“Oh no you don’t, witch,” Brandel snarled, lifting his hands to grab Sally’s wrists. “Not this time.”
Debilitating pain jolted down her arms, aiming straight for her heart. She groaned, desperately breathing the spell that would lock the demon into his current form.
“Dammit, Sally, what are you doing?” Roke growled, staggering to his feet.
“His physical form can be hurt,” she gasped, not sure how long she could last. “We can’t let him turn to mist. The amulet will hold him and you kill him.”
Comprehension flared in the silver eyes and with a roar that sent the nearby wildlife stampeding in terror, he attacked with a flurry of fangs and claws.
Brandel jerked, clearly able to feel physical pain as he was being ripped open by an infuriated vampire. Even the hideous jolts he was sending through her began to lessen, as if he were losing strength.
Still, he refused to die.
Yanking a dagger from the top of his moccasin, Roke stuck it deep into the demon’s chest, carving it open as he searched for a heart.
Sally shuddered, beginning to feel her amulet running out of juice. There was only so much magic that could be contained in the small medallion and it was being swiftly drained.
Crap. This wasn’t working.
Cyn had been right.
They needed the magic of a Chatri.
Magic that flowed in her blood, a voice whispered in the back of her mind.
Was it possible she had the power to kill the Nebule?
Sariel claimed her humanity had been scoured away to leave her a pure-blooded Chatri.
Now seemed as good a time as any to discover if he’d been telling the truth.
The sooner the better, she abruptly realized, sensing Brandel’s body was beginning to melt beneath her fingers.
“He’s turning,” she warned through gritted teeth.
“Then let go of him and run,” Roke growled.
She shook her head, trying to block out the pain and panic and Roke’s furious commands to leave.
She could do this.
It was her birthright.
Her legacy.
Searching deep inside herself, Sally reached for the magic she unconsciously kept locked away.
It was the same magic that had allowed her to enchant Roke. And to create a portal.
The warm, brilliantly colored strands of magic that flowed through her like music.
“Sally, what the hell?” she heard Roke mutter, his voice edged with something that might have been shock.
“I can do this,” she murmured. “Trust me.”
The world seemed to fade away as the warmth burst past her barriers and filled her entire body. Distantly she could feel Brandel shuddering as she held him tight against her body, and hear Roke calling her name. She was even aware of Levet returning to land on top of the Land Rover.
But she was drowning in the heat and magic that was swelling up until it threatened to burst out of her.
“Roke, get back,” she hissed, unable to stem the tide.
“No, I won’t leave you,” he snapped, typically determined to play the hero.
“I can’t contain it.” She held his wary gaze, willing him to obey her command. “Get back.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Roke stumbled backward, blinded by the light that surrounded his mate. Dammit. He didn’t know what was going on, but he had to get Sally away from the damned demon.
Regaining his balance, he narrowed his gaze and forced himself to stare into the painful glow.
It took a second to realize that the light wasn’t just shimmering around Sally. It was actually spilling out of her, as if the sun was captured inside her and couldn’t entirely be contained.
He froze in shock.
God almighty.
With her autumn hair floating on an unseen breeze and her eyes glowing with a pure ebony, she didn’t look entirely real.
She was . . . magnificent.
A beauty beyond his comprehension.
Giving a sharp shake of his head, Roke struggled to think beyond the dazzling, near destructive sight of his mate. He’d worry about her sudden ability to glow later. For now all that mattered was fleeing from the seemingly indestructible Brandel.
Pronto.
Shifting his attention toward the demon who Sally continued to hold around the neck, Roke prepared to launch another attack. He’d even taken a step forward when he realized that Brandel wasn’t fighting against Sally’s hold.
In fact, his black, crimson-slit eyes were stretched wide and his pudgy face frozen in an expression of horror.
Was the light hurting him?
It was impossible to tell with a creature who didn’t have a solid physical form.
Muttering a curse, Roke clutched his dagger and took another step forward. There had to be some way of disabling the demon long enough to get Sally away.
Brandel made an odd noise as the light burned even brighter, the heat becoming nearly unbearable.
“Roke, stay back,” Sally hissed between clenched teeth.
He scowled. Did she truly expect him to stand aside and watch her fight the demon on her own?
Meeting the dark gaze that blazed with the unearthly light, he was forced to accept that was exactly what she expected.
His fangs ached, his entire body trembling with the fierce need to leap into the battle, but he leashed his primitive instincts.
This wasn’t Sally being stubborn. Or trying to assert her aggravating independence.
In this moment she was a warrior giving commands that were meant to be obeyed.
Feeling as helpless as a damned dew fairy, Roke forced his feet to carry him backward, his gaze locked on her beautiful face until the light grew so bright it surrounded her and the petrified Brandel behind an incandescent aura.
Christ. He couldn’t see her.
The earth shook beneath his feet, the nearby highway buckling beneath the stress of his brutal terror. Then, when he knew he couldn’t stand and watch another second, there was a sizzle in the air followed by an explosion of heat that sent him flying.
Roke plowed into the side of the Land Rover with enough force to crush the passenger door, but ignoring his broken ribs and punctured lung, he untangled himself from the twisted metal.
“Sally,” he roared, surging to his feet to discover his mate lying on the ground.
He hissed in shock as he caught sight of the terrain that had been flattened and charred by the explosion. In several spots the grass had been seared away to leave nothing but blackened dirt. And in other places deep gouges scarred the landscape.
Holy shit. It looked like ground zero with Sally collapsed in the center.
Stark fear clutched his heart as he hurried toward his mate. At a distance she appeared unhurt, but he needed her in his arms.
Nearly at her side, Roke grimaced as he leaped over the large, greasy spot of . . . sludge. Christ, was that all that was left of Brandel?
Roke knelt on the grass that remained unharmed around Sally’s body, gently wrapping her in his arms and pulling her against his chest. The brilliant light had faded, but her skin remained warm to the touch and the scent of peaches saturated the air, reminding him of the power she had so recently wielded.
Not that he gave a shit that she’d just proven she was one of the most dangerous creatures to walk the earth. All he cared about was holding her tight as his senses swept over her, searching for injuries.
Finding no wounds, he frowned as he studied her pale face and the shadows beneath the heavy fringe of her lashes. Had she burned herself out with such a large burst of magic?
And if she had, what did he do to help her?
“Sally?” he urged softly, relief shooting through him as her lashes fluttered up to reveal her dazed eyes.