Page 44 of The Darkest Night

“Whatever you’re planning to do, you better do it soon!” Violet warned.

Sweat beaded Nikolai’s forehead as he finished drawing the complex symbols linking three circles. He dropped on one knee just as the devil struck the barrier again, Oscar and the Dark Council helping with their dark spell bombs.

A crack appeared in the shield.

“Shit!” Miles cursed. “Hurry!”

The Latin incantation left Nikolai’s lips in a smooth flow, the words a means for him to focus his and Alastair’s magic in a new way. Heat bloomed inside him as power poured out of their souls and into the runes. Nikolai’s vision flickered, his consciousness wavering as all his strength was sucked out of him.

Dammit! I was right. We don’t have enough magic!

Alastair lurched weakly on his shoulder.

Someone steadied them both. The hand that grasped Nikolai’s shoulder scorched his skin through his shirt, the strength of the Witch Queen’s magic pulsing weakly through him. He looked up and saw the steely resolve in Mae and Brimstone’s eyes as they glowered at Oscar and the devil.

Their power was all Nikolai and Alastair needed to complete the spell. The runes ignited, filling the space inside the barrier with blinding light.

A section of the shield caved in under their enemy’s next strike.

Chapter 22

Wind roared,currents of black magic pouring through the breach in the shield to engulf those inside.

They crashed into an expanding crimson orb.

Mae shuddered, the air clear enough to breathe once more. She inhaled raggedly, her attention focused on stopping the red-haired man and the devil’s advance, the sphere that had left her hands whining as it blocked their attack.

Whatever the man with the crow had done had worked. She could feel magic flowing freely through her veins once more. The scarlet aura around Brimstone throbbed as he growled, his hairs rising and his power echoing her heartbeat.

The devil screamed in fury. Black lightning pierced the crimson sphere and struck the ground at Mae’s feet. She startled as clods of dirt exploded around her. The magic orb wavered.

Violet and Miles deflected the deadly bolts that slipped through her defense with their magic. The corrupt spell bombs detonated over the trees next to them, scorching the branches and turning the leaves to ash.

“Center your magic!” the man with the crow told Mae. He was on his feet and at her side, his hand supporting her arm. He met her panicked stare. “You need the power of three to do this!”

“What do you mean?” Mae yelled, heart slamming against her ribs.

Violet shot up to engage a witch and a sorcerer, her arming sword and magic flashing through the air as she blocked their attacks. “Use your weapon, Mae!”

Mae looked wildly at the man with the crow. “How?!”

He clenched his jaw, his knuckles whitening on his spear. His brother was headed for them, murder in his gray eyes.

“Say its name, Mae. Look inside yourself and find the answer!”

He moved to block the sorcerer.

Movement ahead drew Mae’s startled gaze. The devil was coming for her, pupils full of the fires of Hell and broadsword carving a lazy line in the dirt, an insane smile splitting his mouth.

Shit!

Mae swallowed and clutched the pentagram pendant. She couldn’t let fear overpower her.

Her pulse thumped in her ears as she closed her eyes and focused inward, to the source of the magic inside her. Darkness filled her mind. Deep within it, as if at the bottom of a vast, inky well, something pulsed faintly.

Mae gritted her teeth.Help me!

A weight pressed against her leg. It was Brimstone. His presence warmed her cold flesh.

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