Page 78 of Of Flames and Crows

Mae’s pulse quickened.Yes!

The sorcerer grunted, his jaw tight. Her stomach clenched.

Damn! It looks like he’ll only be able to sustain the link for a short time!

Roman brought his Fire Magic forth and connected it to the pit of Hellfire, perspiration beading his face. Filomena’s casque quivered violently with effort where she clung to his shoulder.

Mae drew on her powers and placed her hands on their backs. Brimstone and Hellreaver’s energies bolstered her magic as she invoked the spell.

“NEGATE!”

A crimson tempest burst around them as her powers expanded outward, the currents lifting nearby debris into the air. Mae focused the conjuration through Nikolai and Roman’s cores and down the tethers that connected them to the firestorm ripping through the foundations of the city.

Nikolai and Roman screamed when the Hellfire Magic fought back, their eyes and mouths spewing black and red flames and their cores flickering dangerously where she’d tapped into the source of their powers.

“Soul Shield!” Mae ground out as Azazel’s powerful magic raced up the bond linking it to the sorcerers and tried to consume her. “Multiply!”

The blaze roared angrily as it slammed into the powerful cages protecting all their cores and those of their familiars. It twisted around and followed the only path it could, down into the Earth again.

Which was exactly whereNegateawaited it.

Mae’s heart thumped painfully against her ribs as her magic slowly suppressed the hellish conflagration sparking across thousands of feet of rock and earth. Brimstone and Hellreaver pressed against her, boosting her rapidly depleting stamina.

Shit! This thing is a beast. No wonder Azazel sealed it!Her breath locked in her throat when she caught a glimpse of the nexus.Our father created that?!

Tears pricked Mae’s eyes as Na Ri’s presence fluttered inside her, her original incarnation equally awed by what she could see through her inner vision.

The nexus was beautiful.

Mae’s pulse stuttered when she detected the anomaly within it. “That’s the crack!”

“We don’t have enough power to close it right now,” Brimstone warned. “Besides, we need to be physically closer to the irregularity to even attempt it.”

She clenched her jaw. The fox was right. All they could do was stabilize the core and the burning ley lines connected to it.

The violent quakes shaking the city started to subside asNegatesucked away at the last of the Hellfire Magic that had invaded its vast substructure. The tremors ended with an abruptness that made Mae’s ears ring. Nikolai and Roman’s labored pants finally reached her as the blood roaring in her skull abated.

Nikolai wiped soot and perspiration from his brow, his Hellfire Magic fading. “Did we do it?!”

Mae smiled shakily. “Yeah. You guys did good.”

“Thank God,” Roman mumbled.

He fell back on his bottom, raised his face to sky, and closed his eyes, pale with relief.

Nikolai stiffened. Horror leached the color from his skin as he turned his head to look toward the river.

“Marlena!”

CHAPTER33

Smoke obscuredthe sky in the direction of the island where the headquarters of the Council of the Moon was located. Nikolai’s pulse raced as he tapped the brakes and sent the SUV careening sharply around a corner.

Mae and Vlad cursed when they were jolted violently against the rear passenger door. Roman disappeared under Tarang with a muffled, “Oof!”

“This is like Philadelphia all over again!” Vlad said darkly as he straightened. He grabbed Roman’s arm and tugged him out from under the tiger. “This asshole has no concept of road safety!”

Mae made a face. Roman wiped white fur from his mouth and looked anxiously for Filomena. The chameleon squeezed up Tarang’s flank and leapt onto her sorcerer’s shoulder, her hiss of annoyance loud.

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