Page 40 of Midnight Witch

Vlad cursed. A muscle twitched in Cortes’s cheek.

Mrs. Son-Ha’s grim voice made them all jump. “I hate to rain on what is already a shitty parade, but I’m afraid I have more bad news.”

The old woman picked up the TV remote and turned up the volume.

Mae’s breath stuttered when she saw her mugshot plastered across the screen. The voice of the newscaster registered dully in her ears above the blood pounding inside her skull.

“—terrorist behind the attack at the Paradise multiplex theater in Manhattan earlier this week and the Chateau Monteville on Friday night has been identified as one Hana Mae Jin. Her last known whereabouts are reported as Madison Avenue, late last night. Her hostage, Nikolai Stanisic, was also spotted at the time. It has emerged that Jin is behind other vicious attacks that have taken place in and around the city since summer. Be aware that Jin is deemed armed and dangerous and must not be approached under any circumstances. Please call the special number on the screen if you catch sight of her or Mr. Stanisic—”

Mrs. Son-Ha muted the volume.

Vlad jumped to his feet, his hands fisting at his sides. “What the hell?!”

Bile flooded the back of Mae’s throat as a series of blurry witness videos started playing on the TV. They showed her attacking people at various locations. The ones from the hotel had her cutting people down indiscriminately with Hellreaver, her face unrecognizable in its rage.

Nikolai scowled. “Shit! Those fuckers even made fake clips!”

Violet scrolled through her phone.

“This is all over social media,” she reported in a tight voice.

Cortes’s voice rang coldly in the fraught silence. “Divide and conquer.” He frowned at Mae. “Not only have they isolated you from your friends and allies, they’ve just made you the number one fugitive in the country.” He paused. “This is gonna make it harder for you to move around.”

Mae broke out in a cold sweat.

The shock and grief of the last day crashed over her all over again, a wave of darkness that threatened to swallow her whole. Brimstone whined and propped his front paws on her lap. He pressed his forehead to hers, his magic and demonic energy resonating with her own as he tried to comfort her. Hellreaver wormed his way into her arms, his blades vibrating.

Mae closed her eyes and hugged her weapon and familiar.

Despair turned to anger. Heat flared inside her. She gritted her teeth and fought back the explosion of wrath that threatened to burst from her core, knowing it would likely blast the room apart. Glass rattled around her.

“Mae!” Nikolai warned.

Mae blinked her eyes open. The air had turned crimson with her power.

Mrs. Son-Ha glared at her accusingly from near the ceiling, where she and Dexter levitated. Cortes grimaced as he clung upside down to the table. Violet and Miles’s knuckles were white where they’d grasped the refrigerator, their bodies halfway out of their chairs.

Only Vlad and Nikolai still had their feet on the ground, barely at that.

Mae shuddered. It took all her will power to clamp down on her emotions.

The red haze faded.

Dexter tumbled into the sink with an alarmed yip as the gravity in the room returned to normal.

CHAPTER18

The sun shiningdown upon the East Coast seemed to mock Mae as Vlad’s Bentley barreled up the highway. They were on their way to Marblehead Neck.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, princess?” Vlad had asked when she’d suggested they return to the scene of the incident that had triggered the mirage spell.

“I want to see if I can find a trace of that magic,” Mae had replied grimly. “Besides, I doubt the Dark Council are expecting us to go there.”

“How about you let me take over?” Nikolai sneered presently at the incubus from the back seat. “You drive like an old lady.”

Vlad narrowed his eyes at the sorcerer in the rearview mirror. “It’s my car, asshole. And we don’t exactly want to attract the attention of highway patrol, hence why I’m keeping to the speed limit.”

Nikolai scoffed. “You mean, it’s theBlack Devils’car.”

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