Page 82 of Of Flames and Crows

“Barquiel draws close,” the fox growled.

Mae and Nikolai stiffened. Dread quickened Roman’s pulse.

Julius rushed inside the arena. “We have incoming! It’s the Dark Council!”

“Shit.” Violet unleashed her blade, her rabbit’s eyes flashing purple. “We cannot catch a break!”

“We’ll erect a barrier around the building and try and keep them out for as long as we can!” Julius said.

“Stay here and watch over them with Ludmila!” Vlad told Violet and Miles.

He looked longingly at Mae before disappearing after Julius.

Mae frowned.

“We have to go,” she said in a brittle voice.

Roman clenched his jaw and nodded. He led the way to the fissure in the middle of the training ground. It was where Filomena had appeared from the nexus. Mae and Nikolai took up position over the crack and locked hands.

Brimstone whined softly. “Be well, my witch.”

He lowered his head and carefully licked Mae’s face.

She stroked his cheek, her eyes bright with emotion. “I’ll be back soon.”

They’d decided the fox should stay up top to tether Mae’s core to the surface in case something went wrong. Hellreaver and Alastair would be going into the nexus with her and Nikolai.

Roman knelt in front of them, Filomena on his shoulder. Heat flared through his belly and across their bond as he reached for his Fire Magic. He took a deep breath, pressed his hands to the ground, and sought out the nexus.

It only took a couple of heartbeats to find it.I can’t believe it was beneath this building all along.

White magic infused his bloodstream as he grasped a bundle of ley lines close to it. He gritted his teeth. He had never seen the nexus flicker so agitatedly before.

It must be fighting the anomaly within it!

“Get ready,” Roman warned Mae and Nikolai.

They pressed their fingers to his shoulders.

“Transmigrate!” he barked.

Whiteness bloomed around the witch and the sorcerer as the spell took form. They shrank and vanished in a dazzling flash that smelled of ozone.

* * *

Explosions rockedthe island as the Dark Council started attacking the mansion. Vlad and Cortes came out into the exposed foyer of the Council of the Moon. The incubus’s pulse raced.

Scores of black-magic sorcerers and witches levitated within dark spheres beyond the pale barrier enclosing the remains of the mansion. He ground his teeth.

He couldn’t see Barquiel or Oscar.

Where are those bastards?!

Marlena and Klara’s eyes glowed fiercely while they powered the Moon Magic shield deflecting the corrupt orbs being aimed at the building, their familiars and the rest of their council aiding them. Julius and several others protected them with a secondary barrier.

Movement up ahead caught Vlad’s gaze. He cursed when he saw a couple of black-magic sorcerers appear inside the barrier.

“I can sense Raya’s magic.” Cortes scowled. “She must be warping them through!”

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