Page 16 of Midnight Witch

Brimstone snarled.

The harpy fell to the floor under the sheer force of his demonic influence. An angry squawk left her. Her feathers trembled as she tried to fight his dominance.

“I—I apologize profusely, my queen!” Mendes mumbled. “I don’t know what’s come over her.”

Sweat beaded his brow as he picked up the eagle and cradled her to his chest, his face ashen. He winced when she scratched him with her claws. The harpy glowered at Brimstone.

Mae stared.Does he not have control over her?

Brimstone cocked his head, equally puzzled.It seems not.

The hairs rose on Mae’s nape before she could make sense of the fear she’d just glimpsed in Mendes’s eyes. Brimstone straightened, ears pricking to and fro. Hellreaver growled and transformed before coming to a defensive hover in front of her.

Nikolai tensed.

Vlad glanced at her, his expression alert. “Mae?”

The sorcerer and the incubus drew sharp breaths when they finally perceived the vile pressure thickening the air in the ballroom. Agitated murmurs broke out amongst the witches and sorcerers attending the reception as they too detected the change in the atmosphere.

“What is that?” Cortes asked, his wary gaze sweeping the hall for an enemy they could not yet see.

Mae clenched her jaw. “It’s the power of Hell.”

Bryony and Abraham exchanged a worried glance.

White magic flared on Nikolai’s fingertips and in Alastair’s eyes. The sorcerer’s watch shifted into a spear.

A crimson aura distorted the air around Vlad. “Is it Barquiel?”

The diamond studs in his ears dropped into his hands and morphed into dark swords brimming with demonic light.

“I don’t know. But it’s a portal for sure.” Mae’s pulse raced as she scanned the ballroom and the atrium, trying to gauge where it might open. “We should get everyone out of here,” she told Bryony grimly.

The witch nodded stiffly and headed for the center of the noisy ballroom with Abraham.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have an emergency,” Bryony said calmly above the restless brouhaha. “We would be grateful if you could leave the reception hall in an orderly fashion.”

The Chateau Monteville’s event manager approached her and Abraham with a confused frown. His staff similarly exchanged puzzled glances where they still circulated around the hall.

Movement had Mae’s gaze jerking to the right. Shadows were pooling at the east end of the ballroom. Valentina Flores and her coven unleashed their magic as they observed the corrupt phenomenon with narrowed eyes. Cold fingers danced down Mae’s spine as the acrid smell of sulfur coiled around the hall.

Too late!

Brimstone swelled into his nine-tailed demonic spirit form, his giant head knocking aside the branches of palm trees and chandeliers. Shocked cries sounded from the covens who had yet to witness his true appearance.

I smell a lot of hellbeasts,Hellreaver warned.

I do too, the fox rumbled.

His vibrating tails made the air hum, the crimson aura dancing on his fur pulsing through the bond that linked them.

Twin spheres of Moon Magic and white magic exploded above Nikolai’s fingers. He looked over at Mae, a muscle jumping in his cheek. “This is probably what happened under your apartment.”

Vlad glanced between them with narrowed eyes.

“What happened under her apartment?” he asked the sorcerer.

“A group of hellbeasts turned up at the movie theater and attacked civilians. They weren’t much of a challenge.”

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