Chapter 20
Bryony stood staringout of a window overlooking Central Park. Penley sat on the sill in front of her, his tail swinging lazily while he watched the army of aides loading suitcases into the SUVs parked outside the mansion.
The members of the High Council and their entourage were finally returning to their cities.
Though she would never admit it openly, Bryony would miss their presence. Mae’s arrival into their lives had not only made all their past squabbles seem like playground spats, it had strengthened their friendships and alliances in a way nothing else could have.
Bryony stroked Penley’s head. “I guess having a strong Witch Queen really is the best thing for the world of magic.”
The cat closed his eyes and purred.
Bryony’s face tightened. But not just any witch would have done. It’s because of Mae Jin that we are now stronger together and finally in a position to face the Sorcerer King, instead of cowering before him like we did for countless years.
Still, she couldn’t help the foreboding gnawing at her insides.
It had been two days since Mae left for Hell with Nikolai, Vlad, and Cortes. There hadn’t been any sign of Barquiel or Vedran in that time. Even the bodies of the Dark Council members had stopped turning up.
Bryony wasn’t sure if this was because the Sorcerer King was close to achieving his goal, or for another nefarious reason he had yet to reveal. She frowned.
Call me cynical, but things are too quiet for my liking.
“Or maybe I’m just getting old,” she told Penley under her breath.
The cat meowed. Green flashed in his eyes. His tail stilled, his alert gaze swinging toward the road.
Bryony stiffened at the sound of tires squealing on 5th Avenue.
An unmarked police sedan with an emergency dash light barreled through the traffic and pulled up sharply at the curb. Jared jumped out just as an SUV braked inches from the bumper of a San Francisco coven’s transport. Violet and Miles emerged from it and joined the Immortal.
Abraham and Derrick approached them, Raven, Karin, and Ephra in their wake. A tense exchange followed. Ephra paled. Abraham cursed.
They rushed inside the mansion.
Bryony exited the room at a brisk pace, pulse racing and Penley scampering beside her. She met them in the main foyer.
Jared had stopped to talk to Gerard, Isabelle, and Simon.
“What’s wrong?” Bryony said sharply from the main landing of the grand staircase.
A muscle jumped in the Immortal’s jawline as he turned to meet her gaze. “Our ally in Chicago just sent a warning.”
From Violet and Miles’s tight expressions, they too had heard from their Seer friend. Dread knotted Bryony’s stomach. Her premonition was coming true.
Let’s hope whatever this is, we can handle it without Mae.
“What’s going on?” someone said curiously.
Bryony looked over her shoulder.
Roman was coming down the stairs with Marlena and Nadia. His puzzled gaze swung from Bryony to the group below. Marlena slowed when she registered the tension in the air. A wary look dawned on Nadia’s face.
Jared glanced at the coven witches and sorcerers watching them from the upstairs galleries and the corridors branching off the entrance hall. “Let’s have this conversation somewhere private.”
A commotion reached them before they got to Bryony’s study. They were passing a drawing room that had been converted into a makeshift office when several horrified shouts rent the air. A witch turned up the volume on her cellphone. Others gathered around her to listen in.
“Looks like it made the news,” Jared said darkly.
“What made the news?” Roman asked in a frustrated voice.
It wasn’t until they were inside the study and the doors were closed that the Immortal finally spoke. “Vedran is attacking covens around the world.”
A buzzing sound filled Bryony’s head. She grasped the back of a chair, her legs weak. “What?!”
The Immortal took the remote from the coffee table and switched on the flatscreen TV on the wall.
It took a couple of seconds for Bryony to grasp what they were looking at. Isabelle covered her mouth, horror draining her face of color. Simon swore.
Abraham fisted his hands. “Shit!”
“Is that the London coven?!” Marlena asked hoarsely.
Dread curdled Bryony’s blood. There was no mistaking the pale, domed building on the display. It was the headquarters of the biggest coven in Europe. And it was burning with flames that the local fire force was struggling to douse.
Roman sat heavily on the edge of a couch.
“That’s Hellfire Magic,” he mumbled. “They’re not going to be able to put that out!”
Bryony finally registered the female newscaster’s voice.
“—sources have informed us that there were more than two hundred people inside the building at the time the blaze broke out. Though it is yet to be confirmed, the authorities suspect no one managed to escape. Some witnesses report hearing screams moments before?—”
Jared switched channels. “It’s not just England.”
Karin recoiled. “Oh God.”
Ephra clasped the witch’s hand tightly while they watched live feeds of the destruction that had been wrought on several other cities. All the buildings depicted were major coven headquarters.
“The same thing has happened in France, Germany, Italy, Poland,” Jared said coldly as he flicked the button. “And not just there. The biggest covens in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia were hit at the same time.”
Nadia drew a sharp breath. She took out her cellphone and speed-dialed a number. Relief had her squeezing her eyes shut when it connected.
“Are they okay?” Roman asked in a strained voice.
“Yes.”
The High Priestess rose and went over to the window, her voice low and urgent as she ordered her coven to evacuate their headquarters in Cairo.
Marlena was already on the phone to Prague, her knuckles white where she gripped her cell.
Raven’s gaze switched from the anxious witches to the TV. She narrowed her eyes. “It looks like that asshole is attacking covens that don’t have Mae’s direct protection.”
Jared frowned. “What do you mean?”
Bryony swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Mae put Soul Shield inside all New York coven members, as well as the covens of all the High Council priests and priestesses in the city right now. It was a safeguard in case something happened in her absence.”
“It looks like she was right to be paranoid,” Abraham said darkly.
“What is Vedran trying to do?” A muscle jumped in Derrick’s cheek. “For what purpose is he?—?”
“He’s killing them to absorb their cores,” Violet said flatly.
Bryony looked at the young witch, her heart pounding.
Wrath lit Violet’s eyes with the purple blaze of her magic. “We can only presume he’s run out of Dark Council members to slaughter.”
“So, he’s coming after us,” Miles added, standing stiffly beside his cousin.
A fraught hush ensued.
Karin shuddered, her face clearing as if she were waking up from a nightmare. “When was the last attack?”
Jared clenched his jaw. “Eight hours ago.”
Horror rounded Gerard’s mouth. “What?!”
Derrick squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, his expression pained. “How come we’re only hearing about this now?”
“Because that bastard did something to hide what was happening,” the Immortal replied in a hard voice. “We think it might have been Illusion Sorcery.”
Bryony’s insides twisted as she watched Jared’s bleak expression. He was no doubt recalling the magic that had turned all of them, including him, against Mae just a few months ago.
Though the Witch Queen had long forgiven them for attacking her while under the influence of Anya’s spell, most of them had still not come to terms with their betrayal.
Bryony shivered. Thank goodness she found a spell to counter it.
“And the timeline of the attacks?” Nadia asked sharply.
The Sun Magic witch had gotten off her call.
Jared faltered. “We think he struck all of them at the same time.”
Bryony swayed. Shocked murmurs broke out.
“What?” Confusion clouded Roman’s face. “How is that?—?”
“Portals!” someone gasped.
They turned.
Anya was standing in the doorway, face flushed and chest heaving as if she’d run to get there. Her eyes were brimming with tears and her pupils round with fear. She clutched Sable to her chest.
“Nikolai was right. Vedran is sending his army through portals. They just attacked the Caracas coven!”
Ice filled Bryony’s veins.
Miles scowled. “So he’s going after the South American covens next!”
“Dammit,” Abraham ground out.
“No, not—not Valentina!” Ephra mumbled.
Valentina Flores was the High Priestess of the largest coven in Venezuela and a close friend and ally of the High Council.
Anya shook her head. “Valentina is fine. She wasn’t at the coven headquarters when it was hit. My father has spoken to her.” The witch swallowed heavily. “It’s not just Venezuela. He was on the phone to a friend in Buenos Aires when their coven got attacked twenty minutes ago. The sorcerer he was talking to described a heavy aura of corruption and a black gate opening inside the building.” Her voice broke. “My—my father said he heard the screams of demons and devils before the connection broke.”
Sable crooned anxiously in her mistress’s hold. Marlena rose and went to them. Anya allowed the witch to lead her to a couch, her shoulders slumped with grief.
Bryony finally recovered her composure. “What did the Seer say exactly?”
Jared traded a troubled glance with Violet and Miles.
“That the first part of the prophecy concerning the Witch Queen is about to come true,” the Immortal said reluctantly.
Simon blanched.
“On the day the world becomes shrouded in shadows,” Isabelle quoted numbly beside the sorcerer.
Violet’s mouth set in a determined line. “She said to get as many magic users as we can to New York in the next twenty-four hours. That the city must not fall.”
“And if it does?” Marlena asked in a harrowed voice.
“Then all will be lost.” Miles’s expression was deadlier than Bryony ever recalled seeing it. “Because it’s not just magic users Vedran will slaughter in his attempt to become a God. He will kill every living thing from here to the West Coast.”