Loud footsteps pounded up the stairs, then Gideon and four others spilled out into the large room.
Felix summoned his magic and focused on the counterfeit flamewielder.
“Burn them!” he ordered, turning him on the other officers. More pink flames went out, catching sections of the house on fire and sending out plumes of thick smoke.
He lost line of sight and the man slipped from his control. As he moved to follow, August pushed back through the tear, his silver rings glowing.
Felix frowned. Why did he come back?
August doubled over, and another officer pushed through the smoke toward him.
“Look out!” Felix called.
August looked up in surprise, then disappeared back through the tear, closing it behind him.
Felix drew his gun as the officer whirled on him. Another tear split the air—this one directly behind the man. In a blink, the officer was gone, yanked backward through the veil. A heartbeat later, it sealed shut.
Despite himself, Felix barked a short, sharp laugh.
A waterwielder from Gideon’s group worked to extinguish the flames as the others rushed the remaining officers.
Felix shot one in the chest. Gideon buried his saber in another.
A new tear opened, and August appeared, slicing a dagger across the throat of the last officer.
Felix met his gaze and quirked a brow.
That was a very un-August thing to do.
“Get the door,” Gideon called.
Felix dragged his attention back to the others. The bodies on the ground were all ministry. They’d lost none of their own.
The fire was out, leaving only a few glowing embers, and the last tendrils of grey smoke curled through the gaping maw of the dark entryway. Felix coughed, his throat burning from the smell of charred wood and burned flesh.
Marlow closed the front door, and Gideon dragged a tattered armchair across the room, its legs scraping over the floorboards as he pressed it against the door. The others hurried back down the stairs.
August closed the last tear, obviously trying hard to keep the agony from his face.
“You should sit,” Felix said.
“I’m fine.” His pinched expression betrayed his lie. “I just need a second to—”
He swayed, and Felix rushed forward instinctively to steady him before he could fall.
“You arenotfine.”
August’s head lolled forward, his curls falling over his eyes, and Felix glanced nervously at the door. It wasn’t safe here. They needed to gather some supplies and get the hell out.
“Think you can make it to the cellar?”
When August didn’t answer, he cupped his face, tilting his head up to look at him.
Felix winced.
That wasn’t good.
He ran a thumb over the darkened veins that crept up beside August’s lips. His eyes were black from lid to lid.
