Page 27 of Witch Queen

Mae rose insideLevitatewhile they charged the giant. The monster ignored their attacks, Vlad’s blades and Brimstone and Tarang’s claws and fangs barely scratching his flesh.

Damnit! Is that one made of rock?!

An angry sound rumbled out of Brimstone.

Goosebumps broke out on Mae’s arms with her next breath. A fire was building deep inside her belly. She pressed a hand to her stomach before cutting her eyes jerkily to her familiar. It was coming from their bond.

Scarlet boiled in Brimstone’s eyes. His body swelled an instant before he opened his jaws. Mae’s eyes rounded at the sight of the incandescent, rotating sphere of crimson and black magic that exploded into life inside his mouth. It grew exponentially.

“Holy—” she mumbled.

“—fuck,” Vlad said hoarsely.

Na Ri startled.Oh.I never thought he would be able to manifest our father’sWrathin this realm!

Mae swallowed. “Wrath?! Also, since when can Brimstone dospells?!”

The giant finally sensed danger. His pupils flared at the sight of the spinning orb growing inside the demon fox’s mouth.

He dove to the side just as Brimstone fired the spell.

Wrathmissed the monster by a whisker, glanced offContain, and punched a hole straight through the wall. The resulting explosion shook the building and filled the room with dust and debris.

Mae coughed and covered her mouth and nose with an arm, her pulse racing. Car alarms sounded faintly. The air slowly cleared.

She joined Vlad as he peered around the edge of the sizzling, ten-foot-wide, jagged opening. A mess of fused concrete and glowing hot metal was visible within it.

The spell hadn’t just smashed straight through the autopsy lab and the outer wall of the hospital. It had carved a tunnel inside its foundations and beneath the main road. Water gushed from broken pipes and cooled the sizzling, exposed steelwork of some kind of structure in the distance.

“Isn’t that the underground parking lot where I left the Bentley?” the incubus asked leadenly.

Mae turned and squinted at Brimstone. “How about you warn us next time you want to use that spell?”

The demon fox avoided her accusing stare.

Everyone tensed as the giant stirred.

Magic flashed through Mae’s veins. Black static tinged with crimson danced around her body.

“Ice Fortress!”

The spell formed instantly, trapping the monster in a thick, glittering prison laced with the white runes of Ran Soyun’s magic. He fell backward slowly, his face frozen in an expression of surprise. The building trembled when he landed on the floor.

Mae scaled his body and slammed her hand on the ice above his stomach. “Sever!”

The giant shuddered. A tiny crack appeared inIce Fortress.

Mae gritted her teeth. Vedran’s magic was countering her attempt to break his hold on the monster’s soul.

“Oh yeah? Let’s see you resist this, asshole!” she growled. “REVERSE!”

For a moment, nothing happened. The corruption wrapped around the creature’s soul orb finally trembled before exploding into inky tendrils that vanished with a hiss. The giant stilled.

Mae jumped to the ground and retractedIce Fortress.

Vlad stiffened. “Should you really?—?!”

“It’s okay. He won’t hurt us.”

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