Page 90 of Reign of the Beast

All I could do was watch in horror as Draco raised his sword, that creepy-ass gem swirling with power.

He was calling his Hellfire forth.

“This place deserves to burn.” His eyes flashed at me. “As do you. Hellfire is an unimaginably painful way to die, sorcerer. I will enjoy watching you suffer.”

He thrust his sword up toward the ceiling, seconds away from the Hellfire erupting from it.

But then he abruptly stilled.

He spun, searching, his eyes darting all over the place, sensing something.

What?

Dark-blue lightning exploded through the room, firing every which way.

Someone emerged from its epicenter.

Terror gripped me as soon as she came into view.

Mia!

What was she doing here?

Draco reacted, firing his sword at her, the Hellfire sparking.

But she was ready for him.

Her right fist blazed with that ominous dark-blue power she’d been so afraid of tapping into. She thrust it at the floor, sending a violent path of lightning toward Draco.

He roared as it struck him, taking hold, encompassing him wholly.

He clawed at it, struggling wildly.

“Be gone, demon!” Mia yelled, groaning with the effort of a final push that had her magic swallowing Draco whole.

What the hell?

She rose to her feet and sucked in a trembling breath as she called her power back with some struggle.Shit.

Her eyes went wide with terror when she was able to turn her attention my way.

“Ryker!” she shrieked, running toward me, her heels clacking wildly.

“Where… did… he go?”

“I banished him,” she said, distractedly, not really giving me much. “Temporarily, at least.”

“Go,” I told her, reaching out a shaking hand.

She knelt down beside me and took my hand in hers. “Oh my God!” she cried when she noticed the veins. “He struck you with his sword?”

Even as she asked the question, her eyes were scanning me frantically.

And then she zeroed in on the wound in my shoulder. “My love,” she breathed, pain all over her, her voice cracking with it.

“Need you… safe… before I… go,” I croaked, my hand going limp in hers.

“I’m not losing you,” I heard her say.

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