Page 87 of Wicked Warlock
Grayson raced to Ophelia’s side. “Serrina said you need me.”
Ophelia held out the cauldron toward him. “I need ‘Then drain the fang of the town.’ That’s you, Vamp. Few drops should do it.”
Grayson popped out his fangs and pressed his thumb to one. Blood welled on his finger and he held it over the cauldron, letting a few drops fall in. He nudged Liesin. “Give over. It’s not a big deal.”
Ophelia held the cauldron out toward him. “Unless you want me to tell Nova you were too scared.”
“Fine.”
Ophelia went to grab his hand and he sneered at her dagger. “I’ve got it, thanks.”
He held out his hand and drew a line over his palm with his finger. His skin split open and blood flowed out and into the cauldron. When he closed his fist, the blood stopped and light glowed from within. “Good enough?”
Ophelia looked inside the cauldron. “Yeah.”
She turned and ran in the other direction, ducking under more Unseelies as Cross stabbed and slashed his way toward Nova. Beckett grabbed my shoulder and pointed toward the other end of the bridge. Cables snapped and one end of the bridge bent up toward the sky. A giant Unseelie-looking rock monster rose out of the water. It held the end of the bridge between its hands and shoved it forward. The beast had a large square jaw and a fat round head. His eyes were lost in his face. Water sloshed down over him, and he roared.
“Giant! Shit, giant!” I opened a portal and grabbed Beckett’s hand and jumped through.
We popped out on the top of the hills in time to see the giant ripping off half the bridge. Zinnia soared to my side with Tuck. They both dropped down at the same time. “A giant! Are you kidding me!”
Ophelia tripped through her own portal with both of her hands wrapped around the cauldron. “Almost done. There’s only one problem.”
“What?” Beckett and I asked in unison.
“We need the blood of both Seelie and Unseelie. We haven’t even met a Seelie.”
“Yes, we have.” My breath heaved in and out. I opened my power and golden magic floated in a pool. I lifted it higher until Soto and Kylian fell out onto the ground at our feet. “She is half-Seelie and half-Unseelie. Will that work?”
“Yep.” Ophelia charged toward her and pulled the needle blade she’d gotten from Soto.
“What the hell?” Soto stood before us in a pair of light blue PJs with little ducks all over them and a bowl of popcorn in her hand. “I’m not doing this. I already did my part.”
“You’ll do this part if you want to stop that from killing us all.” Zinnia pointed toward the giant.
Soto threw down her popcorn and the bowl rolled down the hill, spilling its contents. “What moron sprung Walterous?”
“That thing has a name?” I stood, watching as the rolls of its belly jiggled with each of its violent movements.
Soto smacked Kylian in the shoulder. “Wanna go kill a giant?”
He rose to his feet and stretched his arm over his head then yawned. “Sure, why not.”
“First this.” Ophelia’s hand shot forward, and she stabbed Soto in the forearm. Her blood was a dark navy blue that trickled over the side of her arm. Ophelia placed the cauldron under it and caught two drops.
“Ouch!” Soto glared at her. “You can’t just go around stabbing things.”
“Have you met me?” The potion sizzled, and Ophelia quickly placed it on the ground and shook out her hands.
Soto growled at her, but it was half-hearted. She turned to me. “Yo, can you drop us on that thing’s head?”
“On its head?” The giant dropped the bridge and turned around, starting to trudge through the water toward San Francisco. “Yup.”
I opened a portal for them. Kylian bent over and placed his hand on the ground. They glowed a deep crimson, and two blades the size of his body rose from the dirt. He wrapped his hand into the hilts and spun them around as he walked through the portal. Soto shrugged and followed right behind him. When they dropped out on the other side, Kylian dropped down onto the giant where his shoulder met his neck. He used the momentum of his fall to shove the blades deep into the giant’s skin. He twisted his body and glided across the giant’s body, cutting deep gouges into the giant’s chest and stomach.
Soto dropped onto his head and perched there like a little bird. When she lifted her hands, giant jagged rocks shot from the water and pierced him from all angles, impaling him and stopping him from moving forward. The giant wailed and Nylore, too, bellowed his frustration.
“Finish it now. Before he tries to leave again.”
