Chapter Thirty Six

  The massive stone building towering over us desperately needed repairs, but it perfectly fit the ‘creepy hideout’ of a cheesy villain. Rolling my eyes at just how cliché our enemy was, I huffed.

  “Are we bothering with a spell of hiding since he knows we’re coming?”

  Sera tipped her head in thought, Elle examining the building for her. “No, the only people in there who may be fighting us are magical and if he has them at his home base then they’re not amateurs. They’ll see right through your basic illusion spell.”

  Before we could decide how to continue, Vlad cleared his throat, leveling both of us with an incredulous look. “You do remember what my third mastery is in, right?”

  We paused, realizing what we’d forgotten in all the mayhem.

  Heat inched up my cheeks as I coughed, gesturing to all of us. “Ah, right. Sorry, things are a bit insane. Would you do the honors?”

  After shooting me a mildly amused look, he smirked. “Oh I’ll do one better than hiding.” Raising his arms, magic filled the air until I could all but feel it like fog against my skin. When it grew to nearly suffocating levels, he whispered. “Geminus.”

  His magic circled, sliding over me as if memorizing every nook and cranny. Dimitrius grimaced, but bore through it, curious eyes watching to see what the spell would do. After a long minute, the air shimmered and slowly, mirror images of us formed.

  Vlad eyed them critically, before nodding. “Apparently my magic is still drained, because these aren’t my usual quality, but they’ll do. You two sneak past the worst of the fighting using the spell of hiding after we and your doubles take the attention of the front defense.”

  Usually I’d disagree with leaving anyone behind to face an unknown–but most likely massive–force of enemies, but knowing who we were leaving behind? I was almost sorry for the poor schmucks inside.

  “Alright, but you’d better be careful. You’re not the only one who has few friends and I don’t want to lose you or Sera.” I said, ignoring the discomfort sliding up my spine at being vulnerable like this.

  Elle hopped off her owner’s shoulder to land on mine, rubbing affectionately against my jaw as Sera raised a brow. “Aw, and you say you don’t like Hallmark moments. We’ll be fine, though hearing you telling us to be careful is hilarious. We should be saying that to you, not the other way around, oh one whose plan generally comes down to ‘kill them and don’t die.’”

  Rolling my eyes at the familiar teasing, I brushed it off. “Yeah, yeah. I know, I need work, but that’s not a secret, now less talky and let’s get this thing done so we can all go home.”

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Elle jumped back to Sera’s shoulder as the pinkette nodded with mock seriousness. “Yes, I’m sure you’re very anxious to have your lover again. I mean, it’s been hours. However will you survive, you poor things?”

  Not gracing that with a verbal response, I flipped her off before stepping back. Grabbing Dimitrius’s arm, I arranged us in the foliage and cast. “Celare.”

  Warmth rolled over us in waves, coating me in the flimsy illusion as our friends marched forward. Vlad paused long enough to exchange a long look with me that portrayed everything words couldn’t, before following right on the heels of his sister, hands already raised to summon a fireball at the enemies running toward them.

  Hardly five minutes later, I watched in awe as the siblings dispatched wave after wave of mages. Anytime one of them even got close to Sera they were met with a wall of fire, their screams echoing through the area and making their comrades hesitate.

  That hesitation was all Sera needed to plunge her enchanted staff into their chests, the end transforming into a spear in the time it took me to blink. Magic flowed around the head, digging into the skin of her adversary as the spear worked like an injecting needle.

  By the time she jumped back, the man was convulsing on the ground, the magic she’d forcibly pumped into his veins sending his system into shock. Even from our place yards back, I heard the sibling banter.

  “Might want to keep up, Vlad! I just finished my sixth one.”

  Instead of commenting, Vlad formed a familiar symbol with three fingers as a massive wave of power rolled from him, slamming straight into all the enemies on the battlefield. His words were lost under the roar of magic but I knew this spell’s handiwork anywhere.

  Propero.

  To speed up the aging of the victim’s body until they turned to dust. All enemies that’d previously been attacking Seraphina dropped, their skin wrinkling as muscles atrophied. Once they were handled, he shot her a knowing smile.

  “I believe that brings my count up to…oh I’d say fifteen. It appears you’re the one who needs to ‘keep up’.”

  Sera didn’t snipe back, her lips pulling into a manic grin as she spun her staff. “Good thing there’s plenty of them, right?”

  She wasn’t wrong, the incubus hadn’t pulled out any stops. To see how many mages he’d managed to recruit…disgust welled deep in my chest. There was a special ring of hell for people like them, willing to do anything for greed.

  I had more important things to think on.

  Forcing my attention away from the terror twins over there, I gripped Dimitrius’s hand and pulled. “Come on, now’s our chance. Those two are more than a match for anything out here and we need to make sure dear old dad doesn’t get away this time.”

  Determination settled over his features as he nodded, following behind me as we skirted the edges of the clearing. Even from here I could see a patch of wizards fighting our clones, none of them realizing they were brawling with illusions.

  “Idiots…”

  Dimitrius nudged me gently in reproach, not breaking stride as we slunk through the stone halls. “Yes, but it works in our favor, now do not test fate. We are not finished here yet.”

  Conceding the point with a nod, I went silent, focusing as we progressed deeper into the shambling castle. Finally, after who knows how many twist and turns, we made it to a sweeping staircase and Dimitrius nodded.

  “That is where he was before.”

  And hopefully where he’d be now.

  Waves of blood thirst crashed against me, but I held them back. Clear headed and smart, that’s what I needed to be. I stayed firmly at Dimitrius side, hand on my knife, as he opened the giant door at the top of the stairs. Light glowed from the crack, every hair on my neck standing to attention as I lurched back.

  “Dimitrius-!”

  I couldn’t warn him in time. The doors burst open and a crushing power slammed into us, the pressure sweeping paralyzing fear through my veins in the brief second I was awake to experience it. Then, as if flipping a switch, darkness rose up to claim me and I knew nothing.