Chapter 16

Cultist Number One: Brenda Holloway.

She was a properly registered, non-practicing witch who was thirty-three years old, single, and living in an apartment complex that bordered the Concordia University in Portland. And lucky for us, she was home—Kai had just called her and impersonated a delivery man to find out.

Our small group now sat at a picnic table on the grassy quad between university buildings, stuffing our faces with fast-food burgers. Or rather, most of us were. Makiko was picking unenthusiastically at her fries, no doubt missing her personal chef's home-cooked cuisine. Justin sat on the bench beside her, eyeing the Miura aeromage as he ate.

I'd squashed myself between Aaron and Kai, and they were talking over my head between mouthfuls—the aftermath of the Varvara battle last weekend, more details about Enright, their suspicions about the cult. Neither mentioned Ezra, but I could read their concern between the lines.

Grinning stupidly, I devoured my food and enjoyed the sound of their voices, doing my best to ignore Makiko. As Kai laughed at Aaron's rant over how Blake had sunk his SUV into a hole, her dark eyes flickered over her fiancé. She nibbled a fry, her long hair hanging around her face.

I tried to focus on my reunited friends, but as Makiko stared at Kai with that assessing look on her prim features, my temper began to boil. Ramming my last handful of salty fries into my mouth, I chewed and swallowed aggressively. I'd been focused on other things for the afternoon—namely, positively identifying a cultist—but there were some issues that needed addressing before we proceeded with our plan.

"So," I said, accidentally speaking right over Aaron, my glower on Makiko.

Her attention shifted from Kai to me.

"You're going to wait right here while we deal with the cultist, correct?"

She pushed her hair off her shoulders. "Of course not."

"Tori—" Kai began placatingly.

"Kai doesn't need your supervision," I snapped at her. "And you have no reason to be here. We don't need your ulterior motives getting in the way right now."

"Then I'll be clear about my motives." She drew herself up. "If the truth about Ezra Rowe comes to light, Kai will be implicated in capital crimes. And not only do capital crimes come with steep penalties for the accused's guild—which is now my guild—but it would be an unacceptable smear on my family's reputation."

I stared at her, then turned to Kai and whispered in hoarse disbelief, "You told her?"

"Makiko will protect Ezra's secret."

Aaron gave his best friend a considering look before pushing to his feet. "All right, time to get to work."

I crumpled my burger wrapper and tossed it into the paper bag, my displeasure over Makiko's presence wilting under a tide of nervousness.

Twenty minutes later, I stood in the entryway of Brenda Holloway's apartment building, adjusting my hair. The tangled curls fell past my shoulders, acting as a curtain to hide the small Bluetooth phone in my ear. Our usual earpieces had cords that were way too obvious, so I was borrowing Makiko's sleek little earbud phone instead.

Beside me, with his hands in his pockets, Justin surveyed the dingy foyer with a clinical eye. Neither of us looked directly at the security camera in the corner.

Step one: Get Brenda's attention.

I approached the panel on the wall and dialed the number for B. Holloway. The panel emitted a ringing sound, then a terse female voice answered.

"Who is it?"

"Is this Brenda?" I asked brusquely.

"Yes. Who—"

"I was sent," I interrupted. "You should know by whom."

A confused pause. "I'm sorry, but—"

"I have a delivery for the Praetor."

"Th-the Praetor?" she whispered. "You can't talk about that—"

"Then let me up and I'll explain."

Suspicion stiffened her voice. "I don't recognize you."

I looked up into the camera. My hand dipped into my purse, and I lifted out a small bundle wrapped in a black shroud—my scarf—and tugged the fabric open. The small silver scepter we'd taken from the underground room in Enright glinted.

"Do you recognize this?" I asked, exuding a cultishly dreamy air. "We are both blessed by the Goddess's light, fellow Auditrix."

A fluttery breath came through the speaker. "Oh. Please come up, then. Unit 506."

The security door buzzed, and Justin pulled it open. We crossed to the elevator and I pressed the button.

As the doors opened with a quiet chime, I murmured. "We're heading up. Fifth floor."

"Copy that," Kai murmured through the Bluetooth phone in my ear.

We rode the elevator up and disembarked. The gray-carpeted hallway was as drab and unwelcoming as the lobby downstairs. I glanced at the nearest unit numbers, then headed right. Justin followed.

At the far end of the hall, Aaron flashed me a grin before stepping out of sight. He and Kai had broken in through the rear exit and were stationed nearby, ready to act. Makiko was patrolling at ground level in case Brenda somehow made it past them.

I knocked on the door to unit 506. The bolt clacked and a sliver of a long, plain face appeared.

"You have a delivery for the Praetor?" she whispered.

Stepping closer, I flashed the top of the scepter, where it was tucked in my purse again. "Yes, but he's not home. We were supposed to meet."

"I see. The Praetor is—"

With a rustle of movement, another face appeared above Brenda's—a male face. Neatly combed hair, a smooth jaw, and a cleft in his chin. He peered at me.

"I can handle this, Daniel," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth, trying to elbow him away. "She's looking for the Praetor and—"

"Quiet," Daniel interrupted in a low tenor voice. "You don't want your nieces overhearing anything, do you?"

Brenda glanced nervously over her shoulder, and I picked up the sound of the TV. Shit. There were kids in there? We definitely needed to get her out of her apartment and into a better location for our ambush.

"Is there somewhere else we can talk?" I asked. "A private room in the building here, maybe?"

Her brow scrunched. "Well, there's the terrace …"

"The terrace will work," I said quickly, quashing a triumphant smile. Aaron and Kai had already scouted the rooftop terrace. It was the perfect place for a little nonviolent interrogation.

Daniel grabbed the door and pulled it open. "I'll take them up and find out what they need."

"I can—"

"You need to watch the kids," he snapped commandingly.

Brenda's shoulders hunched, and she backed away from the door. Daniel stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. He was tall but lanky, and around the same age as Justin.

I kept my expression neutral, wondering if this development was good or bad. Daniel, whoever he was, seemed to know at least as much as Brenda about the cult, and I was happy to interrogate him instead. The problem was we knew Brenda was a witch, but this guy could be anything—mage, sorcerer, or even the assassin who'd almost succeeded in using me as a murder weapon to kill Justin.

"This way," he said, leading us back to the elevator. The doors opened immediately, and I followed him inside. Justin joined us, and we rode the elevator up two floors to the terrace.

The elevator dinged, and Daniel gestured for us to go ahead. I reluctantly stepped into the small vestibule, which contained two doors, one marked with a stairwell sign. Justin made a beeline for the unmarked door, and orange light from the setting sun blazed across my eyes as he shoved it open.

Daniel gestured again, so I strode outside as well. The blah concrete terrace featured a few plastic lawn chairs, empty flower pots, and nothing else. Wow. Management wasn't even trying.

Daniel came out right behind me and swung the steel door closed. He leaned against it, assessing us with cool brown eyes.

"So …" I began uncertainly, wondering how to casually alert Aaron and Kai that the man was blocking the door. "What's the, uh, plan?"

"The plan?" Daniel cut in. He pulled a cell phone from his pocket. "Be quiet and I'll find out."

Huh?

He tapped his thumb on the screen, then lifted the phone to his ear. Ah, shit. Was he verifying my very fake story?

"Hey," he said in greeting to whoever had answered his call. "Two of the guild snoops just turned up at Brenda's place."

My heart slammed into my ribcage.

Daniel's lip curled. "I didn't disobey orders. I was waiting for orders and they waltzed in on their own." A pause. "Yeah, well, I've only got two of 'em. That guy, Blain—Blake, whatever. He said there were five, didn't he?"

A burning dose of betrayal joined the icy dread in my gut. I frantically ran through all our strategizing, but we hadn't covered this scenario. All I knew was Justin and I weren't supposed to attack anyone—that was Aaron and Kai's job.

"Whatever he reported, this pair clearly hasn't left town." Daniel listened for a moment. "All right. I'll deal with these two, then look around for the others."

Ending the call, he pocketed the device, then gripped the door handle behind him. With a flex of his arm, he snapped it off the door.

My jaw dropped. That was …not possible, was it? Was the handle faulty? Had it been sabotaged?

"Backup," I muttered frantically. "We need backup."

"Aaron, get in there," Kai barked.

"The door is jammed!"

Daniel stepped away from the door, rolling his shoulders to loosen the muscles. "Okay, lady and gent, you have two options. You can jump off this roof and hope you survive the seven-story drop, or you can play with me."

I shoved my hand into my purse and whipped out my paintball gun. Justin's hand appeared from beneath the back of his jacket at the same time, holding his much scarier real gun, and we both leveled our weapons on the mythic.

"Don't move!" I ordered.

He blinked, then threw his head back in a long, humorless laugh. His head came back down and his eyes fixed on me.

A crimson sheen blurred his brown irises.

His arm snapped up. Glowing red lines surged up his arm in twisting veins, and power ballooned in front of his palm.

Before I could fire a shot, the demon mage unleashed an explosion of magic.

The blast of hot power flung me backward. I slammed into a lawn chair and tumbled down, my leather jacket scraping over the concrete. My paintball gun skidded across the terrace.

"Tori!" Kai shouted in my ear. "What's happening?"

"Demon mage," I gasped, eyes watering from pain.

A hand closed over my hair and yanked my head up. Daniel's crimson-tinted eyes scoured my face, then he ripped the Bluetooth phone from my ear. Across the terrace, the steel door rattled as Aaron tried to break through.

"So, your friends are here too, hmm?" Daniel yanked me hard against his chest as though embracing me, his arm crushing my lungs, and spoke over my head. "Gonna shoot your teammate?"

"Do you think I can't make a headshot at this range?" my brother growled.

I couldn't see Justin with my face mashed against Daniel's shoulder, but he sounded close enough to make the shot. I mentally yelled at him to do it, because I was two seconds from death.

The gun didn't fire.

A distant thud shook the terrace door, but it didn't open—and there was no other way onto the rooftop.

My purse clung to my elbow, and I awkwardly dug into it one-handed, my head spinning as I sucked in shallow breaths of icy air. The temperature around the demon mage was ten degrees colder than the surrounding atmosphere.

His arm tightened, his demonic strength compressing my chest until my ribs creaked. I couldn't breathe at all.

He slashed his other arm. Red power flared and Justin's gasp was followed by a thump. The cold deepened as Daniel prepared a second strike—a lethal one, if I was going to bet.

My fingers closed around a smooth glass ball. I flung my arm out and whipped the sphere into the ground. It shattered and thick smoke billowed out, engulfing us and stinging my nose with its peppery scent.

"What the—" Daniel snarled. His arm unlocked and he shoved me backward. As I fell, he caught the front of my jacket. He lifted me off the ground, my feet swinging helplessly.

His hand, glowing with power, swung to point at my face.

If I'd had my Queen of Spades, I could've reflected his strike back into him. If I'd had my amplifying brass knuckles, I could've knocked him on his ass, demon strength or no demon strength. If I'd had my fall spell, I could've dropped him to the ground.

But I had no magic at all.

Raw demonic power burst off the demon mage's hand—and Hoshi appeared in a swirl of silver.

Her tail looped around me, paws clutching my shoulders, and the world turned to white mist. The blast of crimson magic shot straight through me, and my feet dropped to the ground as his hand slid through my insubstantial jacket.

With the fae holding me in the misty reality between her realm and mine, I bolted away—but between the ethereal haze and the smoke bomb I'd set off, I couldn't see a thing.

"Justin?" I yelled, shoving my purse back up onto my shoulder.

My voice echoed as though I were standing in an empty stadium. I whirled around in a panic—and saw a dark, human-shaped smear crouched nearby. As I leaped toward him, Hoshi's grip loosened. The world rushed back in, and the exhausted sylph sent a swirl of fearful color through my head as she faded from sight.

I grabbed Justin's arm and hauled him toward the faint outline of the terrace door. Blood ran down his face. I couldn't tell how bad the injury was.

Red magic blazed. The demon mage charged out of the smoke, cutting us off. Power snaked over his arms and built up in his palms. His face was twisted with anger, the crimson glow in his eyes even brighter.

Almost bright enough to resemble the eyes of the demon inside him.

"Demon!" I yelled desperately, half stepping in front of my brother. "I know a way to save you!"

"Save me?" Daniel snarled, raising both hands toward me and Justin. The ground around his feet turned white with frost. "Worry about yourself."

"Not you. Your demon." I locked my stare on those crimson eyes while digging into my purse. "You don't like your host, do you? You haven't taught him any real spells. He's throwing magic around like a kid chucking mud."

Daniel hesitated, confusion twisting his full lips. A dozen paces behind him, the part of the door next to the latch glowed with heat.

"I can free you from that flesh prison," I said, frantically combing my memory for things Eterran had said. My searching fingers found a cool chain. "Do you know what this is, demon?"

I whipped the demon amulet out of my purse, the medallion swinging.

Daniel's brow furrowed—then his eyes blazed bright red. He snapped straight, back rigid and limbs spasming. With a hoarse cry, he grabbed at his face.

"No!" he yelled. "You can't! Stop it!"

Not waiting to see if the demon or the human would win that battle of wills, I hauled Justin past the convulsing mage and toward the door.

"Aaron!" I shrieked desperately.

"Tori!" The door jolted as Aaron slammed into it from the other side. "I'm not through yet!"

Shit!

"You bitch!" Daniel staggered into view, his teeth bared and one hand pressed to his forehead. "You're dead!"

I recoiled, almost bumping the searingly hot door. Power blazed up the demon mage's arms and sizzling orbs of crimson formed in his palms. He drew both arms back to hurl explosive death at me and Justin, and all I could do was clutch the useless demonic amulet.

The wind gusted, blasting the smoke screen to nothing. A violent swirl of dust shot upward like a tornado—spiraling from the street below, surging past the rooftop, and reaching for the clouds above.

In the maelstrom's center, Makiko rose, arms held straight out to her sides and a steel fan in each hand, like a raven-haired, leather-clad angel of death. The wind swept her onto the rooftop, and the moment her feet touched down, her fans slashed.

A brutal gust of air threw the demon mage back. He crashed to the ground, rolled, and came up on his knees, simultaneously hurling his two death-orbs at the aeromage.

Her fans whipped downward as she sprang into the air. A hurricane-force gust flung her upward, and the blast exploded against the rooftop where she'd been standing, hunks of concrete hurtling across the terrace.

Heat surged at my back, then Aaron slammed into the door. The softened metal gave way—and the door whipped into my arm.

I staggered sideways. Ow.

"Shit!" Aaron barked. "Blocking the door isn't helping, Tori!"

Yeah, I'd figured that out.

He leaped past me, and Kai followed on his heels. Electricity rippled up his arms and down the blade of his katana, and as he and Aaron lifted their swords, Makiko dropped to the ground and carved the air with her swirling, dancing fans.

Red light blazed in Daniel's eyes.

All three mages unleashed their attacks together. Razor-thin blades of condensed air, a blast of white-hot fire, and a thick bolt of electricity bombarded Daniel—and crimson magic exploded from him. I flinched back, shielding my face as debris battered me.

Red flared even brighter, burning through the haze of dust hanging over the terrace. Crimson runes snaked across the ground, lines and circles and strange shapes crawling through them. A demonic spell—a real one.

Two solid, burning crimson eyes stared from Daniel's human face.

"Run!" I yelled. "We have to run!"

Praying they would listen, I grabbed Justin's arm and fled into the vestibule. As I raced for the stairwell, Aaron and Kai burst through the doorway. Aaron pivoted, whipping his sword sideways, and sent a massive wall of flame surging onto the terrace to hold off any pursuit.

We careened down the stairs, sped through the door at the bottom, and bailed out an emergency exit. As we tore across the parking lot, the wind blasted us.

Makiko dropped out of the sky, landed beside Kai, and sprinted ahead. The wind swept into our backs, pushing us faster. Only after we'd raced across the street and onto the university campus did I dare to look back.

A beacon of crimson light glowed on the rooftop. The demon mage stood at its edge, watching us flee—and I knew, even from this distance, that it was the demon and not the human standing there, so still and calm.

I stuffed the demonic amulet back into my purse and kept running.