Of fucking course; because he always needed someone else to fight his battles.
Before I could conjure another spell, the dirt beneath me shifted. I hadn’t realized I was standing right where I’d buried Mad Dog, and he was making the climb out of his grave. A hand curled around my ankle and yanked me to the ground. I aimed ablast of battle magic at him, but panicked when the magic never came.
I felt Mad Dog’s compulsion locking my powers down tightly, forcing me to hide my own magic from access. I wondered why he didn’t just puppet us around and make us kill ourselves like he’d done to Thaddeus, but I realized we were too strong for that. He could compel our magic against us, but he couldn’t overcome our consciousness.
Mad Dog let out an angry roar— almost animalistic.
“A little help!” I screamed.
“Let him go, you soulless bastard!” Marcus sneered.
I thought it was just an empty insult, because vampires still had a soul, until I realized what Marcus was doing. Mad Dog’s scream came to an abrupt halt the same time an image formed at my feet. An ethereal picture of a furious vampire appeared, his spirit hand curled around my ankle.
If I could see him, that only meant one thing. Marcus hadrippedMad Dog’s spirit out of his body.
“What have youdone?!” Esther screamed.
I heard her footsteps racing forward, then felt her body land on top of Mad Dog. For the briefest of moments, his grip on me loosened. Then his spirit vanished and he clutched me even tighter, as if Esther had shoved his soul back into his body.
Obviously she did, because she could manipulate a person’s life force. That had to have some effect on the soul. Even if Marcus could take someone’s soul out of their body, Esther could just put it right back. I kicked Mad Dog hard in the face, and he dropped my ankle.
“Rishi, attack!” Marcus screamed.
Marcus cast a spell, and Rishi transformed into a deadly spirit. He dove toward Mad Dog and Esther, and his form swept through me for a moment. I saw the ethereal shape of a cat’s faceas he dove toward our attackers. As soon as he passed me, the image vanished.
Rishi hissed as he went in for the kill, but he never made it to Esther and Mad Dog. Instead, he shifted course, and turned straight toward Marcus and Kallie.
“Rishi, no!” Marcus screamed. Rishi lashed out, and I heard the tearing of fabric as he swiped his claws out at Marcus.
“Stop!” Marcus ordered. The spell broke, and Rishi landed on the ground.
Naya laughed, and I knew whatever happened had been her doing. She had some way of turning our powers against us.
This wasbad. If Naya could turn our spells back on us, Deuce could break them, and Mad Dog could cut off all our magical access, we were fucking screwed. There wasno waywe could fight these people, no matter how much power we had, because their special demigod abilities prevented us from fighting back.
Our only option was to run.
I raced to Ava and scooped her up in my arms. Marcus and Kallie sprinted to our side.
“Kallie, a portal!” I screamed.
“Ican’t!” she yelled back.
Mad Dog must’ve been blocking her power. We had to get far enough away so his compulsion wouldn’t affect us.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” Esther sneered. Her wings flapped again, which meant she’d healed already. A spell crackled, and Oberi barked loudly, warning us of the incoming blast.
Ava threw up her hands. Protection magic bloomed out of her so strong it seemed to rock the very earth we stood on. The explosion sounded all around us, but never touched our forms.
“Holy shit! Ava can make shields!” Kallie cried.
Magic smashed against Ava’s shield, never touching us. Curiously, I reached out my hand, and my fingers connectedwith something solid. An image formed in my mind, because the shield was made with Ava’s Spirit magic. I saw what appeared to be a big glass dome encompassing my friends and me, pulsing with spiritual power, thin beads of energy moving throughout. I’d heard Anichi could create shields, but I didn’t know it was possible for Ava. I felt her strong emotions bleeding through the shield, created out of Ava’s love for us and her fierce instinct to protect us.
“Get them!” Esther barked.
“Deuce can’t break it,” Marcus realized.
“Then let’s go!” I demanded. “We need a portal now, Kallie.”
