Page 57 of Witch's Fate

To Sofia’s knowledge, there were only two Mytheans in the world like Malcolm: himself and his brother. Half-blood wulvers were exceedingly rare. Inara would have never seen such a thing.

The wolf walked to the wall and disappeared through it.

Sofia waited, her breath held. She had no idea what he was doing, but didn’t want to disturb him. Separating part of your soul from your body was always a dangerous business.

After a while, the wolf returned. It melded back into Malcolm’s chest and he stood upright. He walked toward the wall that was opposite the exterior wall.

“Come here,” he said. “It’s safer.”

Sofia and Kitty went to stand by him. Inara came as well.

“If we get you out of here, you’ll answer our questions…agreed?” Malcolm asked.

“Deal,” Inara said. “But I don’t know how the hell you think we’re getting out of here.”

“You’ll see. Soon.”

Not a moment later, the stone wall opposite them burst outward, flinging rocks and mortar. Malcolm lunged at Sofia and pushed her against the wall, covering her body with his own.

When the rubble settled, Sofia pushed him off her and looked toward the destroyed wall. A group of people stood, silhouetted in dust. Two women held their hands outstretched as if they’d just thrown a burst of magical energy at the wall. One was tall and pale with dark hair, the other short and golden all over. Two black familiars stood at their sides.

They looked like total bad asses, here to rescue them. Sofia grinned.

“I haven’t caused this much damage in quite a while,” the golden one said. Her eyes gleamed delightedly. “Being on the right side of the law can be quite boring.”

The men behind them surged forward, putting themselves between the women and the unknown. The huge, dark-haired one looked a bit like Malcolm. His brother Felix. Malcolm had told her of him, though she’d never met him. The other had honey-colored hair and blocked the taller woman.

“We’d better get on our way,” Felix said. “This hasn’t exactly been a subtle escape attempt.”

Malcolm grabbed her hand and they raced for the huge hole in the wall. He nodded back at Inara. “Grab her. She’s coming with us.”

Felix grabbed Inara by the arm and followed them.

Sofia stepped out of the room and into a giant pit in the ground.

“Dungeon’s in the basement, as all good dungeons are,” the golden woman said with a grin. “So we had to blow a hole in the ground.”

Sofia nodded, then frowned. Weakness tugged at her. A tingly sense of the power of her immortal soul being sucked away.

These women were soulceresses. No wonder they could blow the wall away.

“We’ll aetherwalk to my place,” Malcolm said.

She glanced at him, then reached for his hand. Pride shone in his eyes and he gripped her hand.

An enraged shriek rent the air. Sofia’s gaze shot toward the dungeon.

Malcolm lunged in front of her, protecting her. She had to peer around his side. The Salem Coven stood within, all twelve of them. An unfamiliar witch, the High Priestess, Sofia assumed, stood in the middle. She raised her wand and threw a bolt of magical energy so strong that Sofia was lifted into the air and thrown out of the pit.

She crashed to the ground, then scrambled to her feet. She was on the front lawn. Chaos reigned. Dust filled the air. Bodies and great stone blocks from the dungeon were scattered all around. Sofia looked around frantically for Malcolm and Kitty. Kitty stood atop an enormous pile of rubble, scratching at it.

Dread settled in Sofia’s stomach. Malcolm was under there, she could feel it. Because he’d thrown himself in front of her.

The moon lit a nightmarish scene as twelve of the thirteen members of the Salem Coven climbed out of the pit that their rescuers had blown into the ground.

Shit. Twelve of them versus… She looked around frantically for her backup. The dark-haired soulceress and the blond man were climbing to their feet. Inara raced up to her side. The golden soulceress and Felix were nowhere to be seen.

Four against twelve.

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