.

Reese made one more shove and the energy engulfed Ossian. He burst into flames and screamed. His face whipped back and forth through different changes until his body shriveled to the ground in a stinking mass of charred skin, muscle and bone.

When Quinn looked beyond the burned corpse, Veronika dropped to the ground with her hands on her hips. “You killed my polymorph. I was willing to accept the girl or Adrianna. Now I will take them both and you will all die.”

Lifting her hands, Veronika said, “Come to me, family. I call to all of my ancestors. I beg of you to kill everyone except Phoedra!”

Hell, she’d called up a family reunion.

Howling from thousands of souls rocked the air, but the sound seemed muffled. Quinn glanced up to see spirits crawling all over an invisible dome like translucent roaches trying to get in.

Cathbad had agreed to hand over Phoedra and to build a ward over this site. He’d kept his part of the bargain made in the Tribunal, setting the ward as he’d backed away.

It had to have taken hours to create a ward capable of preventing Veronika’s ancestors from entering this space.

Quinn would have felt bad for anyone else who looked as pained as Veronika did when her supernatural cavalry failed to show up.

She screeched so loudly his eardrums threatened to burst.

“You can not stop me!” Veronika wove her hands around and around each other, powering up to make another strike.

Daegan’s voice boomed, “Give it up, Veronika.”

Thank the gods Daegan had survived. Quinn would find out more later, but he was damned happy their dragon king lived.

She spun around in a blur and looked up at Daegan, whose dragon form now towered above her. “No!” she screeched. “You’re dead!”

Adrianna walked out from behind Daegan with the Witchlock power spinning in a huge ball of white above her open palm. “No, you’re dead.”

The huge, red dragon chastised Veronika in a deep baritone, “Did you really think that puny whip of energy harmed me? Never threaten what is mine.”

Looking like the deranged witch she was, Veronika started screaming and sending an arc of energy shooting at Adrianna.

The Sterling witch whispered to her ball of white power and sent her own energy streaming to meet Veronika’s. When the two hit, Veronika’s energy burst like a fireworks display.

“I will take that from you,” Veronika threatened.

“Not now. I found out how to block you from connecting to me, thanks to my friends in Treoir. You’re done, Veronika.”

Raising her hands, Veronika tossed what looked like a mother lode at Adrianna.

Quinn noted that Daegan didn’t interfere.

When Quinn and Daegan had finished at the Tribunal, then met with Daegan’s advisors, Adrianna had told everyone not to try to help if she engaged Veronika.

Adrianna walked straight into the power cloud Veronika created. She lifted her ball of Witchlock and shouted an order.

Veronika’s power rumbled then boomed in an explosion of white and floated down as snow.

Quinn walked forward, telling Veronika, “You have been found guilty of committing an atrocious sin against Beladors and threatening our entire world. You will face sentencing by VIPER.” 

Looking beaten, Veronika was slow to acknowledge his words. When she turned her gaze to him, her eyes twinkled with an unholy light as she declared, “I will not die alone.” She whipped her arm in an arc toward where Phoedra stood in the tree line.

Quinn dove into Veronika’s mind. It was like jumping into a volcano ready to explode.

Screams and shouts filled the air around him but he was blind to anything except stopping that witch from killing his child. He fought her with strike after strike of his mental energy. Her natural defense surged hard, battling back.

His head would explode at any minute. He was locked too deeply to back out.

Then white light blinded him to everything else and he landed on the ground, staring up at a black sky.