Page 30 of Midnight Witch

“Our car’s in front.” Miles lobbed keys at Nikolai. “We’ll meet up at your place. Vlad should be making his way over to your apartment.”

Mae’s heart throbbed. “Is he—?!”

“He’s an incubus.” Violet stretched out the kinks in her neck and cracked her knuckles as she assessed the sorcerers and witches preparing to charge. “This kind of magic won’t work on him. Now, go!”

Mae swallowed and nodded. She and Nikolai dashed into the stairwell.Wind FuryandMoon Stormtook care of the coven sorcerers and witches whose paths they crossed, while Hellreaver and Brimstone kept their angry familiars at bay.

They found Miles and Violet’s SUV parked opposite the main entrance, jumped inside the vehicle, and took off at lightning speed.

“There’s somewhere we need to go first,” Mae told Nikolai grimly as he tore down Madison Avenue.

He met her tense gaze and nodded.

CHAPTER14

The housein Flushing was just as Mae remembered it. The scent of roses and wisteria tickled her nostrils when she stopped outside her front gate.

Lights were on in the downstairs hall and in Ye-Seul’s bedroom. She scanned the driveway. Ryu’s car was parked in its usual spot, as was her mother’s old Honda.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nikolai said quietly.

Mae nodded. She already suspected what she would find if she were to knock on her front door right now. But still, she could not help herself. She had to know for certain.

The gate squeaked when she pushed it open. Nikolai trailed in her wake as she walked up to the house. She took her spare key out of her jeans, hesitated, and put it back in her pocket.

Mae stopped in front of the door and took a deep breath.

Brimstone brushed against her leg. Nikolai moved closer. Their presence gave her the courage she needed. She raised a hand and pressed the bell.

Footsteps sounded inside the house a moment later. A hazy figure appeared through the glazed glass making up the top section of the entrance.

Her father opened the door.

Mae’s mind went blank.

A puzzled half-smile curved Han Tae Jin’s lips as he observed them. “Yes? May I help you?”

“Dad?” Mae mumbled hoarsely. She raked his figure with her gaze, unable to believe the false reality before her eyes. “Is that—is that really you?!”

Her father didn’t look a day older than when he’d died three years ago.

Nikolai drew a sharp breath. He grasped her shoulder, his touch as much a warning not to fall for the spell’s untruths as it was a comfort to her. She gripped his fingers tightly, her vision blurring with tears.

Her father’s expression grew awkward. “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong address.”

Brimstone whined when he sensed Mae’s distress. Hellreaver trembled against her chest, similarly upset.

“Honey, is everything okay?”

Sorrow squeezed Mae’s chest as Yoo-Mi popped out of the kitchen.

Her mother gave her and Nikolai a puzzled look before wiping her hands on a kitchen towel and coming over.

“Who is this?” she asked her husband curiously.

Mae’s nails sank into the back of Nikolai’s hand, the agony of the deception being played out in that moment so deep she wanted to shout and curse.

“We need to go,” the sorcerer said softly.

---