Page 64 of Midnight Witch

The burden of her destiny weighed heavily upon her shoulders at that moment. So many lives had been impacted by the war Vedran and his Dark Council had chosen to bring to her door.

Hellreaver whined against her chest.This isn’t your fault, my witch.

Brimstone pressed against her leg.He is right.

Their words warmed her heart and strengthened the resolve that had been born inside her the night she had awakened. A puzzling question had her frowning at Mendes.

“How come Anya can maintain that spell without Sable?”

“Sable was with her at the time she was forced to conjure the Illusion Sorcery,” Mendes explained bitterly. “Oscar separated them afterward and sent Sable to New York with us so we could obtain a sample of your blood. I suspect that vile man is maintaining her magic with the Dark Council’s own foul power.”

Mae’s mouth went dry as another segment of the puzzle fell into place.

So, that’s why it was Sable who scratched me and not someone from Mendes’s coven!Because she’s Anya’s familiar and could directly feed my blood to her witch!

“I saw a barrier around Anya in that vision,” she told Mendes grimly. “I presumed it was to guard her, but it must be powering her core so she can maintain the Illusion Sorcery.”

Unease clouded Nikolai’s face. “It would explain that eerie feeling we had in the church.”

Mae focused on Mendes once more. “Am I correct in presuming Illusion Sorcery is only meant to last until the witch or sorcerer who casts it achieves their goals?” She clenched her fists. “In this instance, that things will return to normal if I die and they take Nikolai back?”

Violet sucked in air.

Vlad glowered and shot to his feet. “What?!”

Cortes stared at Mae. “I thought this was about making the world of magic forget about you.”

“Since they can’t capture me alive, I think they’ve decided they’d rather have me dead than wandering around like a time bomb that might come after them at any given moment. And they want to study my corpse.” Mae tapped her left temple with a finger. “Specifically what’s in here.”

Redness bloomed in Vlad’s eyes. His anguish sent a pulse of demonic energy washing across the room. “How can you say that so calmly? Don’t you know how many people will grieve your passing? Is your heart made of stone, my queen?!”

Tarang whimpered, ears pressing against his skull. Violet and Miles paled as the incubus’s angry words rang across the room.

Cortes reached out and squeezed Vlad’s arm. “Calm down.”

Vlad scowled, knuckles white at his side.

Mae met his tormented stare unflinchingly. “They killed me once before.”

Vlad recoiled.

Her expression softened. “It’s not that I take my life lightly. It’s just that I see things more…objectively now. Though I was an infant when the first Sorcerer King and Barquiel killed me, I remember every single thing they did to my parents and my people. Crying about what they intend to do to me again will achieve nothing.” She smiled flintily. “I’d rather turn those emotions into action and crush their balls.”

Mendes spoke in the fraught hush.

“I’m afraid you’re wrong,” he told Mae in a strained voice. “The only way to end Illusion Sorcery is for the caster to withdraw the spell from the altar where it was invoked. And it needs to happen before the midnight hour of the next Equinox.”

His words sent a chill down her spine. Tension thickened the air.

“Why the next Equinox?” Vlad asked stiffly.

“Because that’s when Anya’s Illusion Sorcery will be at its peak,” Mendes confessed.

“What happens if it isn’t undone before then?” Cortes said guardedly.

“Then the illusion will become permanent,” Mendes’s aide stated bitterly.

Mae’s throat tightened. Vlad’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

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