Page 46 of The Darkest Night

The red-haired man headed for Mae. The man with the crow stepped in his path. The red-haired man blasted him with a black orb and sent him flying to the ground.

Anger burned Mae.

“No! Stop, youfool!” the devil shouted.

Hellreaver left Mae’s hand without her volition, her subconscious barking out the command before the thought fully formed in her mind. The weapon flashed across the clearing and pierced the red-haired man’s right flank with a wet thunk. He froze, stunned.

His scream of agony rent the air as the dagger sank vicious teeth into his flesh, a famished sound rumbling out from the weapon.

“Hellreaver!” Mae barked. The weapon shot out of the sorcerer and returned to her hold, blood dripping from its jagged edges. She met the devil’s gaze, her chin tilting defiantly. “Tell your Sorcerer King that I am coming for him.” Her brow furrowed as her gaze swept over the red-haired man and the Dark Council witches and sorcerers. “For all of you.” Her magic throbbed the air with a crimson haze, her fury growing as she recalled the misery and heartache her enemy had wrought upon her family and her people during her previous existence, and all that had happened in the past few days. “I will have my revenge and retake my throne!”

The devil’s eyes flared at the voice underscoring Mae’s words. His face turned grim. “Retreat.”

“Our father’s magic will consume your soul, Oscar!” the man with the crow shouted at his brother. “Leave him, before it’s too late!”

The red-haired man glared at him, a sorcerer propping him up with an arm around his waist. A portal appeared behind them. They vanished inside it along with the devil and the remaining Dark Council witches and sorcerers.

The storm abated. The clouds cleared. Sunlight filled the clearing, along with a deafening silence.

Mae sagged to her knees, suddenly weak. Hellreaver transformed back into the pendant and fell into her hands. Brimstone shook himself out before shrinking back to his smaller self. He climbed onto Mae’s lap, curled into a ball, and promptly fell asleep.

The man with the crow climbed unsteadily to his feet and came over, his face pale.

Mae stared at the fox.

“I can’t believe I rubbed his belly,” she said leadenly.

“I can’t believe he spoke,” Violet muttered as she and Miles joined them.

“I can’t believe that thing hasteeth.” Miles indicated the pendant with an accusing finger.

Mae looked up at the man with the crow. “Who are you?”

Chapter 23

The convoyof SUVs pulled up outside a high-rise on Madison Avenue, on the Upper East Side. Their dark tinted windows drew the eyes of the crowd navigating the busy boulevard.

Mae stepped out of the second vehicle with Nikolai, the clamor of traffic and chatter around them sounding oddly surreal to her ears after everything that had just happened at the cemetery in Ridgewood. Violet and Miles emerged from the SUV behind them. Unease flitted through her as she studied the suited figures who surrounded the four of them, a vanguard fit for a king.

Or a queen.

Mae grimaced at that thought. She still hadn’t gotten over the fact that she was meant to be some kind of magic sovereign. The curious stares from the people on the sidewalk burned her face as they were escorted toward the entrance of the cream stone building towering above them.

She wanted nothing more than to crawl into a hole in the ground right now.

Her gaze moved to the fox walking beside her, invisible to all but those who possessed magic in their souls. Brimstone had woken up on the drive here. So far, the fox had remained silent, as if he were waiting for the right occasion to answer the dozens of questions storming her mind.

Mae stole a look at the other figure of mystery next to her. Nikolai Stanisic had introduced himself and his crow familiar Alastair moments before the four SUVs had pulled up outside the rear cemetery gates in response to Violet’s call to the New York coven.

He didn’t deny it when I asked him if he was truly the Sorcerer King’s son. But he wouldn’t tell me more either.Mae chewed her lip.It’s a good thing Ryu isn’t here. He’s totally her type.

She ignored the wry voice inside her head that told her he was very much her type too.

An expectant silence fell in the lobby when they entered it. Mae found herself the focus of dozens of awestruck stares.

“Better get used to it,” Violet told her wryly. “You are the famed Witch Queen every magic user learns about when they’re growing up.”

“Great,” Mae muttered. “Does that mean I get some kind of rider?”

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