Page 29 of Midnight Witch

Mae swallowed, her mind racing.They believe Nikolai is the next Sorcerer King?!

“It would seem so, my witch,”Brimstone growled. “They appear to have fallen for the Dark Council’s trick.”

“It isn’t a trick,” Mae said between clenched teeth.

“What?” Nikolai mumbled.

She met his confused gaze and that of the fox, her pulse racing. “That strange storm and the wave that washed across the sky when we were in the church? It was some kind of spell. It’s altered their memories of us.” She paused as she recalled how the foyer of the building had looked different. She narrowed her eyes. “And our own to a certain extent.”

Dread darkened his face as the meaning behind her words sank in.

Mae widened her stance and reached for her magic. “Right now, the only people in this building who recall the true reality of our circumstances and our war with the Sorcerer King are the two of us.”

“Shit,” Nikolai mumbled.

I have never heard of such a conjuration, my witch,Hellreaver rumbled.

Brimstone made a troubled sound. “Neither have I.”

Mae’s emotions warred inside her as she observed Bryony and Abraham. On the one hand, she had no option but to defend herself if they kept on attacking her. On the other, she didn’t want to hurt them.

That choice was taken out of her hands when the elevator doors opened. Sorcerers and witches spilled out of the cabin and surrounded them, weapons raised and spell bombs at the ready.

“Do not harm Master Nikolai,” Bryony ordered coldly. “Feel free to take down the demon.”

The coven witches and sorcerers prepared to cast their attacks.

Mae gritted her teeth.Damn it!

Whiteness flared beside her.

“Moon Storm!” Nikolai growled.

The air shivered on the pale wave he unleashed, his magic causing Mae’s core to throb in resonance. Her would-be attackers went flying across the lobby. Bryony and Abraham cursed when they were shoved back some dozen feet behind the defensive barriers they’d raised. Tremors shook the building.

“Let’s get out of here!” Mae snapped.

Nikolai nodded. They bolted for the fire door to their right, Moon Storm keeping their friends-turned-enemies at bay. It opened just as they reached it.

Violet and Miles stepped inside the reception.

Mae’s belly twisted as she stumbled to a halt.No!

“It is alright, my witch,”Brimstone rumbled.“I do not sense malice from them.”

Violet looked past Mae. Purple magic exploded in her hands and in her rabbit familiar Trixie’s eyes.

A muscle ticked in Miles’s cheek. “Looks like we’re just in time.”

Golden spheres bloomed in the sorcerer’s hands. His boa constrictor Millie gave Mae a friendly hiss.

“I’m sorry about this, Aunt Bryony, Abraham.” Violet stepped around Mae and Nikolai and took up a defensive stance, her gaze locked on the New York coven High Priestess and her aide. “But you guys are being misled by a powerful spell right now. Mae is not your enemy.”

Relief stormed through Mae at the witch’s words, leaving her weak. She didn’t know why Violet and Miles were immune to the magic that had affected everyone else, but she was eternally grateful for it. Having to fight her closest friends would have haunted her for a long time.

Bryony’s mouth pressed into a thin line. “I don’t know what you’re doing, Violet, but that woman is—!”

“Don’t waste your breath,” Abraham interrupted nastily. “It seems those two have become that demon’s pawns.”

---