Angelique struck, kicking her in the gut, this time successfully knocking over the broken-nosed mage and the male directly behindher.
Yep, these are mages. They’re terrible at physicalfights.
Angelique flicked her fingers at the fallen mages, raining needle-sharp icicles on them while she struck one of the standing mages in the throat with the flat of her palm, making him fall with achoke.
She turned on the final mage, who spat some dark, vile sounding words and pointed atAngelique.
Pain assaulted Angelique in a wave that felt like heated needles being pushed through her skull. Her head hurt so badly she couldn’t see. Her ears rang, and a scream tore from herthroat.
Evariste roared, and there was the crackle of magic and lightning before the painceased.
Angelique groaned and had to blink several times before her blurred vision cleared enough that she could make outshapes.
Evariste stood in the hallway, his magic glittering around him like a miniature galaxy. Lightning dashed up and down the hallway, striking the rogue mages with absoluteprecision.
“Angel!” Evariste held out his hand and created a screen of lightning over the gaping front door without evenlooking.
Despite her body’s protests, Angelique ran to Evariste’s side, peering around, looking forRoland.
She didn’t see the black and white cat anywhere as Evariste pulled her into the frontsalon.
The outer windows cracked, then shattered, and more of the gray-robed mages wiggled past shards of jagged glass and jumped into thesalon.
Angelique kicked a coffee table and used a tiny bit of strength magic to make the furniture piece slam into two mages, toppling them like woodenblocks.
Evariste used another round of his lightning magic as he backed up against the wall. The room danced with lightning—which hit about eight of the ten mages attempting to advance onthem.
When he stopped, he slapped his hand against the wall—which made the glass-framed window to Verglasglow.
Angelique stepped closer, hurriedly building a wall of ice that upset the furniture and made the room icy cold. Her breath came in white puffs as she added layers to the icy wall, thickeningit.
“We’re leaving?” sheasked.
“Yes,” Evaristesaid.
“ButRoland—”
Roland yowled angrily as he landed on the top of the ice wall, then jumped over to theirside.
“As soon as the full portal opens, go,” Evariste ordered as his magic crawled down the wall, lengthening the Verglaswindow.
“Okay—” Angelique clenched her jaw shut when her wall shattered, battering her with jagged pieces ofice.
She slapped her hands together and copied Evariste’s previous attack, creating jagged spikes of lightning that shot out from her in a fan-likeformation.
Her attack was not quite as precise, but with Roland leaning against her leg and Evariste behind her, it didn’t matter if some of the furniture was taken as collateraldamage.
Most of the mages tumbled down—though three were able to raise protective spells that blocked thelightning.
Angelique took a breath and started to weave another spell when her war magic flooded her so abruptly with a heavy and desperate weight, she almost fell to herknees.
She heard low chanting and lifted hergaze.
Two of the gray-cloaked mages had remained outside—a man with a jagged scar that slashed diagonally across his face and a woman with eyes covered with a white film. They chanted together, and vermillion red magic sank from their fingers and flowed across the yard, crawling in through the biggest brokenwindow.
Angelique frowned. “Master, whatis—”
The vermillion magic sprang, lunging at Angelique with the speed and deadly intent of awolf.
