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Peri dipped her hand back into the satchel, desperately searching through the vials. She’d trained with Maya to defend herself against a magical attack, but Peri knew she was no match for Tia. Not only did the older woman have centuries of experience using her powers, but there was a ruthlessness to her that Peri didn’t possess. She might like to think she was a badass, but she wasn’t a stone-cold killer.
A head-to-head battle was certain disaster.
So if she couldn’t be stronger, she had to be smarter.
At last her fingers wrapped around the one vial that was hot to the touch. Yanking it out of the satchel, Peri boldly stepped toward her companion. Tia’s brows arched, as if she was caught off guard by Peri’s audacity. Or maybe she couldn’t believe anyone would be stupid enough to challenge her.
Peri smiled, inching closer. It wasn’t until she could see Tia’s fingers twitch as she prepared to release her spell that Peri whirled to the side and hurled the vial against the bookcase. Immediately the potion inside burst into flames.
Tia made a strangled sound as the fire spread over the heavy shelves and began to consume the leather-bound books.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tia gasped, for the first time revealing a genuine emotion as she watched the destruction with an expression of horror. “Those are first editions. They’re priceless.”
Peri kept her mouth shut, not willing to draw attention to herself as Tia rushed toward the shelves and started muttering a hasty spell to squelch the fire.
Silently she backed away, her gaze never leaving Tia as she reached out her hand to fumble for the chair she’d been sitting on minutes earlier. There was no point in trying to force open the door. That left her with one possible exit.
Grabbing the top of the chair, Peri lifted it with a low grunt. She was stronger than any human and even a few demons, but the chair had been built back in the day when craftsmen took pride in producing a sturdy piece of furniture. The thing weighed a ton.
Peri gritted her teeth, hauling the chair toward the nearby windows. Then tightening her muscles, she managed to lift the chair and heave it into the glass.
The large window didn’t shatter. It was obviously protected by the runes carved into the wooden frame, but the chair was heavy enough to punch a hole in the lower half of the pane.
Peri didn’t hesitate. Dashing forward, she leaped through the small opening, picking up a dozen more cuts as the jagged glass scraped her exposed skin. She landed on her hands, cursing as the impact jolted up her arms. Maybe she should have taken more time to consider her impulsive trip to confront Tia, she conceded, scrambling upright and glancing around to get her bearings. To the left was a pool and fancy pool house that was twice the size of the Witch’s Brew. Straight ahead was a sunken garden with trimmed hedges that looked like a maze. And to theright was the long wing with the circular tower. Thankfully, there was an arched opening that led to the front of the castle.
Grimacing at the smoke billowing out of the broken window, Peri hurried toward the passageway. Tia would eventually finish putting out the flames and she wasn’t going to be happy. Peri suspected it would be a wise decision to have several miles between them.
She’d managed to make it through the opening and was angling across the manicured lawn toward the driveway when a large form abruptly stepped directly in her path.
Peri grunted, ricocheting off the rock-hard body. Stumbling backward, she managed to regain her balance and glanced up. And then glanced up some more. The guard wasn’t the same one who’d greeted her when she’d first arrived at the castle, but he was just as large with the faint aura of red. Another demon.
Great.
“Stop right there,” he barked, holding up a large hand.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Peri muttered. “Places to go, people to see. You know the drill.”
“What drill?”
Peri stepped closer, acting as if she intended to walk around the hulking guard. As expected, he lunged toward her and Peri danced to the side. She had another potion in her satchel, but she didn’t want to use all her ammunition. Not until she was certain she wasn’t going to have to face Tia again.
The guard moved to block her path. “Stand still.”
“Make me.”
His bulldog features flushed as he made another lunge, only to have her easily skip away.
“Don’t piss me off,” he snapped.
Peri rolled her eyes. “Or what?”
“This.”
He lunged again and Peri dodged backward. He followed, his movements awkward, but relentless. She was wasting too much time, she silently acknowledged. Tia was going to come in search of her. Or at least send her guards to stop her from escaping.
It was now or never.
Flashing a mocking smile, Peri spread her arms wide. “Are you an actual guard?” she taunted. “Or does Tia pay you to strut around flexing your muscles?”
