Page 38 of Mastering Mayhem

I had never seen a griffin in real life, and apparently, neither had my team. We all stood there dumbfounded for a second, and that second was all our foe needed to gain the upper hand.

A soldier grabbed Shade by the throat and Miles by the hair. Ignacus lunged for Chaos, tackling him to the ground while the other soldier knocked Ash onto her back, pinning her to the dirt and dripping poisonous saliva onto her face.

Adrian narrowed his eyes at Hazel and lifted his hands, creating a cyclone of grave dirt around her. She coughed and gasped, scratching at her neck as her supposed buyer sucked the air from her lungs.

Panic made my blood run cold. I used to say I could kick anyone’s ass with both hands tied behind my back, but now, with one arm dangling like a limp yogurt slinger, I knew what a crock that was. I couldn’t save them all…couldn’t save any of them unless I acted, but for possibly the first time in my life, out of the three Fs, my body chose to effing freeze.

I stood there impotent, useless, watching… No, not even watching. My mind all but blanked while everyone around me hung on the precipice of death.

“Ember.” Mayhem’s voice shattered the ice, and my mind kicked into overdrive.

I lunged at him, grasping his hand. “Use me. Use my energy and make the violence stop.”

“I can’t stop violence, my love. I cause it.”

“Not with me, you don’t.” I focused on the sigil warming my injured arm and pushed my magic into him.

He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes, but now was not the time for him to bask in my essence.

I squeezed his hand. “Send it out. Stop them before anyone else dies.”

“Mmm…yes.” He opened his eyes and shared his energy with me, drawing more of mine into him and causing the air around us to thicken. Our magic mixed and melded, and as he sent it outward, I gasped. Every nerve in my body fired at once, electrifying me, heightening my senses, sharpening my vision until I could see the griffin in the sky as clearly as if it were on the ground.

The fighting stopped. The fae soldiers backed away from my team, smacking into each other and looking confused as all get out. Adrian blinked at me, cocking his head, and Ignacus rose, offering Chaos a hand up.

Hazel sucked in a massive breath and dropped to her knees, the amulet falling from her grasp. Both Adrian and Ignacus lunged toward it. I would have done the same if I weren’t busy keeping everyone from killing each other, but it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d tried.

The griffin swooped from the sky, half-screeching, half-roaring, and snatched the amulet from the dirt before flying off, into the horizon. My mouth hung open as I watched it ascend and head toward the distant mountains.

“Well, what now?” Shade asked, drawing my attention to our current issue, which involved three teams ready to murder each other at the first crack of our magic.

“We will leave peacefully.” Ignacus bowed slightly. “My soldiers require enzymes to remain in this realm, but we will not take them from you.” He waved an arm, slicing into the fabric of reality and opening a rift to the fae world. “We will obtain the amulet another time. Do not doubt it.”

The two fly-men stood at attention as their prince slipped through the veil. When they followed, the rift slammed shut, stitching itself back together. The air around us shimmied. No, not the air.

The veil.

It was as if a wall existed on every plane, like I could reach out in any direction and touch it. It was everywhere and nowhere at the same time, and my brain could not comprehend the ethereal geometry.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I shook my head before blinking them open again. Mayhem’s magic still flowed through me. Adrian stood there looking as dumbfounded as I felt, and Hazel made the most of our inaction, doing an about-face and sprinting out of the cemetery.

My muscles trembled with the wavering walls, the pain in my dislocated shoulder screaming with my magical exertion. I tugged from Mayhem’s grasp, breaking our magical hold, and everyone around us gasped.

“I had it.” Adrian glared at me, his hands curling into fists. “I could have ended him with its power.”

“There are six of us and two of you.” I rested my hand on my hip, wishing I could cross my arms. “What are you going to do?”

He sniffed, lifting his chin like a spoiled, stubborn child. “Where did your griffin take it?”

“It’s not our griffin, and I have no idea.” But I hoped to Hecate our demons did because, otherwise, we were screwed.

Adrian moved his chin from side to side like a cow chewing cud. “Let’s go, Gray. You’ve got scrying to do.”

She swallowed hard. “What about Hector?”

“Leave him for the vultures,” he said, locking his gaze with mine for a moment before he turned and walked away.

“Was he trying to say we’re the vultures?” I asked.

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