Page 48 of Midnight Witch

She was vaguely conscious of Rose approaching as she drew onSoul Shield. A vile stench flooded her nostrils when the demon leaned down and brought her lips to her ear.

“Why, this is just a spell that will lock your magic and that endless grimoire inside your head.” Rose straightened a little and stared at Mae, her face inches from hers. Glee brightened her gray eyes, the pupils in the center crimson pools of triumph and hate. “Once it’s done, I will carve out your brain and take it back to the Dark Council. Vedran and Dietrich will spend weeks examining every inch of your dead flesh.” A crazed chuckle left her throat. “Why, I might even toss your remains in Hell so your poor father can find you and grieve your second passing.”

Her words etched themselves in Mae’s mind in violent shades of red. Mae grimaced and arched as Valentina’s spell scraped her consciousness, the pain so fierce she was surprised she hadn’t screamed yet. She blinked and panted. “Bar…quiel?!”

Rose leaned in, curiosity mixing with loathing. “Yes?”

Mae swallowed convulsively and moved even closer. “I’m going to cut your vile heart out of your chest and hand it to you before this war is over!”

The conjuration she’d been working on since she entered the facility solidified inside her core, the divine energy she’d absorbed from Jared’s weapon the last piece she’d needed to complete it.

“SUMMON!” Mae growled.

Crimson detonated around her. Valentina cried out, the silent explosion of power lifting her off her feet and sending her flying across the magic circles and into Bryony and Abraham.

Barquiel jumped back and shifted into his true form.

The air inside the chamber trembled. Hellreaver whooshed into view and blocked the demon’s claws as they sailed toward Mae’s heart, an unholy sound of rage erupting from his jagged blades.

Brimstone materialized in his full guise, his eyes glowing with fury and his vibrating tails sending plaster dust raining around them. He sank his teeth into Barquiel’s wing and cast him violently aside.

Bryony and Abraham stared in horror at the demon where he’d smashed into a wall. Brimstone’s shadow fell upon them. They leaned back in alarm when the fox lowered his massive head toward them.

“I do not care that you were once our friends!” he growled, flecks of drool dripping from his jaws and splashing at their feet. “If you ever hurt my witch again, I will end you myself!”

The New York coven witch and sorcerer blanched. Penley and Shiloh trembled next to them.

A burst of powerful black magic fluttered across Mae’s skin.

Dread twisted her stomach.

It was coming from where Nikolai was.

She destroyed the fetters binding her to the floor and rose inside a red sphere of power, Brimstone and Hellreaver at her side.

* * *

“Where’s Alastair?”Nikolai asked coldly.

“Your familiar is safe, my liege,” one of the New York coven members guarding him replied awkwardly. “He’s in a room at the end of the corridor.” His troubled gaze darted to Vlad. “Along with the, er, tiger.”

The incubus observed the sorcerer who’d spoken with narrowed eyes from where he sat at the opposite end of the conference table from Nikolai. Neither of them had been cuffed after being detained outside Boston. The only one who’d been treated like a criminal had been Mae, the disgust and hatred directed at her almost palpable as she was bundled into the back of an armored van with a bunch of sorcerers and witches. Though they hadn’t seen her since being brought to the facility, they knew she was close.

Soul Shieldwas active inside both of them, its power warming their bodies.

Nikolai studied the witches and sorcerers guarding the exits. It was clear from the glances they cast his way when they thought he wasn’t looking that they held him in high regard, even though they believed he was not in his right mind right now. He wondered if they would remember their misbegotten actions when the mirage magic lifted.

From what Cortes had described and Mrs. Son-Ha had inferred, it seemed the spell eventually faded after the person who unleashed it achieved their goals. In the case of the Dark Council, that would be after they’d chained him to their side and killed Mae.

Bitterness churned Nikolai’s stomach.

Even if my father and Barquiel’s scheme doesn’t succeed, the New York coven may never recover from this. Betraying Mae is something they won’t easily forgive themselves for.

“Just so you know, Tarang needs three set meals a day,” Vlad told their guards. “I wouldn’t want one of your friends to become an accidental snack, so you better make sure you feed him on time. He likes steak.”

The sorcerers and witches frowned at the incubus.

Nikolai suspected the only reason Vlad wasn’t chained up in a cell right now was because theBlack Devilsstill carried influence in their altered memories.

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