To his surprise, Belial’s energy spiked.
Ryder scooted toward Percy. Blood was working its way to each of his organs and muscles, resuscitating him in shocks and jolts. His wrists jerked. Tremors wracked his body.
Percy’s lithe form was twisted and bent. Ryder’s top lip curled back, and he sighed when he caught sight of Moon, perched on the stone cross, watching him. “It’s not your fault,” he mumbled.
Moon flicked her tongue and inched her nose toward Percy, tasting the air again and again.
Ryder reached for Percy’s energy. He closed his eyes and sifted through thought, emotion, memories. Liam’s smile pressed against his lips. Liam’s hands on him. Liam’s Water, and his turmoil, and his love—stop. Ryder squeezed his eyes shut tighter. He let images slip through his fingers and emotions drift around him. Concentrate. He imagined Percy alive and clawed through himself to find pockets of Percy’s energy. One by one, Ryder put the pieces together. There.
Percy twitched.
Ryder’s energy surged and he reached into Percy like he had Liam, clawed through bones and ligaments, stitching here, fixing there, until Percy’s body snapped and popped. A loud yowl cut through the silence.
“Percy?” Ryder sat back on his heels.
His familiar shot to all four paws in a way only a cat could do. Percy’s tail was bushed and straight, his black fur standing up on end. He hissed at Moon before bounding over to Ryder.
“It’s done,” Gerard said.
“It is,” Jordan said through a sigh.
Underneath the bustling magic, Ryder was exhausted.
A cloak—his cloak—was draped over him. Ellen smoothed her hands over his shoulders, and Ryder slipped his arms through the sleeves. He scooped Percy into one arm, tucking him safely against his chest, and took his mother’s hand when she offered it. Ellen hauled him to his feet and steadied him, nodding with her lips pursed. Green eyes flicked across his face, down his torso, back to his face.
“You attached?” Ellen asked softly.
Ryder shrugged. “Is that what it’s called?”
“Yes. It’s rare for a white or elemental witch to form a bond with a deity.”
“I still…” Ryder conjured heat and exhaled a deep breath. “I still have my Fire. But I’m…”
“A necromancer,” Margo interrupted. She regarded Ryder with skepticism, but her lips curved into a smile. “A necromancer who has elemental magic and is favored by a fire king. A fine addition, Gerard.” Her fierce eyes pinned to his father. “Keep him in line.”
Ryder’s top lip curled back in a snarl. “That’s it? We’re done?”
“Yeah,” Jordan quipped. “That’s it. You die, I spend an hour carving Belial’s sigil into my goddamn arm, he likes you, which is fucking ludicrous because you’re the most unlikeable person I’ve ever—”
“Fuck off, Jordie. Get to the point,” Ryder snapped.
“I’m kidding,” she rasped. “You attach, wake back up, you proceed to wake your familiar back up, and ta-da” —she waved her hand up and down in front of Ryder— “a necromancer is born.”
“I thought I’d have to eat a skull or something,” Ryder teased. “Drink a chalice full of blood, cut my palm open and chant.”
Gerard narrowed his eyes. Jordan barked a laugh.
“You need to sleep,” Vassa said. They tilted their head down in a polite nod. “Your magic is a mess right now, I know. It may not feel like it, but some rest will do wonders.”
“They’re right,” Jordan said.
Ryder nodded. His eyelids hung heavy despite the rabbit-fast beat of his heart. “And a shower, yeah. Can I go? Am I certified or whatever?”
“You’ll start training with your sister in two days,” Gerard said.
“What about this attachment?” Ryder asked.
“You have one, your sister has one, I know a couple other dark witches who have them. It isn’t common, but it happens.” Gerard waved dismissively. “We’ll talk about that another time.”
Belial stirred comfortably in the air. Every time Ryder inhaled, Belial warmed his lungs. Every time he exhaled, the demon shifted inside him.
Ellen kissed Ryder’s temple and settled her hands on his cheeks. “He’ll protect you,” she whispered.
“Dad?”
“Yes,” Ellen mumbled. “But I was talking about Belial.” She sounded his name out mindfully. “He’ll protect you, and he’ll hold you to certain standards.”
Ryder swallowed hard. “I’ll be careful.”
She sighed and dropped her hands. “Come by more often.” A golden-feathered eagle circled overhead—Ellen’s familiar, Darby. The eagle screeched at River, and both birds swooped over the woods toward a white puff of feathers in the distance.
“Yeah, I will, Mom.” He followed the birds as they swept around each other in the night, one more prominent than the other two against the darkness. “Opal…” Ryder glanced through the trees and caught a flash of brick-red fur. A fox dipped between the trees, and scaled up branches until it could focus on Ryder. “Castle?” He tilted his head. The fox, Castle, tilted his head the same direction. “Castle! Where are they?”
Castle’s ears twitched, and he took off into the woods.
“That was Tyler’s familiar,” Jordan said and lifted a brow.
Something tiny scurried up Ryder’s boot, and then his jeans. Willow climbed until she hit his coat sleeve and followed it to his shoulder.
“Your circle-mates are close?” Margo asked.
Ryder eyed Willow with a small smile. The white mouse cleaned her whiskers and ears, squeaking pleasantly. “I guess so.”
“A necromancer with a circle?” Vassa hummed.
“A Fire witch with a circle,” Ellen corrected.
“A circle of assholes,” Jordan snapped. “Except for the psychic, she’s okay.”
“And the cute one,” Ellen added.
Darby screeched. River cawed. The night grew fierce. Trees whispered in urgent chirps and windy hisses. Bone bender. Thief. Black fire.
“I’ll be watching,” Margo said. Hooves cut through the wailing forest. A horse with a silky brown hide trotted along the gate, eyes pinned to the Lewellyn matriarch.
“Still need a ride?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah.” Ryder nodded toward the other end of the woods where the birds hovered above the tree line. “To the meadow.”
RYDER LISTENED TO Jordan’s tires crunch down the path that led out of the woods. He stroked Percy’s back and set the cat on the ground. Percy stretched and yawned. Willow crawled down his arm and into his palm. He placed her on a tree branch and she scampered off into the darkness. His phone buzzed.
Jordan: Text me if you need a ride.
Ryder: I won’t.
Jordan: Just in case.
Ryder: K.
Soon enough, Opal’s pearl feathers flapped close to Ryder’s face. She chirped and cooed, landing heavily on his shoulder. A pair of dark eyes watched from a bush close by. Castle inched his nose toward Percy, ears upright and twitching.
The darkness crowded around, as if the night wanted to hear what the trees gossiped about.
Necromancer. Air Magician. Seer. Instinct. Storm Wielder.