Some of them I recognized as demons who once sat across from me as I counseled them through their fears and failures. These were the infected demons that had disappeared at the end of term two, when Dex and Pandora had been taken by the cult. Their bodies had already wasted away. Dark veins twisted like rot beneath their skin, and their eyes were hollow pits of darkness, devoid of anything but dark magic's corruption.
“Shit,” Dex muttered, running a hand down his face.
Pandora strode forward, her crimson gaze burning with hate. “What are we waiting for?” She glanced at Jesper. “Ready?”
“Fight them off while Gravesend and I siphon the dark magic from them, then go for the kill!” Jesper shouted, holding the artifact out and mumbling incantations to make it activate.
Dark smoke curled from my mate, slithering toward the infected demons in at least a dozen different streams—more than I'd ever seen her control at once.
The demon's gasped as it snaked down their throats, draining the dark magic from their bodies and taking what was left of their souls.
Once those demons dropped, she didn't bother taking her power back inside her, she directed it toward more of the demons.
Jesper wielded the relic beside her, its power gnawing at the dark magic. It worked faster than it usually did, but it was a toy compared to the power Pandora controlled.
The ritual site loomed ahead as we moved through the group of infected demons into the building. Dark magic circles marked the sandstone, but there was no power thrumming within them. They were empty.
“There's no dark magic in the circles, yet,” Dex said what I was thinking.
Before we could investigate, fresh waves of infected demons spilled in through dark magic portals, their shrieks piercing the night.
My vengeance magic ignited, arcing off my skin in jagged streaks of bright light. I launched myself at some of them, striking through demons with ruthless precision. Each impact sent a pulse of energy rippling through them, momentarily stunning them in place.
Their grotesque forms twitched as dark magic crackled and oozed from them. It wasn’t enough to kill them—my magic alone was nothing against dark magic—but it held them back, slowed them just long enough for Pandora or Jesper to drain them of it.
Skel’s fear magic exploded outward. A wave of terror surged, sending infected demons into frenzied, incoherent shrieking. Their claws raked against their own faces, their bodies convulsing as invisible horrors consumed their minds. Some turned on each other, their panic overriding whatever the dark magic drove them to do.
Bram’s wolf was a whirlwind of chaos, a storm of claws and fangs tearing through their bodies, treating them as chew toys. His glowing red eyes burned with primal fury, his massive form weaving through the demons like a specter of carnage. He lunged, snapping a few demons’ throats in a single bite. He spun, claws raking through another’s chest, sending a spray of tar-like magic into the air. The dark magic brought the demon’s body parts back together, but he just did it again. Chaos was relentless, unstoppable, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once.
Dex faded with the darkness, his shadow tendrils whipped out like blades, slicing into demon flesh with ease. He coiled his shadows around them, tightening like serpents before squeezing them until the dark magic burst through their orifices. They collapsed, but it didn’t take long for the dark magic to snap them back together as well.
Reed’s dream magic was subtle but no less efficient. A soft purple glow shimmered in the air, rippling outward like a lullaby. One by one, demons slowed, their movements growing sluggish before their eyes fluttered closed. Their bodies slumped, collapsing into heaps as they were pulled into an unnatural sleep. But sleep alone wouldn’t save us—the dark magic still ran through their veins, waiting to be purged. Pandora and Jesper worked tirelessly, siphoning the darkness from all the ones they could.
The supernatural agents fought alongside us.
But it wasn’t enough.
The demons kept coming. A hundred of them, maybe more, pouring in through dark magic portals everywhere.
They swarmed, their sheer numbers overwhelming us.
Pandora’s power surged, her dark smoke snaking through the demons like a living entity, dropping them and letting their bodies turn to ash. More perished, the dark magic keeping them alive had been stripped away, but even she had her limits.
Her breath hitched, her hands trembling as she fought to contain the sheer volume of dark magic within her smoke. She hadn’t even brought her magic back into her body yet to kill the dark magic she’d absorbed.
Jesper stood firm beside her, the artifact in his grasp glowing with fierce, pulsing light. His focus was unwavering as he pulled dark magic from all he could as well. But the artifact could only drain one infected at a time. Its limits were painfully evident as more demons pressed in.
And the cult knew it.
A chilling realization settled over me as their attacks grew more deliberate. They weren’t mindless. They weren’t just attacking in blind rage. They were testing us, wearing us down, forcing us to overextend.
They had a fucking plan.
We were powerful—but we were not infinite.
And they were waiting for the moment we broke.
“Keep them off us!” Jesper bellowed, but the agents were too overwhelmed. We all were.
