Below the Surface

Chapter Fourteen

Jonas took in the guarded look Tessa sent him, her comfortable posture with the evil one at her back, and knew ‘Sin Garu had done something to her mind.

Shit. He thought he’d been right to come here, but now he wondered if he hadn’t done wrong in not confiding in Marcus much sooner. If he had, maybe Tessa wouldn’t be here now. Maybe she and Marcus would have mated and moved back to Tanselm, where they both belonged. And maybe he would be one step closer to righting a terrible wrong instead of adding to that wrong.

“Jonas?” Tessa rasped. “A Djinn? No. Not you. Not you, Jonas.”

He shook his head and stepped forward, only to see the sorcerer smiling widely behind her.

“Yes, Jonas. Tell her the truth. Tell her all Djinn are not evil, that you aren’t here to harm her.”

“I’m not. Tessa,” he started, seeing her disbelief turn to outraged hurt. “I’m your friend, truly.” Anger consumed him as he glanced at ‘Sin Garu. “But he’s not. He’s going to kill you, devouring every bit of your power, body and soul before he’s through with the Storm Lords.”

“Oh, Jonas.” ‘Sin Garu shook his head and placed his hands on Tessa’s shoulders, holding her directly in front of him in a seemingly protective manner. “Not you too. Davis was fine in the beginning, but towards the end a madness consumed him, and I admit tainted me as well. But you seemed so strong… I can’t allow Tessa to be hurt again. I won’t.”

Tessa leant back into the sorcerer’s grasp, yet her eyes crinkled in confusion. Yes, yes, Jonas thought, focusing on her. Look through the lies, see what your heart knows. Picking up the threads of Davis’ power still lingering in the room, he wove dark energy through her, knowing it would leave her temporarily blinded and aching, but he was unable to fight ‘Sin Garu without her out of the way.

And where the hell were the Storm Lords? After looking for Tessa with Marcus at Tomanna, he’d transported himself to Davis’ and deliberately projected Tessa’s whereabouts to their seer before blowing open the door. At least one of Storm Lords, Cadmus, he thought, had to know Tessa was here.

As if thinking about them had summoned them, Marcus and his brothers suddenly appeared. Without a moment’s hesitation, they seemed to sum up the situation and the room lit with elemental power.

“Tessa?” Marcus asked quietly, his blue eyes blazing with fear and murderous rage, an emotion only a man in love would feel so strongly seeing his bride limp in the arms of his enemy.

Marcus’ eyes narrowed and Jonas watched, impressed, as the River Prince struggled to free his mate from ‘Sin Garu, a silent, psychic battle of wills. But the sorcerer had no intention of releasing her alive. Pressing one elongated fingernail against her neck that grew until it drew blood, he warned Marcus back.

“Unless you’re willing to hear me out, you’ll get your precious affai back in pieces. Which would you like, Marcus? The head or the body?”

Marcus froze, his glare glacier blue. Jonas didn’t need to be an empath to sense the frustration radiating from the man. He could only wait and hope the Storm Lord wouldn’t do anything rash.

Sighing, he almost wished he and his cousin had traded assignments. The Prince of Fire had been a handful, and the Earth Lord was a definite challenge. But in Jonas’ mind, neither prince compared to Marcus. Icy calm, collected and difficult to read, the River Prince had given him a headache from day one. Watching over Tessa Sheridan for six months hadn’t helped matters either. He’d formed an attachment, a surprising friendship for the trea, one he knew would be the death of him.

Groaning, he looked at Marcus only to see the River Prince glowering his way. Hell. As if ‘Sin Garu weren’t enough to worry about, Marcus still didn’t understand Jonas’ place in all this. Apparently, the Earth Lord had yet to share it. A glimpse at Cadmus showed him nothing. Either Cadmus didn’t believe him, didn’t want to trust him, or hadn’t understood what else Jonas had sent him before they’d arrived.

Further study of the Wind Mage, Aerolus, summed a communal nothing. The Storm brothers had collectively shut their minds to anyone but themselves, dammit. Jonas really could have used at least Aerolus’ help on this, but hell, at this point, he had no choice but to take on ‘Sin Garu.

The love Marcus felt for Tessa would stay her well. Both the Storm Lord and his affai were evenly matched, and if by chance they produced the next Tetrarch, life in Tanselm would prosper. The chance for a new Djinn way of life would still exist.

Jonas turned his full gaze back to ‘Sin Garu to find the sorcerer looking smug. If that one, however, assumed the overking’s throne, the Djinn would forever be ensorcelled, trapped beneath the weight of ‘Sin Garu’s long-reaching hands.

Gritting his teeth, Jonas gathered his power and the latent darkness around him, releasing Tessa from his thrall as he prepared himself for the pain sure to come. He couldn’t afford to let ‘Sin Garu have Tessa, and more than that, knew he didn’t want to see the love between her and Marcus destroyed.

“Hell,” he muttered, drawing everyone’s attention. “A little time spent among them and I’m turning soft.” And wrenching away his hold on this mortal form, he began to shimmer.

Marcus stared with shock as Jonas Chase, Tessa’s low-key boss, transformed into a glowing, dark-aura’d Djinn. The minute he did so, Aerolus teleported to Tessa and stole her out from ‘Sin Garu’s hold, too fast for the mortal eye to follow.

Aerolus deposited her behind a wall of elemental magic, a combination of his, Cadmus’ and Marcus’ protection, and behind a couch shielding her from the sight of the battle to come. Despite Marcus ordering him to leave with her, Aerolus refused to go.

“I’m needed more here, as is she.”

Marcus swore but faced his enemy steadily, knowing Aerolus would never do anything to intentionally harm Tessa.

More than angry at the Storm Lords’ interference, ‘Sin Garu hissed, raging profanity and curses upon Storm kin. He raised his hands, only to blink in surprise when a web of black enveloped them.

Everyone turned to Jonas, and Marcus couldn’t believe what he saw next. He’d seen Djinn in their true appearance, in-truth as they called it, only once before, during a legendary battle for the river region south of the eastern kingdom. That had been an extraordinary occurrence, and one witnessed from a league away. Now, however, Marcus had a front row seat.

Jonas kept a man’s form, yet where there was once flesh now burned a glittering, golden light surrounded by black flame.

The sight of a Djinn in-truth was eye-opening, no matter one’s experience with their kind. But what truly transfixed Marcus was not Jonas’ transformation, but his attack on ‘Sin Garu.

The Djinn pointed his hands at the sorcerer, his fingers outstretched, and a visible stream of dark matter surrounded and pushed through the sorcerer. ‘Sin Garu bellowed, looking stunned, and Marcus couldn’t believe the battle would end so easily.

It didn’t. Immediately wraiths appeared, at least a dozen, hissing and clawing as they surrounded their master, intercepting the Djinn’s attack. Jonas’ dark energy destroyed two of them, sucking what little bit of life they had left from the wraiths protecting ‘Sin Garu’s direct front.

In the split second after the wraiths arrived, Marcus shook free from his shock and let loose his power, flooding ‘Sin Garu with waves of destructive, pure telekinetic energy and flooding waters. His brothers joined him in the next breath.

Cadmus opened the ground beneath the nearest wraiths, shaking the very foundation of the apartment floor apart, cement, brick and wood cracking and shifting as dark brown earth burrowed out of the ground below. The wraiths screeched for help, but their brethren were otherwise occupied fighting Marcus, Aerolus and one very angry Djinn.

Aerolus knocked several wraiths from his body with funnels of wind. “Marcus, behind you,” he yelled as more wraiths appeared out of nowhere to surround them.

Conscious of Tessa lying unconscious only a few feet away and he and his brothers now outnumbered more than four to one, Marcus gave the barest of glances to the threat behind him before submerging all the wraiths he could see in individual films of water. Thoughts of Tessa and their love filled him with hope. The loss of his father gave him the strength to persevere, and the presence of his brothers forced him to accept his abilities and push them to the limit.

“Cadmus, Aerolus, stand back,” he yelled before opening the floodgates.

Calling on Tanselm’s vast stores of the life-giving water he called his own, Marcus pushed the waters from another plane altogether. His vision turned blue and he felt at one with his element, strong and surprisingly at peace. From his mouth, nose, eyes and pores streamed Tanselm’s vengeance. Like a living tap, he provided the conduit of justice his world needed to restore balance.

“Holy shit,” he dimly heard Cadmus murmur. Aerolus called his name, but he was aware only of Tessa and the sorcerer who threatened all she could be, all Tanselm could be. Time faded as he washed ‘Sin Garu’s wraiths into the Next, where they would be judged accordingly.

Panting after his exertions, he nevertheless felt more energized than weak after expelling so much force.

“Very impressive, water bringer,” the sorcerer said calmly, as if he weren’t struggling to find breath beyond the film of water that fought to seal his fate. But fight he did, despite the terrible winds and raging quakes that shook him.

“Deal with that, if you can,” ‘Sin Garu snarled before dissolving into fits of coughing.

Before Marcus could decipher his meaning, something grabbed him from behind and knocked the breath out of him. Slammed up into the ceiling and held there, he fought to turn himself around using every ounce of power he possessed.

“Mother of Shadow,” Jonas whispered below him, staring at something beyond Marcus’ very imagining.

“Let’s see you defeat a Nocumat,” ‘Sin Garu said through strangled breath, his laughter threaded with madness.

A red puddle of liquid gelled on the floor below Marcus. At first a drop, it grew steadily until it was at least ten feet in diameter.

“You do not defeat a Nocumat,” Aerolus spoke in a low voice. The puddle began to rise, a large shape morphing out of the sluggish substance. Hands appeared within it, growing from the puddle. Like a bloody outreach, they pointed in Marcus’ direction. “Nor do you control one.” He turned to ‘Sin Garu. “Have you forgotten all you once learned from the Great Hall?”

‘Sin Garu’s smile shriveled and his eyes narrowed on the body now growing below Marcus. The body had taken Marcus’ shape and face, though its dripping red flesh made it look like a wax mould of Marcus that stood too close to flame.

“It makes you think you can control it, but you can’t,” Aerolus whispered, moving closer to Marcus. “Only at the end of everything can it be contained.”

“End of what?” Tessa slurred and stumbled to her feet behind the couch.

“Tessa, no,” Marcus shouted, fear for her enabling him to break through ‘Sin Garu’s hold. He dropped to the floor, lying in the pool that was the Nocumat, and fought the pinpricks of pain that suddenly needled into his skin as the hands grabbed him, and the red image of himself leaned close.

“Marcus?” Tessa shook her head and stared wide-eyed around her. “Cadmus, Aerolus?” Then she caught sight of Jonas. “Oh, my God, Jonas. You’re a Djinn!” But his flaming body had nothing on the bloody mess in front of her.

Marcus lay in its many-handed clutches like prey about to be devoured, his face pale and pinched with pain while a wax-like body loomed over him. At least it wasn’t a wraith again, she thought hysterically, trying to convince herself this nightmare was nothing more than a bad dream.

Aerolus and Cadmus tried in vain to free him, and became just as contaminated by the red goo that acted scarily alive. Aerolus muttered under his breath, his forehead streaked with sweat as he closed his eyes and waved his hands as if conducting an orchestra. His spell slowed the Nocumat’s progress, forcing several of the hands, if not the large body, to release Marcus and let Cadmus go. Now it crept instead of flowed over the Storm brothers.

Cadmus shook, his brown eyes black with pain as his skin suddenly flashed to gold and back again, black flames surrounding him in an almost mirror image of Jonas. Her eyes bulged. Was he turning Djinn?

She blinked rapidly, unable to process everything at once. Jonas, her boss, looked like a man covered in flame, but she could see his face amidst the fire, no skin, just bright, white-gold light—and Cadmus could have been his twin. Aerolus, at least, looked like himself, only more intense as he battled with the red ‘man’, for lack of a better term, on the floor.

But Marcus…he appeared almost dead. She held the back of the couch in a death grip. “Marcus.” She felt helpless and weak and achingly lost at thoughts without him—and that vulnerability seriously pissed her off. “Tell me what to do.” Her eyes flickered to ‘Sin Garu, who by now had shed himself of the waters trying to drown him and stared from her to Marcus with murderous delight. He took a step in her direction.

Jonas intercepted him with a blast of what looked like vaporous black mist, diverting the sorcerer’s attention.

Marcus’ eyelids fluttered. “Take it, Tessa. Take all of it,” he rasped as water rushed from his body to free him from the red monster caging him. He lay on his side, one arm buried in the Nocumat while with his other he tried to escape with a tide of water.

Glancing up, he saw her and most likely ‘Sin Garu battling Jonas over her shoulder, and stopped. He thrust his elemental and psychic energy into her, and they immediately took root in her being, the taste and touch of Marcus now a piece of her. “Use it to defeat ‘Sin Garu,” he said hoarsely, sliding deeper into the red ooze. “Once he’s gone, the Nocumat will follow. It has to,” he muttered, sounding desperate. “Do it, now, before I’m unable to help you.”

She knew he’d seen ‘Sin Garu’s murderous intentions, knew too that he could have used his powers to free himself and then helped her to ward off the sorcerer since Jonas had him occupied.

“Get out of there, Marcus. Jonas and I can hold off ‘Sin Garu until you’re free.”

“No.”

Shocked, she blinked at him, astonished at how arrogant and authoritative he’d just sounded with a single ‘no.’

“I won’t have you battling ‘Sin Garu, not while I’m still breathing. I have to do this, Tessa. I left you to him once, I won’t do it again.” He groaned as one of the red hands seemed to reach into chest. “Aerolus, stop dicking around. Grab Cadmus and protect Tessa.”

Aerolus quirked a brow, still calmly chanting under his breath as he calmed the flames around Cadmus while stopping another of the Nocumat’s hands from wrapping around Marcus’ neck.

Tessa shook her head, in disagreement with Marcus’ order of protection and in disbelief, that Aerolus hadn’t lost it yet. Despite freeing one brother and working to save another, he too was ankle deep in the Nocumat, a creature that seemed more ominous the larger it grew. Though its many hands clutched at the Storm brothers, its body seemed curiously content to stand there, as if watching the spectacle.

“Damn it, Tessa,” Marcus swore. “Use what I’m giving you, affai.” His voice grew alarming weak and the giant red body looming over him cocked its head. “Work with me, and I’ll be happy knowing we’ll have saved those I love most in the world: Tanselm, my family and you.”

What he really meant was “I’ll die happy” not “I’ll be happy.” The arrogant, overbearing jerk she loved was actually planning to die to save her. She stared at him, knowing she had precious little time to act. “You want to be a hero.” She sneered, taking comfort in her anger. How like a prince to make all her decisions for her. “Fine, be a hero. But you’re not dying until I’m good and ready to let you.”

Finally accepting the great power he’d given her, she consciously sapped more from those in the room, including ‘Sin Garu. Releasing the hold over her control, she let the rage of repressed vengeance, the bitter need for justice to swell within her. What ‘Sin Garu had done to her the past few hours, what he’d done to Marcus’ people, to his lands and his father stirred a mighty wave of fury that wouldn’t be stopped.

She channelled the Storm brothers’ pain and ‘Sin Garu’s sick pleasure into an unadulterated mass of chaotic energy. The taste of purity, of Tanselm’s essence filled her and her world turned hazy blue.

Dimly aware of Aerolus and Cadmus battling to save Marcus, she turned to ‘Sin Garu, now standing over a prone Jonas, and smiled. “You’ve taught me so much in so little time. Now it’s up to me to return the favour.”

The next few minutes blurred for Tessa. Crackling, booming thunder and static filled the air in and around her, as if she stood in the heart of a massive storm. Water and wind crashed over ‘Sin Garu like an extraordinarily well-contained monsoon.

The sorcerer shrieked and cursed, his words whipped away by the winds pulling at his hair and clothes. Psychic energy thrummed, pushing against the narrow walls of Davis’ apartment until the drywall actually buckled. Wood splintered and sparks flew as electrical wiring snapped and sparked, sizzling with the threat of shock under the cascading waters that splashed over everything.

Yet Tessa could only ride the wave of power, completely oblivious to the hazards of Marcus’ gift.

‘Sin Garu snarled and pointed a finger at her. She couldn’t make out what he said, but the spell was enough to shock her waters to stillness.

Breaking her concentration, the sorcerer shook himself and suddenly stood tall and completely dry, his expression one of mild displeasure. “I’m sorry we couldn’t see eye to eye on this. We would have made an unbeatable team,” he said and sighed.

Jonas groaned but the sorcerer paid no attention. Tessa, however, saw him trying to tell her something. He motioned to the sorcerer time and time again, until Tessa understood what he wanted.

‘Sin Garu pulled a large red glowing saber out of thin air and pointed it at her.

“Get back, Tessa,” Cadmus yelled from behind her. But he was too late.

Using the last bit of energy she had left, she shifted Jonas close enough to grasp ‘Sin Garu’s leg.

The sorcerer froze and stared down at Jonas, his mouth open in shock.

“I think you and I have taken enough of their time, don’t you, Van Nostren?” Jonas rasped. The black flames surrounding him engulfed the sorcerer’s leg, slowly travelling up his body.

“Release me,” ‘Sin Garu ordered coldly. “Or die very, very slowly. I’ll bend the light around you, I’ll immolate you in the fires of the Next,” he threatened before black flame danced from every orifice of his face.

“I’m glad I got to know you, Tessa,” Jonas said shakily. “And I thank you for weakening him enough that I can do this last thing. Take care of the River Prince.” He started to fade, his flames growing darker and darker until both he and ‘Sin Garu disappeared into a black void in the middle of the room.

“Wait, Jonas,” she said before a shout behind her drew her attention.

Marcus lay completely submerged in the Nocumat save for his face. His eyes were wide, his mouth open as he gasped for breath. Then the whites of his eyes started to darken, crimson slowly streaking the orbs as death reached for him in the guise of the Nocumat’s giant red body.

Tessa ignored the loud explosion behind her and would have run to Marcus had she been able, but at that moment her strength finally gave out and she collapsed to the floor.

“Marcus,” she cried weakly, reaching out her hand. She had nothing left to save him, no power within her but love to bring him back.

When her vision dimmed and finally blocked all sensation, she welcomed the darkness.