Page 34 of Rites of Passage

Mae called on her magic and hardened her skin a second before the tendrils reached her flesh. The blob stilled when it sensed the intangible barrier now protecting her body. It sniffed the air with its threads and started crawling up her leg, leaving greasy trails on her jeans. Bile flooded the back of her throat.

Power thrummed around Vlad and Nikolai as they closed the distance to her, their familiars at their side and their weapons in hand. Brimstone got there first, the fox reaching her in a single spring.

He skidded across the tile floor, sank his teeth into the squirming mass, and tugged.

It’s going for your soul magic!

Hellreaver transformed and dropped, the weapon’s blades slashing and chomping on the corrupt shape. The thing stretched and recoiled from the fox and the weapon’s claws and teeth, but did not tear.

Yellow magic erupted on Abraham’s fingertips and in his owl’s eyes.

“Sound the alarm!” he barked at the medical witch.

The woman nodded jerkily and hit the panic button on the wall.

Brimstone snarled in frustration. His body swelled into his full nine-tailed form, his giant shape towering above all of them and his massive head brushing the ceiling.

The medical witch gasped.

Brimstone doubled down on his efforts to rip the throbbing entity from Mae, Hellreaver assisting him with renewed tenacity. Vlad and Nikolai joined them, swords and spear arcing repeatedly through the air.

Their efforts proved fruitless.

Fear had Mae’s heart slamming against her ribs. She knew the siren blaring through the building would soon bring reinforcements. She also knew it would be too late to stop whatever this thing was from doing what it intended.

Understanding dawned in a flash that made her draw a sharp breath. Dread formed a heavy pit in her stomach.

“It’s looking for another host!”

“What?!”Nikolai snarled, horrified.

Mae discarded her face shield and stripped off her gloves. Magic flooded her bloodstream, bringing a rush of heat to her skin.

A spell. I need a spell that can protect our magic cores until we can trap whatever the heck this is!

CHAPTER17

A susurration driftedthrough Mae’s mind above the clamor echoing in her ears. She froze. Letters rose from her subconscious, forming words of power.

It was Na Ri who whispered them to her.

Mae inhaled, raised her hand, and shouted out the first part of the incantation. “Soul Shield!”

Fire sparked from the points of power in her heart and her belly. It ignited her flesh and bones and sizzled through her veins, a tide of pure magic. A crimson sphere exploded in the middle of the room, bathing everything in a red light. Dazzling, pale lines bloomed into life on the translucent surface, forming complex runes that she could feel more than read.

Mae’s heart lurched.That’s white magic!

She exchanged a stunned look with Nikolai.

“What is that?!” Abraham yelled, gaze locked on the pulsing globe.

Mae looked at the black shape on her leg. The thing had stilled, as if it sensed danger. It started moving again, the speed of its ascent confirming what she’d begun to suspect. She scowled.

I knew it! Agnes was right! This thing is sentient!

It is?!Brimstone ground out.

Let me eat it!Hellreaver growled.

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