“He could use the practice,” I explained.
Orrin stopped fiddling with his magic canceling cuffs and stood at attention. “No signs of any beings—supernatural or otherwise. Neither the motion sensor lights nor the cameras were disturbed. Everything was clear when we left and should be fine for your approach.”
“Well, that’s something,” Tetiana said as Brody folded in half from another gargantuan sneeze.
We were meeting up in the middle of our patrol route for a handoff between our areas. Considine, Orrin, and I had just finished making a circuit of Goldstein and the streets surrounding it, while Team Flash—consisting of Tetiana, Brody, and Grove—had been downtown.
Normally we didn’t check in with each other in person when swapping patrol routes, but since Gisila’s confirmed return two days prior, tensions had been…high.
“Brody, buddy. You need to use this potion.” Grove shook the gray potion up again, which swirled an ominous black. “Thatpepper spell on you is so strong I can’t sense any other magic besides it. Can you feel it, Blood?”
“Yes,” I confirmed—the gossamer brush of fae magic had been sliding against my mind since we’d approached the trio. “Which means it must be powerful since I’m not that sensitive to magic. Do you want to radio it in, Brody?”
Brody stubbornly mashed his eyes shut as he struggled to hold in another sneeze. “I’mfine.”
“Mmhmm,” Tetiana tapped her foot on the ground, and her Ukrainian accent thickened as she adopted a motherly tone. “Stop being stubborn. You know it must be affecting your abilities—”
“Fae!” Considine shouted.
He spun around, placing his back against mine while I pulled my gun from my shoulder holster.
Magic flared to life around us, assembling into a spell that I was guessing had to be fae since I still didn’t sense anything besides fae magic.
Tetiana shouted and slapped hands over her ears, Brody did as well.
“That ringing!” Tetiana shouted. “It’s awful!”
With Considine pressed against me, I could feel the muscles tighten in his back—which probably meant he was hearing it, too.
It must be some kind of sound magic.
I didn’t hear anything, but the spell would hit those who would be hampered most by it: supernaturals with better senses.
I flicked the safety off my gun and scanned the street.
Orrin ripped his radio off his belt and pressed the buttons to talk. “This is Team Blood and Team Flash!”
Normally his voice would have crackled across our radios, but instead static erupted from the machines.
Orrin tried again. “Hello? Can anyone hear me?”
Grove violently shook his gray potion up. “The signal’s getting disrupted. There’s no way anyone can hear us with all that static.”
Orrin broke off into several colorful oaths that involved his family lineage, and hooked his radio back on his belt, exchanging it for his stun guns.
Hordes of fae emerged from side streets and alleyways, armed with magical artifacts and bladed weapons. Ranging from red caps to sirens—but, not a single fae noble to be found in the crowd—they converged on us to press the advantage of their numbers.
I shot five of the fae without hesitation, and Orrin grabbed the first fae to get within striking distance—a long-limbed selkie—and activated both of his stun guns, dropping the selkie with a scream.
Grove chucked his gray potion, which cracked on the sidewalk and exploded in a pop of smoke. The fae who were closest to it dropped to their knees, clutching their throats and gagging.
We can survive this. There’s a lot of fae, but they’re not very skilled. It’s almost like they’re just a meat wall—wait.
The odd sensation of something above me made goose bumps break out on my arms, and I looked up just in time to see Gisila—in her dragon form—tuck her wings and land on the street with enough force to shake the stoplights at the intersection behind her.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
