Page 14 of Witch Queen

Blue flames flickered around Anya and her Harpy Eagle Sable, their magic focused on the dozen hellbeasts that had surrounded her and Cortes. The witch’s left cheek and forehead bore shallow cuts and she was favoring her right leg. Though most of the creatures had frozen in their tracks under the spell Anya had unleashed, the hellbull and the hellwolf seemed immune to it.

Magic surged through Mae’s veins. Half a dozenDevourspells burst into life above her hands. She blinked.

Black and ivory flickered withinDevour,the threads intertwining with the crimson light of her demonic power.

Fire resonated across her bond with Brimstone, distracting her. The demon fox shook himself out into his nine-tailed form, the red aura that surrounded him making the air tremble.

It too was tainted with darkness and light.

Mae’s throat tightened on a sudden wave of dread.Is that white magic and—black magic combined?!

Na Ri’s presence rose inside her.Focus, Mae!

Mae clenched her jaw.She’s right. I’ll worry about that later!

She hurled theDevourspheres at the hellbull just as Nikolai castHell Flareupon the wolf. The monsters screeched under their attack. The sounds pierced Mae’s ears and shattered what remained of the windows.

Brimstone brought the hellbull to the ground. He pressed a powerful paw against its chest, sank his fangs into its neck, and ripped it open with a savage growl. A crimson tide gushed out of the monster’s torn vessels, the ripples washing against Cortes’s expensive shoes before they bubbled down into obsidian threads that dispersed into nothingness.

The corpse of the hellwolf similarly disappeared inside the deadly firestorm that had engulfed it, the spear stuck in its heart clattering onto the floor.

Mae and Nikolai exchanged a tense glance.

There was no doubt about it. Whatever this was, it stank of Vedran’s magic.

“Thanks!” Cortes panted.

Popo flapped his wings gratefully on the sorcerer’s shoulder.

They turned to face the monsters Anya had immobilized.

“Let’s clean this up,” Mae said coldly.

It took them a handful of minutes to dispose of the remaining creatures. Anya sagged when the last one vanished in a fading pool of corruption. The pale fire in her pupils faded. She crumpled to the ground, violent shudders racking her body. Sable crooned worriedly in the witch’s lap.

Cortes fell to his knees beside them, unheeding of his wound. “Anya!”

“I’m okay,” she mumbled numbly as he took her in his arms.

She gripped his shirt and pressed her face into his chest. Tears seeped from under her eyelids as she squeezed them shut.

Mae whirled around at the sound of breaking glass, her fingers spasming as she automatically sought Hellreaver. The fight drained out of her. She straightened.

Vlad and Tarang were crossing the floor, demonic power flickering around them and the black swords the incubus held. A muscle jumped in Vlad’s cheek as he observed the damage to his apartment.

“What the hell happened?!”

* * *

“We were ambushedafter we left the cartel compound,” Cortes said in a hard voice.

Nadia frowned, Sun Magic gleaming around her fingertips where she sat on the couch beside the sorcerer and healed his wounds. Roman watched on worriedly.

He’d accompanied the High Priestess when Nikolai had called the coven to ask for her help.

“There, all done.” Nadia lifted her hands off Cortes and turned to Anya. “You’re next.”

Vlad passed Cortes a glass of whiskey. The Colombian accepted it gratefully.

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