Page 70 of Wicked Warlock
“How long do we have?” the girl I’d found in the closet asked.
“A few minutes. Long enough to draw them all away. Do what you must in those few minutes.”
They all nodded silently. One by one, they filed out of my room and walked down the busy hallway. I gave them a few minutes to filter in among the chaos of the move and other students running from room to room, looking at their new quarters. They blended in so seamlessly, smiling and laughing as they should, as he taught us. Then one by one, they were let into dorm rooms, led down empty halls, or walked into a dark corner by those who trusted them.
Serve him well. Bring him an army.
A mixture of pleasure and pride rolled through my body, and I smiled to myself knowing that I served him well, knowing I would give him the army that he asked me for.
Chapter 35
Astrid
Power flowed through my body, and I felt like pure life. I held open my portal for Beckett, Cross, and Ophelia. Maze went back to the school to get Logan. He had one of Ophelia’s portal potions in hand. I opened my portal just below the Seattle Space Needle and immediately walked into battle. I reached behind me and yanked Beckett to the side as an axe swung over our heads. Ophelia ran out of the portal and jumped at the first Unseelie she saw. It was easily three times bigger than her, with dark gray skin and long black patchy hair. Sharp shark-like teeth jutted from his mouth, and he growled at her.
Ophelia planted her foot on his thigh then shot up higher and wrapped both her legs around its neck. Two knives appeared in her hands, and she shoved them down into the Unseelie’s eye sockets. The thing fell backwards like a tree and timbered his ass down on top of another Unseelie. Ophelia rolled from him and came to a stand. Black blood made her dark leather jacket look like it was covered in oil.
She smiled at the rest of us and took off running into the crowd of Unseelie surrounding the base of the Space Needle. Beckett shoved me to the side and a sword came down between us. He threw out his arm and blue smoke forced a line of Unseelie to go flying straight up into the air and come hurtling back down to the ground. The bodies smashed to the ground and lay there, broken and bloody.
“Do you see Zinnia?”
I tried to see past the throngs of Unseelie, but it was impossible. They crawled over each other like ants swarming toward us with weapons and intent to kill all plain on their faces.
Cross sprinted past us and gave me a mock salute. He disappeared in the direction Ophelia ran in, the same direction of the pained screams and confusion. I lifted my hands and let my power flow into the crowd. Gold smoke covered a half-dozen Unseelie warriors and I twisted my hand, snapping their necks all at once. Skeletal hands shot up from the ground, dragging the Unseelie into the dirt and disappearing.
Then a hole opened up, and Nova shot out of it. My heart raced in my chest, until I saw another figure pop out behind her—Liesin. He seemed to snicker at the Unseelie as he walked through the battlefield. If one approached him, he would simply touch them and rip their soul right out. He held it there in the palm of his hand for a moment before his eyes glowed a dark purple and he crushed it to dust. Then he kicked the body out of his way as he trailed behind Nova.
“Nova!” I waved to her. “Over here!”
She turned and began running toward us.
“Astrid, look ou—”
I spun around and a huge Unseelie lurched over me. He had to be ten feet tall and three feet wide. But he didn’t move toward me; in fact, he didn’t seem to moving at all. Then he lifted off the ground and tilted to the side. His entire body was ripped in half and thrown to the side like a rag doll. Tilly stood there staring at me with glowing green eyes.
“Tilly!” I took a step toward her, but she stepped back.
I didn’t move any farther. Maze strolled out of the portal right behind her and his eyes widened at the Unseelies encroaching on us all. “This is interesting.”
Another Unseelie charged right at me. Tilly stepped in front of me and just reached her arm out and grabbed him. She stood there still as stone, not talking, not really looking at anything, and with her bare hand, she threw him headfirst into the ground, smashing his skull.
“Maze, she shouldn’t be here.”
“Who am I to stop a woman who has decided what she wants?” Maze stood next to Tilly and shrugged. “She wanted to come. So here she is.”
Nova moved to stand across from us. Her cheeks were pink and she smiled with excitement. “It’s good to see you guys.”
“How is this even possible? That you’re here?” I wanted to give her a hug, but we were in the middle of a battle.
She hiked her thumb at Liesin who walked silently up to our group. “Deal with the Devil. Wherever I go, he goes. At least above the surface. He’s my only ticket back… for now.”
“Deep down, you know you like me.”
“We don’t have time for this.” Beckett threw another dozen Unseelies into the air and made them collide with each other like he was using them to clap his hands. They smacked together repeatedly until they were broken bloody messes. When he dropped them, he spun in a circle, looking around. “We need to find Zinnia.”
Silver tentacles of magic shot from the top of the Space Needle and I pointed up. “Found her.”
“We need to get to her.” He opened up a portal and motioned for us to run into it. Nova and Liesin charged right in, leaving us.
