“You’re not going anywhere,” one of the witches snarls. With a flick of her hand, Leo is thrown to the other side of the restaurant. “Now, unless the rest of you step to the side and let us at the empath, you’ll end up like him.”
Victor’s friends turn to look at him in confusion.
Victor tosses the server aside and glares at the two witches blocking their exit. “Do as they say, and get out of here,” Victor orders. The witch, posing as a server, picks herself off the ground and throws a flame at Victor, singeing his shirt. Victor holds out his palm and blocks it. He uses his other hand to grab all the liquid around and splashes the server, causing the flame to extinguish.
The witch who was holding Leo in his seat starts charging at Victor. Before he can react, the other two use the wooden chairs to bind him.
“Victor!” Elliott and Frank shout in unison. As they try to reach for him, one of the witches pushes all of Victor’s friends aside, knocking them over tables and chairs.
“Leave them alone!” Victor demands, struggling in his wooden restraints. “I’m the one you want.”
“I’m impressed you’re not raging out,” the lead witch comments. “Given the fact that she took that silver card from you.”
“I’m getting used to being attacked on a regular basis,” Victor sneers, his eyes still glowing. The lead witch approaches Victor. She’s wearing a dark green blouse with puffy sleeves, a black satin vest, and oversized black dress pants. “You’re still not as strong as you think. We’ll be greatly rewarded for bringing you back with us.”
One of the witches is shot in the back with a fireball. Leo stands tall, his palm held out. “He’s not going anywhere.” He throws several more fireballs at the witches.
One of the witches conjures her Metal Magic, lifting her hands as high as her shoulders, then thrusting them forward—every knife in the restaurant rains upon Leo. Leo defends himself the best he can until he’s hit in the shoulder.
“NOOOO!” Victor cries out in fury. A bright pulse flies off him, breaking his wooden bind and knocking over the four witches. He drops to the floor on his hands and knees.
The witches struggle to get back on their feet. One looks over at Victor. “Oh, shit,” she comments.
Victor is still on his hands and knees, but his eyes are black as he looks up at the four of them.
“We need to get the fuck out of here,” the lead witch commands. But Victor has already blocked their path before they can scramble to the door.
“Going somewhere?” Victor says, but not in his voice. As the witches start walking backward, Victor sees his friends slowly getting to their feet. “Guys, get the fuck out of here. It’s not safe.”
Victor’s friends see his black eyes and are unsure of what to do.
“Victor,” Elliott says in fear. “W-What’s wrong with your eyes? And your voice?”
Before Victor can say anything, two witches fling tables and chairs at him. Victor waves his hand from side to side, tossing away everything thrown at him. The two other witches startflying the silverware at Victor. He holds up his palm, causing the silverware to stop right in front of him.
Victor makes a fist, crushing some of the silverware and binding it together. The witches watch as Victor creates a large, sharp object. As the remaining utensils fall to the floor, the only thing floating is a makeshift spear.
Victor opens his fist, turns his palm outward, then pushes his palm forward, making the spear soar toward the witches. The spear goes straight through the neck of one of the witches, causing everyone to flinch back with a gasp. The spear flies into the wall. The witch grabs her neck as she’s choking on her blood. She drops to her knees and then falls to the floor.
Victor closes his eyes and inhales deeply. As he exhales, he opens his eyes and uses a strong air pulse on another witch, causing her to fly back and be impaled by the spear through her chest. The remaining two witches start to shout as their anger grows.
As they charge toward Victor, Leo jumps in front of Victor and blasts a flame into the witches’ faces. They scream in agony and stumble backward as they cover their burnt faces.
When Victor starts to lift his hand, Leo stops him and looks into his black eyes. “No! We need them alive for questioning.”
Victor looks at Leo’s shoulder. The knife is no longer there, but blood is seeping out. “You’re injured,” he says with a look of concern. Victor places his hand over Leo’s shoulder, and a silver glow appears under his palm. He keeps his hand hovering over Leo’s injury for several seconds. “How does that feel?”
Leo rotates his shoulder. “Like I didn’t have a serrated knife in my shoulder moments ago.”
Victor blinks a couple of times, and his eyes return to normal. He looks around at the carnage and how scared his friends are as they help each other off the floor. One of the mirrors on the wall starts to go hazy. Superior Jackie and Akisha come through, withSuperior Charles right behind them. Everyone looks outside, seeing flashing red and blue lights.
“Everyone, get out of here. We’ll clean up this mess,” Superior Charles demands. “Go back to my coven. You’ll be safe there.”
“Victor, what’s going on?” Amber asks, shaken by the chaos.
Victor looks at his friends, “No time to explain. We need to go.” Victor and Leo turn their friends toward the mirror. They all stop as they look in the mirror. “Don’t worry. It will be fine,” Victor says reassuringly.Leo offers to go first, to show there is nothing to worry about. After a bit of hesitation, everyone walks through the mirror.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
