Page 107 of The Darkest Night

“Barquiel killed Sruk, the King of the Soul Reapers,” Calvarro said slowly. “When Astarte told me of her adventures with Michael and Samyaza’s spawn and the divine beasts allied with those children, it gave me hope that Barquiel could actually be hiding on Earth, as I had found no whiff of the foul fiend during my search of Hell. When we discovered that demons were going missing from the Underworld, the alliance Astarte heads assigned me the task of finding out why. They feared it was Satanael’s machinations at first, but it seems they were wrong.” The reaper’s eyes flared crimson. “My mission has brought me face to face with the one who murdered my husband, and I, for one, am glad of this.”

Bryony stayed silent for a moment.

She lowered her brows at Nikolai. “The binding ritual your father taught Oscar. How did you break it last night? From what I’ve heard, you didn’t use any magic circles.”

A muscle jumped in Nikolai’s jawline. He glanced at Mae and Vlad.

The incubus shrugged. “They’re gonna find out sooner or later.”

Mae nodded.

Nikolai blew out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “I can use ley lines.”

His bombshell statement echoed in a shocked silence.

“What?!” Abraham mumbled.

“Is that, like, asuperskill or something?” Dickson hissed to Calvarro out the corner of his mouth.

“A bit.” The reaper appraised the sorcerer with fresh eyes. “It’s been centuries since anyone has been able to tap into them on Earth.”

Bryony stared unblinkingly at Nikolai. “Is that how you performed—?”

“The Aura of the Moon?” He dipped his chin. “Yes.”

“If word of this gets out, not only will the Dark Council chase you to the ends of this Earth to get their hands on you, every other magic council will want your blood too,” Bryony said stiffly.

Mae’s pulse quickened. “You mean, they’d want to kill Nikolai?”

“No,” Bryony said somberly. “They’d want to put a leash on him.”

Nikolai clenched his teeth.

Mae narrowed her eyes. “Are ley lines that powerful?”

“Ley lines contain the magic steeped into the very Earth,” Bryony explained. “They are the biggest source of power you can imagine.”

An expression that almost looked like pity flashed in her eyes as she regarded Nikolai.

Realization dawned. Mae met Nikolai’s gaze, anger surging through her blood. “That’s why they want to capture you and not kill you! Your father must know of your potential.”

“It would explain why he kept your mother and you close for all those years, despite your inability to wield black magic,” Bryony pondered.

The horrified look that darkened Nikolai’s eyes had Mae reaching for his hand. “Don’t. You can’t blame yourself for your mother’s death. It was Oscar and the Sorcerer King who killed her, not you.”

Nikolai’s fingers trembled under her touch.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

Chapter 48

A stilted hushfilled the room.

“What do we do now?” Mae finally said.

“We wait.” A tired sigh left Bryony. “I’m sure the other councils will be in touch with me imminently. We need to come up with a plan as to how to deal with the Sorcerer King now that our Queen has been resurrected.”

Everyone looked at Mae, Bryony’s face almost funereal.

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