Page 90 of Rites of Passage

Mae knitted her brow, equally confused.

Because blood doesn’t lie, Brimstone growled.

Her breath locked in her lungs at the fox’s words. The factor that she had overlooked burst to the forefront of her mind like a firework.

Brimstone’s right!

Her stunned gaze found Nikolai, the truth sinking into her consciousness sending her heart thundering against her ribs. “You’re the only one who can break through Barquiel’s portal!”

The sorcerer’s eyes widened. “What?”

“TheBook of Lighthas white magic. And you’re the strongest white magic user I know!” Conviction brought a fierce expression to her face. “I can useRevealto try and connect you to it. But you’ll have to use a ley line to find its physical location beyond that barrier!”

CHAPTER38

The malodorous miasmaof rotting meat fouled the dry air of the catacombs.

Screams bounced off the rock walls as the sorcerers and witches strapped to the camp beds writhed and convulsed, the black-magic and demon-DNA modified virus now carrying Mae’s blood searing their veins and rewriting their magic cores and will.

Oscar watched with bated breath as Barquiel acted as a physical conduit to Hell, the gateway he’d opened channeling the ghouls he’d recruited to possess the magic users.

The Dark Council kept their distance, wary gazes locked on the gruesome shapes and ochre eyes of the monsters materializing out of the portal. Though they’d fought by the side of their demon-infested brethren and quite a few carried fiends in their own souls, ghouls were something else.

The last of the creatures piled out of the hell gate a moment later. They tilted their heads to the side, listened to the silent command Barquiel issued, and moved as one. Their claws clinked on metal as they climbed upon the beds.

One of the Dark Council sorcerers gagged as the monsters invaded the bodies of their intended victims, their shadowy manifestations whooshing inside mouths, eyes, and noses like they were made of black mist.

The men and women stilled, fits abating with an abruptness that sent a chill down Oscar’s spine. Their pupils brightened to yellow. Auras of darkness burst into life above their heads.

Barquiel bared his teeth in satisfaction. Farago smiled triumphantly. This was the first time no one had died during the process of being turned into a ghoul. It seemed Mae’s blood had been the crucial ingredient required to stabilize the virus the Immortal scientist had created.

The straps holding down the possessed prisoners snapped as they sat up. They moved off the camp beds and followed Barquiel docilely as the demon guided them across the catacombs to the altar holding theBook of Light.

Oscar fell into step behind them. Something sparked up ahead, catching his eye for an instant. He frowned faintly.

Did that come from the grimoire?

If Barquiel noticed, he gave no indication of it.

Runes sizzled under Oscar’s feet as he entered the black magic circle he’d drawn out earlier. The ghouls crowded around the dais, oblivious to the complex symbols on the floor.

Their sulfurous eyes stayed locked on the grimoire.

Drabek growled beside Oscar, her irises darkening. An inky aura exploded around the lynx. Power surged through him as the familiar augmented his magic.

He raised his hand and incanted the spell his father had taught him. “Corrupt!”

Shadows filled the crypt. The air hummed with evil.

The ghouls’ new bodies started to distort, losing their material form.

Oscar’s eyes widened. The monsters were dissolving into millions of black threads swarming with Mae’s crimson magic. Though he’d been warned what to expect, it was still shocking to witness.

Only three people knew about the power hidden inside theBook of Lightand how it could be unlocked. Azazel, Barquiel, and the Sorcerer King, the latter’s knowledge passed down by his predecessor.

Oscar clenched his jaw gleefully.And now me, as the future Sorcerer King!

The grimoire shook and rattled as the creatures dove inside it, their insubstantial shapes vanishing through the metal with faint whines. The tome fell silent after the last ghoul was absorbed within it.

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