Page 84 of Secrets of Ruin

Shadows raced across the room, but before they could attack the warlocks, the men’s fingers all moved to emit a blast of air that hit Brokk like a truck. Lifted off his feet, Brokk flew into the wall.

The glove fell off, and the netting slipped from his fingers before he hit the dark wood paneling with enough force to dent it. The impact also broke one of his ribs.

Orin, Sahira, and Kaylia flew toward the front door while Lexi landed on Fabian’s table. Flung a few feet away from her, Cole and Varo landed in the booth next to Lexi’s.

The eruption of wind did nothing to dissuade the shadows from their lethal pursuit of the men who had entered. When they reached them, the shadows swarmed over an invisible barrier erected to keep the warlocks and their cohorts safe.

More of them raced toward Fabian and his friends, only to find another protective barrier in place. The dim light of the room didn’t allow for many shadows, but even thousands couldn’t penetrate the warlocks’ protective barrier.

An inhuman snarl filled the air as the warlocks grabbed Lexi by the arms and hauled her toward them. Brokk tried to peel himself off the wall, but moving was impossible.

Pops and cracks filled the air as Cole half transformed and somehow pried himself enough to roll toward Lexi, but as he moved, a wall of air slammed between them. It hit so hard it cracked the back of the seat.

Cole’s hands ran over the wall as he battered it. Brokk didn’t feel it, but another wave of air must have emanated from the warlocks as Cole was shoved back onto the table.

He lifted his hands a little to fight back against the air bearing down on him. If he lost, it would crush him.

Cole’s bellow shook the walls as fire erupted from Lexi’s fingertips and surged up her arms. It burned away her clothes while racing over her body.

The warlock holding her yelped and released her, but the one sitting beside him pulled something from his seat and lunged forward. A second later, a heavy metal blanket settled over Lexi, extinguishing her flames as the second warlock pulled it tight.

Lexi struggled in their grasp, but the thick blanket kept her fire smothered as another warlock produced a set of chains. When the warlock with burnt hands carefully started to wrap the chain around Lexi, she kicked out, catching the asshole in the chest and knocking him out of the booth.

He hit the ground with a thud and a rattle of chains as his face twisted into a sneer. “Bitch!”

The bartender shouted something and leapt onto the bar as he transformed into a wolf. Sprinting across the room, he jumped up and went to pounce on one of the warlocks but crashed into the protective bubble.

With a yelp, he flew sideways, where he bounced off a table before skidding across the room and crashing into a wall. Before he stopped, one of the dark fae stepped from the protective bubble and fired his crossbow; the bolt hit the lycan in the heart.

Still in wolf form, the man lay there, panting and unable to move. The shadows raced for the dark fae, but by the time they got to him, he’d already stepped into the protective bubble again.

The dark fae lowered his crossbow and strapped it to his side. Brokk glared at the traitor; the man looked vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place him. Not like it mattered; the man was as good as dead, and Brokk had no intention of giving him a proper burial.

When the warlock with the chain rose and started toward Lexi again, Brokk strained to free himself from the air pinning him to the wall. His fingers twitched as he sought to take control of the air and turn it against those seeking to harm them, but he couldn’t wrest power from the warlocks keeping them imprisoned.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE

The dwarf at the bar suddenly stood, lifted her battle-ax, and flung it across the room. It turned end over end as it whipped through the air.

It must have hit the protective bubble just right as it pierced through before smashing into the warlock who’d thrown the blanket over Lexi. Strangled sounds emanated from the warlock as he clawed at the weapon embedded in his skull.

His head was nearly cleaved in two as he wobbled around before falling back in the booth and vanishing beneath the seat. A small thud told Brokk he’d hit the floor.

Some of the other patrons used this distraction to dash across the room and flee out the front door. The dwarf dove behind the bar, but it wouldn’t do much to protect her.

The blanket started to fall away from Lexi, but the warlock next to Fabian leapt over the table and yanked it down again. Lexi thrashed and kicked before throwing her head back and bashing it off the warlock’s face.

The man yelped, and his grip slackened for a second before he pinned her against his chest. A black lump was already forming on his cheekbone; Lexi’s blow had broken it.

Called forth by Cole, more shadows poured through the windows. A lycan, who had entered with the warlocks, sprinted across the room and yanked the heavy drapes closed.

More darkness engulfed the room and eradicated many shadows, but the lamps hanging from the walls cast enough light to feed Cole. As they swamped him, the lycan wasn’t fast enough to evade the shadows’ wrath. His screams filled the air as the shadows tore him apart.

As they moved toward Cole, more shadows swept across the floor and over the ceiling. Brokk would have preferred to see far more of them, but any number was better than none.

That number dwindled as the warlocks near the hall moved together under their barrier to demolish five of the lanterns closest to them. More shadows disappeared.

As the remaining shadows funneled into Cole, they turned his skin darker, and his eyes burned silver while the whites turned black. Power thrummed in the air, and Cole’s hands moved further upward against the wall of air encasing him.