I turned my head slowly.
Vorthain, the priest in the black robes, stood at the far end of the hall.
The thing’s hood had fallen back, shadows clinging unevenly to a body that wouldn’t form properly in my vision. One arm hung at an strange angle, while black blood stained the carpet beneath its feet, seeping into the fibers like ink.
Was it even a Magik? Nothing about the creature in front of me fell into a category I knew of.
Its teeth were bared, showing off a mouth full of fangs. Nope, this was something different. Something unknown.
Eyes drank in the firelight instead of reflecting it, swallowing brightness like a black hole, hungry and watching.
My fire surged in response, coming to my aid once more against this new foe. “We doing this?” I bellowed.
Vorthain didn’t move. It didn’t advance or reply . It simply tilted its head, studying me with a unnatural patience that made my skin crawl.
I bared my teeth in return, and it receded into shadow, melting back into the smoke and chaos as if that was where it had come from.
“Next time,” I growled, knowing damn well it could still hear me.
I didn’t even attempt to chase it, though, because Sage was gone, and getting back to her mattered more than vengeance.
The mansion was fully ablaze now. Fire poured through the halls, devouring tapestries and paintings, crawling along the ceiling. Demons and vampires clashed in the corridors, magic flaring, while claws, horns, and fangs meeting in violent bursts.
I moved through it like a force of nature, leaving nothing but ashes in my wake, my focus solely on the exit. On the bond pulling me forward, sharp and unrelenting, a thread screaming to claim the woman who’d been taken from me.
I burst through the rear doors into the night, flames trailing behind me as the mansion released its death cry.
In my mind, I probably looked pretty cool, until the cold, smoky air hit my lungs like a chock and I briefly stumbled, catching myself before I fell to my knees.
Thankfully Sage wasn’t around to see that.
My vision narrowed as my power finally began to ebb, and pain rushed in to fill the void it left behind. It pierced through my ribs, shoulder, and side, all screaming for attention.
They’d have to wait their turn, though, because somewhere ahead, Sage was waiting, alive and free. And nothing—no god nor monster—was taking her from me again.
My phone chimed in my pocket, and I coughed, taking it out. Two new messages. First was from my dad.
Looks like you have things covered. I’ll wait for you in Ignareth.
I’d call him a coward, but he’d done enough this evening for an old man.
The next message was from Ella, one of the twins who also worked with Garrick.
Hey bestie! Long time no see ;) We got your mate, she’s safe and sound. Meet us at the rest stop on Highway 13 outside of Noctis to pick her up and thank our beautiful asses for stepping in. Oh, and stop blocking Garrick’s calls. That’s not very nice >:(
I rolled my eyes.
Fucking seraphim.
* * *
Asmodiel and my dad may have been long gone, but at least they’d left one of the cars from the motorcade waiting for meoutside the gates.
A lone grunt, too young to have joined the fray, looked at me through the rear view mirror, his eyes wide in awe. “Did you really do it? Did you kill the Premier?”
“Yep,” I replied, taking out a roll of vaporleaf that had survived the battle unscathed. I rolled down the window and lit it, my lungs already so fucking toast I barely felt the familiar burn.
I gave him the location for the rendezvous point and sat back, my heart racing.
