more witches poured from the house, displaying everything Black Magic is. Hard cold eyes resided in their faces, as pure evil expelled from them.
“Zia,” one of them growled through clenched teeth. “You have no business here.”
“You will stop this,” Zia ordered, “or we will have no choice, but to stop you.”
She laughed evilly. “We have grown stronger than you. You will not stand a chance against us.”
“I have to say, I think I believe her.” I whispered to Zia.
“Hrmph.” Then, with total confidence, she nodded me forward.
“Alright then.” I drew in a deep breath. With my shield strong around me, I stepped out toward them, stopping only a few feet away. “You have the choice to come and join us. You can leave this and live.”
They all laughed, practically spat in my face, as they looked down their noses at me. “We know who you are, Nexi Jones. But even you do not have the strength to destroy us.”
Rage consumed me that they doubted my ability, who I was. That rage came out in a cackle, and shut them up instantly. Before I could even stop myself, the words came out of my mouth. “As Magnus’ mate, you will surrender.” The witches’ faces went from amused to frightened, in a second flat.
My hand went straight over my mouth. “Dear God,” I said beneath it.
“She’s right,” a Black Magic Witch said in a gasp. “Look, there is a demon with her.”
Everybody was dead silent. No one even moved.
I glanced back at Zia and Briar, who both looked devastated. Haven started crying.
“I don’t know why I said that.” I managed.
Briar gave me a knowing look. “Simply because it is true, my dear.”
“No,” I screamed, rage filled every part of me. Rage that my life was no longer my own and I had no control of what came out of my mouth. Rage that after all I’d been through, I was about to lose it all.
That anger needed an outlet and I had the perfect way to release it. I lunged forward and pummeled one of the witches across the face.
She cried out and fell the floor. My smile was cold as she lay unconscious on the ground. As I raised my head, witches began to back away from me in fear. Oh yeah, I had these bitches right where I wanted them and they were going to pay for all the evil they caused. They were going to pay with their lives.
With all the Guardian strength that had been born within me, I attacked.
Misa was close to me, I could sense her, but she didn’t intervene. She stood protectively, waiting for someone to endanger me. The witches appeared stunned that I wasn’t using magic on them, but right now I needed to beat the hell out of something. I let go of all my restraint and let the fury come forth.
One after another, I attacked the witches with punches and kicks. Their magic came at me again and again, but my shield held strong. They couldn’t get through, even as they tried their damndest.
The power within me was rich and I was undeniably strong.
After I leveled a witch into a heap on the ground, I drew my sword from my back. The knowledge that I was breaking my one rule¯fighting against witches with magic¯tinged in my mind, but my ire didn’t care.
Suddenly, my shield faltered and fire rippled down my arm, sending a little scream of pain to erupt from my throat. Before I could even react, Misa let out a high screech. With a blast of pure power, she faded away to black smoke, and whipped around the witch. The witch’s scream grew loud, then suddenly she was gone in a puff of smoke.
Misa returned to form, resuming her protective stance.
My rage continued to be all-consuming. Anger filled every part of me for all the wrongs that had ever happened, and was coming out in its purest form. Witch after witch died by my sword. To prove the truth—fuck with me, you die.
Abruptly, I became aware that I was fighting this battle alone. Zia and the others weren’t taking part in the fight, but I was glad for it. I needed to get this out, let the wrath free, and this was one place I could do it. To hurt those who deserved the pain and deserved to bleed.
After my sword sliced the head off the witch before me, I spun around and shot fire out at two others. They erupted