Page 18 of A Fury Of Shadows

The sorcerer grunted, his pain echoing around them on a pulse of gold. His familiar made a pained sound.

Anya’s trembling voice reached Mae faintly. “Enrique! Popo!”

“It’s okay.” Cortes ground his teeth. “We can take it.”

Guilt churned Mae’s stomach. She was distracted by Brimstone’s voice.

My witch, the demon fox warned.

She caught a glimpse of what was happening outside through her bond with Hellreaver.

Regina was attackingContainwith her sword while Isabelle fired projectiles of pure blue magic at the sphere trapping her from the pistol in her hand. Faint cracks appeared in the barriers.

You need to hurry, Brimstone said.They’ll be through soon.

Mae clenched her jaw.I’m counting on you, Hell.

I have your back, my witch.

She drew on her cores and raisedShieldaround her and Cortes.

“Fuck,” Cortes mumbled.

Mae bit her lip.He can probably sense our demonic power inside him.

The man has been through worse,Na Ri said.Now, focus.

An endless void exploded inside Mae’s mind as she and Na Ri opened the repertoire of magic Azazel had gifted them. Pale runes swam in and out of view deep within it.

Mae took a deep breath and dove inside the grimoire with Na Ri.

Complex magic formulas formed before her inner vision as she and her first incarnation manifested their intent. They reached for the ones that called to them and started breaking down Cortes’s Arcane Magic fraction by slow fraction.

Mae lost track of time as she and Na Ri patiently unraveled the puzzle of the golden runes. She was faintly aware of Hellreaver engaging Regina and Isabelle at one point.

They must have broken throughContain.

Sweat was pouring down her physical face by the time she and Na Ri had finished deconstructing Cortes’s magic and copied its blueprint into their own fathomless repository. Mae let go of the golden chain that connected the runes they’d immobilized and yanked her and Na Ri’s consciousness out of the sorcerer’s body.

Cortes sagged and swayed, legs trembling and chest shuddering with his breaths. Mae looped an arm around his waist to steady him. He blinked at her, the color slowly returning to his face.

“You look—like how I feel!” he mumbled.

Mae smiled shakily. “Thanks.”

There was no more time to think. A fracture had just appeared inShield.

Hellreaver cursed and deflected another coordinated attack from Regina and Isabelle.

They’re strong,my witch,Brimstone grumbled.

Irritation and admiration pulsed in equal measure across their bond.

They aren’t High Priestesses of their covens for nothing, Mae observed. She ignored the exhaustion sapping at her limbs and steeled herself.Ice Fortress!

The spell bloomed inside her and Na Ri’s joint consciousness, a glittering, frozen cube that exposed Anya and Sable’s magic to the naked eye.

The crack inShieldstarted to expand.

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