Chapter 34
“Areyou sure this is a good idea?” Bryony asked Mae with a pinched expression.
“Not really, but I can’t see what other choice we have.”
The wind blowing in from Upper Bay made her hair dance around her face as it washed over the west end of the pedestrian promenade on the Brooklyn Bridge.
“Wait for my signal,” Mae told Bryony and Abraham.
She headed out onto the walkway toward the first stone tower with Brimstone and Hellreaver. Cortes, Vlad, and Oscar followed in her steps.
A chill danced down Mae’s spine when they entered the shadows of the Neo-Gothic construction, the cables above them gleaming with a sinister light under the cloud-laden sky.
Hellreaver hovered closer to her. “This is creepy.”
Even Brimstone looked uneasy as he scanned the area.
They emerged from under the tower and walked another two hundred feet. Mae stopped and brought forth a single crimson sphere. She cast it into the sky.
Magic bloomed around the bridge at the sight of her sign, the New York coven and their allies raising a massive barrier from the east and west banks of the river. The shield made the water sizzle as it closed around the structure on four sides.
Mae reinforced it with her own Shield and prayed it would be enough to prevent the city’s destruction. Tension knotted her shoulders.
She’d wanted to take this war out over the waters of Upper Bay, or even all the way out across the Atlantic. But she didn’t do so for one reason and one reason alone.
She and Na Ri could not win this fight on their own.
“Remember the plan,” Mae told the men beside her. “This is going to go down fast, so keep your wits about you. We have two goals. Separate Vedran from the Book of Shadows. And buy me time to destroy that artifact.”
The two sorcerers and the incubus exchanged a guarded glance.
“First things first.” Mae walked over to Oscar and pressed a hand to his stomach.
He stiffened, his eyes rounding. “What are you?—?!”
Heat surged through Mae. “Purge.”
Her magic flowed through Oscar, reversing the Subjugate spell that had weakened him. Vlad cursed. Cortes scowled.
Color slowly returned to Oscar’s face, his core freed from the shackles that had bound it. He gave Mae a dazed look.
“Why?! You didn’t have to?—!”
“Mae!” Vlad said angrily.
“I did,” Mae said firmly. She glanced at Vlad. “He won’t betray us. And I can’t have Drabek’s sorcerer dying on me. Not after everything I’ve done to keep her alive.”
Oscar’s eyes glowed with gratitude.
“Besides, Nikolai wants to see his brother,” Mae added quietly. “And that is one wish I will do my utmost to grant.” She fished inside her jacket and passed Oscar a vial. “I’m sorry we didn’t have time to get a healer to treat your wounds. Mrs. Son-Ha gave me this potion. She said it would help.”
Oscar stared. “Who’s Mrs. Son-Ha?”
“A Shaman.”
Oscar hesitated before uncorking the bottle and taking a careful sniff. He grimaced. “You sure this is a healing potion? It smells like old socks.”
“Just drink the damn potion, Oscar,” Mae snapped.
He swallowed the contents of the bottle and managed to only gag once.
Mae waited until his wounds had mostly healed before studying the sky above the city.
Vedran’s Void was no longer visible, the Sorcerer King having gone to ground the moment she’d arrived in New York. Mae wanted to believe it was because he was scared, but she knew better. She frowned.
He’s probably regrouping to figure out his next move, now that we’ve annihilated over half his army and are close to ridding the city of the rest.
Na Ri spoke. Still, Vedran is an army all on his own with Davor’s soul inside him.
Mae pursed her lips. Her gaze shifted to Oscar. “You ready?”
Oscar nodded. He took a deep breath and steeled himself when she took up position in front of him.
Power seared her cores and danced through her bond with Brimstone and Hellreaver. An aura of crimson, black, and white blanketed the three of them, the static sparking off the demon fox’s fur and the weapon’s blades.
Mae touched Oscar’s stomach and conjured Reveal.
Her breath stuttered. The spell instantly linked him to Vedran’s location. Images flashed before her vision. Her head snapped up.
There you are!
Fire filled her veins. She raised a hand to the sky over Upper Bay.
“DECAY!”
The sound of the air shearing above Governors Island put her teeth on edge. Void appeared, a black stain against the firmament.
The next spell left Mae’s lips on a growl.
“ICE FORTRESS!’’
A glittering white cage bloomed around Void.
“Rambrog, now!”
The bubble of magic hiding the giant materialized where she’d guided it straight above Vedran’s prison. A roar left Rambrog as he smashed his fists down on Ice Fortress and sent it hurtling toward the bridge.
It took but seconds for the prison of ice to crash onto the promenade. Debris filled the air, an explosion of pale crystals amidst a thick, white mist.
Vedran emerged from it like a dark god.
Black magic filled the Sorcerer King’s eyes from edge to edge, the corruption bubbling around him so foul it brought bile to the back of Mae’s throat. He arrowed straight toward her, the inky sword made of his familiar’s soul aimed at her heart, his face a mask of sheer, evil determination.
Mae scowled. “PURGE!”
The spell slammed into Vedran and slowed him a fraction.
A scarlet storm erupted around Brimstone. He stepped forward, his tails vibrating with a force that made the bridge tremble. He chomped down on the Sorcerer King’s shoulder with a snarl and cast him violently aside.
Vedran smashed into one of the trusses supporting the eastbound roadway. Metal caved. He grunted and sagged, blood spraying from his lips.
Cortes’s whip wrapped around the Sorcerer King’s right wrist, dispersing some of his black magic and immobilizing his sword.
A barrage of incubus spell bombs crashed into Vedran next. The deck shuddered under the explosions, the cables above them whining as they moved under the dark sky.
“ROT!” Oscar barked before the dust cleared.
The black magic around Vedran wavered even more. The cloak he wore fluttered open, revealing their target.
Mae’s pulse spiked. “Hell!”
Hellreaver disappeared in a burst of black and crimson. He slipped underneath Vedran’s clothes, snatched the Book of Shadows, and zoomed back toward her.
A sense of wrongness prickled her scalp.
Mae!Na Ri warned.
Mae’s mouth went dry. Magic was racing across Vedran’s flesh, a map of dark lines that turned his skin to sinister parchment. The smile he gave her made her stomach twist. His gaze shifted. So did hers.
Her eyes widened. No!
“Brim!” Mae screamed. Fear brought forth the only incantations she could think of to protect her familiar. “SHIELD!REVERSE!”
The Sorcerer King’s attack smashed through her spells like they were made of air.
Rambrog blocked Vedran’s spell bomb before it could strike the demon fox where he’d moved to cover Hellreaver’s retreat. The giant grunted, toes scorching deep grooves into the asphalt as he skidded backward some hundred feet. He clutched his flank and fell to his knee with a groan, blood pooling around his fingers.
Relief rendered Mae weak. Though the attack had taken a chunk of flesh out of Rambrog, it had spared the giant’s life.
I’m glad I reinforced his body with magic!
She only had a moment’s warning before her instincts told her everything was about to go very wrong.
No, Na Ri mumbled.
Mae’s head snapped around. Her stomach dropped.