Page 6 of Rites of Passage

Hellreaver tittered, the voices of the thousand demons who inhabited the weapon echoing in her head.

A headache throbbed between Mae’s temples. She was contemplating forcibly removing Millie from the room with magic when one of Wang Ho-Nam’s nephews jumped to his feet, yelled out some choice curse words, and threw a box of incense across the aisle.

It hit Jang-Mi in the head. The widow stopped mid-wail, her eyes rounding with shocked disbelief.

Kyo Seung sucked in air, sheer unladylike delight flashing in her pupils for an instant. Mrs. Son-Ha’s jaw dropped open. Yoo-Mi let out a strangled sound. Bianca almost dropped her tablet.

A breathless stillness descended upon the hall.

“Great,” Mae mumbled glumly. “Just great.”

Loud yells exploded as the funeral descended into chaos, the Ho-Nams and the Ye’uns launching themselves across the room to attack one another.

Brimstone chortled.

CHAPTER5

Bryony turnedfrom where she’d been looking out over Central Park in the official meeting chambers of the coven, at the top of the high rise that housed its headquarters on Madison Avenue. The older witch did a double take when she saw Mae.

“What the devil happened to your face?!”

Mae winced slightly as she unhooked the chin strap of her helmet. She took it off, ran a hand through her hair, and blew out a sigh.

“I got punched by a widow.”

Her black eye was already healing, courtesy of her magic. The one Violet had inflicted on Wang Ho-Nam’s nephew when she’d inadvertently elbowed him in the face after jumping into the fray would not do so for days. Neither would the injuries meted out to the more challenging guests by the sorcerers and witch guarding her. As for the vicious back-kicks Brimstone had delivered to several of the attendees’ legs while remaining invisible to their confused gazes, Mae suspected their visits to the hospital would reveal hairline fractures. She grimaced.

It’s a good thing no one called the cops. I have Mrs. Son-Ha to thank for that.

It was the old woman who had finally brought the warring families to their senses and halted the fracas, her shrill voice piercing the clamor like some kind of godly herald. She’d barked out a tirade at Kyo Seung and Jang-Mi and marched the two matriarchs around the parlor to calm down frazzled nerves. She’d still been lecturing the widows when Mae left, having safely cremated Wang Ho-Nam and left Bianca in charge of dealing with the rest of the funeral arrangements.

Brimstone bristled at her side, the aura of magic around him pulsing dangerously. He finally let loose and transformed into his original form, his colossal head sending a chandelier swaying before he lowered it. A wind swept across the room as his nine tails vibrated with anger.

“How dare they strike you?! You should have let me bite their hands off!”

He gnashed his teeth, his pupils a bright vermilion.

“Calm down.” Mae patted his flank, his fur hot under her touch. “It was an accident. No one was thinking straight. Besides, you can’t just go around biting people’s hands off.” She stilled when she clocked the fox’s mutinous moue. “Promise me you’ll ask for my permission before you even contemplate doing something that crazy.”

Brimstone turned his back to her and plopped his bottom on the marble floor, his giant frame radiating defiance and his tails polishing the floor in irritated sweeps.

Mae bit her lip. It was hard to keep a straight face when a fifteen-foot-tall demonic fox was pouting at you.

“Brim?”

The fox growled at her over his shoulder. “You are my witch! I will defend you with my life!”

Hellreaver grumbled in agreement.

“Look, I appreciate the sentiment. I truly do. But beating the hell out of a septuagenarian isn’t exactly good for my reputation.”

Bryony arched an eyebrow. “A septuagenarian did this to you?”

“She has a mean left hook.”

A shudder raced down Mae’s spine.People are going to be talking about this funeral for decades.

Footsteps sounded outside the doors. Miles and Violet came in, Millie hanging limply around her sorcerer’s neck. The snake had received an earful from Miles while they’d still been at the funeral home and looked appropriately repentant. Trixie made comforting sounds at her friend from her perch on Violet’s shoulder.

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