I pulled the Fire that simmered just beneath the surface of my skin. Where Alister was dark, I would be light.
Flame danced along my skin, pooling in my hands. Alister stared at the fireball blazing between my palms with something like fascination. His eyes were wells of black, so evil they made me cold to my very core.
As he opened his mouth for the next line of the spell, I threw the fireball straight at him. It hit him full in the chest and knocked him back a couple feet. The sidhe blade stopped its dizzying pattern.
"Hit him again," Inigo shouted.
So I did. But this time the fireball bounced harmlessly off the aura shimmering around Alister. It never even touched him. Instead it hit the ground and sent sprays of sparks into the underbrush. I prayed the greenery wouldn't catch fire.
I threw another fireball, and another, but they were useless. Each one bounced off and rolled away to fizzle on the grass. Icicles went the same way.
"It's not working," I shouted to Inigo.
"Fight fire with fire, Morgan."
"But the fire didn't work."
He gave me a withering look. I could have slapped myself in the head. I pulled hard on the Darkness and the Earth. Earth was sidhe magic. Darkness was clearly Alister's.
The two powers roared out of me, the Earth shooting in green tendrils around my arms and legs, burrowing itself into the ground. Mt. Tabor began to shake.
From the center of my being, the Darkness surged, deeper and stronger than ever before. Air joined the fray. The ground shook below me and the air boiled around me in a swirling vortex of dark energy. Then it shot outward, encompassing Alister in the maelstrom. He staggered under the onslaught as the wind ripped at his clothing and the Darkness stole his vision. Beneath him the ground collapsed, and with a scream, he plummeted into the depths of the earth, leaving a single, shining blade lying on the grass.
Chapter Twenty-five
I pulled back the Earth, hauling it inside me using the Wind to whip it along. The two of them sank into me slow and easy, joining the Fire and the Water. Now there was just the Darkness to contend with. With its compatriots gone, and the danger past, it seemed to think it had nothing much to do. With a final triumphant laugh, it joined its brethren. With all my powers back where they belonged, I slid the metaphorical hatch shut and dropped a few bricks on it for good measure, then I sank to the ground, exhausted. With my powers locked away, I could no longer see. I tried not to panic.
"How is he?" I was almost afraid to ask. Alister might be evil as hell, but I didn't relish the thought of telling Kabita I'd killed her father.
I heard Inigo stride up to the edge of the newly formed pit. "He's fine. Mad as hell, and I think he's got a broken leg, but he'll recover."
There was a shout not far off, and I heard rustling in the underbrush. I tensed, waiting for the next onslaught.
"Are you all right, Morgan?" It was Jack, and he sounded concerned. I guessed he had a right to be.
"Yeah, I'll be fine." At least I hoped so. I was so exhausted, I couldn't stand. "It's just, um, I can't see."
"Can't see?" Eddie's voice this time.
"Yeah. I think it might be power burn. I'm fine. Really."
"You don't sound fine to me," Jack said, sounding outraged.
"Calm down, Jack. I'm going to be alright. How is my house?"
"For having been hit simultaneously by fires, floods, and gods know what else, it looks okay. You're going to need to let it dry out, and probably give it a good cleaning and a new paint job, but I think the damage was pretty much limited to the kitchen."
I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't like I hadn't had to start over before, but this was my life. This was my home. And I'd really rather not start over if I didn't have to.
I had a sudden thought. "The neighbors." I bet they'd gotten an eyeful tonight.
"No worries. They got to the party late and now there's nothing to see, they're wandering off."
"So, they didn't see me, ah, do anything?"
"No. Wasn't much to see unless you're a supernatural. Kabita told them it rained and put the fire out. Guess they bought it. She's taken charge of the fire department, too."
I bet she had. "Alister," I said.
"He got away, but we'll find him," Jack assured me. I almost smiled at that.
"No, he didn't," Inigo called from the edge of the pit. "Have a look."
I heard footsteps as Jack and Eddie joined him beside Alister's temporary cage.
"Well, I'll be," Eddie murmured.
"Time to call in the big guns," Jack said. I heard the tones of buttons on a phone being pushed, followed by a murmured conversation. Finally Jack hung up and said, "Your brother has people on the way. They'll take care of Alister. Now," he strode back to my side. "We need to get your eyes looked at. They may have been damaged by the fire."