Page 27 of To Crave Madly
There was nothing but silence.
Until there wasn’t.
A loud explosion boomed across the street from the house we were heading in the direction of. Glass sprayed out into the street followed by plumes of thick blue smoke. I’d never seen anything like it. Smoke wasn’t supposed to be blue and it wasn’t supposed to be sinking to the ground like a thick heavy fog.
“What is that?” I asked, watching the wispy tendrils of blue stretch out towards us.
“Magic. Alec said that someone is stealing the witches. I think we may have magic users in there attempting to kidnap a witch. So, watch your step. Don’t let anything hit you. You never know what a witch or mage might throw at you.”
I nodded and let Cassian take the lead. “Iveri, if you’re there, I could really use your help.”
As I kept low and entered the house behind Cassian, I prayed that she was in a helpful mood. I had no idea what I was up against. Fighting demons was one thing, but fighting magic? I couldn’t even get control of my own powers, so I felt massively underprepared and terrified that I was going to get myself into something that could kill me, or Cassian. Not that I think I’d mindthatso much. My heart rate still hadn’t recovered from that flight or being wrapped in his arms… What an awful thought.
I’m here and I will help if I can.Iveri’s soft voice flitted through my mind and I felt her slowly step into my skin. It wasn’t terrifying this time. I knew she was there, but I was still in control. She was giving me access to our demon side without putting me in the backseat. Perhaps this is what it would feel like when we finally assimilated.
My nose itched as we entered the house. It was like my body was reacting to the magic it could smell on the air. It was acrid, and stung when I breathed it in. I could hear the scuffle above me. There were raised voices, crashes, and bangs.
“Is the rest of the team here?” I whispered to Cassian.
He shook his head. Shit. Where was everyone?
Cassian signalled with his hand to follow him up the stairs. This was madness. We needed to at least wait for Fenris. He was the only one with actual magic. Mine lay fucking dormant and Cassian was a dragon. What were we going to do against a bunch of magic users?
“Sukie! Stay behind me!”
Rae’s voice carried down the hall. There was another explosion and more weird smoke filled the air. It hindered my vision, but I could just about see Cassian’s bright white hair in front of me, gleaming like a beacon and leading me to my doom.
We silently entered the room under the cover of the pungent smoke, and it took me a moment to understand what I was seeing. The room was in utter chaos. Bits of broken furniture littered the space. Lights flashed in various bright colours and strange words assaulted my ears. It was a cacophony of sound of light. Reds. Blues. Greens. Bangs. Crashes. All flashing and disorientating me. There was so much happening that it took me a moment to just make sense of it.
Rae was huddled in a corner, fighting off three guys in black while trying to protect the woman I was guessing was Sukie. What the fuck was happening here? Who were these guys? There was one of the attackers on the floor unconscious and thankfully the others hadn’t noticed Cassian and I were there.
“We were only expecting one witch, but I think we’ll take you too,” the middle one croaked, his voice raspy and unnatural. It was almost like he didn’t understand the words he was saying, as if he wasn’t really the one saying them…
Fuck. They were possessed. Which meant this was probably part of the same group who tried to attack Fenris and me in that alley. I tapped Cassian and mouthed the word ‘possessed’. He nodded in response and gave me the signal to wait. I wasn’t fucking waiting. Not while my best friend was about to be kidnapped. I shook my head and Cassian started to shout at me without making a sound. The fact that he could convey his absolute anger toward me without a sound crossing those lips I had almost kissed earlier was actually quite impressive. But before he could reach me and forcibly pin me to the spot, I jumped out from the cover of the smoke and did something really stupid.
“Hey! Don’t you know you should pick on someone your own size?”
The three bodies turned in sync, their dead eyes finding me behind them. It was fucking creepy and I even felt Iveri shiver under my skin.
The one on the left pointed at me. “Sin Reaper. We must have it.”
The right one cackled before launching its body toward me. I easily leapt out the way but the middle one hurled blue light at me. It was heading right for me, and while it looked pretty, I was sure I didn’t want it touching my skin. Instinctively, I reached out to catch it.
“Lori! No!” Rae shouted, fear widening her eyes.
Shit, shit, shit. Bad idea. Really fucking bad idea. My stomach dropped and my heart lurched. My eyes clenched tight as death hurtled towards me in the form of a pretty ball of light. I waited for the moment of blinding pain. And waited…
Huh? I was still here. Something was wrong.
I cautiously opened one eye and found the blue ball hovering just above my fingertips. Disbelief raced through me, closely followed by sheer bloody panic. I’d somehow caught the blue ball of death but now I was holding the fucking blue ball of death. I looked at Rae and saw the same disbelief in her eyes before panic had her spurring into action.
“Throw it!” she yelled, miming the action as she jumped up and down on the spot.
Right. It’s just a ball. Imagine it’s just a ball. Ah, fuck.
I launched it at the goon on the left and it hit him right in the chest. The ball exploded and the force of it propelled him backwards and sent him crashing into the wall behind him. The other two goons stepped toward me, their movements still in sync. Which was still creepy. It was like they were being controlled by just one person. Perhaps it wasn’t possession? Could it be mind control?
I didn’t have time to ponder it. More lights flashed in my direction. I managed to catch a couple and throw them but one sailed past and caught my arm. Fire burnt across my skin as the magic melted the fabric of my top into my skin. Fuck, that hurt. Heat flared behind the mark on my chest as I sensed Lucifer through our bond.
