Page 63 of The Darkest Night

Vlad observed the beast warily.

The nine-tailed fox crouched next to Mae’s chair and looked into her eyes, his own filled with a wisdom as old as time.

“The devil the son of the Sorcerer King speaks of is Barquiel. He is the ninth leader of the Grigori and a fallen angel who once bore the name Lightning of God. He is an Archduke of Hell, as the incubus scion correctly postulated. His dislike for Azazel was legendary even before Satanael and his followers were banished from the Heavens by the divine army led by the Archangel Michael.”

A heavy feeling settled in the pit of Nikolai’s stomach.

That devil is a fallen angel?!

“The Grigori?” Vlad said with a calculating look. “As in the Watchers who fell from Heaven because they lay with humans?”

“Indeed.”

Mae paled. “Wait. You mean—all that Bible stuff isreal?!”

“Yes.” Bryony cleared her throat and stole a glance at Violet and Miles. “We met several of those fallen angels a few years ago.”

“You did?” Nikolai said dully.

The three of them nodded grimly.

Brimstone studied Mae with a brooding look in his orange eyes.

“I believe Barquiel is the one who gave the current Sorcerer King the power to create the binding ritual that locked our magic. I could smell a trace of his demonic energy in the spell.”

Nikolai stared blindly at the floor, the horrifying revelation made by Mae’s familiar reverberating through his very bones.

That would make sense!

He looked up, jaw clenching. “That power. They weren’t just planning to bind you with it before you awakened. They were going to break you, body and mind.”

Mae paled. “What do you mean?”

“I came to New York to force your soul awakening because of what I uncovered about the Sorcerer King’s plans concerning you.”

Nikolai swallowed heavily, unsure how to voice the dreadful scheme he’d chanced upon the night he went to his father’s study to inform him of the results of his latest mission and overheard the latter’s conversation with Oscar. Alastair fluttered onto his shoulder and pressed his body against his cheek, seeking to comfort him. He raised a hand and stroked the bird, grateful for his presence.

Nikolai took a shallow breath and met Mae’s gaze squarely. “Vedran wants to force your union with one of his heirs, namely Oscar.”

Bryony recoiled. Fury lit Vlad’s pupils crimson.

“The Sorcerer King wishes to impose aMarriage of Magicon Mae?” the incubus growled.

“Yes.”

“He wants me to hook up with that asshole?” Mae’s lips curled. “What the hell would that achieve?!”

Nikolai’s lifeless words echoed in the fraught silence. “It would give him and Oscar control over your powers.”

“What?” Mae jumped to her feet, magic pulsing off her in a faint, angry wave. “How?!”

Brimstone nudged her with his head. “Calm yourself, my witch. Let us listen to him.”

Mae’s nostrils flared. She sat down, her mouth a thin line. Bryony and Vlad shared a taut glance.

“AMarriage of Magicis a ritual that allows one person of magical persuasion to command the power of another,” Bryony said. “It is a sacred rite, one rarely performed these days. Most who went through it in the past did so to share their magic equally with their partner.”

“Which is obviously not what Vedran and Oscar intend,” Vlad said sourly.

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