Page 96 of Rites of Passage

“No!” Alicia snarled somewhere behind Mae. “You don’t stand a chance against him!”

“Let me go!” Vlad bellowed, voice full of rage.

“Stay back, you fool!” Nikolai barked at the incubus.

Fear sent black spots dancing across Mae’s vision.

Barquiel’s voice reached her dimly through the blood pounding ferociously in her ears. “Thanks for coming.”

The demon’s tone was full of grudging relief.

Mae choked for air where her face remained pressed into the shattered rock. Every muscle in her body froze when the man behind her spoke.

“I did not think you would need me, Barquiel.”

CHAPTER41

Ice skitteredthrough Mae’s nerve endings. Na Ri’s presence filled her consciousness with her next tortured breath. She knew instinctively from the fury saturating the soul of her first incarnation that the man who held her in his grip was the Sorcerer King.

Hellreaver and Brimstone attacked her assailant.

Black magic throbbed across the crypt, the air so dense with evil Mae could barely get oxygen into her starving lungs. Horror dulled her mind when she heard the fox yelp and the weapon whine out of sight. She dug her nails into her palms and called out to them.

Together!

Brimstone and Hellreaver heeded her command. Fire rushed through her veins from the bond that connected them. Her magic core detonated.

The spell left her on a snarl. “Wind Fury!”

The storm that swept the catacombs brought debris down onto their heads.

Vedran’s hold loosened slightly.

It was all the breathing space Mae needed. “Devour!”

The wall she was pressed against crumbled as the spell consumed the rock, giving her leeway to move. She twisted around, body wrapped in a thick, crimson haze.

“Eclipse!”

A black hole detonated near the ceiling. Screams sounded from the Dark Council as they were dragged relentlessly up into it, bodies lifting off the ground even as they tried to cling to the floor. The demons followed, howling and screeching. Abraham, Raven, Derrick, and the others stayed put, eyes wide.

Mae had perfected the spell so it would focus on only those she deemed her enemies.

Her heart knocked against her ribs as she met the cold, blue gaze of the man who wanted to rule the world of magic. She could see where Nikolai had inherited his looks from.

Vedran Borojevic was handsome as sin and barely looked old enough to have two grown sons.

She swallowed, bitterness turning her mouth to ash.

Not just two. He killed eighteen of them during theTrial of Bloodand God knows how many before that. He’s a monster!

The Sorcerer King appeared remarkably calm considering what was above his head. Mae’s pulse stuttered at the realizationEclipsewasn’t having any effect on him.

He cocked his head to the side, his stare one of a scientist watching a lab rat. “Did you know there’s a spell that allows a magic user to increase the density of their body to the extent that nothing can move them?”

Alarm twisted Mae’s insides.Shit!

Vedran sighed. “Let’s end this.” He lifted a hand lazily, as if he didn’t really want to be there. “Contain.”

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