Free Dark Awakening by Patti O'Shea Page B

shadows of the derelict building and tried to figure out what she should do. While she didn't want Nic to fight alone, neither did she want to get in his way or distract him.
    She was in over her head, she knew it and she was scared—not only for herself, but for everyone. If she had a clue how she'd created that one lightning bolt, maybe she could assist him, but as it stood, she couldn't count on producing it again. Why had she been so proud of this power? It was useless without training. And why had the majo insisted she have the background and ethics before learning to do actual magic? She needed more than philosophy, damn it!
    Nic let loose with two more fireballs in quick succession. The first crashed into the same structure, making the hole bigger, but the second caught Augustin.
    It had no noticeable effect.
    Running toward the Dark One, Nic dodged a string of blasts. Rubble fell onto the sidewalk, but both demons seemed oblivious.
    It developed into a scene like some kind of Old West shoot-out with two gunslingers standing in the middle of the street, firing at each other. Kimi could only guess they had some kind of invisible shield that protected them, because neither Nic nor Augustin seemed injured despite the number of blasts that connected.
    Twisting her fingers, Kimi tried to come up with some idea how to help him. She couldn't just stand here. She couldn't! But what the hell could she do that wasn't stupid? Both Nic and Augustin had impossible abilities.
    One of the dark demon's blasts winged Nic, but it was different: it spun him halfway around. Kimi put her hand over her mouth to block her gasp. Nic! She could sense rather than see that he was hurt and she crept closer, wanting to tend to him.
    "You are weak," Augustin said with a sneer. "But then, so was your sire. I'll kill you as I killed him."
    It was a ploy to rile Nic, but despite the fact that demons were emotional by nature, Nic didn't visibly react. Instead, he summoned magic again and leapt out of the way of the Dark One's continued assault.
    From the effort Nic was putting in now to avoid Augustin's blasts, Kimi guessed that he no longer had any magical shield. She twisted her fingers harder, wanting so badly to help him, but knowing that delivering a solid thigh kick wasn't going to do much to slow down Augustin. And what else could she do? This method of fighting left her daunted. Paralyzed. She was useless, no help at all. The realization made her sick.
    Nic took another blast, this one dead-on, and he staggered. Kimi choked back a cry.
Not Nic,
she pleaded.
Please don't let anything happen to Nic.
The thought consumed her.
    He let loose with a volley of fireballs, and Kimi took a deep breath. Maybe that meant he was okay. Some of the salvos were deflected by the Dark One, and more brick fell into the street. Others hit Augustin, but they seemed to do little harm.
    The Dark One sent a wave of fire at Nic. It was like nothing Kimi had ever seen before, and her lover had no way to avoid it. As it crashed over him, magic shimmered around her. It was the cloak he'd put over her, faltering. For an instant, it sparked back to life, and then she felt it disappear for good.
    Augustin turned his head and stared directly at where she stood. A shudder went through her. He smiled. "Kijo," he said, his voice barely audible. "You picked a poor champion."
    She tore her gaze away and looked at Nic. He was on his feet, but swaying precariously. He appeared dazed.
    Something Nic had said came back to her then—a male demon would die to protect his vishtau mate. And
she
was Nic's mate. For the first time, Kimi understood that he hadn't been exaggerating. He really would die for her.
    As the dark demon started to close the distance to where Nic was, Kimi knew she couldn't stand there like a mannequin. She had to do something, anything. Heart in her throat, she raised her hand and tried to picture the lightning shooting out of her palm. Nothing happened.
    Come on,