it. And I really, really hate to do this, Elliot, but if you don’t walk away right now…”
“No.” I take the opportunity to shuffle another step toward him. He tenses slightly, and I know I’m getting close enough that he’s going to have to react soon. “No. Don’t give me a little speech about how you’ll spare me if I walk away. I’m not going anywhere. This has to stop.”
His jaw clenches, his cheeks reddening. “I thought you would understand. You, of all people—”
“Well, I don’t, Raul. Because I may be a bitch, but I’m not a pyscho. I’m not a killer.”
He shakes his head, raising his arms. “Then I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this.”
I can feel magic crackling in the air around me and I start to draw some of it into me. This is what we practiced for. This is what I’ve been taking classes for all semester. I can do this.
“Yeah,” I say grimly. “Neither do I.”
Before I can blink, Raul throws his hand out and unleashes a massive bolt of lightning.
Fuck! I didn’t know he could do that.
Despite all my training, my sonic boom is too damn slow to respond. Death, in the form of white hot light, barrels toward me, and my breath suspends in my lungs.
“Elliot!” one of the guys yells, I think Dmitri, and a millisecond later, I’m tackled to the ground.
It’s Cam on top of me—he must’ve used his teleportation power. That’s the only way he got to me so fast.
“You okay?” he murmurs, and despite the fact that his massive body knocked the wind out of me when he took me down, I nod. I’m fucking alive, thanks to him. I’m more than okay.
Coughing as I struggle to get my breath back, I peek past Cam’s shoulder. Chaos has erupted over our heads. Asher has his hand thrust forward, his fingers splayed out, and he’s squinting hard in concentration. He’s trying to control Raul’s mind, I realize. It’s clearly not easy, though, and Raul’s throwing everything he can at the men, especially Roman.
It makes sense—as the professor, Roman’s got more magical knowledge than the rest of us. He’s the bigger threat.
Raul reaches out with a hand, and one of the nearby crates bursts open, whatever’s inside flying across the room to him. It’s some kind of staff. He thumps the smooth stone floor with it, and suddenly the stone ripples like a massive wave. We’re all thrown backward, crashing into more crates. Magical items start going off as they hit the ground, accidentally activated, and it’s pandemonium.
Roman is the first to stand, and as artifacts continue to activate around us, he starts muttering in some language I don’t know, his voice deep and guttural. As his words grow louder and louder, the air around him seems to rip itself open and something—and I do mean thing—emerges.
“What the fuck is that?” I yell, scrambling to my feet. Fuck, my whole body feels like one big bruise.
“That…” Cam mutters faintly, staring with wide eyes, “is a demon.”
I’ve never seen anything like it. The creature is made of lava and bare, skinless muscle. Of twisting sinew, of living black snakes, and eerie, unholy orange-black-purple light. I can’t look directly at its face. Every time I try, some deep, unspeakable terror seizes me, and I have to look away. As though if I stare directly into its eyes, I’ll die.
“Did he—did Roman conjure that?”
“Yeah,” Cam says, his voice still low. “Now let’s just hope he can control it.”
Roman’s sweating, his dark cobalt gaze fixed on Raul, his hands out as if he’s using the demon like a puppet. Oh, God, this can’t end well. If he loses control of that thing…
“Come on!” I grab Cam’s shoulder. Roman and Asher are using every ounce of their focus and concentration on controlling their magic right now, so they’re sitting ducks. “Protect Asher!”
Cam’s teleportation will come in handy, and so will his magic absorbing. If he can just take on some of the blows aimed at Asher…
He pulls back against my grip, panic flooding his features. “Wait! What about you?”
I see Dmitri phasing in and out to dodge the magic that Raul is flinging at him. Our gazes meet for a split second, and in spite of the mortal danger he’s in, he shoots me a cocky grin. Figures this would be the kind of thing that cheers his grumpy ass up.
Turning back to Cam, I give his shoulder a squeeze. Then I rock forward on