In Love and War || Chris Halliwell

10

Chris had barely registered seeing Riley exit the portal behind them, followed by the sisters, when Bianca had seized him and he was shimmered out, the attic fading from sight, replaced by Wyatt's dwelling. He'd hoped that she would've gotten the message and stayed in the past, stayed with the sisters and become their Whitelighter, so she could finish what they'd started and save Wyatt. It was the only way to change all of this, to change the future so no one would have to live in this kind of world.

But he should've known she wouldn't do that, not in a million years. She cared about Wyatt, loved him like a brother, and wanted to save him, but not at the risk of losing him. Riley wouldn't risk that. She cared about Chris too much.

As Bianca shimmered them into his brother's home, Chris barely had time to register the cold room around him, the demons that were standing side-by-side, awaiting his brother's orders, when an energy ball came flying out of nowhere, hitting Chris in the stomach.

Letting out a sharp cry, Chris was flung backwards, straight into the wall, gasping for breath. Gritting his teeth, he struggled to his feet and managed to raise his head and look up to see Wyatt walking towards him. "Welcome home, little brother." he said mockingly. "Glad that you made it all in one piece."

"No thanks to you're hired hand." Chris said coldly, taking a glance towards Bianca. The indifferent look in her eyes didn't flicker, nor did she even acknowledge Chris's taunt. His girlfriend was gone, replaced by the phoenix that she'd been before they'd met. He'd lost her for good.

"Then she did what she was hired to do." Wyatt replied. His gaze shifted from Chris to Bianca, raising his eyebrows at Bianca, who gave him a short nod. He looked towards the other demons. "He's no threat to me. Leave us. I'll deal with him on my own."

"As you wish, my lord." a few of the murmured, bowing to Wyatt. One-by-one, they shimmered out of the room, leaving the two brothers and the phoenix alone.

"You know, Chris, when I first learned about your little charade in the past, I thought that they were crazy." Wyatt remarked, walking closer to his brother. "Now it seems that it's my brother who's lost his mind. Guess it must run in the family, huh?" He laughed.

Chris's jaw tightened as he thought of Patty, his cousin, the younger of Aunt Paige's twin daughters. When she and Patience had been captured by Wyatt, he and Riley had made an attempt to rescue them, which they had, eventually. But not before Wyatt's demons had tortured Patty into insanity. "Yeah, well, I guess we have you to thank for that." he snapped, jade eyes flashing.

Wyatt's eyes narrowed as he looked at his little brother. Raising one hand, he clenched it into a fist. Chris felt the breath in his throat leave him and he struggled for air as he fell to his knees, clutching his throat. His brother wasn't letting up, though.

His eyes began to get blurry as he gasped for air. Dark thoughts began to swirl through his mind. His mom dying, his aunts on the exact same day, all the anger and hatred that he'd suffered in the past at their hands, just to save Wyatt and now it was all over, he was never going to save his brother, would never change the future and he was never going to see Riley again.

For some reason, this thought seemed to give him more strength, more purpose, a reason to survive. Still gasping for breath, he struggled to think of a spell. Not an easy feat when he couldn't even breathe. "P—powers of the wi—witches, r—rise," he forced out, "come to me from a—across the sk—skies. Re—return my ma—magic, give me ba—back, all that was ta—taken from the attack!"

Instantly, he felt his magic being returned to him, all of it, his witch and Whitelighter powers. Flinging his hand, he sent Wyatt flying into the wall, but his brother merely orbed out and reappeared some feet away from him. Chris turned to face him, ready for him this time.