Page 62 of Mending Mayhem
Every swing, lunge, and jab I threw at George, he dodged, returning his snout to my witch’s mouth faster than anything I’d seen. Ember’s pallor grew pale. Dark circles ringed her eyes as he sucked the life out of her.
Shade threw the binding spell at the creature and recited the incantation. George merely laughed and continued devouring my soulmate.
Fire ignited in my hands, licking up my arms until my entire body was ablaze. I hurled a ball of hellfire at the beast, hitting him in the back of his head.
He squealed like the pig he was and spun to face me. “Hellfire burns. Don’t do that.”
He waved his arm, and a wall began to grow from the floor. He strained with the effort, the grimace contorting his face making him look like a clone of Balor.
I shot a stream of hellfire from my palms, blasting the growing wall. Fire billowed around it, lighting a rack of shirts ablaze.
“Brother…” Chaos laid a heavy hand on my shoulder. “You’ll burn the place down.”
“Our witches are immune to fire.” The blaze leaped from the shirts to a shelf of folded jeans. “M, take S outside and tend to his wounds. I’m ending this now.”
Ash wiggled from his grasp and returned to her spot along the wall.
“If you vanquish him, our witches will be stuck in their trance forever.” Chaos tugged my arm, lowering it as the fire consumed the wall and spread throughout the store.
“Call it back,” he said. “There is another way.” He held up the phone Mile’s had handed him. “Angus, son of Balor.”
The Formorian froze, turning to my brother. “Angus is an imbecile. He was the first of the royal family to die.”
I took the phone. Twenty-three names filled the screen. I called my fire back, the flames rolling into my being, leaving charred bits of leather and fabric in its wake.
“Cormac,” I growled the next name on the list.
“No, no. I’ll drain them both before you guess it.” He turned to Ember and pressed his snout to her mouth again.
She groaned, and my stomach wrenched. “Eachan, Duncan, Cian,” I shouted.
My witch’s cheeks began to sink in. A vise squeezed my heart. I swiped my thumb on the screen, scrolling to the last name on the list. “Donal, son of Balor, you will release the witches at once.”
He jerked his head away from Ember, his body stiffening, a hiss escaping his mouth.
“Donal,” I said again, “release the witches now.”
“You…can’t…make….me,” he strained against the magic taking hold.
“Donal,” Chaos said, his chest rumbling with his growl as he approached the Formorian. “Release them.”
Ember’s head lolled to the side, and she slumped to her left, leaning against Ash’s shoulder.
“Turn around, Donal,” I said, and he groaned, fighting my command as he faced me.
Shade collapsed behind me, and Miles grabbed Ash’s bag, yanking the strap over her head as she sat there in a daze, a maddening smile plastered on her face.
Donal disappeared in a puff of smoke.
“Show yourself,” my brother and I said in unison. Donal reappeared and vanished again.
Miles dragged Shade next to Ember and rummaged through the bag, cursing as he looked at bottle after bottle.
“I will not play this game, Donal,” I shouted. “Show yourself and do not disappear again.”
The Formorian appeared next to Ash, taking her head in his hands.
“For goddess’s sake,” Miles grumbled and blew a powder on the creature. “Standing tall or on your knees, in the name of the goddess, I force you, Donal, to freeze.”