Page 75 of Rites of Passage

A breathless stillness descended as the rift closed. Distant screams punctuated the sudden silence. The blare of sirens rose from the street below.

“Nikolai!” Marlena rushed to the sorcerer’s side, her face drained of all color.

“They have theBook of Light?!” Nadia said numbly, her sabers dangling limply in her grasp.

Derrick retracted his spear, jaw clenched tight. “I can’t think what else they’d be talking about.” He looked questioningly at Mae. “What was that key?”

Mae ignored him and headed over to Nikolai and Vlad, her steps leaden. Though the two men and their familiars were still breathing, they hadn’t moved since Barquiel attacked them and were bleeding heavily from their wounds. Fear consumed her, dragging her down into a pit of despair.

Please! Please be alright!

Marlena stiffened, terror rounding her eyes. “Oh God!Klara!”

CHAPTER32

“I’m alright, mother,”Klara Kosek said for the tenth time while Marlena fussed over her.

A grimace flitted across her face as she shifted her broken arm. Her anxious gaze locked on the unconscious man lying on a couch across the room.

Linus Jarrett’s rib cage shuddered with his ragged breathing as three healers worked on his injuries. He had lost a lot of blood and was covered in a sheen of sweat. His cat pressed against his flank, fur trembling and pupils wide with panic.

Penley sat next to the shaken familiar and licked her from time to time, comforting rumbles vibrating from him.

Linus had been with Oscar when the Dark Council had ambushed Klara in her room. As the future High Priestess of the Council of the Moon, she had been tasked with guarding theBook of Light. Seeing as the only people who’d known the grimoire would be at the hotel were Marlena and the High Council, the Council of the Moon had refrained from putting a strong security detail in place in case it drew unwanted attention.

Instead of killing Klara like Oscar had ordered him to do, Linus had rebelled and protected her instead. Oscar had timed the attack so that Mae and the Councils’ attention would be focused on Barquiel rather than on what was happening two floors below them. WithNullifyonly being active at the time of its casting, Mae had failed to detect their black magic when they’d rifted inside the hotel. Brimstone had been similarly distracted. Barquiel’s demonic presence had been yet another confounding factor that had helped mask the presence of other demons in the building.

Mae stood by a window, her nails scoring her palms. The turmoil outside The Azure had finally died down. Considering what had passed, the hotel and the rest of the city were remarkably unscathed. Bar some broken glass littering the pavements outside the hotel and minor structural damage to the building, there wasn’t much to see. The whole thing was being put down as a freak accident of nature, the clouds that had briefly darkened the sky adding to the story.

It was thanks toEclipseswallowing Barquiel’s black lightning that they weren’t looking at the same level of devastation that had rocked New York upon her awakening. April’s relationship with the local mayor and the city’s police chief meant they’d managed to keep the press away from The Azure. No one had been allowed to see the destruction wreaked upon the conference chambers on the sixth floor or Klara’s room.

A shudder raced down Mae’s spine as she thought of what could have been had she not acted when she did.

So many lives would have been lost.

Hellreaver lay heavily on her chest. The weapon had been subdued since the attack. Despite her and Brimstone’s reassurances, Mae knew he was blaming himself for what had happened in the conference room.

Her gaze swept the main sitting room of the Royal Suite and the dozen or so injured witches and sorcerers who were being treated by various coven healers. It was the largest place where they could assemble away from the curious eyes of those attending the Annual Grand Meeting, as well as from normal humans.

Mae had no doubt news of what had happened that morning would spread through the covenstead like wildfire. She was coming to realize that there was no bigger gossip than a witch. Even Mrs. Son-Ha would be impressed.

She studied Linus with a faint frown.He must have known he was signing Isabelle West’s death warrant when he decided to switch sides mid-battle.

Or he believed in you, Brimstone said quietly where he sat in his small fox form beside her.All of you.

Raven was talking rapidly to someone on her cell phone, brow furrowed and voice low and tense. They had found Isabelle an hour ago, moments before the injured High Priestess was about to be executed by a group of Dark Council sorcerers and witches.

It was thanks to Jared that they’d managed to locate the missing witch. The Immortals had the most advanced satellite network in the world and Jared had called in a favor to use their tracking system last night. He’d managed to pick up the last place where Isabelle’s cell phone had been active several weeks ago.

Once they’d been made aware of what was happening behind their backs and their most senior witches and sorcerers had been shown the graves in Isabelle’s garden, the Phoenix coven had helped Raven’s team comb every square foot in a five-mile radius around the location Jared had identified.

Linus hadn’t been the only one who had come to Klara’s defense that morning. April, Regina, and Erik had been on the same floor at the time of the attack and had sensed the demonic energy and black magic coming from her room. Mae clenched her teeth.

Still, none of them had stood a chance against Oscar and the Dark Council.

A lump formed in her throat as she gazed at Nikolai and Vlad.

Just like they didn’t stand a chance against Barquiel once he activated the magic he’d stolen from Charlotte Brix.

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