Page 1 of Midnight Witch

PROLOGUE

Mae Jin’sribcage shuddered violently where she lay face down in the freezing rain. The shallow puddles forming under her broken and battered body leached away what little warmth remained in her bones, leaving her veins filled with ice and her throat choked with fear.

“No.”

The denial fell from her lips in a tortured whisper. The sound was lost in the clap of thunder that tore across the distant, angry sky.

Her ears rang, adding to the dizziness making the world spin around her. Nausea churned her belly when she attempted to lift her head. She blinked and bit her lip hard, anger overriding the dark despair that threatened to rob her of hope.

Fire flared within her as she reached for her magic.

Don’t, my witch.

Mae’s breath caught at the wretched plea. Tendons screamed in her neck as she turned her head.

Brimstone lay a few feet to her left. His bright eyes and rich fur were dulled by the attacks they had sustained and his chest quivered with his shallow panting. Hellreaver gleamed flatly next to him, voices silent and ragged blade motionless where he poked out from under a pile of rubble.

Mae clenched her jaw.This isn’t happening! Where did we go wrong?!

Her nails scored the cracked tiles as she garnered the last of her strength and pushed up onto her hands and knees, her limbs trembling so hard that she knew she would soon be unable to move. Hotness drenched her abdomen and thigh, blood surging anew from her wounds.

“Stand down, demon,” someone said coldly.

Goosebumps prickled her skin at the voice. It took all her willpower to raise her head and meet the gaze of the man who had spoken.

He glared at her, his mouth a thin line and his eyes and those of his familiar gleaming with distaste. A dark portal distorted the air behind them. It framed the others at his side, the blood-red light of the Harvest Moon adding another layer of menace to their daunting presence where it pierced the turbulent clouds visible through the broken church roof.

A woman laid a hand upon his arm. “Come. It is time for us to leave.”

Fury and anguish curdled Mae’s stomach in equal measure at the possessive look she gave the man. He nodded curtly, cast a dismissive glance at Mae, and turned to enter the rift.

The tears blurring Mae’s vision spilled onto her cheeks. “Don’t.”

His shoulders tightened at her low mumble. For a moment, she thought her voice had finally reached him.

The hate that set his pupils aglow when he looked at her shattered whatever slim hope she still clung to.

“You try my patience, demon. Be thankful they asked me to spare you.” His gaze swept the figures waiting for him before landing on her once more. “The next time we meet, I will not be as forgiving.”

Blood pounded dully in Mae’s skull as she watched them disappear inside the rift, disbelief a living thing twisting her insides.

“Don’t go!” she begged brokenly.

The portal closed with a hiss of corruption that seemed to mock her.

Mae stared blindly at the spot where the man had vanished, the agony twisting her heart so fierce she almost wished it would strike her dead.

A scrambling sound came from behind her. Someone climbed the wreckage of broken masonry and wood that was all that remained of the nave and stumbled unsteadily toward her.

“Mae!”

A man dropped at her side, his body casting ripples in the growing puddles.

Strong arms closed around her. She was pulled up into a solid embrace. Mae sagged as his warmth cocooned her, her fingers digging into his flesh where he cradled her to his chest. His familiar nudged Brimstone and Hellreaver with a worried sound.

A strangled sob left her then, her throat so tight and hot she struggled to draw air.

“It’s okay,” the man whispered in a harrowed tone. “It’s going to be okay.”

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