Page 79 of Witch Queen

Flames of ice exploded around the monster, the pale shards piercing its body in dozens of places. It struggled violently before slowly growing limp, the talons clawing the air inches from the face of a dazed woman falling to its side. Its blood coated the ice in dark trails as it grew still.

More shouts punctuated the heavy air inside the stadium.

Roman’s core throbbed as he and the Fire Magic users cast spell after spell to kill the monsters who had ripped their way through the shield. Perspiration soon beaded his forehead. A witch swayed beside him.

He gritted his teeth.Shit! There’s no end to these bastards!

A gargled sound had him looking over his shoulder. A sorcerer was pointing shakily at the sky. Roman followed his horrified stare.

A dark tide was rolling swiftly toward the stadium. He could taste the Sorcerer King’s black magic within it.

The wave slammed intoFire Shieldbefore any of them could react.

Air locked in Roman’s lungs at the violent pressure bearing down on him. His knees nearly buckled. He grunted as he resisted the awful force crushing his body, his nails scoring bloodied lines into his palms.

Dozens of sorcerers and witches fell to the ground around him.

Roman broke out in a cold sweat. He recognized the spell robbing everyone of their strength and magic. He looked up at the inky mantle spreading across the barrier, panic squeezing his heart.

This isRot!

Terrified yells broke out when the shield protecting the stadium started to disperse, the bright flames hissing into nothingness as they were devoured by the foul mist. A witch in the upper bleachers barely had time to scream before she imploded in a dark cloud, her body and that of her familiar instantly eaten alive by black magic.

Roman shuddered. Determination tightened his jaw.

“Get ready, Filo!”

The chameleon sank her feet into his shoulder as he dropped to one knee and slammed his hands on the grass, her magic blazing brightly across their bond and her anger echoing his own.

Roman’s heart slammed against his ribs as he sought out the ley line that ran under the stadium, the Sun Magic spells Nadia had taught him wrapping his and his familiar’s cores in a multi-layered, protective barrier. He connected to the dazzling cord of power deep underground, followed it to the nexus under the heart of the city, and grasped the white magic within.

The power that flooded him and Filomena made his insides churn. He gritted his teeth and invoked the spell his great-grandmother had taught him in Prague.

“INFERNO!”

White fire bloomed silently above the stadium, the dazzling flames causing many to flinch and cover their eyes. The blaze began combatingRot.

Roman tasted blood on his tongue. He kept drawing on the nexus, conscious the magic it contained was the only thing that could counter the Sorcerer King’s terrible spell.

He glanced at the witches and sorcerers standing beside him.

“Cast your spells outside the barrier!” he barked. “We mustn’t let those monsters get in here!”

They swallowed and nodded.

* * *

Abraham’s spellbomb obliterated the head of a hellwolf. The sorcerer swung his sword and decapitated a devil before it could leap for the people huddling next to some bushes. Blood splashed across his face. He wiped it dispassionately with the back of a hand and turned to confront his next foe, Shiloh’s eyes blazing with magic where the owl clung to his shoulder.

Bryony’s heart thumped as she, Barbara, Regina, and April poured their magic into the shield rising above Central Park. The air crackled with magic, bringing with it the smell of ozone.

Half the New York coven was with them. The rest were aiding the High Council and the international covens protecting the humans who had been unable to leave New York. They were gathered in various safe havens they’d hastily created across the five boroughs, including the subways and the tunnels under the East and Hudson Rivers.

Derrick, Raven, Karin, and Felipe were among those assisting Abraham in protecting the witches and sorcerers who’d erected the barrier shielding the two hundred thousand people who’d sought sanctuary in the park.

The Medellin High Priest scowled as he wielded his whip and cast spell bomb after violent spell bomb, his Arcane Magic cutting down scores of demons.

Raven took care of a devil before it could reach Abraham and incantedIce Fortress. The spell exploded into life some fifty feet away, trapping the demons headed for a group of people hiding under a rocky overhang. She pierced the eye of the hellwolf lunging at her from the right and roundhouse-kicked a hellboar in the jaw, her expression focused.

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