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“Problem?” I asked.
“I’m just not used to my best friend being able to wield demonic fireballs.”
“Get used to it. We finish what we came here for, then make sure Thorn's okay. The witch overplayed her hand.” I gritted my teeth, biting back a rush of fury. Foolish witch.
“How do you figure that removing the most powerful of us is overplaying her hand?”
“Because she's not the most powerful.” I turned to look at her. “You are.”
Her expression turns horrified. “Um. No.”
“Well, you will be once you siphon what you need from me.” I grinned. “I can create fire, see through walls, and track humans on concrete. What can you do with a power burst?”
“I don't know if I can kill her.” We're moving again, her hands lightly on my back as she follows me as closely as possible.
“Well, I can, and if needed, I will. You just get us through the door, and if you need the power to stay safe and keep Moira's magic at bay, take power from me until she's weak enough to take it from her.”
She moved past me, keeping one hand on my arm, and checked the door. After a moment, she glanced at me and gave a low whistle. “She would really like us not to go in there.” She rummaged through her bottles and pulled out three. “Cover your eyes.” Chas broke the bottles against the door one at a time, each with a brighter flare than the last. “Shit. It's still gonna sting, chérie.”
I wiggle my fingers and wink at her. “No problem.” I've finally figured out how to use the mark Thorn gave me. I take a breath, activate it first, and then reach the waiting demon stones inside. “Mind your manners, you.” I use the heart stone, the flame caller, and slam my hand into the door as I ignite the rich, white-blue flame in my palm.
Two things happen then, one expected, the other not so much.
We hear a scream of pain roar from the room Thorn was dragged into, and the door in front of us blasts into a million pieces that explode into the office on the other side.
But no Moira.
“Shit. She tricked us. If Thorn hadn't gotten through the barrier, we'd have walked right in there to nothing but an imprisonment spell.” Chas huffed and stared at the remaining door. “And I'm out of those ward breakers.”
I smiled at her and laid my palm against the door, siphoning the ward in a few seconds. Then I did the same as before, calling the heart stone and blasting the door inward.
Sorry, Thorn.
The splinters of door crunched under our feet as we marched into what appeared to be another corridor, this one lined with doors. There's a door every few feet, and they're probably all locked.
Stomping my foot, I can't help another burst of fury coursing through me. “Oh no. How are we going to get through these?”
Chas walks up to the first door. “Len, it's not real. When you get close enough, your protection will cause you to see through it. I'll take the left. You take the right.”
I moved down the hallway, my fingers hovering just off the wall. Chas is right, though. The first door becomes transparent as I get within a few feet, as does every door after until we reach the end. Two of us, three doors, and time ticking away, possibly on Thorn's life.
“How do we choose?”
Chas paces for almost half a minute before answering me. “We blow them all and hope there aren't too many undead on the other side. The more energy she has to spend, the fewer corpses she can keep upright.”
“And the illusion in the front shop can’t be lost, or she’ll have to leave town.”
She shrugged and reached for my hand. “Let me, this time. You just keep your eye on what's on the other side.”
“Hey.” I entwined my fingers with hers and pulled her to face me. “Thank you for coming after I showed my worst side.”
The smile faded from her face, and she took a deep breath, then exhaled. On Chastity's next breath, she pulled power from me, and I focused on feeding her what she needed.
One last breath in, and then she exhales and breathes fire in a wide arc in front of us. The doors heated, charring black before they exploded under the force of her magic.
“Okay,” I whispered as I peered into each room, “that was fucking cool.”
She rubs my knuckles over her lips and releases them. Then her eyes widened.
