Chapter 53: Misuse of The Bridge

An eye blink later, they landed on the forest floor near Jo’s truck. The purple rope of energy hissed and sizzled on his wrist, connecting Thomas to the wizard as if it were a leash.

“Fuck this.” Thomas hurriedly backed up a step. That only had the effect of pulling the rope tight and almost tripping on Zach, who had collapsed to his knees, winded after teleporting an extra person.

“Oh no you don’t,” the wizard said with a grin, jerking the rope to pull Thomas back.

The wizard had a very punchable face, so Thomas punched it.

Pain bloomed over his own cheek and jaw as Thomas’s head snapped to the side. His first thought was that the wizard had punched him back, but he had been so fast that Thomas hadn’t even seen him move.

What—

That was the moment when Jo came in like an avenging, sneaky assassin, stabbing the hilt of one of her hunting daggers into the wizard’s back.

Thomas screamed as he felt the sharp agony of the blade in his own back and the hot, wet splash of his own blood as a wound opened up.

The wizard laughed.

Thankfully, Zach was quick on the uptake, and with a snap, he sent his gathered ribbon of fire off to the side before it, too, hit the wizard.

“That’s right,” the wizard cackled, and dragged Thomas close, wrapping an arm around his side to keep him standing. More purple ropes of energy snaked around his chest. They sizzled against his skin, but they were nothing compared to the sword slash. “All damage transfers to your healer.”

Even as Thomas squeezed his level 3 core for a rush of healing, a part of him was indignant. Why was he the damsel in distress in this situation?

“Let him go,” Jo said, with the frozen calmness of her Still Waters skill, “or we’ll kill you.”

“You’ll just be killing your teammate,” the wizard replied. “You aren’t in control here. I am. If you make one move that I don’t like, I’ll make him believe he is being buried alive while being eaten by every creepy-crawly his imagination can come up with.”

One hand came to grab the back of Thomas’s neck, and with it, he felt a drop of the man’s disgusting dark mana slip under his skin.

This is what he had done before Thomas realized, when he’d been caught up in those vivid dark hallucinations. He hadn’t realized they’d been caused by the man’s mana.

This time, with his body flush with Adaptive Wellspring of Healing mana, he forced the foreign mana out before it could take hold and paralyze him in a dark dream.

There was a moment where he sensed the wizard’s surprise. Either he knew what Thomas had done or was confused about why he hadn’t locked up in fear and pain.

In any case, he’d given Thomas an idea. The wizard wasn’t the only one who could inject mana.

With a sharp movement, Thomas twisted in the man’s grasp, putting one hand over his core on his stomach and the other on his shoulder. Thomas added his own healing mana, creating a supportive bridge to override the man’s heartbeat and breathing rhythm with his own.

Then Thomas deliberately held his breath.

He instantly felt the strain on his own spirit. This was borderline, but it wasn’t necessarily an attack using Healing mana. No harm was coming to the wizard. His heart still beat, and Thomas knew that he could hold his breath until they both passed out. Then the bridge would either break, or he would simply start breathing again. The wizard was in no physical danger. Thomas was just holding him still.

The wizard, though, predictably freaked out. He gaped like a fish for a second, then slammed his fists into Thomas’s body and clawed at his wrists to push his touch away. But they were bound together by the purple mana rope. Thomas simply tanked every hit, and the healing running through his system had already all but closed up the sword wound. It dealt easily with a few punches and kicks.

Then Zach and Jo stepped in, each grabbing one of the wizard’s arms to hold him still.

“Break the dark binding,” Zach growled in the man’s ear.

Thomas said nothing, just locked gazes with the wizard. The man was making terrible, empty gasping sounds as he tried and failed to breathe. His face was rapidly reddening. Thomas’s own lungs burned, and the muscles in his throat were starting to spasm with the need to take in air. He didn’t care.

He glared straight at the wizard, even as his own vision started to tunnel.

He was going to keep this up right until they both passed out. Then, when he woke, because he would wake first with his self-healing abilities, he’d do it again.

The next moment, lightning crashed down all around them in four corners, caging them in. Thomas had the thought, Crap, he’s got lightning on top of everything else.

Then a booming voice, as if from the heavens, yelled, “Stop this at once!”

The wizard broke first with a grimace. The purple ropes dissolved, and Thomas released the bridge to punch him again, right in the face. This time, the pain didn’t ricochet back.

The wizard fell out of Zach and Jo’s grasp, hitting the ground with a gasp.

Then lightning bolts fell in a curtain, separating the wizard from Thomas and the rest of his team from him.

“Fuck, what now?” Thomas said as he turned.

Up on the top of the hill stood Robert Ross with at least three guards. Thomas’s confusion about how they got there so fast was cleared up when, with a flash that looked like lightning, a guard suddenly positioned Tad Woolworth next to Robert before zipping away for more personnel.

Robert held what looked like a crackling ball of energy in his hand, and Thomas had no doubt he was the one responsible for the lightning curtain.

It seemed the Ross-Astor family went for electric powers. That was interesting.

“No one moves,” Robert said. His eyes swept over the scene as if weighing them all.

For his part, Thomas was happy to stand there. His back stung where the last of the dagger slash was closing up. His jaw still twinged from where he’d apparently punched himself. And there were red welts on his arms from the damned purple mana rope, though those were fading before his eyes.

The wizard was just standing to his feet, visibly trying to collect his dignity, pulling down his sleeves. At that point, he looked less like a wizard and more like an accountant.

An evil accountant, Thomas thought. The type that steals your taxes under your nose. Then maybe kills your cat on the way out.

Robert’s gaze snapped to the man, and Thomas thought he saw a little bit of distaste in his expression. “You’re one of the Brighten creatures, aren’t you?”

“I serve Tabitha Brighten, yes.” The wizard straightened, smiling what he likely thought was a charming smile. “Mr. Ross, there has been a misunderstanding.”

“They’re thieves,” Tad said, jumping in to point a finger at Thomas and the others. “That’s what we came to warn you about. De’Montvallon’s built a team to scam you.”

“Oh, that is some bullshit,” Thomas growled.

Tad shot him a look. “If you search his bag, you will find Woolworth property that he stole from me.”

“The Mace?” Thomas was getting heated now. “I took that after sparing your life when your little CrossFit group ambushed me—”

He stopped when Zach put a hand on his shoulder. His friend’s gaze was on Robert, who didn’t look the least bit impressed by what Tad had to say.

In fact, Robert acted like Thomas hadn’t spoken at all. His focus was all on the wizard. “You attacked a guest in my home, a verified healer.”

“He’s not part of your Family; you have no claim on him,” the wizard sneered. “As Woolworth said, they are thieves. In fact, that one,” he gestured dismissively to Zach, “is the de’Montvallon brat.”

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“I am well aware,” Robert drawled.

“Are you aware, then, that they have stolen a level 5 Hollow Shadow mana from our prime dungeon?”

“Listen to him,” Tad insisted, jumping in again. “The Brightens are not your enemies here, Mr. Ross. The Coven was only looking for fugitives.”

Thomas had to practically grind his teeth to keep silent. Zach, probably sensing this, caught his eye and shook his head once in warning. For her part, Jo kept silent and so unnoticed Thomas suspected she was on the verge of using her Gift for escape.

“And my two dead guards?” Robert asked.

“An unfortunate necessity,” the wizard said smoothly. “This little group of thieves was dug in like ticks inside your dungeon, and we had to fuel a spell in order to force them out.”

“Dark blood magic, you mean. One that almost poisoned my land.”

Finally, Robert turned to address Tad.

“You’re telling me that the Brightens killed two of my men on my land to help me. Then the right hand to Tabitha Brighten herself attacked a healer in my home—not because setting a healer before a witch is like putting a bloody steak in front of a wolf—but, again, to help me.” He paused for a second. “Do you think that I have ‘fucking idiot’ tattooed across my forehead?”

“You know that my family’s loyal to you,” Tad insisted. “Look who that healer is with. He’s working for the de’Montvallons against the Ross-Astors. They’re trying to fracture the West Coast families. They’re–”

“You have fallen in with dark wizards, haven’t you, Tad?” Robert said heavily.

“That’s not—”

Robert’s voice, which had been stern but somehow cordial, sharpened. “Shut up.”

Tad’s mouth snapped shut.

Robert nodded. “I’ll be speaking to your father and recommending a mana purge. You have taken dark mana, haven’t you?”

Tad went very white in a way that suggested he’d struck home.

Finally, Robert’s gaze turned to Thomas. “And you. You’re one of the de’Montvallons.”

“I’m really not,” Thomas said.

Jo shook her head in agreement.

Zach, meanwhile, gave a lopsided smile. “I left a while back.”