Page 19 of A Fury Of Shadows

Alarm tightened Mae’s shoulders. “Hell, can you buy me twenty seconds?!”

Of course, my witch! the weapon replied smugly.

Shock rounded Anya’s eyes.

Cortes’s pupils flared with surprise as he stared at Mae. “You’ve done it? You’ve deconstructed my magic?!”

“Yes.”

Sparks exploded when Regina’s sword met Hellreaver’s blade. Isabelle bared her teeth and fired at the weapon. Hellreaver dodged her magic bullets at breakneck speed.

Mae’s breathing sounded loud in her ears as she tapped into her cores. Cortes shivered when her demon magic washed across his skin. She incanted the second spell.

Sever!

The blue flames insideIce Fortressshuddered.

Anya blinked. Regina and Isabelle faltered mid-attack.

Ice Fortresstrembled.

Mae ground her teeth and drew on all of her and Na Ri’s power.

Doing this without Brimstone and Hellreaver is more taxing than I thought it would be!

Na Ri grunted in agreement.

They reached for the formula to Cortes’s Arcane Magic and weaved it into a new spell. The golden runes fused withSeverjust asIce Fortressstarted to come apart.

Regina and Isabelle charged her and Hellreaver.

The conjuration’s name finally came to Mae and Na Ri. They invoked it as one.

“DISSEVER!”

Anya’s spell shattered on a wave of crimson and gold that made the air tremble. The witch gasped, the blue flames in her pupils and those of her Harpy Eagle winking out.

Regina and Isabelle stumbled to a halt a few feet from Mae and Hellreaver. They blinked as they emerged from the illusion.

“Shit,” Cortes muttered hoarsely. “You actually broke Anya’s magic.”

Violet and the others approached swiftly, Brimstone scampering ahead of them. The demon fox pressed against Mae’s leg and nuzzled her cheek where she bent over with her hands on her knees, her breaths coming hard and fast.

Hellreaver hovered close by, a happy hum buzzing off his blades.

Vlad smiled. “That was pretty amazing, Princess.”

Mae panted and grinned. “Told you I could do it.”

She straightened and wiped the sweat from her chin.

The incubus’s expression softened. “I never doubted you.”

Her belly flip-flopped at what she read in his eyes.

Regina scratched her cheek.

“Uh. Is it weird that I’m still feeling a lingering sense of distaste for you?” she asked Mae sheepishly. “Like, I still want to punch that pretty face of yours.”

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