Page 94 of Rites of Passage

CHAPTER40

Vlad wipedblood from his mouth and retreated to Mae’s side, his chest heaving with his pants.

The witch glowered at Barquiel, her breaths coming equally hard and fast. “How the hell did you manage to acquire magic?!”

Surprise jolted the incubus.Damn!Is that what I’ve been picking up from this asshole?!

A continuous growl rumbled out of Brimstone and Tarang where they braced beside them. Crimson pulsed around Hellreaver, the weapon baring his fangs in Mae’s hands.

However much they tried, they couldn’t get past Barquiel’s defense.

Nikolai’s shout reached them across the catacombs. “That’s Vedran’s magic!”

Mae sucked in air. Vlad swore.

A victorious expression washed across Barquiel’s face.

Mae cut her eyes to the Immortal who’d been helping the Dark Council from the shadows. “It’s gotta be him! He must have found a way to infect Barquiel with Vedran’s magic!”

She froze the next instant, the blood draining from her face.

The tension coiling through Vlad tightened like a spring. “What is it?”

Revulsion distorted Mae’s face. “It’s your DNA.” She stared at Barquiel. “The DNA we couldn’t identify in that virus.It’s yours!”

Vlad’s pulse stuttered.

Barquiel smiled viciously. The demon’s left arm flashed with Vlad’s next blink. His hand locked around the scythe curving toward his neck.

“Don’t think I didn’t see you!” Barquiel sneered at Alicia.

The reaper’s orbits blazed with anger, her knuckles blanching on her weapon as she pushed down with all her might. A gasp left her as Barquiel hurled her aside. She flew past them and smashed into the altar, splitting the stone in two.

Vlad deciphered Barquiel’s intention a millisecond before Mae, fear squeezing his heart. He darted in front of the witch and deflected the broadsword arrowing toward her right eye with his diamond blades.

Stone crumbled beneath his feet, Barquiel’s strength making his legs buckle.

Vlad’s lips curled back in a savage grimace.He’s one strong son of a bitch, I’ll grant him that!

He drew on the demonic power that lived in his incubus blood and the magic core his mother had gifted him. Heat scorched his soul. He roared and pushed back, Tarang’s eyes and body exploding with power beside him.

Barquiel swung a hand, talons gleaming. Fire lanced Vlad’s flesh as the demon’s claws scored his chest and punctured his right lung.

Tarang howled in rage. Brimstone chomped down on Barquiel’s wrist. Black magic erupted on the demon’s skin. It swarmed the fox’s jaws. He winced and let go.

Violent tremors shook the catacombs. Cracks tore across the rock walls. Skulls and bones tumbled from cavities.

A red mist filled the crypt.

Mae rose, the power pulsing from her tasting of death and destruction. “Negate!”

Vlad’s ears throbbed, the spell detonating around him with a force that cast people to the ground. Alicia’s arm steadied him as he stumbled. He clamped a hand to his whistling wound and followed the reaper’s gaze to the witch whose magic thickened the very air.

* * *

A murderous feelingchoked Mae’s throat as she stared at the garish wound disfiguring Vlad’s flesh.

“Your spell won’t work against me, witch!” Barquiel jutted his jaw out. “I have the power of the Sorcerer King running through my veins!”

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