DO NOT LET his death be in vain.
Those words kept Tenn silent as they sped through the night. Devon veered back and forth through the snow, through the storm, but Tenn was past caring if they crashed or made it through. Air glowed in the twins’ throats, both to guide them and to gust the snow away. It was enough magic to be followed. It was enough to be seen by Matthias.
Tenn didn’t care about that. Let Matthias follow them; he had nothing left.
Jarrett had died to save him.
Jarrett had known he would die to keep Tenn safe.
Tenn could barely convince himself that Jarrett was a future he could have.
Jarrett had known Tenn was worth sacrificing his own future over.
The thoughts sloshed in his head as the SUV drove through the night. He didn’t even try to hold Water down. He didn’t need to; the Sphere didn’t need to do a damned thing to drag him down into despair. He was there. Sinking. He was there, because Jarrett was not.
What could Water show him that would outmatch this?
He didn’t know how long they drove. Hours, maybe. Maybe only a few minutes. The sun rose and the world was filtered gray and dark and his insides felt the same. He wanted the twins to say something. Anything. They didn’t. And that meant he couldn’t say anything, either. This wasn’t a world for mourning the dead; he would get no comfort from either of them, and he knew that. But he wanted it. He wanted someone to acknowledge the loss that gaped in the car like a wound. Did they expect him to just follow along now? Not that he really had any other choice. He would keep ambling forward until he died.
Tears ran down his cheeks as he slumped against the window and watched the gray world go by.
Twelve hours ago he’d been snuggled in the backseat with Jarrett.
Twelve hours ago he’d thought he could have a future.
Now, he had nothing.
Eventually, the tears ran out and he could only slouch and watch and wait with cold dread for Matthias to come. Because, eventually, Matthias would come. In Tenn’s dreams, and now his reality, Matthias was always waiting.
He couldn’t even be angry at Matthias.
What use was revenge when he no longer had a future to fight for?
This was the world they lived in: it was always spelled out that, eventually, one of them would die. If anything, the whole situation just felt inevitable.
And, if he was being terribly honest, it was almost a relief.
He’d now experienced the worst. There was no need to wait for the ax to fall anymore.
He tried to quell the thought. Tried to figure out if it was Water talking or his depression. Eventually, he decided it didn’t really matter. Water was a part of him. So were all the terrible thoughts he ever tried to hide away.
They weren’t made better by the scenery. The snow lessened as they drove, and the open expanse of fields quickly turned to thick pine forests. But that wasn’t what kicked his numb heart into gear. It was the sign they passed that made him want to jump from the car.
Silveron Academy
for the Magical Arts
40 Miles Ahead
Maybe he’d been kidding himself about the worst already happening.
The green sign was pockmarked with bullet holes. Below it was a sign he’d become all too familiar with in the days before the Resurrection.
MAGIC USERS
ARE THE
DEVIL’S MINIONS
Howls weren’t the first monsters spawned by the Spheres. The protesters had almost been worse.
Tenn had never heard of a Howl barricading children in a school for magic and burning it down. That had been in Texas, two weeks after his classes at Silveron began. A week after that, an academy in Georgia had to close after a fanatic blew up half a dorm. His school had never suffered the same fate, but that didn’t mean the locals enjoyed having a school of sinners so close to their homes. Protesters continually lined the front gate, and the school received a multitude of threats. And Tenn received anxious calls from his parents every week, making sure he felt safe, making sure he didn’t want to go home.
Tenn hadn’t realized, when he applied, that the first and last time he would be allowed to leave the campus was after the first Howl was born.
The fear in his chest was a nice change from the numbness. Another inevitability. Of course they would be passing by his old school. Of course.
He slid down in his seat and closed his eyes. He didn’t expect to fall asleep. He didn’t want to fall under, didn’t want to cave to Matthias’s gloating, but the hum of the car overtook him, and the stress of the last few hours finally gave way to exhaustion.
Sleep came on ragged wings, carrying with it a silence as deep as death.
The last thing he thought before he was dragged under was Jarrett’s face.
I’m sorry, he mouthed to the darkness. I’m sorry.
* * *
He didn’t dream of Matthias.
But he didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse.
“Now, now, Tenn, crying won’t help anyone,” Tomás said, reclining on the leather armchair. “If you want revenge, you’ll have to take it.”
Tenn’s thoughts slurred with his emotions. He was dreaming, he knew he was dreaming, and he’d experienced enough of these to feel a sort of indifference. It was just a dream. Of course Tomás would find a way to infiltrate them.
“Fuck off,” Tenn said. He was on an armchair across from the Howl, and manacles secured Tenn to the leather.
Tomás just smiled and adjusted his pose, the leather creaking under his skin.
“You’re hurt,” Tomás said. His voice dripped saccharine. “I understand that. But let’s be honest—we both knew Jarrett was just using you. Why do you think he even showed up at your outpost? Everything he said was a lie, Tenn. He only told you those things so you wouldn’t leave him. So he could do his duty. So he could interfere with your destiny. But now, he is out of the picture for good.”
Tenn wanted to burst to his feet, to rage against the incubus, but the chains held him in place. He struggled for a second, until he saw that it was only making Tomás smile.
“Don’t stop on my account,” the incubus said. “You’re giving me so many ideas.”
“Don’t you dare,” Tenn whispered. “Don’t you dare say his name.”
“Did I hit a nerve?” Tomás asked, a grin still splashed across his face.
“I’ll kill you,” Tenn said. Red filled his vision—red overlaid with Jarrett’s face moments before he leaped. “You did this to me. You’re the reason he’s dead!”
Tomás was there in a second, kneeling on the arms of the chair, one hand on Tenn’s thigh and the other gripping his neck.
Tomás leaned in and whispered into Tenn’s ear. “Don’t fuck with me, Tenn. I’ve kept you alive because I like you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll tolerate such rudeness. I had no hand in your lover’s death, pain me as that does. I’ve saved your ass more times than I care to count. Don’t make me regret it.”
“I’d rather die than have you help me again,” Tenn gasped. “A Howl that thinks he’s a king is still a Howl.”
Tomás blazed heat. It burned and seared and froze Tenn’s skin as Tomás screamed in his ear. “How dare you call me that!”
He dug his fingers into Tenn’s leg. Fire seared up Tenn’s thigh, but that was nothing compared to his fear of the incubus himself. Tomás seemed unhinged. The air around him quivered and glowed red like a hellish mirage. His lips pulled back in a sneer, his canines bared and more pronounced than normal. His clothes and hair seemed to billow in the storm of his rage.
“You’re still a monster,” Tenn said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “Look at yourself.”
And then, just like that, the aura around Tomás disappeared, the flame in his eyes winked out.
“He thinks I’m a monster,” Tomás whispered. “A monster. I’m a monster.” He looked at Tenn, then at the blood dripping down Tenn’s thigh. “I hurt you.” He shook his head, backed away and stared at the wall. “No, he deserved to be hurt. He dared insult me.” Another shake of the head, a flicker of red aura. “He deserved pain.” His entire body shuddered this time, like something was trying to escape. When he looked back to Tenn, his face was carefully composed, perfectly arranged.
“I’m sorry,” he said. He clutched one hand to the side of his face. “Sometimes. Sometimes it’s hard to...” He shook his head. “We can’t fight what we are, Tenn. Not forever. Not even you. We’re a lot alike, you know. You burn. You burn even brighter than me.” He reached out and touched Tenn’s heart. The Sphere of Fire flared under Tomás’s fingertip, making Tenn’s breath catch. Tenn had never been attuned to the Sphere, and feeling it burn in his chest was both foreign and familiar. “You’ll burn the whole world, given half the chance.” He removed his finger and sat back, staring at Tenn like a sad specimen. Tenn’s whole body ached for that touch, for the hate and passion that seemed to ooze from Tomás’s skin. It filled the void Jarrett had left, brought sensation to the parts of him he had written off as numb.
“Why. Are. You. Here?” Tenn asked, biting hard on each word to keep his body in control. Even in a dream, he wouldn’t let the Howl overtake him. He wouldn’t give Tomás that satisfaction.
A confused look passed over Tomás’s face, as though he wasn’t so certain of that himself. It passed in a heartbeat as the perfect mold of composure slipped back into place.
“I am here...” he said, his words their usual purr. He leaned a bit closer, putting his weight on one hand like a prowling cat. “Because I know what you want. You want revenge.”
“I want Jarrett back,” Tenn said.
“We can’t always get what we want!” Tomás snapped, another flare of energy whirling and settling around him. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. Tenn waited, tense, vaguely wondering what would happen if Tomás killed him in the dream.
“I am here,” he said again, his eyes still closed, “because I can help you fight back. I know how to reach Leanna. I know her weaknesses. You can’t get your lover back. I know how that feels, Tenn, to lose the man of your dreams. I would rip off the head of whoever did that to me.” He smirked, the tone of condolence fading. “I did actually. It felt amazing.”
“Why would you help me?” Tenn asked.
“I have my reasons,” Tomás said quietly, as though those reasons were of the utmost secrecy. “Jarrett would have wanted this, you know. He would have wanted you to avenge him. Do you think, if roles were reversed, he would have let your killer live?”
Anger roiled through Tenn’s veins. A hundred curses whipped across his tongue—you didn’t know him, don’t ever mention him, he was too good—but if the roles had been reversed, Jarrett would never have stopped looking for Matthias. Not until every Howl and necromancer had paid for what they’d done. At least, if Jarrett cared about him as much as he said he did...
Tomás seemed to read his thoughts. His sneer widened, and he crept a few inches closer. Heat coursed through Tenn’s body as images floated through his mind—tearing Matthias limb from limb, stabbing the unknown Leanna through the chest, letting all the rage and hatred burn over, destroy the world. Tomás’s visage seemed to echo over all of it, like some heathen god of destruction.
“Yes,” Tomás hissed. “That’s the fire. Jarrett deserves your anger. Your retribution. Fight for him.”
Tenn shook his head against the visions of blood. It was harder, in the grasp of a dream. Like swimming through quicksand.
“What do you want from me? From this?”
Tomás was on top of him now, his hands on the chair’s arms and his face only inches away. His copper-flecked eyes glinted in the candlelight.
“Let’s just say Leanna and I have a score to settle. You help me kill her, and I’ll help you get your revenge. We both get what we want.” Tomás leaned in, gently brushed Tenn’s cheek with his own. Goose bumps tingled under that touch. Tenn moaned and tried not to lean in. “And, if you’re like me, you want a lot. It’s about time we got what we wanted, wouldn’t you agree?”
His eyes burned into Tenn’s when he leaned back. In that moment, Tenn couldn’t decide if he wanted to rip the man apart, rip off his clothes or both.
Tenn nodded. He couldn’t be certain what would come out if he opened his mouth.
“I thought you would see things my way.”
Tenn didn’t ask why Tomás wanted to kill his own sister. He didn’t ask why Tomás didn’t just do it himself. He didn’t care, so long as Leanna ended up dead. So long as she died at Tenn’s hand.
“What do you want me to do?” Tenn asked, his words breathy with anticipation. Excitement over the prospect of killing Leanna. Excitement over the nearness of the incubus.
Tomás’s grin spoke volumes. “So many things,” he replied. “But for now, just keep moving forward. I cannot play with you if you are dead.”
Tenn nodded. Tomás leaned in.
“I know you mourn his loss, but soon you will rule at my side as king.”
Tomás kissed Tenn’s neck. Desire curled in the back of Tenn’s throat, heady and hot.
“I will show you all the pleasures of the world,” Tomás cooed. “Just as soon as you have proven yourself worthy.”
He bit Tenn’s earlobe, a shot of adrenaline to Tenn’s heart and, the moment the sensation faded, Tomás was gone.
* * *
“We will be safe here.”
Dreya’s voice cut through the fog of his dream.
“What?” he mumbled. He forced himself up. His throat was dry—had he been screaming in his sleep?
“We must stop soon. We are nearly out of gas, and we must regroup.”
He glanced around. It was impossible to tell where they were, surrounded by endless trees and snow-covered signs. But something in the way Dreya spoke had his nerves on edge. It was like she was scared of admitting more.
“How much farther?”
“The Witches should be near,” she said, “but we cannot risk bringing attention to them or ourselves. Not right now. Especially not if the Witches have moved on...that would leave us too vulnerable. We must find a place that is safe and let Matthias pass us by.”
They passed another road sign.
Silveron
Left Ahead
“No,” Tenn muttered, but Dreya cut him off.
“You say Matthias has been in your dreams, yes?” she asked. She looked back to him. “Then he knows you would avoid this place. He knows how much it pains you. It is the last place he would expect you to go.”
Tenn didn’t want to stop again. He didn’t want to have time to think about what had happened. He didn’t want to see the halls that he and Jarrett had walked down, the place that marked both the beginning and the end of their future. But he knew from the look in Dreya’s eyes that he wasn’t being asked his opinion.
Dreya turned back to the front and Devon turned the car up the drive. Tenn wrapped himself tighter in his coat. He wanted to feel bad about pushing the two of them away, but that would require feeling something.
Right then, he felt nothing at all.