Page 87 of Rites of Passage

He didn’t want to risk courting the demon’s wrath, however. He’d seen what Barquiel had done to the women he’d rutted with. They had not survived the ordeal.

I wonder where he went off to this time.

Not even the Sorcerer King himself had any idea where the demon disappeared to during those hours when he entered a rift on his own. Oscar recalled the first time he’d gone through one of Barquiel’s portals like it was yesterday. It had not been the most pleasant of experiences and the better half of the sorcerers who’d accompanied him on the short trip had thrown up during their passage through the hell gate.

It wasn’t so much the smell of sulfur or the evil miasma that drowned the air or even the hints of the horrors that lay beyond the walls of the rift. It was the feeling of utter disorientation. Of being detached from one’s own consciousness and pulled in a hundred different directions. Of not knowing whether you were alive or dead and trapped in a purgatory from which there was no escape.

He’d never glimpsed the final destination of the portal.

“How close are you to finishing?” Barquiel asked Farago.

The Immortal turned from the table where he was working and bowed his head respectfully. “It will be done imminently, master.”

Oscar narrowed his eyes.So, he’s okay dissing me but not his overlord.

No one knew the backstory between Farago and Barquiel, not even the Sorcerer King. The Archduke of Hell had brought the Immortal to his father’s court ten years ago and promised the man would deliver results like they’d never seen before. And he had.

Alchemist was not a word commonly used in modern times, but it was one that fit Farago, a man who had lived longer than the Sorcerer King, perfectly.

Who knew modern science would allow the essence of magic to be combined with demon DNA? And that it would grant us the ability to control creatures from Hell as a result?

Oscar was aware his father valued Farago’s work as much as he treasured Barquiel’s counsel. He lowered his brows.

Still, I am to be the next Sorcerer King and it will be up to me to decide whether he will continue to be of use to us in the future.

Change was coming to the Dark Council and the world of magic. And he would be leading it with his enslaved queen at his side.

And that pig will die.Oscar clenched his fists at the thought of Nikolai.It was only luck that allowed him to defeat us in New York. I will feast on his heart and his liver and make Mae Jin watch.

A beep sounded from one of Farago’s machines, distracting him from his dark thoughts. The Immortal’s eyes brightened. He opened the device carefully and extracted several racks of vials from inside. The content of the tubes was thick and dark, the substance within roiling and twisting in turbulent currents.

It was evil alchemy brought to life.

Barquiel lifted one of the vials, pupils gleaming crimson. “You managed all this with only a few drops of her blood?”

Farago nodded. “Yes. It was enough to make what we needed.”

A hard smile stretched Barquiel’s mouth. “Good. Let us proceed immediately.”

Oscar’s pulse quickened. A buzz of excitement filled the catacombs, the Dark Council sorcerers and witches glancing at one another in jubilation. The end of their mission was in sight.

Soon, they would have the compass that would lead them to theBook of Shadowsand the soul of the first Sorcerer King.

CHAPTER37

Mae’s stomachchurned as their SUV barreled down South 18th Street. “We should set up a barrier around that place!”

Raven’s reply came through the state-of-the-art comm piece she’d given them before they’d left the hotel. “I’m on it!”

“We’ll help,” Violet said behind Mae. “Miles and I have learned a trick or two about shields from our friends in Chicago.”

“It’s a good thing the covenstead was under way.” Raven’s voice hardened. “There’ll be enough of us to manage an area that large.”

The L.A. witch was in a van somewhere behind them with Abraham and Derrick. They were being followed by a procession of vehicles full of sorcerers and witches. The Councils had just held an urgent meeting with all the coven heads in attendance and updated them on Oscar’s attack and Charlotte Brix’s fate. Every one of them had offered reinforcements to the team currently en route to the enemy’s location. The rest would be staying put and protecting the city from any fallout resulting from their clash with the Dark Council.

“Has April spoken to the mayor and the chief of police?” Nikolai asked stiffly beside Mae.

“She just got off the phone with them,” Raven replied. “They’re clearing the area and will shut down the roads around it once we’re inside. Go on ahead. We’ll meet you there!”

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