“Now!” she shouted.
Stunned by the power in her command, Gabriel and the others obeyed, dropping the chains and darting away from the writhing, clawing tangle of grays. The witch stepped forward, chanting her spell.
Hearts of darkness, beasts of hell
This breath shall be your last
Death has come to break the spell
Unbind the magic that was cast
With every word, the magic surged around her, wrapping her in a storm of pure, pulsating energy. After her third recitation of the spell, she pitched the hearts at the grays’ feet.
The bloody mess landed with a plop, then exploded in a dark flame.
The grays and every bit of ruined flesh around them turned to ash.
Jacinda’s magic vanished. On a deep exhale, she fell to her knees.
No one spoke. No one moved. No one even drew breath.
Two barely-civilized vampires and a wolf, who’d just spent the last ten minutes basically bathing in blood and gore, and the witch had managed to immobilize them all with shock, awe, and—if Gabriel were being honest—a good dose of straight-up terror.
“Well.” Aiden finally broke the silence, scooping up a handful of gray ash and letting it sift through his fingers. The creatures were well and truly gone. “Not one to judge, of course. But Gabriel… She’s a bit spooky, mate.”
Cole, who’d just shifted back into his human form, let out a low whistle. “If I still had my pants, pretty sure I woulda just pissed ’em.”
Gabriel passed his phone to Aiden. “Call Enzo. Tell him to send a cleanup crew. And do a quick sweep—make sure there weren’t any witnesses. Cole, find something to cover yourself, for fuck’s sake.”
“Who the bloody hell is Enzo?”
Ignoring Aiden’s question, Gabriel headed over and crouched down next to Jacinda, gingerly helping her back to her feet.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, scouring every inch of her with his eyes. Whatever those demons had done to terrorize her, they hadn’t drawn blood—even with the mess of demons and grays, Gabriel would’ve scented it.
But there were worse things than drawing blood, especially when it came to demons, and he had no idea how long they’d been batting her around before he and the others arrived.
Jacinda looked up at him. Blinked. Swayed on her feet.
Gabriel gripped her shoulders, steadying her. The coat she wore was a black, ruined mess. “Did that bastard burn you? You smell like hellfire.”
The word seemed to shake her out of the trance, and she glanced down at the coat. A gasp escaped, but she shook her head. “That wasn’t—no. It missed me.”
“Jacinda, what—”
“Holy shit.” She pulled out of his grasp, heading back toward the demon carnage. “Are those… arms?”
“They never should’ve touched you,” he said plainly. Blood leaked down his face, sliding into his mouth.
Jacinda stared at him, her face a nearly identical reflection.
It reminded him of that time in Bloodbath, the interrogation after the massacre.
Once again, he felt Death’s whisper on his skin. Too close.
“How did you do that?” he demanded. “And how were those grays able to resurrect without the amulets?”
She turned in a slow circle, still taking in the scene. It seemed the shock of it was finally catching up to her.
