Page 52 of Midnight Witch

Nikolai clenched his jaw. “You fucker!” He dropped to one knee and pressed a hand to the floor. “I hope you barf on the way to the nexus!”

“He’s so easy to get a reaction out of,” Vlad remarked to Mae. “You should train him better.”

Mae rolled her eyes. Alicia sighed.

Bryony and Abraham stumbled into view through what remained of the doorway moments after Nikolai found the ley line beneath the facility. Their eyes bulged as they stared at Barquiel.

Bryony reached out a hand to Nikolai. “My liege, please!”

Nikolai ground his teeth and focused on the magic blazing through his and Alastair’s cores. “Get ready!”

“How about I find you guys later?” Alicia shifted into her human form, her expression that of someone who’d just realized something unpleasant. “I don’t think I should go to the—”

“TRANSMIGRATE!”

CHAPTER23

“Ugh,”Alicia groaned.

Mae grimaced. “Was it really that bad?”

“It was worse than bad.” The Reaper Queen slumped in the chair and rubbed her temples. “Is this what you people call a migraine?”

“Probably,” Nikolai said guiltily.

They were back at Mrs. Son-Ha’s place.

To Mae’s surprise, the nexus under New York had been even bigger than the one under Prague.

“That’s because there’s more people in this city,” Nikolai had explained while she and Vlad stared at the enormous rivers of magic pouring into the dazzling space around them.

Like the one in Prague, it seemed to have no boundaries.

Mae had not heard Ran Soyun’s voice this time around.

Nikolai and Alastair had replenished their cores with white magic before reversingTransmigrateand bringing them out in Mrs. Son-Ha’s backyard. To Mae’s utter lack of surprise, the old woman had been waiting for them like a grim sentinel.

“What took you guys so long?” she’d grumbled as she’d put down her knitting needles. “The tea’s cold.”

A chorus of excited yips preceded Vlad as he wandered inside the kitchen presently. Mrs. Son-Ha’s dogs jumped excitedly around his legs while he frowned at his phone. “I can’t get through to Cortes.”

“I’d know if he was in trouble. I castSoul Shieldaround him and Popo before they left this morning.” Mae’s curious gaze dropped to the bouncing dogs. “Do you have treats in your pockets or does your incubus power work on animals too?”

“What a suggestive question, princess.” Vlad’s mouth stretched in a smile that made Mae’s cheeks heat up. He ignored Nikolai’s darkening expression and arched an eyebrow at Mae. “Who knows. Shall we try a human experiment and see?”

Mae bit her lip. Even the way the incubus arched his eyebrow was sinfully sexy.

“Seriously wishing you guys would stop flirting right now,” Alicia grumbled. “Your voices are echoing inside my skull.”

She winced when Vlad pulled out a chair.

“What’s the matter with her?” the incubus asked.

“She has a headache.”

“Ah.” Vlad grimaced. “I have to admit, being exposed to such a vast amount of white magic wasn’t exactly pleasant. It must have been doubly worse for her, considering what she is.”

“Thanks,” Alicia muttered.

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