Meredith had always known about magic. Her family was magic, one of the most powerful mage lines out there. Having lost her parents to all the fighting though, she stayed far away from it, focusing on school and lading a primarily normal life.
Unti...
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The next thing she knew, something pulled on the dark magic oversaturating her, and she lost her dinner on the ground. A screech drove her attention back up, and then it rained blood as Damien diced the vampire over Rush. Immediately, more slid from the forest, drawn by the other's death throes. More blood whipped up into the air as they were quickly disposed of, and then Damien knelt next to Rush. Barely conscious, Rush was looking to her desperately, pleading for her to run with their despairing gaze.
"You look like shit, Remus," Damien said, and then a circle of magic appeared under Rush, and he was gone. Mer let out an audible cry, but Damien was at her side in an instant. "Don't fret. I sent him somewhere safe. He's in no condition to fight, not for a while. Even with blood, it will take him weeks to heal fully. Stay here, Dusk. I will protect you."
Then Damien was gone, and she was alone.
Why was he protecting her? What had she done for Damien?
Screeches and shrieks sounded in the night, but all the while she was huddled on the ground in tears. Even with Shiva, she was useless at night. Why couldn't she be of more help to Rush, and why was Damien saving her? Damien was the vampire that had wiped out the Latvius line single-handedly, and he was Vincent's soldier. Even so, he had saved Rush, and he was here now, killing his own master's men.
Just who was Damien Arc, and whose side was he on?
Pulsing light energy eased the angry feeling in her stomach as she heard more movement in the forest. By the time she saw the first mage emerge from the trees, she'd barely remembered Damien's warning that they were also coming.
They saw her, and one of them tossed something at her.
It was small and round, but there was a soft buzzing to it; light magic. She touched it with her finger and it sent a pleasant shiver of relief through her. So deprived of it entirely, her body had been drawn to it, but as usual, she'd been naïve in thinking it was anything but danger.
Crawling into the grass around her, magic panels of blue energy formed on the ground in every direction. It still didn't even occur to her what it was, until they started to ascend from the ground and connect around her, like a box. As the walls of magic closed one by one, her heart jumped and then numbed in hopelessness.
This was a magic snare.
Though she had never seen one in action, her aunt had talked about them enough. They were used for capturing mages who were fleeing for crimes, prey before they were killed, or people they wanted to interrogate. Despair seizing her, she thought of Damien and how they would be separated. With Rush gone and Paul missing, Damien was all that she had.
Almost as quick as her thought, there was a flash of motion, and someone collided with her. She hit the ground from the weight on top of her, and something wet dripped down her shoulder. It took her a moment to understand what had happened. Running down her arm, heavy, dark blood soaked into her shirt and jeans, and what was lying on top of her, was Damien.
