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SORCHA’S TARGET WASN’T at the address she’d been given. She followed the spell in her head to one of the industrial areas. The buildings were mostly empty, so it was a mystery why the shifter had come here. “She’s probably one of the rebels and they’re having a secret meeting,” the sorceress murmured. Her words and footsteps were muffled by her shield and she wore the face of a shapeshifter to blend in.
As she approached the huge brick building where she could feel her target, a letter fluttered towards her. It had begun to rain shortly after she’d arrived in the Shifter District, but the letter was only slightly soggy. “Not now,” she hissed at it when it hovered in front of her face. Having two spells fighting each other in her mind was getting old. It had only happened a few times, but it was annoying.
To her horror, another missive flew towards her and came to a stop next to the other one. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” the assassin said incredulously. The Immortal Triumvirate had all decided to send her a kill order at practically the same time. Since they weren’t inside her shield, the letters weren’t muffled. Their frantic flapping sounds would draw curious shifters to see what the noise was all about. Her target would be startled into fleeing and she would have to track her down again.
Sorcha knew it was pointless, but she vaporized the letters with fire anyway. They both reappeared seconds later, more insistent now. Crowding in closer to her, they hovered an inch away from her face, battling each other to be the first to be read.
The industrial building was only a couple of hundred yards away. If she got any closer, her target would hear the ruckus the letters were making. Knowing it was a bad idea, Sorcha had no choice but to open the letters and accept the missions. One of the assassination orders was in the Vampire District and the other one was in the Fae District. All three spells immediately tried to pull her in three different directions.
Pain wracked Sorcha and she clasped her head to try to keep her mind from being torn apart. Two missions at once had been bad, but three was sheer torture. The spells clashed against each other, vying for supremacy and assaulting her mind in the process.
Losing control of her magic, Sorcha’s shield and illusions were swept away. She sent out a blast of electricity. It zapped a group of rogue werewolves that were creeping up on her from behind. Yelping in pain, the shifters fled in terror.
Sorcha’s target heard the noise and took off through a back door. With her mark drawing further and further away, the torment in her head became even worse. She dropped to a crouch and put her hands on the cobblestones. Her undine magic rose and she sent out another blast of magic. This time, ice exploded all around her, coating everything in its path. Sheets of ice swept up to the second floors of the surrounding buildings and shattered the windows. The rain turned to hail around her, pummeling her punishingly.
Agony spread through her as she felt her mind beginning to unravel. Then she sensed a familiar presence and a pair of legs appeared in front of her. A hand reached down and she clasped it in desperation. She looked up to see Kade Sinclair staring down at her. There was concern rather than scorn on his handsome face as he drew her to her feet. He cast a strong shield around them both, then teleported them elsewhere.
Suffering too much pain and torment to understand what was happening, Sorcha closed her eyes as she was whisked away. When she opened them, she was standing in a masculine looking office that was filled with black furniture.
“By all means, do come in,” a cultured voice said sardonically. She turned to see the Demon Guild Master seated behind a large desk. Raum wore a black suit and a midnight blue shirt that matched his eyes.
“I need your help,” Kade said.
“She’s a pretty one,” Raum said as he eyed Sorcha speculatively. “Is she your chosen?”
“Yeah, but we need to break the link between Sorcha and the Immortal Triumvirate,” Kade replied.
“Ah, she’s another assassin,” the demon said as he gracefully rose to his feet. Sorcha knew he wanted her dead and tried to zap him, but she couldn’t get through Kade’s shield. The courier was far stronger than she’d expected, but she couldn’t grasp hold of the thought. The spells tore at her mind as they tried to force her to obey them.
Kade teleported all three of them to the rooftop of the Night Cursed insane asylum. Rain poured down on them, but he didn’t bother to create shield to protect them all. Sorcha tried to fight him as the Demon Guild Master crossed to her, but he held her tightly to his chest. He chanted and Raum gave him some of his demonic magic, then Sorcha felt something in her head snap. For a moment, she felt a deep sense of peace that she’d never experienced before. Then the full force of her magic was unleashed.
Kade shoved Raum away and strengthened his shield around himself and the sorceress. He managed to contain the barrage of magic, but just barely. Sorcha was far stronger than either of them had realized. Now that the barrier Lord Dallinar had placed in her head was gone, her undine magic was finally free.
Sorcha’s mind cleared now that the spells were gone. She saw Raum standing only a few yards away. She knew he would kill her once he realized she was the assassin who had eliminated Beleth. Kade’s shield was still surrounding them, but she dispelled it with a thought. She lifted her hand to zap the demon to death, but she was yanked off her feet before she could cast her lethal enchantment.
Raum gave Kade a sardonic look that his chosen partner had just tried to attack him, then turned into his demonic form and flew away.
Sorcha looked up to scowl at the charcoal gray demon with black wings and glowing gold eyes. “Why did you stop me from killing him?” she shouted in anger.
“Raum is not yours to kill,” the demon replied in a raspy voice, then dropped her.
Sorcha had questions that needed to be answered, so she teleported back to the rooftop of the asylum. To her shock, Eden was standing next to Kade. So was another person she’d thought was lost to her forever. “Malachi?” she said shakily.
“Surprise!” the incubus said cheekily, then held his arms out wide. “Did you miss us?”
Finding the two friends she’d thought were dead were still alive was too much for the sorceress. She put her hands over her face and burst into tears. Arms enfolded her, but they belonged to the man she’d thought was just a lowly courier rather than her friends. “Shh,” Kade said soothingly while holding her tightly. “We’ll explain everything,” he promised gently.
“It’s lucky I had those teleporting potions on me,” Malachi said to Eden.
“It’s lucky I had a hunch Kade would bring Sorcha here when we saw her lose control of her magic,” Eden replied. They’d followed their instincts and had found Kade and their friend in the Shifter District just in time to see the sorceress coat the area around herself in ice.
Sorcha pulled away from the courier to glare at them all accusingly. “I don’t know what the hell is going on, but I want some answers!” she exclaimed.
“Are you still going to kill Sebastian?” Eden asked her warily.
“I might,” Sorcha replied. “It depends on what that leech did to you.”
“Sebastian, Kade and Raum saved me,” the succubus said. “Just like they saved Malachi and now you.”
“What are you talking about?” Sorcha asked in confusion.
“The spell to kill Sebastian is gone, isn’t it?” Malachi said.
“I didn’t have an order to kill him,” the sorceress said. “That was a personal mission.” Eden narrowed her eyes at her friend and pressed her lips together. “I had three missions come at once,” Sorcha added. “They were tearing my mind apart, but they’re all gone,” she added, touching her head in wonder. She turned to Kade, knowing he was responsible. “What did you do?” she asked.
“Raum helped me to sever the link between you and the Immortal Triumvirate,” Kade explained. “I also destroyed the barrier that was preventing you from using your magic. You’re free, Sorcha.”
“Free?” she said in disbelief, then saw Eden and Malachi grinning and nodding. “We’re all free?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Eden confirmed as tears welled in her eyes. “They’re no longer our masters. We never have to kill anyone at their orders ever again.”
This time when Sorcha burst into tears, her friends were the ones to hug her. They knew what she was going through, because they’d already experienced her joy and relief themselves. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but they were a team again. Whatever happened next, they would face it together.
