Darius slowly slid two daggers from their sheaths, one in each hand.

Across the intersection, the group of Keys traitors parted down the center. A man wearing a black leather duster ambled leisurely toward the battle. He was too far to identify, but the winged demon following obediently on his heels was unmistakable: Nazhivēr.

Xever stopped—and Xanthe appeared from among the Keys’ minions she’d corrupted to join him.

Side by side, the two cult leaders faced us.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“Ready,” Darius called quietly.

I tensed, my hand jumping to my holstered paintball gun.

“Who are you?” Tyrone shouted at Xever, his voice hoarse with rage.

“Enéas,” Xever called. “Eight years ago, you left me no choice but to exterminate all of Enright.”

Ezra went rigid beside me.

“Tonight, again due to your interference, we will exterminate your guild.”

“And,” Xanthe added, pushing her long ponytail off her shoulder, “we’ll eliminate the Keys of Solomon. Controlling them has grown tedious since your friends murdered so many of my loyal officers.”

Tyrone took half a step back, glancing at Blake. “This is this infiltration you were talking about?”

“We just thought you should know, Enéas,” Xanthe taunted, “that you’re to blame for all this death.”

Ezra bared his teeth, his breath rushing through his nose—then he barked a sudden, quiet laugh. “She’s trying to make me lose control in front of everyone.”

My eyes widened. Lucky for us, Ezra losing control of his demonic magic was impossible now.

Tyrone shoved to the front of his Keys group. “You’re dead—you and all your traitors!”

“Are you going to kill us?” Xever swept his hands out. “You and what army?”

Confusion bubbled through me. I wasn’t the only one, and my anxious gaze darted from Ezra to Kai to Aaron’s back.

Then I heard it. A raucous, pounding beat. Stone hitting stone, over and over.

Pinkish light glimmered down the avenue to the west. The strange glow grew closer—and the shapes grew clearer. A horde of stocky creatures stomped toward us. Short legs, long arms with claw-tipped fingers, and snarling snouts framed by a crest of horns.

Fiendish gargoyles, their faces identical to the sculptures that had guarded the Court’s hidden lair in Enright. Every inch of their stone bodies was carved with runes that glowed pinkish white.

Golems. Animated golems.

As their crashing footfalls grew louder, a new sound reached my ears, low and insidious.

Snarls. Bestial, animal snarls.

I jerked around, facing the street to the north.

If not for the streetlamps, they would’ve been invisible. Moving with slow, skulking steps on silent paws. Raised hackles, matted fur, milky white eyes. Mutant werewolves with bulging muscles slunk along the pavement, foaming drool dripping from their bared teeth.

Terror screeched along my nerves, and I spun jerkily toward the avenue to the east.

Utterly silent shadows drifted through the night, visible only by the faint rings of red glowing in their eyes. One passed a bit too close to a streetlamp and the orange light illuminated a man—a man with inverted eyes, fingers elongated into claws, and a gaping mouth displaying two long fangs.

They could only be vampires. Lurking in the darkness, they were nearly impossible to see and I couldn’t even guess how many prowled our way.

I turned to face the street to the south, the road from which Xever had approached. My mind reeled with panic, and a voice muttered that surely, surely there weren’t more. Golems, werewolves, and vampires—already an unstoppable force, and they were likely enhanced with demon blood too. Xanthe and Xever couldn’t have more overpowered forces to deploy, could they?

When I saw Xanthe’s smile, I knew the answer.

The Court’s final reinforcements didn’t stomp or slink or prowl. They simply walked out of the darkness to join their leaders. Six young men, well built but not particularly impressive—except for their eyes.

Eyes sheened with crimson power.

Demon mages. Six of them.

My heart was in my throat, beating so hard and fast that I couldn’t breathe around it. I reached out to either side and closed my fingers around Ezra’s and Kai’s arms, holding on tight.

“Keys!” Darius’s voice cracked like a gunshot. “None of these enemies are what you know. They’ve all been enhanced—they’re faster and stronger than you’ve ever seen.”

Tyrone shot a disbelieving look over his shoulder, his jaw clenched and nostrils flared.

“Tyrone, deal with the contractors and demon mages. I’ll run interference for you, and my teams will cover our flanks.”

Nodding, the officer started barking commands at his diminished troops.

“Aaron, take the wolves,” Darius ordered. “Tabitha, the golems. Conserve your strength—and watch out for the vampires when they make their move.”

Aaron shot a quick look at Tabitha, then yelled, “Mages, to me! Drew, Philip, Zora, you too!”

“Sorcerers!” Tabitha called. “The goal is to knock them over. If you have an impello spell, get it ready! If you work best with a blade, get over to Aaron’s team!”

Mythics ran in both directions, rearranging at top speed as the enemy forces approached the perimeter of the intersection.

“Tabitha!” I rushed over to her, digging into a belt pouch. “Here, use this.”

I slapped a square of purple fabric into her hand. Her fine eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

“Unfold it and toss it over golems to drain their magic—but be careful, because it can drain your magic too.”

Her eyes widened, but I didn’t wait for her inevitable questions as I sped back toward the others.

Aaron was shooting off rapid instructions as his team got into position. “Kai, Laetitia, Zora, you’re vanguard. Ezra and Drew, rear defense—”

“No.” Ezra strode past Aaron, joining Kai at the front of their group, blades in hand. “I’m taking the lead this time.”

Aaron recovered from his surprise in an instant. “Laetitia, take defense. Lyndon, you—”

I missed his order as Tyrone shouted at his men. The Keys had split into five teams of five and they faced the largest force, straight across the intersection—Xanthe and Xever, fifteen Keys of Solomon traitors, their twelve demons, six demon mages, and an unknown number of vampires.

How could twenty-five Keys mythics even slow that force down? The demon mages alone would obliterate them.

As I stood a few steps behind Darius, between the two Crow and Hammer teams and unsure where to go, Xanthe caught my eye. Her stare, roving across my guildmates, came to a halt on Darius.

No. She couldn’t take control of him. She couldn’t—

Darius raised his dagger into the air.

For a bare instant, everyone seemed to pause, all eyes turning to the GM. He swept the blade down to point at Xanthe and Xever.

Complete and utter blackness engulfed the enemy force—a perfect rectangle of ebony nothingness that popped over them like a light switch had been shut off. Shouts of alarm rang out from the darkness. The mythics inside it couldn’t see.

Darius’s lumina magic. He was blinding the enemy so they couldn’t attack all at once.

Twelve demons barreled out of the darkness—and the Keys teams answered with enraged bellows as they ran to meet their first opponents, their own demons heading the charge.

“Cut off the werewolves!” Aaron roared. “Before they reach the intersection!”

I turned away from the exploding battle between Keys and demons as Aaron led his team toward the oncoming werewolf pack. Ezra and Kai flanked him, weapons in hand, and the others spread out away from them.

An instant later, I understood why.

The first wolf, a huge brute with dirty white fur, sprang for Aaron—and the pyromage’s torso burst into flame. Rain evaporated in hissing clouds of steam as fire crawled over him, turning him into a flaming wraith. He slashed with Sharpie.

An inferno blasted from his blade and slammed into the attacking wolf. The pale blue blaze rocketed across the beast and rushed into the next three coming behind it.

A streetlamp exploded, glass raining down. Kai pointed his katana skyward as electricity leaped to the metal in a thick, twisting rope. He turned the sword counterclockwise.

Lighting burst over five wolves at once. The canines crumpled, limbs twitching.

And Ezra rushed in. As the shocked wolves clambered up again, he slashed downward with his blades. The air rippled—and a near-invisible wind-blade rushed away from him. It cut across three wolves, one after another. Blood sprayed.

Then the rest of the pack attacked.

I wrenched my paintball gun from its holster and sprinted to join my friends.

Our team crashed into the wolves, magic and magery flying. Aaron and Kai rained fire and lightning down on the wolves, and Ezra lunged in, using steel blades and air blades alike to cut the beasts down.

A scream—a wolf had leaped into Laetitia, knocking her to the pavement.

My gun swung around. As she kicked the wolf away, I shot at its back. The super sleep potion hit—and instead of a splatter of yellow liquid, it burst into a cloud of sparkling pink. The wolf’s head snapped toward me, foaming fangs gaping.

The cloud of colorful mist condensed around the wolf, coating its fur like oil. The werewolf crumpled to the ground, tongue lolling out.

Holy shit. Sin hadn’t been kidding that it was strong stuff.

Laetitia rolled to her feet, her bo staff spinning, and I darted behind her. As another wolf lunged out of the shadows, I fired into its face. The shot burst into mist, which the wolf lunged straight through. I backpedaled frantically, readying my brass-knuckled fist, but the moment before it reached me, the wolf plowed face-first into the pavement.

“Tori!” Laetitia cried.

I started to turn and a heavy weight crashed into my side.

Slamming into the ground, I shoved my gun up. The attacking wolf’s jaws crunched on the metal barrel, and I flung my fist into its chest with all my strength. “Ori amplifico!”