A dire wolf seemed like a good starting place. I wrapped my mind around the ink and pressed it down into the shape of a wolf. It willingly shifted and stretched into the form of a great wolf with long sharp teeth and raised hackles. The wolf turned to snarl at Rex, who grinned back at it.

  "Put it to use, then," Rex pushed.

  The wolf came alive in my mind. It felt almost like one of my tattoos. Its mind pressed against my own, its personality came alive. I nudged it to bite Rex. It leapt at him and sank its teeth into his arm before it took a few steps back and waited for further commands.

  Rex looked at the blood pouring from his arm and laughed.

  "Perfect!" he said.

  The cougars looked at me with smiles on their faces, and Keirn walked over to the wolf, which he proceeded to pet it. His fingers sank deep into its thick mane, and the wolf sent feelings of pleasure through my mind. It was an incredible feeling.

  "Now form more," Luka said as he threw two more bottles of ink at me.

  It was going to be a long day.

  My limit had been four separate strains of ink at once. I could have three predators and one ribbon of ink that I used as a weapon. I couldn't split my mind past that point, not without losing control. The ink network had crept closer and closer throughout the process. My vision was clearer, and everything felt more alive by the end. I hadn't even noticed the network take that much control, I'd been so focused on controlling and working with the ink. I was absolutely exhausted by the time we finally got home.

  The cougars and Rex headed over to Fein's, likely to finalise whatever little details they needed before the big day. That left me with just Keirn, and I couldn't have been happier about that.

  Once we'd showered and eaten, I turned to him; I couldn't hold my concerns in any longer.

  "The ink network was very close to riding me at the end of today, and it felt incredible. The power that I can hold at my fingertips is intoxicating. Snow... I'm scared that it'll be much worse tomorrow, that I won't want to push the network away," I admitted.

  He frowned and rubbed his thumb over my cheekbone.

  "You're stronger than that, Dacian. I don't doubt you, not for one second. You have had many opportunities to become a monster, and each time you have turned away from them. This is no different," he said.

  "How can you have so much faith in me?"

  He smiled.

  "Because I know you, and I love you," he said, pressing his fingertips to my chest where my heart sat.

  I pulled him close and kissed his neck.

  "I was lost without you," I whispered.

  "And I you. We're going to get Vyx back."

  "My father said we can stay in the cottage in Cassis, the south of France. I thought you and Vyx would enjoy the break as much as I would," I said, trying to change onto a less stressful topic.

  Keirn grinned.

  "I've wanted to visit Cassis, the pictures of it look absolutely stunning. They're supposed to have a wonderful social scene, too. You've been hidden for too long, it'll do you good to socialise with people," he said.

  "That sounds wonderful," I said.

  "I'm sure Vyx will be more than happy to enjoy the scenery and the change of pace. She's been hoping to get out of the city. This will be an ideal opportunity," Keirn said.

  "Then it's settled. Once this is over, we're taking a vacation."

  I didn't think I'd had a vacation since I moved out, but it sounded like the best thing in the world right then.

  44

  I set my shoulders back and strode up the cream stairs as though I owned them. The building they'd chosen to do the ritual in was a grand affair near the river. Apparently, the river aided in their magic in some form or fashion. They had a pair of military magicians standing by the door. They moved to block the door as I approached. I grinned at the guy with the dark red hair and hard blue eyes. His glare only deepened before he felt me up. I expect he was supposed to be checking for weapons, but he spent a little too long checking my inner thigh and completely missed both the stiletto (a new one, courtesy of Rex) and the multitude of bottles of ink.

  I'd insisted on bringing more bottles of ink despite having access to all of the ink in the fake shadow orb. It was better to be safe and have too much. Once the guy had finished groping me, he stepped aside and opened the door. I smiled and stepped inside. The decor was the same Ceremonial bullshit with too much money spent on intricate chandeliers, creepy paintings, and far too much marble. The marble was going to be a pain when it came to the fight.

  Fortunately, the room I was led to had a dark wooden floor, and the best part? Bookshelves covered every wall. There must have been thousands of books in that room. The ink on the pages hummed and called to me, and it was just begging to be used. I held back my grin. The bastards weren't going to know what hit them.

  As expected, the main Ceremonial woman was in her full garb and stood behind the two orbs. I could feel the pull of the ink magic in the orb. It was still the fake I'd created. The ink network crept into my mind and tried to tug at me, to feel just how good being surrounded by ink felt. I ignored it and focused on Vyx. She was standing in the middle of the circle with her hands and feet bound with thin rope. The unicorn leather sat a few feet to her right with the tattooing tools just over from that. Rex and Fein had been very clear that I could not under any circumstances stand on the unicorn leather. Doing so would drain my magic, and that would render me vulnerable, to say the least.

  I needed to occupy them for eight more minutes. I couldn't go near the unicorn leather, so the best thing I could do was, well, be myself. The Ceremonials parted for me to walk over to Vyx.

  "As you can see, your vixen is fine and well," the head woman said.

  I walked up to Vyx and slipped the stiletto down into my hand.

  "Are you ok, little vixen?"

  She glared at the Ceremonials in front of her.

  "I'll be better once I'm away from these assholes," she growled.

  "Soon," I whispered.

  She tensed and said nothing. I began cutting her ropes with one hand before I faced the head woman.

  "You know, I've thought about it, and I don't think I want to tattoo a dead unicorn for you assholes. Thanks for the fun and games, but I'm going to be taking Vyx and heading home, now."

  The Ceremonial's fury was palpable.

  "No! You will do as you're told! We have worked too hard to lose this ritual now," she screamed.

  Much to my dismay, a pair of military magician appeared at the far end of the room. They were going to make life difficult.

  "Have you thought about asking nicely? Or maybe finding another line of work?" I asked.

  Her face turned a deep shade of red.

  "Step away from the feral and get to work," an older man shouted.

  "Or what?" I said as I finished cutting through the rope on Vyx's hands. I slipped the knife into her palm so she could free her ankles.

  "Or we'll... we'll..."

  "You'll...?" I asked.

  I looked at them with a wide smile and held my hands out palm up.

  "See... from where I'm standing, you're screwed without me," I said.

  The two military magicians drew their swords and looked between me and the head Ceremonial.

  "Do as you're told, Mr. Corbeaux, or the magicians there will force you to," she said icily.

  I shrugged and put my hands into my pockets. The ink was calling to me. I didn't need to keep pushing them, I could just end them.

  "No, I don't think I will," I said.

  Vyx bent down and cut her ankles free.

  "I'm going to walk out that front door with Vyx, and you're going to leave us alone."

  The female military magician threw a small dart at Vyx. It hit her in the upper arm.

  "The next one will hit her throat and be loaded with poison," the magician said.

  That was it. That was the moment where I lost my cool. I held my hands out from my sides, palms up, and stared the head Ceremonial down as I called on the ink in the books. I felt the moment I connected with it. It filled me with such deep pleasure and power. There was so much more ink where that came from, but seeing their faces as they watched the ink stream towards me from their library was too good to pass up.

  "There's a reason they call me an ink magician, not a tattoo magician," I said.

  The Ceremonials all visibly paled, and the military magicians started to move towards us. I drove the ink down their throats and drowned them where they stood. They grabbed onto their throats and thrashed, but I felt their life essence fade as they slumped to the ground. I moved the ink in slender ribbons around the Ceremonials and dared them challenge me, to block our exit.

  Their moment of stupor broke, and they charged me. It was a reckless move, but I had to give it to them. It worked. I could only drown so many people at once with the ink - my limit was four. There were over thirty of them. I tried to balance controlling the ink with fighting off the clumsy but vicious assaults from the Ceremonials. What they lacked in training, they more than made up for with determination. Vyx wasn't trained in fighting, either, but she gave her all.

  I punched a young Ceremonial woman in the throat, causing her eyes to bulge, and an older man hit me in the nose just as I downed a grey-haired Ceremonial behind him. We were being overwhelmed. As much as I hated to admit it, and it did feel amazing at the time, using the ink like that had not been my best plan.

  45

  Our backup arrived just as a red-headed woman sank her teeth into my forearm. The ink network was riding me hard, and I barely noticed the pain. There was ink everywhere, bodies stained black with it. I had pulled on the ink from the fake shadow orb, felt euphoric as the magic ran through my veins. Drowning people had proved to be too focus intensive, and I had changed to using three dire wolves formed from ink.

  Thankfully, my dire wolves were just then joined by a large shadow cat that leapt on a young man with platinum hair that had punched Vyx hard in the stomach, making her double up. I stepped in front of her and grabbed the throat of the woman with green hair that tried to bash Vyx around the head. I squeezed her throat hard before I thrust my second blade into her stomach and dragged it upwards, spilling her guts.

  It was only a few more seconds before the Ceremonials were all dead around us. The once-pristine space was now filled with death and carnage. Of course, things couldn’t have been that simple. Fein had chosen to attack with four full groups for a reason.

  Military magicians were pushing in behind the shadow walkers and ferals, driving them forward. I swore I saw Rex’s black dog form behind the swarm of military magicians, but there was something else that caught my eye. A very tall pale being with white wings. I double-checked Vyx was ok before I sent my ink wolves after the military magicians. The magicians tore into them with their swords, only to find that the ink healed around their cuts and the wolves didn't even notice.

  I followed close behind my wolves and joined the ferals as they took on the combat magicians. They weren't ambassadors, though. They didn't have their magic network riding them. I side-stepped the swing from the black-haired magician's sword and punched him in the jaw. He didn't notice. He pushed forward, thrusting his sword at my stomach. I called up some ink from the pools on the floor and flooded his mouth with it. I didn't have enough to drown him, but it slowed him down enough for me to kick him in the stomach. I went to sweep his legs out from under him, but his comrade slashed my arm with her blade.

  We needed to get some more back-up or something, here. Even with my ink animals, the military magicians were pushing us back. I heard Keirn's war cry from behind the magicians and grinned as I saw my elf behead two of the bastards in one beautiful swing. Fein was at his side. Together, the elves were a stunning thing to behold. They moved with such grace and fluidity that they could have been dancing rather than tearing down the military magicians. Rex was having the time of his life tearing throats out and limbs off.

  I was growing tired. Using that intensity of ink magic for such a period was beginning to wear on me, even with the euphoria of the network riding me. Vyx held back and carefully picked her fights. She ducked in and slashed at eyes and throats while the other ferals distracted them and kept them occupied.

  Much to my irritation, I had to step back and push my ink wolves to do the fighting for me. My vision was beginning to blur and fade. My wolves leapt on the magicians and tore into them with all the savage fury I could muster. I pushed the anger and guilt I'd built up through this ordeal into those wolves. The ink responded to my mood and hardened. The wolves' teeth sharpened, and their attacks became more vicious. They tore the innards from military magicians and ripped heads clean off of bodies.

  I was fighting to keep a hold of them by the time the last one fell at the hands of Luka. The ink network fought me and tried to continue riding me.

  "No," I snarled.

  I remembered Keirn's words and his faith in me. I was not going to lose to that network. Finally, it relented and slipped away, leaving me to fall to my knees into the blood and ink.

  46

  Keirn and Vyx both ran to my side. Vyx threw her arms around me and pressed her cheek to mine.

  "I'm so happy to see you, Dacian. I knew you'd come and get me out," she said.

  "Of course I did, little vixen," I said, smiling.

  I couldn't see a thing. I was completely blind and could feel my hands shaking like leaves in the wind. Voices I didn't recognise came from the hallway. I felt the mood in the room shift. Someone pressed a small vial to my lips.

  "Drink this, Dacian," Keirn said.

  I took it and poured it into my mouth. The magic hit me the moment the liquid touched my tongue. My vision suddenly became neon bright, and my body felt like it was full of electricity. It faded quickly, leaving me feeling achy but alive and almost myself again. Thank fuck for the alchemists and their concoctions. I kissed Keirn hard, glad to see that he was ok. Blood was drying in his hair and on his clothing, but he was ok. I hugged Vyx quickly.

  "I'm so glad to have you back, Vyx," I said.

  She grinned at me.

  "Your life wouldn't be the same without me," she proclaimed.

  I laughed and watched as the blood-stained fox jumped into her arms. The fox looked very pleased with itself and the blood that coated its face.

  "Fein Thyrin, you are ordered to step aside and relinquish Dacian Corbeaux to our custody," a loud male voice commanded.

  I stood and looked at the dark-uniformed people that had marched into the room. Everyone formed a wall between me and the councilmen. Fein walked up to them with Rex at his side and the cougars at his back.

  "No. Mr. Corbeaux is under my protection and will remain that way until further notice," Fein said.

  The councilman pulled out a piece of paper.

  "By order of the council-"

  Fein held up his hand. "You seem to misunderstand this situation. We just killed the entire Kingsbury coven. This means that Miss Amelia Daire and her family step into the gap left within the council."

  The woman who had come down to the underground emerged from a small side room in high red stilettos and a fitted black dress. She strode over to the councilmen.

  "As your new superior, I am commanding you to leave and never speak of this again," she said stiffly.

  "He's an ink magician!" the councilman growled.

  Amelia raised an eyebrow and looked between me and him.

  "He's a tattoo magician who had the help of some shadow magicians," she said coolly.

  "He was caught using ink magic. He also killed a number of people due to reckless tattooing. Are you aware that he tried to bring a sylph tattoo through?"

  Amelia shook her head.

  "Once again, you're mistaken. You'll find that you have absolutely no evidence of the crimes of which you're accusing Mr. Corbeaux. Now, if you wish to keep your job, you will leave this building and not utter a word of this to anyone."

  The councilman screwed up the paper in his hand and stormed out of the building with his fellows close behind him. I had to laugh. I'd been terrified of the council finding out what I was my entire life, and it had finally happened. I thanked the gods for putting me in the position I was in. It wasn't what I'd have chosen for myself, but I had good allies.

  We had the delightful job of cleaning up the bodies and destruction before we could return home. Amelia took me to one side with Keirn and Vyx when we were almost finished.

  "Mr. Corbeaux, can I call you Dacian?"

  "Sure," I said with a smile.

  "Dacian. I understand that you don't want people to realise that you're an ink magician, and I respect that. However, there is only so much I can do to keep those councilmen quiet. Fein will protect you, but keep in mind that there will come a day in the not too distant future where your secret comes out. I will do what I can to keep the council in check, but I am one woman."

  I leaned into Keirn a little.

  "Why are you telling us this?" Vyx asked.

  "So you can make whatever preparations you feel are best."

  Vyx lifted her chin. "We are not going to run. If people find out what Dacian is, then we will stand and fight. He is an ambassador, a thing of myths. He will not be driven from his home."

  Amelia smiled and held her hand out.

  "I heard that you made the coven's life very difficult during your stay here. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

  Vyx grinned and very briefly shook Amelia's hand.

  "I'm not threatening you, Dacian, I just want you to be aware of the situation you're currently in."

  "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it," I said.

  Amelia nodded and bade her goodbyes, leaving us to wrap up the last of the cleaning efforts. I walked up to Fein and pointed to the paintings in the hallway.