Witch queen, p.14
Witch Queen, page 14
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
They emerged from the gloom, sometimes one by one, sometimes in trickles. Though the ghouls and devils kept their distance from him while he traversed the enormous caverns that populated the remotest regions of Hell Deep, Barquiel could tell the creatures were the remnants of the army he had once commanded.
He frowned. Where are the rest of them?
It was a while before he came across a ghoul who could converse primitively. The creature stumbled over its words as it told him of a great purge brought about by a mysterious event. Rage shook Barquiel when it described what it had witnessed.
Void?! That bastard Vedran used Void to steal my army?!
He punched a wall with his fist, causing several monsters to flinch.
Agony seared Barquiel’s insides the next instant. He grunted and clutched his stomach. It was a moment before he could breathe again.
The demon ground his teeth until he tasted blood. I swear, I will purge that bitch’s soul in the fires of Hell when I find someone else I can possess!
Rose Blake’s voice echoed dimly in his ears, the sound mocking.
Barquiel swallowed, pain making his vision swim. He had already examined the souls of the scant troops around him. None of the ghouls or devils who had been drawn to him was a compatible match.
I’ll find someone soon enough. But first I must go to Ran Soyun and ensure that my barriers are still holding. A wave of dizziness almost had him swaying as he clung to the wall. Damn it! I need to recover my strength or I won’t last another ten miles.
The demon straightened with some difficulty and studied his monsters with a calculating look. He raised a hand toward the ones he deemed would satisfy him the fastest.
“Come to me.”
The ghouls and devils he’d commanded to step forward crowded around him. They stayed still while he ripped their hearts from their chests and feasted on their flesh and blood, their brethren watching silently.
The demonic life force he consumed coursed through Barquiel, slowly replenishing the reserves that had been depleted by Chaos Seal. By the time he’d sated his hunger, half the monsters were dead.
Not enough. The demon wiped gore from his mouth. I need to devour more powerful beasts if I want to open a rift to draw one of my swords!
He set off toward a dark lake in the distance, the rags of his once powerful army trailing in his steps.
“The Book of Shadows isn’t just an artifact I devised to hold the soul of Davor Lazar,” Azazel said solemnly. “It is a weapon. One that can annihilate what it contains—or used to contain—using the correct triggers.”
Mae’s pulse raced. “Davor Lazar?”
“That is the full name of the first Sorcerer King. He was a man like any other, except for his soul.” A humorless chuckle left the demon, his regret plain to see. “It took me a while to realize that his potential to wield magic was outweighed by his hunger for power and his wicked cruelty.” Lines wrinkled Azazel’s brow. “The current Sorcerer King reminds me of Davor in many ways. He too killed his familiar when he realized what Soul Magic could do for his powers.”
A sick feeling twisted Mae’s insides. Her hand automatically found Brimstone where he lay on her lap, just as Nikolai, Vlad, and Cortes touched their own familiars. None of them could fathom ever laying a finger on the creature they had bonded their soul with.
You are not monsters, my witch, Brimstone said quietly.
Hellreaver vibrated against her chest. He is right.
“What exactly are the triggers you speak of?” Cortes asked warily.
“First, the Book of Light must be opened with that skeleton key.” Azazel indicated the item hanging from Hellreaver’s chain beside his pendant form. “That is not its true appearance. When it gets close enough to sense the Book of Shadows, it will change into its real form, that of a star-shaped device.” The demon faltered, his expression growing troubled. “But it is upon incanting Davor Lazar’s name and pouring demonic power into that key that it will reveal the Book of Light’s final form: a dagger of pure magic. It must be stabbed through the Book of Shadows to activate its destructive powers.”
Shock reverberated through Mae, just as it did everyone else in the room. An ugly truth came upon its heels.
“Ran Soyun’s soul is also in that book,” Astarte said quietly before Mae could voice her dismay.
Azazel clenched his jaw. “Yes. I sealed half her soul in that book. Which means it too will be destroyed if the artifact is triggered.”
“You had no choice, old friend.” Ilmon touched Azazel’s shoulder. “You were misled by Davor; it was only logical for you to be wary of the next human you gifted your knowledge of magic to.”
Azazel’s breath shuddered out of him. “Still, I should have released her soul from the book when we wed. I suggested it to Ran but she refused.”
Mae grasped the demon’s hand, her heart shattering at the pain echoing through her from Na Ri. Azazel gave her a tremulous half-smile before continuing his tale.
“The Inheritance Ceremony Barquiel spoke of is a ritual where a Sorcerer King bestows his powers upon the one who will take his throne. It is a secret art and one I taught Davor and Ran Soyun in the strictest confidence. Unfortunately, the rite also projects the predecessor’s ambitions upon his or her successor, which is likely why almost every Sorcerer King who followed Davor turned out so evil.” His gaze when he met Mae’s eyes was steely. “The skeleton key can still activate the Book of Shadows even if Vedran has opened it and absorbed Davor’s soul. All it means is that Vedran will also perish. It matters not that Davor’s soul is no longer in the book. It will maintain the memory of its presence and destroy Davor’s soul wherever it may be.”
“But—won’t my father be practically invincible once he absorbs Davor’s soul?” Apprehension clouded Nikolai’s face. “You said yourself that Davor was strong enough to defeat Ran Soyun.” He looked at Mae. “We injured him when we last fought, but it was in no way a fatal wound.”
Mae’s stomach churned. “He’s right.”
“You’re forgetting something,” Vlad said.
The incubus was frowning. “Like my father said, this isn’t like the time Azazel and Ran Soyun lost the war to Barquiel and Davor. Not only do you have me, Cortes, Roman, and hundreds of powerful magic users at your side…we have you.” He blew out a sigh as he studied Nikolai. “And I hate to admit it, but you’re the strongest sorcerer on Earth and you can wield Hellfire Magic. While Mae is—” He stopped and waved a hand vaguely. “You know.”
“Incredibly foolhardy?” Alicia hazarded.
“An idiot who acts before she thinks?” Astarte contributed.
“An all-avenging ignoramus like that Michael?” Armaros grunted.
“That’s going too far,” Ilmon protested.
“Well…” Hellreaver started.
Mae scowled at the weapon. “I don’t want to hear that from you!”
“It’s freaky how on point they are,” Cortes said flatly.
Azazel’s lips twitched.
“I was going to say incredibly strong,” Vlad muttered.
Gratitude softened Nikolai’s face. “Thanks.”
Vlad shuddered. “Please. Don’t look at me like that.”
Nikolai narrowed his eyes at the incubus before addressing Azazel. “You said there are two things that might work in our favor when we face Vedran. What’s the second one?”
The demon studied the sorcerer steadily. “He won’t be able to absorb your magic. In fact, doing so will likely shatter his core.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The Book of Light opened yet another pointless breach. Vedran scowled.
The first Book of Shadows it had led them to had turned out to be a fake, just like the one Nikolai had manifested when he’d used Hellfire Magic on the artifact Dietrich Farago had created.
Damn that Azazel! Vedran clenched his jaw until his teeth ached. The demon had clearly planted dozens of fakes in case anyone ever attempted to use the Book of Light in this fashion. His eyes shrank to slits. I imagine the skeleton key we lost to Mae and the New York coven would be the fastest way to the real tome. Determination knotted the sorcerer’s shoulders. Still, there are only so many fakes he could have planted. One of these rifts will lead me to the true Book of Shadows, I’m certain of it.
Vedran took a moment to appreciate the magic bubbling through his veins as he tore open doorway after doorway. The power he now harbored in his dark core made his heart race like few things could. Killing off the sorcerers and witches who had been loyal to him and absorbing the magic of the coven members he’d had his hellish army slaughter had been the right call.
He felt pretty invincible right now. But it still wasn’t enough.
He would only be satisfied once he had devoured the soul of the first Sorcerer King and the core of the most powerful white magic user on Earth. The treacherous offspring he had sired with the witch he once treasured the most in his harem.
Vedran was dimly aware of Oscar’s harrowed gaze on his back. He could practically taste the sorcerer’s fear. Logic told him he had no further use for his firstborn son now that the latter’s core had been ruined by Subjugate. He had already abandoned his plan to gain control of the Witch Queen by bonding her to Oscar via the Marriage of Magic; instead, she would die by Vedran’s own hand.
The Sorcerer King frowned. But Oscar might still be of some use. I’ve kept him alive this long. A few more days won’t matter.
Something distracted him from his reflections. He stiffened.
The Book of Light was vibrating in his hand.
He felt the power inside the artifact condense.
The keyhole shifted form.
Vedran stared at the star-shaped opening, his heart in his throat. He manipulated the Hellfire Magic he had stolen from Nikolai and created a matching key, his fingers shaking with excitement.
This is it. This next rift is the one!
He inserted the star-shaped key of flame inside the compass, his mouth going dry. The click of the lock echoed in his ears, a sound that preceded an event even he had not anticipated.
Oscar gasped.
Jubilation brought a mad grin to Vedran’s face. Yes! Finally!
The crack that had opened in the fabric of space was not so much a rift as it was a doorway. He hesitated but a moment before surrounding himself with a thick aura of black magic and stepping through it.
Vedran paused and blinked on the other side of the threshold. His breath caught. Stars and galaxies flashed all around and above him, so fast they were a blur against the inky firmament.
Is this—another dimension?!
His heart thumping furiously, he took a step onto a dark floor that moved as if it were made of water. Ripples broke out, the wavelets expanding and accelerating before they washed across the base of something that lit up like the sun.
Vedran flinched and covered his face with an arm. He let his eyes adapt to the bright glare before squinting through a gap between his fingers.
It was a moment before he could make out the bright object ahead. It was a dazzling pedestal that glittered and sparkled as if it were made of stars.
A shiver danced down his spine as he gazed at what floated above it.
Levitating within a roaring orb of demonic energy, its pages fluttering lightly in an invisible wind, was a dark book. Black magic crackled and sparked on its cover and spine.
Deep inside him, in the place where Vedran harbored his most wicked secret, his dead familiar Balkin howled.
“You want me to do what?” Edwin McKinney said leadenly.
Bryony met the mayor’s gaze steadily. “I want you to evacuate the city.”
McKinney turned to Jared. “Is she insane?!”
Abraham bristled next to Bryony. She raised a hand. He settled in his seat, his annoyed gaze shifting to the two somber-faced advisors framing the mayor.
“She is not.” Jared frowned at the mayor. “I’m making the same request. I’m still waiting to hear back from the Special Affairs Bureau, but I’m pretty sure they’ll agree with our suggestion.”
McKinney leaned his elbows on his desk, his expression hard. “I’m afraid I’m going to need more than that before I okay such an asinine plan.” He pursed his lips. “Even if I did consent to it, we’d need the National Guard for such a large-scale evacuation. It would take,” one of his counselors leaned down and whispered in his ear, “—a couple of days at least before they had boots on the ground.”
Bryony clenched her jaw. It had taken her and Abraham twelve hours to secure an appointment with the mayor, to the point even Barbara had threatened to storm City Hall to speak to the “Goddamn fool in charge of this place!”
We’re running out of time. Still, we need his cooperation if we want to save as many human lives as possible.
“We may have had our differences in the past, Edwin,” she said in a level voice, “but Jared and I are being deadly serious. New York is facing an imminent attack.”
McKinney raised a mocking eyebrow. “From this so-called Sorcerer King you mentioned before? The one responsible for the incident at that hotel?”
Bryony swallowed a sharp retort. “Yes.”
“He’s also the one behind all those dead bodies showing up,” Abraham ground out, the “asshole” unspoken.
McKinney waved a dismissive hand, his expression undeterred. “My advisors believe that was the work of some kind of cult and it’s the last we’ve seen of them.”
Abraham drew a sharp breath. Jared stared at McKinney’s advisors like they were the dumbest things on two legs he’d ever seen.
“Maybe we should bring Rambrog here,” the Immortal suggested flatly to Bryony.
“Don’t tempt me,” she muttered.
McKinney sneered. “Who the hell is Rambrog?”
Something behind the mayor caught Bryony’s gaze before she could utter a reply. She blinked, not quite understanding what she was seeing for a moment. Her eyes widened.
The air trembled on a ripple of sinister magic, making the hairs on the back of her neck rise to attention. Penley’s pupils blazed a bright green as he hissed at her feet.
Blood drained from Abraham’s face. The aide clenched the armrests of his chair, his gaze riveted to the window. “What is that?!”
Jared cursed when he registered the phenomenon that had captured their attention.
McKinney frowned. He twisted around, his advisors following suit.
“What are you talk—?” The mayor’s words ended on a gargled cry.
He swiveled his chair and climbed clumsily to his feet, his thighs hitting the desk and knocking over an ink pot.
“What the devil is that thing?!” McKinney croaked, indicating the sky with a trembling finger.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
They had a direct line of sight to Lower Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge from McKinney’s office in City Hall. What was rolling across the sky from the east was not so much a storm as it was a dark pall that would soon engulf the city. Racing ahead of it, an ominous portent that seemed to herald the End of Days, were thousands of birds.
Blood pounded in Bryony’s veins as she rose from her chair, Abraham and Jared at her side. It’s the first part of the prophecy!
“We’re too late,” she mumbled, half to herself.
Jared’s cell buzzed. His shoulders knotted when he saw the number on the screen. He took the call and listened wordlessly, a muscle jumping in his jawline.
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said curtly. “Will do.”
The Immortal disconnected and eyed a shaken McKinney coldly. “That was the Special Affairs Bureau. They want everyone out of New York ASAP. General Cooke and his men at the army facility on Staten Island will assist you. Wait for their instructions.”
They left the mayor and his two counselors staring fearfully out the window as they exited the office.
“Isn’t this too early?” Abraham said tensely when they emerged from the building. He glanced at the sky as they headed to where Jared had parked his sedan. “I thought we had at least another ten hours.”
“It’s not as if the Seer’s visions come with a precise countdown.” Bryony shivered. The wind had picked up and was whipping her coat around her legs. “Besides, I can’t feel Vedran’s presence yet. We’ll know when he arrives in the city.” Her scalp prickled as she studied the darkening clouds. “I’m afraid this is only a prelude of what is to come.”
By the time Jared’s car hit Midtown, Manhattan had come to a standstill. The Immortal switched on his dash light and cursed under his breath as he weaved painfully through the stationary traffic.
No one paid attention to him.
Every man, woman, and child was standing on the street and gazing nervously at the menacing sky and the birds streaming silently above their heads.
Bryony had to give credit to the citizens of New York. It was their sheer resilience that meant none of them was running around screaming yet. She wasn’t sure how long that state of affairs would last though.
When they pulled up to the mansion, Barbara and Regina were waiting outside with April and Ludmila. Relief flooded Bryony at the sight of the witch and sorcerers beside them.
“Valentina.” She stepped out of the vehicle and rushed over to embrace the Caracas coven High Priestess. “I’m glad you’re okay!”
Valentina hugged her tightly, her face pale.
Bryony pulled back and acknowledged Sergio Mendes with a nod. “Thank you for coming.”
Anya’s father gave her a weak smile.
Bryony turned to Felipe Cortes, Enrique’s uncle and the current High Priest of the Medellin coven. “I really appreciate you bringing your people here on such short notice. Having powerful Arcane Magic users on our side will come in handy.”
Felipe bobbed his head curtly. “This fight is as much ours as it is yours. It belongs to the entire magic community.” Anxiety clouded his eyes. “Have you heard from my nephew?”
