Page 25 of Rites of Passage

Vlad muttered something under his breath. He indicated what was left of the monster. “Whatisthat?”

“Itwasa ghoul,” Nikolai said curtly.

He crossed the room, white light blooming at his fingertips.

“Wait.” Mae went over to them, the disquiet she’d experienced during the fight hardening into a conviction that chilled her to the bone. “Don’t destroy the body.”

Nikolai gave her a puzzled look. “Why not?”

“We need to analyze it.” She squatted next to the corpse and carefully peeled the dead man’s eyelids open. “Didn’t you feel it? When we were fighting them just now?”

“Feel what?” Nikolai asked.

“They’re not normal.”

The sorcerer frowned. “Of course they’re not normal. They’re ghouls.”

Mae shook her head. “I don’t mean what they are. It’s what I sensed inside them.”

Nikolai and Vlad’s faces grew tight.

“What did you sense?” Vlad asked stiffly.

Mae hesitated. “Magic.”

Surprise rounded their pupils.

“Mae is right,” Brimstone said. “I detected it too. It was faint but it was there.”

Nikolai blinked. “Wait. Is that why I can see their aura?”

Lines creased Vlad’s brow. “You saw it too?”

Mae’s pulse quickened. “You mean, you guys picked up those ghouls’ auras?!”

Nikolai dipped his chin, a muscle twitching in his jawline. “I asked the coven people who were at the facility today if they’d noticed it and none of them had. Alicia was the only other person who saw it.”

Mae chewed her lip.Is it because they’re a different type of demon? But then, why is it only these two who can—

I believe your connection with these two men is changing their magic cores,Brimstone said gravely.

Surprise jolted Mae.What?!

It’s not necessarily a bad thing,the fox mused.If anything, they should count it as a blessing. It means your soul has recognized them as potential mates. Speaking of magic,thisappears to contain one such object.

Brimstone gagged and retched, his throat working convulsively.

Nikolai’s jacket fell from his jaws amidst thick flecks of drool.

“I don’t think you can dry clean that,” Vlad told the sorcerer dully. He squinted at Mae. “What happened to your face?”

CHAPTER14

Agnes Keevan bither lip as she observed the group at the foot of her infirmary bed.

“Are you—?” She stopped and swallowed, her voice quavering. “Are you here to arrest me?”

Gregory Keevan’s fingers tightened on his sister’s knuckles, his face pale. Her dog familiar huffed worriedly by his side.

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