Page 6 of Midnight Witch

It was raining heavily when they emerged on the street.

Mae’s stomach dropped.

People were screaming and running out of the main entrance of the old movie theater beneath the apartment. A sour taste filled her mouth when she saw the lacerations a few sported.

She recognized the stench exuding from their wounds.

Frustration churned her belly.Why couldn’t I sense anything until a minute ago?!

Crimson magic lit Brimstone’s eyes and radiated from his fur.They must have come through a portal.

Tension thrummed through Mae as she unleashed a muted version ofWind Fury. The spell cleared a path for her and Nikolai so they could make their way inside the dark building, the panicked crowd gasping and crying out in surprise as they were gently moved aside by an invisible force.

The throng of people escaping the movie house thinned as they aimed for the source of the irregularity, the emergency lights flickering above them adding to the eerie undercurrent drenching the interior.

The cinema housed five theaters.

They found the cause of the disturbance in the second largest one.

CHAPTER4

Sulfur teasedMae’s nostrils as she and Nikolai entered the murky space. A classic black and white horror movie from the 1930s was playing on the screen to their right. The light cast macabre shadows upon the stage and the rows of empty seats at the front of the auditorium. Sinister growls sent shivers skittering down her spine as her vision adjusted to the gloom. Brimstone’s hackles rose.

Mae’s pulse stuttered as she followed the demonic fox’s gaze to the rear of the theater.

A group of college-age kids huddled in on themselves where they were surrounded by a horde of grotesque monsters in the second to last row.

The creatures were as black as night and stood some three feet tall. A foul, red light radiated from their pupils. Corruption writhed in the air in oily strands that coiled around their misshapen heads and crooked bodies. Some had two heads and were covered in fur and scales, while others bore quills and tusks.

Mae didn’t have to be a genius to know they were not of earthly origin.

She clenched her teeth. “Brim, what are those?”

Heat warmed her core as Brimstone’s powers swelled. He shook himself out and transformed into his nine-tailed demon form.

“They are hellbeasts.” He raised his head and sniffed the air, his eyes glinting with menace. “A portal to Hell opened here recently.”

Man, I haven’t seen hellboars in ages, Hellreaver said wistfully.

“Wait,” Mae said leadenly. “Those are hellboars?!” She pointed an accusing finger at the quilled creatures. “I thought you said they were the best things to eat in Hell!”

They are, once you get rid of their spines, the weapon protested.

Nikolai unleashed his spear. He eyed the drool oozing from Hellreaver’s blades with a grimace. “Let me guess. He wants them for dinner.”

Alastair clucked disapprovingly on his shoulder.

“He can’t. He’s on a diet.”

Hellreaver whined petulantly at Mae’s steadfast tone.

The demonic beasts whirled around at the sound. Their growls intensified when they saw Brimstone’s towering figure. The light of Hell flared in their obsidian eyes.

Magic flooded Mae’s veins. She stretched out a hand and barked out a defensive spell. “Shield!”

A red sphere made of runes bloomed around the college students. They cried out and pressed closer to one another, faces ashen with terror. The hellbeasts snarled and twisted around. They attacked the barrier with their claws and fangs, to no avail.

“You’re not getting through that, assholes,” Mae said with a fierce smile.

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