Page 41 of Midnight Witch

Vlad’s tone grew arctic. “Considering I pretty much own theBlack Devils,I don’t really see your point.”

Mae clenched her jaw.

Vlad shot a mildly disapproving look at her. “You shouldn’t do that. You’ll wear down your teeth.”

“You two are wearing down my patience!” she retorted.

Would you like me to bite them?Brimstone volunteered from the footwell.

Tarang lifted his head and made a worried sound where he’d draped himself across the back seat and Nikolai’s lap.

“Your tiger is heavy,” Nikolai complained.

Tarang huffed and licked his face.

To Mae’s relief, the signs for Marblehead Neck soon flashed by. Her thoughts strayed to Cortes and the Nolan cousins. Cortes had returned to his hotel to question his coven about the people Raya Medeiros had had in her entourage around the time she attacked him all those years ago. To his relief, it seemed their Arcane Magic had protected them from the mirage spell too. Mae hoped it might help them find a name for the specific magic that had been used to alter his family’s memories and maybe even the person who’d cast it.

Violet and Miles had accompanied them in their SUV as far as Boston before veering off and heading into the city. They were going to pay a discreet visit to the coven there and see if they could sniff out a clue.

Vlad exited the expressway a short while later. He drove through the sleepy town of Marblehead and crossed the isthmus leading to Marblehead Neck. Mae gave him directions to where she and Nikolai had come the day before. He slowed and carefully rolled onto the muddy track minutes later.

The incubus surveyed the deserted landscape with a faint frown. “This is something else.”

“I’m pretty certain you’ve been to creepier places,” Nikolai said nastily.

He cursed as Vlad deliberately drove into a pothole and sent his head bumping against the window. The incubus smirked.

Mae flashed a narrow-eyed look at them.

They parked where Nikolai had stopped his vehicle the day before and got out of the Bentley. Tension knotted the sorcerer’s shoulders as they started across the empty lot where the hill and the church had stood. Vlad scanned their surroundings guardedly, crimson blooming in his eyes. Tarang brushed against his leg, the tiger’s uneasy gaze sweeping the eerie scenery.

Bar the wind bringing the taste of salt off the ocean crashing against the cliffs and the pale seagulls whirling in the sunny sky, they were alone.

Brimstone scampered ahead of Mae as they neared the center of the plot. He stopped, ears pricking, and sniffed at the ground.

There is something here, my witch. It is very faint.

Mae joined him and studied the spot that had roused his interest.

“What is it?” Nikolai said warily.

“Brim says he can feel something here.”

She squatted, pressed her hand to the dirt, and closed her eyes.

Her pulse quickened when she picked up on what Brimstone had detected with his nose.

I was right. There’s a trace of that magic still here!

Her blood warmed as she drew on her powers. Hellreaver trembled against her chest.

“Reveal.”

Nothing happened. Mae clenched her jaw and released even more of the potent energy that lived in her soul. The ground trembled slightly.

“REVEAL!”

Images flashed before her eyes with a suddenness that froze her breath.

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