Page 100 of Mage Massacres

“We had a three-hour conversation about this while you guys were in Hell. You were having a flashback from the Cappa beer and asked me if I could help you add flavor to your powers. Until the day I die, they’ll forever be popsicles. You can thank the vampire for that. He’s the one who lost you.”

Novak groaned, rubbing his hand down his face, but we didn’t comment anymore. The fight had slowed a fraction in the minutes that Hyde had assigned us with tasks.

Raguel could barely hold his hands up. His face was bloody; his body beat to Stars and back. And still, he’d not struck her. Sloane didn’t have a single mark marring her skin.

“Fight back,” she demanded, sweeping his feet out from under him.

His back hit the grass, and he lay there, panting before he wheezed, “No.”

“Briggs, Stone, go,” Hyde whispered.

While she was distracted, the wolf crept toward our mate’s left side. I pushed into the Void and stepped out on her right. We grabbed her arms, pulling her away as Hyde continued to shout orders.

Ten feet.

Twenty feet.

Sloane struggled against us, but she didn’t use her full strength. While her demon alter held her mind captive, her body was still her own.

A vine wrapped snugly around my torso as Hyde shouted, “Now!”

I released Sloane’s arm, and my body was ripped away, the sudden force whipping my head back. York managed to drop us in a thick mossy patch he’d created near the patio.

Palmer had the barrier in place, Miller assisting him from the doorway as black smoke swirled around our mate. Her growl reverberated through the magic dome as Novak stepped up, showing her the Raguel in front of us.

Not the man we’d been trying to find.

This man was her family, not her enemy.

I hoped that we were right.

Hyde stood in front of him, vibrating with tension as she prepared her shift. I anticipated that she wouldn’t need it, but I kind of wanted to see a basilisk in action. Just not today.

Vaughn was behind her, facing Raguel and watching him closely. The angel didn’t move. He simply stared at the cloudy sky with a relieved grin.

Palmer’s arms started to shake, and Murphy placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder, lending him power.

Novak was in pain. Whether it was from mental strain or because of his task, I didn’t know. I wouldn’t ask, either. Sloane was struggling, and he was crucial to Hyde’s plan. We all knew it.

I didn’t feel any better about the situation.

I hadn’t been in a position to make this decision.

Had Hyde not asked... Had I not seen what Novak saw... I wouldn’t have stopped Sloane.

I wasn’t sure if that made me a shitty person, but the knowledge didn’t make me feel good by any means.

“Okay, Novak,” Hyde commanded. “Pull out of her mind and tell Millie to clear the smoke. Palmer, keep the barrier up.”

The vampire dropped to his knees, gasping as if he’d been holding his breath. I shouted over my shoulder, relaying the order to the Lynch siblings.

As the smoke cleared and Sloane came into view, she looked so fucking distressed. I walked forward, stopping short at Hyde’s sharp glare.

“Lo?” The succubus leaned left and right, trying to catch her attention.

Sloane’s eyes were still locked on Raguel, but the intensity was different. She didn’t say a word or look away as she rushed straight through the barrier, shattering Palmer’s magic to get to the angel.

She tumbled to her knees, much the same as Novak had.