Page 155 of Halfblood Deceived

The priests intoned a spell as one, the acidic echo of their magic rippling in the salty, icy air.

Zeydan suppressed a gag. How in all the Hells they claimed their magic was pure was beyond him.

To his surprise, the gargoyles shifted and joined in with the reciting of the foul spell.

“Ah, fuck,” Evan muttered.

Zeydan hated the flare of fear in his eyes, and Lex’s, too. He almost wanted to scream at them and remind them they shouldn’t be there, but he’d be a hypocrite. He would have done the same in their place. His stomach tied itself into knots.

Mari shivered. “Gods fucking dammit.”

“Morrigan help us,” Lex breathed out.

“Wait for it,” Aylana insisted. “Just a bit more.”

Red magic connected the priests, and the gargoyles as their chanting grew in volume. A line of it slithered toward the charred gothic construction.

A cracking sound echoed in the air.

And then came an explosion from within the church, so potent they all winced.

Verdant magic and fey fire rendered what remained of the burned church to pieces of flying wood and stone, taking the priests and the gargoyles off their feet. They all landed hard on their backs. The priests seemed unconscious or dead. The gargoyles’ wings broke.

A blast of flames and magic illuminated the night for long seconds.

Zeydan and the others all gawked at Aylana, who grinned like a Cheshire cat.

Mari huffed, shaking her head at the werewolf-fey hybrid. “Remind me to never piss you off, Aylana.”

Aylana winked at Mari.

Kamilla and Kerian took the lead, dropping the masking spell in their necklaces, and flying straight toward the stunned gargoyles.

The twins cast a spell as one, shielding themselves. The flash of topaz-colored magic alerted the gargoyles of their presence at once. A few were still too dizzy to stand straight, but they all growled, fervent disgust in their eyes.

Lex, Evan, and Mari made as if to follow.

Zeydan lifted a hand. “No. We wait for our turn.”

“Patience, darlings,” Sebastian teased, wrapping an arm around Aylana and taking flight, following Kam and Kerian, who had landed already.

Three gargoyles went for the Davashkov twins.

And three gargoyles lost their heads.

Sebastian was a fast flier, Zeydan had to acknowledge. He and Aylana cast a flare of their combined fire at the gargoyles. Fey fire was one of the few things capable of damaging the gargoyle’s thick stone-like skin. The couple landed and fought as one. Their cast-dodge-strike movements were so fluid it almost looked as if they were dancing.

“Not to question the princes’ wisdom, but what the fuck are we waiting for?” Mari asked.

“Their reinforcements,” Diana answered before Zeydan did. “I’ve seen Kam and Kerian do this a few times before. It’s all about the timing.”

“The gargoyles always have backup and try to surround us,” Zeydan said, his heart rate spiking as the remaining gargoyles recovered and started to blast their foul magic at his cousins and Aylana. “So we wait for a moment until we are sure there aren’t anymore—”

“There!” Andreas said, tapping his shoulder.

They all turned to see fourteen more gargoyles emerge from the water.

“Fucking Hells,” Mari grumbled.

---