I fought against them, only to find myself more tangled than I’d started. They clung to me like sticky webs, dragging me deeper into the recesses of Winston’s broken subconscious.When I reached out with telepathy, the shards of glass thrummed, triggering psychic traps that knocked me back. There was nothing I could do until I broke these chains, until I disarmed these traps.
The True Witch had arrived with her Celestial Coven and locked me away before making their first move on the city.
I roared, raging against the bindings. Dammit. I had to do something. Anything.
A coldchill snapped the tether holding me to my core self. The surge of psychic energy across the city indicated that all the manifestations of myself wandering through Chicago had been cut off from our core self. That could only mean I’d stepped into some type of trap.
Still, before the complete cutoff, my core self sent me intel on the Celestial Coven. I could only presume all the currently summoned manifestations in the area received the same update. But why give us information on the Celestial Coven and not an answer on why our core self had been so suddenly isolated? It could only mean that the Celestial Coven was making their move.
Were they attacking the Global Guild station? I needed to rally the other manifestations and find our way to our core self before something dangerous happened.
“The next time I see Katherine, I’m going to gouge out that bitch’s eyes.” Layla fumed, pressing her hand to the red welt across her face. The contempt fueling her stole my attention.
“It’s not that bad,” Amani lied.
Jennifer trailed closely, hiding a smile behind her carefullypursed black lips. While she found the slap Katherine gave Layla completely justified, it didn’t fit her friend’s emotional wavelength. Jennifer had a good gauge for emotional outbursts when the levees broke and people acted out of character.
Katherine’s emotions were bubbly moments before they turned blank. Jennifer couldn’t pinpoint it, but there was a total disconnect. No malice, sadness, or hatred when she smacked Layla. Not that Layla didn’t have it coming. She shouted at Katherine, telling her off for messing something up, and stood in Katherine’s way. It wasn’t blank. There was a slight spike in irritation as Layla inconvenienced Katherine, but then she just grabbed her grimoire and left.
I quirked a brow. That was bizarre behavior for Katherine, but right now, I needed to leave Cerberus Guild and find my way back to my core self over at the Global Guild station.
Layla and all the interns—excluding Katherine—stepped into Guild Master Campbell’s office as she took another meeting with Cassidy Gardner. Campbell did a headcount on her five interns and crinkled her nose with frustration for the missing intern. Apparently, Cassidy held intrigue for Katherine and Tia, always ready to exploit enchantment witches.
With nothing urgent surfacing in Campbell’s thoughts, I realized whatever had happened hadn’t become widespread yet. As a top-tier guild master, she’d be one of the first to receive urgent updates.
I floated toward the window, preparing to take my leave, when an explosion of demonic energy surged through the building. It was suffocating. In this psychic state, the bombardment of toxic auras from fiends lashed out at my mind.
“What the fuck?” Campbell checked the alerts on her large screen monitor, revealing fiends of all sizes running through Cerberus.
She had cameras on every floor, some blotted out with tar, some struck with magic by enchanters defending themselves against the sudden onslaught.
“Secure yourselves, banish these fiends, and cleanse the building,” Campbell said into a microphone. “We’re going into full lockdown.”
Shit.
Metallic barriers began to seal each window in Campbell’s office. The wards on her walls glowed.
“The audacity of attacking my guild head-on.” Campbell glowered, quickly coordinating her enchanters and acolytes in the building. “Less than half our forces are here, but I can clear this building myself if need be.”
As the last window closed, a shadowy figure burst through the glass, and a behemoth of a man stood at the edge of the office.
His magic hit in waves. Few witches who channeled gave off such radiant power. He must’ve been one of the Celestial Coven witches. I searched my thoughts, the new ones thrown at me from my core self.
Jagged diamond slivers held the broken window open, preventing a full lockdown on Cerberus Guild.
I recognized that magic.
“Can’t believe I’m stuck dealing with all the little girls, when there are real witches to fight against.”
“You all need to be incredibly careful,” I linked my thoughts to Campbell and all her interns. It took nearly every ounce ofmagic in my manifestation to project what intel I had on this member of the Celestial Coven.
Name: James Bardot
Branch: Primal (Diamond)
Not only did Bardot possess a powerful primal magic, but physically, he stood at 6’7 with a frame twice that of Enchanter Diaz. In fact, Bardot resembled Diaz’s bear familiar more than a human with his huge muscles.
“Frost?” Campbell raised a brow; contempt covered her face and filled her thoughts, but when it settled, she saw my eavesdropping nature as something adventitious. “Link us all and we’ll strategize around this arrogant ass.”
