Page 124 of Inflamed By an Incubus

“How did you do that? Do you know this place?” he hissed at the warlock, keeping his voice down so no one would hear him, even though the forest where he had landed was a good distance from the elegant sandstone mansion.

Archer shook his head. “No. I followed you through the teleport trail. There is always a teleport trail.”

Mackenzie wrenched free of the warlock’s grip.

“Shit,” Hartt growled as she disappeared.

He disappeared too.

Fenix didn’t have to guess to know where she had gone.

He fixed his gaze on the illuminated patio that stretched along the back of the mansion—a sprawling building that had more lights glowing in the windows now—and teleported there.

Right into the middle of a group of clones who must have appeared during his teleport.

He cursed as the dozen carbon copies of a black-haired male closed in on him, their milky eyes glowing faintly as swords appeared in their hands. Cursed again when he realised he had forgotten his blade in the rush to reach this place.

Fenix teleported to the roof of the house and scoured the fray below him, seeking Hartt. The second he located the elf, he teleported again, landing beside him on unsteady legs. Hartt swept towards him, his black sword cutting through the air, and stopped just short of removing Fenix’s head.

“Are you insane?” Hartt snarled and pivoted away from him to cut down a blond clone and then thrust the blade of his sword through the chest of another.

“I need a weapon.” Fenix ducked beneath the silver sword of a clone, swept his leg out and took out his ankles. He lunged at the male, grabbing his arm and wrestling with him, trying to get the weapon from him. It disappeared. Damn it. He glared at Hartt’s back as the elf slashed and hacked at more clones. “Sword. Now.”

“You are so demanding.” Hartt waved his hand through the air and several clones went flying as the blast of telekinesis hit them, and when his hand was closest to Fenix, the steel blade the male had given him in Norway appeared in it. “Don’t leave it behind this time.”

Hartt dropped the blade.

Fenix caught it, spun on his heel and brought it up in time to block the blow a clone aimed at him. He thrust forward with the blade, knocking the male off-balance, and skewered him through his side. The clone grunted as Fenix swept his sword at an angle, slicing clean through his flesh to free the blade, and dropped to the flagstones.

He turned to thank Hartt, but the male was gone.

A bright blue blast of light off to his left almost blinded him as it drove the night back and he looked there.

Vail lunged for Rosalind, but she hurled an orb of violet light before he made contact and it struck the blue one that was whizzing towards her. They detonated on impact, the light stinging Fenix’s eyes and causing several of the clones around him to grunt and cover their eyes. He took advantage of their temporary blindness, cutting them down before they could recover, chipping away at their numbers.

He paused for breath when the area around him was clear, hope building inside him, a sense that they could do this rising to buoy him up.

He dropped like he was on a rollercoaster the height of Mount Everest when a dozen more clones appeared before him, replacing the ones who had fallen.

Fenix looked left towards Vail and Rosalind, and then right towards Archer, watching the clones as they appeared there too. He fixed his gaze on the mansion beyond the wall of milky-eyed blond males in front of him. Whoever was making these clones was inside there and they wouldn’t stop coming until Fenix dealt with him. The mages here were at full strength thanks to their phoenix captives, were probably using potions made with their blood to keep them strong, able to continuously make more clones.

He braced himself as the dozen males lunged at him as one and burst into action again, dodging their attacks and landing as many blows as he could as his senses stretched outwards. He located Mackenzie and Hartt and a trickle of hope flowed into him as he realised they were inside the mansion, somewhere below him.

She was going for the phoenixes.

If Mackenzie could free them and convince them to fight on their side against the mages rather than flee, there was a chance they could do this.

He sensed someone else inside the building too.

Evelyn.

His gaze fixed unerringly on her location as he cut down another clone, cleaving its head from its body. He redoubled his effort, slowly inching forwards through the endless sea of enemies, heading for the house. If he could just get a clear view of it, he could teleport inside. It would be risky, and would drain him, but he needed to reach Evelyn.

Hope soared as he caught a glimpse of the inside of what looked like a ballroom.

And then a harrowing feminine scream rent the air.

A chill skated down his spine.

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