Page 9 of Wicked Angel
“I’m surprised they let you out,” I said. “Not just because of the lockdown, but because of your help.”
Almae tilted her head, offering a faint smile. “Drake and Thea are strong, and they have a lot of supernaturals on their side, ready to help … and judging from Sarki’s actions, it seems she wants to taunt them, dragging this out for who knows how long. I couldn’t stay in the lockdown for weeks, perhaps months, without any other perspective.”
“We did promise to do what we can from the outside, though,” Keeran said. “After we help you, of course.”
“Any help is appreciated,” Levi said, his tone very sharp.
“Actually, I already reached out to the other witch queens,” Almae said. “Only Queen Rosalia and Queen Corvina got back to me so far and said they didn’t know of any spells that could extract only the unwanted magic from you. I’m suspecting the others will say the same.”
“But they will research about it,” Keeran added.
“In the meantime, I also talked to Francine,” Almae continued, “and she mentioned something interesting.”
“Who’s Francine?” Levi asked.
“A former Wildthorn witch who married a Blackthorn Hunter,” Keeran explained. “She lives in Chasseur Ville now.”
“She mentioned a legend, something buried deep in old lore,” Almae said, sounding a little hopeful. “She said her late husband used to work on some supersecret missions for the Blackthorn Hunters and once he told her a legend about a demon that could absorb magic from supernaturals.”
Levi and I exchanged a glance.
“A demon that can absorb magic?” Levi repeated, his brow furrowing. “How come I haven’t heard about this before?”
“It’s rare, even for demons,” Almae said. “Most demons that absorb magic are unstable, dangerous even to those who summon them. But there are whispers of a few who can be more selective. Sometimes, if the conditions are right, they can take only the magic you want to get rid of, leaving the rest behind.”
My pulse quickened at the idea, but doubt quickly followed. “And we’re supposed to believe this demon would just leave me with my own magic intact? Sounds like a recipe for disaster.”
“It’s a risk,” Almae admitted. “But it might be the only option you have left.”
Keeran crossed his arms, studying the circle around me. “We need more information before we consider something like that. If there’s even a chance this could work, we have to find out everything we can about this demon.”
Levi turned to me, raising an eyebrow. “Ready for another round of calls, sweetheart?”
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “We’ve got nothing but time, right? Let’s get started.”
Before we could call the hunters, Almae and Keeran told us they would leave for a while, so Almae could check on Unity—the town she had founded several years ago—but they would come back soon.
Then, we called Erin and Rey, hoping that as demon hunters, they might know something about the kind of demon we were looking for. But the call went straight to voicemail, the telltale sign that they were in the middle of a mission or dealing with something at the Academy. I bit back my frustration, leaving a message and hoping they’d get back to us sooner rather than later.
“Worth a shot,” Levi said, hanging up. “They’ll call back when they can.”
He tapped away on his phone for a minute, then fished a coin from his pocket and I recognized it immediately. It was one of the Great Eternity Hall’s enchanted coins. He closed his hand around it, a faint glow appeared between his fingers, and a moment later when he opened his hand, the coin was gone.
And a shimmering portal stood right beside him.
“Be right back,” he said before stepping through.
I let out a long sigh, a little upset that I couldn’t just go with him.
A moment later, he was back, with Lacey and Abbie in tow. Abbie had dark circles under her eyes, and Lacey’s usually bright smile was dimmed with worry.
“What’s going on?” Lacey asked.
I quickly explained what Almae had shared. “Do you think there’s anything in the Hall’s archives that might help us track down this demon?”
Abbie exchanged a look with Lacey, then let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t guarantee it, but we’ll dig through whatever we can find.”
Lacey placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently. “Hang in there, okay? We’re not giving up.”
