Page 15 of The Darkest Night

The building trembled as Mae straightened, her body vibrating with a power that threatened to break her bones. She levitated some ten feet in the air, no longer surprised at what she could do.

A single conviction occupied her mind. The devil had to die.

Calm your anger. His death leads to nothing!

“Shut up!” Mae roared at the voice inside her. “This is all your fault!”

A spell came to her mind. She reached for the blaze scorching her insides.

No, Mae! You know not what you—

Mae scowled and raised her hands to the sky. “Eclipse!”

A black orb exploded into existence above her. It expanded rapidly, the currents inside it twisting at a dizzying speed. The air quivered and the clouds drew in.

The rooftop started to crack.

Chunks of asphalt broke free and shot up into the growing void. The devil cursed, clawed talons raising sparks on the blacktop as he was dragged inexorably toward the dark vortex.

One of the nurses came to just as the whirlwind started to lift her off the ground. Her scream jolted Mae out of her daze.

“Stop!” someone yelled behind her.

She looked over her shoulder.

A man with dark hair and eyes had appeared from the direction of the stairs. There was a crow on his shoulder and a bloodstained spear in his hand.

Something underneath his shirt captured her gaze. An object that glowed with the same power surging through her. Mae shivered and turned in mid air. She drifted toward him, unable to resist the call of whatever the item was.

“Undo the spell!” the stranger shouted above the raging wind. His gaze shot past her. “Quick, before it’s too late!”

She twisted around.

The far end of the building was shuddering with violent tremors, the people Rose had been trying to protect clinging grimly to the crumbling asphalt.

Mae’s blood turned to ice.

No!

She took a ragged breath, clenched her jaw, and focused on the power that had overwhelmed her consciousness.

The voice inside her reached her faintly.

Breathe, Mae. Control it!

Her throat hurt as she did just that, her neck so tight she thought her tendons would rupture. She drew air in and out of her lungs with painful gasps. The crimson core inside her resisted for a moment. It fluttered before gradually shrinking.

The fire in her blood abated.

The devil snarled and broke free of the vortex. His crimson pupils flared in the next instant.

The section of the roof he was standing caved under him.

He started to fall, his victim in hand.

“Rose!” Mae bellowed.

Her magic faded as she landed on the ground. She stumbled and fell, scraping her palms raw. She was up in a heartbeat, desperation giving her a final burst of speed.

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