Page 3 of Rogue Witch

My heart thunders. I close my eyes against the pain. Chelsea Nightlow was also taken, the girl who’s tried to kill Leilah twice.

I snap open my eyes. Seconds before the Reaping took them, I watched Chelsea throw a lightning bolt at Leilah. How was Chelsea able to harm Leilah? No one was supposed to be able to be harmed in the virtual magical world.

“Ethan,” Kiersten says.

Juan Hernandez and Kiersten Simms stare, eyes wide with fear. I blink. I have to get them to safety. We’re supposed to maintain radio silence for the first third part of the games, so the volume on the second, emergencies-only radio, which connects Raith, Blade, and I, is set on the lowest volume possible.

I pull the radio from its belt holster, depress the send button, and whisper, “Blade, do you copy? Over.”

No reply.

I depress the button, again. “Blade, come in. Over.”

Static hisses through the speaker. I try Raith with no better luck. I slam the radio back into its holster and pull the other radio from its holster. I call for Raith and Blade, but still no answer. With a curse, I shove the second radio back into its holster. I was a fool to destroy the tablet. At least, if I’d kept it, I could have seen what they were doing. I’ve got to get these kids out of the virtual world. No one is supposed to be able to die in a virtual world, but we never considered that a Reaping could take place simultaneously. The virtual criminals will continue to be criminals until we complete our mission, which means we’re in danger.

“We’re going to return to the real world,” I whisper.

The kids glance at each other.

“Were they taken in a Reaping?” Kiersten asks.

“Yes,” I say. “But your friends will be all right.”

“There are only two of us.” She glances around. “What if—”

“There are three of us,” I cut in. “I’m here. Remember?”

Their attention darts past me the instant before three shadows fall across the asphalt on each side of me. I spin. Two large men stand on a street corner twenty feet away.

Demons.

I call my fire an instant before the demon on the left throws a ball of churning darkness I recognize all too well.

Shadow fire.

I throw up a wall of dark blue flames that radiates heat. Both students are high potential with immense magical powers, but neither is prepared to face demons—even virtual demons. Kiersten stands frozen, eyes wide.

Juan shouts, “Look out!” and shifts into gargoyle form, tall with pointed ears and a round demonic-like face fearsome enough to strike fear into the hearts of even demons.

He throws his massive bat-like wings around us and shudders when the ball of energy hits him at what I know is a fraction of the ball’s energy, before the energy dissipates. I push past the safety of his wings in time to see a second melon-sized ball of dark energy hurtling toward us.

I thrust my palm outward and shoot a stream of white-hot flame as the taller of the demons lunges toward us. My fire collides with the shadow fire and explodes. Kiersten throws a protective shield around us.

To my surprise, she pulls a small round, opaque blue spirit bottle from her pocket. She yanks the cork off and shouts, “Souls of darkness, hearken my command, within this bottle, your spirit must land.”

Pride surges. The spell is rudimentary—that’s the goal—but effective. The demon who threw the dark energy lets go a wail that sends a chill down my spine, then he evaporates into a long wisp of black smoke that makes a beeline for Kiersten’s bottle. When the last of that demon disappears into the bottle, she slams on the cork.

The other demon hisses, then disappears. Kiersten’s right hand drops away from the bottle and I see the cork top is even with the bottle top, just as it’s supposed to be. No chance of that cork shaking loose. Kiersten stares at the bottle as if uncertain the glass will hold the demon. I press her shoulder. Her head snaps up. Eyes wide with fear meet mine.

“Come on,” I say. “We need to get out of here.”

We have a twelve-minute jog to the portal.

“Everyone up for a jog?” I ask.

They nod.

“I’ll take the lead,” I say. “Juan, you have the rear. We encounter any demons or Shadows, we stop, and I deal with them.”