Page 90 of Of Flames and Crows

His aunt and the sorcerer hesitated, blood dripping from the wounds Oscar had inflicted upon them with his blade, their familiars’ eyes aglow with Moon Magic.

“Trust me,” Nikolai said. “I’ve got this.”

Marlena blinked at what she read on his face. She dipped her head and placed a warning hand on Julius’s arm.

Oscar sneered. “You think you can fight me on your own?!”

Nikolai met his brother’s gaze steadily. “IknowI can.”

He was surprised at how calm he felt. Maybe it was because his core felt stable. More stable than it had been in weeks. Months even.

It seemed going to the nexus had granted him the power to balance the three types of magic now inhabiting his body. And not just that.

He noted Oscar’s wounds and those of his lynx. “I see Vlad managed to do some damage. Shame he couldn’t finish the job.”

“Hey, don’t think I didn’t hear that, asshole!” the incubus shouted from across the way.

Nikolai shot a mocking smile at him. His gaze found Cortes where the man stood beside the incubus. Surprise jolted him when he registered who was lying at the Colombian’s feet.

Raya Medeiros stared sightlessly back at him from across the arena, her body lying limply in an expanding, crimson pool.

“Our father won’t be happy about that,” Nikolai murmured.

Oscar’s head snapped around as he followed his gaze. His eyes rounded. An outraged roar left his throat. Drabek screeched.

Corruption surged in the lynx’s eyes and around Oscar.

Nikolai was ready for the attack. Heat streamed through his and Alastair’s cores, their blended magic flowing smoothly in their veins.

“Moon Fire.”

Oscar gasped as a violent surge of pale flames wrapped around him and Drabek and lifted them into the air. He cursed, the black orbs hovering above his hands rapidly absorbed by the glittering currents.

An explosion boomed across the arena. Nikolai looked over to where the sound had come from.

Barquiel had smashed into the ground of the amphitheater. A bellow of pure wrath escaped the demon as he rose, debris falling from his wings.

Mae’s figure painted a red streak in the air as she zoomed toward him at supersonic speed. Her fist struck his jaw with enough force to make the air ripple and drive Violet, Miles, and Klara several feet across the ground behind their barrier.

Ludmila waved her cane with a triumphant smile where she leaned against Brimstone’s leg. “Oh, well done!”

Oscar’s voice reached Nikolai.

“Impossible!” the sorcerer snarled. “How is she managing to do that?!”

Nikolai’s heart lightened as he watched Mae pummel Barquiel, the demon’s blood coating her fists with thick, dark smears. “She and I got a boost of magic.”

Oscar glowered. “What do you mean?!”

Nikolai bared his teeth in a cold smile. “Why don’t I show you?”

Hellfire Magic flared in his belly. It sparked through his bloodstream and poured out of his skin. Alastair’s wings detonated with flames where he gripped his shoulder.

Oscar blanched. “That’s—!”

The spell emerged from the new repertoire of conjurations Nikolai seemed to have absorbed into his mind when he had been recovering in the nexus.

“Hell Flare.”

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