Page 30 of Unseen Lord

Keep him talking. I needed to keep him talking.

"Explain this to me. I want to understand."

"This is the power of the gods," he said. "And now it is mine. It was stolen from my ancestors and our power was stripped from us. It was my destiny to get it back. To fulfill my duty to lead."

"What power is this?" I had to scream now. The staff was generating a storm, with winds so intense it was hard to stand straight, deafening thunder and blinding lightning.

"The power to destroy. To conquer. To make the worlds bow."

"I can't let that happen," I said. "You know I can't."

He laughed in that kind of villainous cartoony way, and I cocked my head, startled by the absurdity of it all. "You're so pathetic," I said. "I thought you were so cool, so edgy and different. But you're just a geeky kid who's lashing out because things haven't gone your way. It's sad. Truly. You feel so entitled so power that you don't even realize how absurd you are." With each word I took a step closer until I knew if I reached my hand out I would touch him… and his staff.

I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew, no matter the cost, he had to be stopped.

And I was pretty sure what that cost would be.

I closed my eyes and silently apologized to Callie for being the world's biggest dick. I apologized to Uncle Sly for disobeying his rules and going where I wasn't allowed.

And then, I lunged.

My plan was simple.

Grab the staff and slam the crystal glowy bit against the wall, thus crushing it.

Easy peasy.

But Devon didn't want to let go.

He roared with fury and yanked back, pulling me off my feet.

But I anticipated that, and didn't resist the pull. Instead, I used it to give me momentum in lunging forward. I swiped my leg under his, causing him to crash down with me on top of him, while simultaneously pushing the staff to the side and using my own head to slam the crystal into the ground.

My vision went white.

An explosion that seemed at once soundless and encompassing all the noise in the world burst forth around us.

Devon screamed, but I couldn't hear his voice, only saw his open mouth in agony as the power that had been pulsing in him burst free of confines of his body. Bits of my boyfriend sprayed over me, but it didn't matter, because my end was coming.

I thought I'd broken the crystal ball against my head and the ground. But I'd only cracked it.

That had caused the explosion.

Now, the cracks continued.

Leaking more unstable magic into the environment around me.

Crashing into the walls and ceilings.

Boulders fell.

Dirt smothered me.

I considered running, but my body wouldn't follow my commands.

So I closed my eyes.

Breathing in dirt.