Page 89 of A Fury Of Shadows

Abraham had called them on the drive to the mountains.

The New York coven had suffered twelve fatalities as a result of the attack on their headquarters by Barquiel and Oscar. Considering the damage the building had sustained, it was a miracle there hadn’t been more victims. The coven headquarters had been condemned by the city’s engineers, the damage to its foundations pronounced too severe to fix.

Ice had filled Mae’s veins when she’d discovered the reason for the attack and what Barquiel had done to Bryony and her familiar.

“They were after theBook of Light?!” she’d mumbled, her worst fears realized.

“Yes.” Abraham’s tone had turned stern. “No one was amused by the note you left in the safe by the way, especially not the demon.”

“What note?” Vlad had said, nonplussed.

“Oh.” Mae had fidgeted under their stares. “You guys found that, huh?”

Serena’s lips had twitched when Bryony’s aide described what Barquiel had discovered in the New York coven’s vault.

“Incidentally, when exactly did you do it?” Abraham had asked suspiciously while Vlad pinched the bridge of his nose and Cortes muttered something under his breath.

“The day I came to the coven, after the incident in Concord,” Mae had replied guiltily. “Nikolai knew where it was, after all.”

A heavy sigh had traveled down the line.

“I just hope wherever you’ve hidden it, Barquiel and the Dark Council can’t get to it,” Abraham had said somberly before bidding them good luck and disconnecting.

Serena’s voice brought Mae back to the present.

“If I had regained my memories and was trying to get in touch with my allies, I wouldn’t flounce around in enemy territory.”

“Where could he be though?” Vlad muttered. “It’s an island.”

Hellreaver quivered. Brimstone’s ears pricked up.

My witch,he warned.

Mae’s pulse spiked. Something was rising through the ground. Her belly clenched on a wave of awareness.

It was a power she knew as well as her own.

Cortes startled when he sensed the magic bubbling beneath them. “What the—?!”

Crimson flashed in Vlad’s eyes.

He reached for Mae a heartbeat beforeTransmigratesucked her, Brimstone, and Hellreaver into the earth.

* * *

Nikolai grittedhis teeth as the spell roared around him with a violence that rattled his bones. Blazing rivers cascaded into the dazzling, infinite space where he crouched, their power amplifying his and Alastair’s cores.

The air trembled some fifteen feet ahead of him. It exploded with awhoompha second later.

His breath locked in his throat when Mae appeared, Brimstone at her side, and Hellreaver around her neck.

She staggered before regaining her balance, the waves of pulsing energy in the nexus making her dark hair ripple and brightening her skin where it was exposed outside her wetsuit. Her gaze found him as he climbed unsteadily to his feet. Alastair issued a hesitant croak on his shoulder.

Tears bloomed in Mae’s eyes. Her face crumpled. “Nikolai!”

His vision blurred. He wiped his eyes, not wanting to miss a single moment of their reunion.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. “I didn’t—I didn’t know what I was doing!”

---