Page 24 of Rites of Passage

The air trembled as the tempest sucked at the ghouls, dragging them across the ground and lifting them off their feet. The monsters shrieked and fought the pull of the magic storm, to no avail.

“Now!” Mae barked at Nikolai.

He dropped to one knee, pressed his hand against the floorboards, and started chanting an incantation. Sweat beaded his forehead as the words fell from his lips. A ghoul lunged out of the violent squalls and clawed at his arm. Alastair squawked in outrage as red lines bloomed on Nikolai’s flesh. The sorcerer gritted his teeth, his spell never faltering even as he bled.

Mae scowled and cast Hellreaver across the room. The weapon sliced the ghoul’s arm off clean at the wrist. The monster hissed and fell back. Hellreaver twisted around and hovered defensively in front of the sorcerer.

A circle formed under the tornado holding the ghouls prisoner, white lines that flickered before solidifying. The creatures screamed, their terror evident as they grasped their impending fate.

The sound made Mae’s ears throb.

A dazzling pillar exploded above the magic ring, Nikolai’s power so blinding she had to shield her eyes. She endedWind Fury, her pulse pounding.

There was no need for her spell anymore.

The ghouls’ uncanny screeches tore the air as they started disintegrating, their bodies breaking into dark blobs that hissed and evaporated inside the blazing column of light. They were gone in less than a minute, the only signs they were ever there the blood splashed across the apartment and the fading reek of their presence.

A noise came from behind Mae. She whirled around where she hovered in mid-air, crimson magic bursting into life at her fingertips.

A ghoul had hidden inside a closet and was attempting to sneak out of the kitchen through a broken window. His path had unfortunately crossed that of an incubus with a raging bloodlust.

Vlad’s eyes glowed a pure vermilion as he climbed inside the apartment and grabbed the creature by the throat. He snapped the ghoul’s neck and threw him at Tarang, his face icy. The tiger caught the monster and ripped out his throat. Blood splashed onto Vlad’s trousers. The incubus was oblivious to the stains, his hot gaze watching until the monster grew still.

Tarang dropped the creature’s now human remains and retched up a gory chunk of tissue, stringy flesh and bone dangling from his jaws. He whined and pawed at his tongue. Concern darkened Vlad’s eyes as he landed beside his familiar.

“Tarang?!”

“It’s alright,” Brimstone reassured. “They just taste nasty.”

The fox came over and rubbed a tail against the tiger’s flank. Tarang relaxed.

Vlad straightened and glared at Nikolai. “What the hell happened? I saw a white beam above the building when I was driving here, then all the lights went out.”

Mae peered out the closest window. The road was dark. In fact, the entire block was pitch black. “Shit. Bryony is gonna kill us.”

Not if that Abraham guy gets to us first,Hellreaver said glumly.That sorcerer has anger management issues.

Brimstone huffed in agreement.

Nikolai joined Mae and stared out into the night, his face pale.

“This didn’t happen at the facility on Staten Island.”

A worried sound left Alastair. The crow flew down onto the windowsill.

Mae’s stomach fluttered nervously as she observed Nikolai’s pinched expression and his familiar’s dull feathers.

“Maybe it’s because that place was built by the army?” she suggested.

“Or it could be your white magic gets stronger the more you use it,” Vlad murmured.

She hadn’t thought of that.

Mae pursed her lips. “He’s got a point. You did feel more powerful tonight.”

Nikolai’s eyes flared. Color stained his cheekbones. Brimstone snickered. Tarang joined in.

“Are you guys done?!” Mae snapped at the familiars, face flushing.

---