Fade Into Black - Shadows of the Night 5

Chapter 35

Hi!

An early update this week! Oh, and so much trouble ahead... MOUHAHA! Is Anna going to be able to save herself and New York? Or will she need some help to get herself out of this one?

Lara

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Chapter 35

"You almost got my brother killed." Joshua rolled his shoulders and fixed his eyes on me. "Raphael said I could kill you."

A swarm of ravens dipped low, almost grazing the rooftop we were standing on, then rose again into the night air. In the distance something stirred, a sonic boom on an auratic level that caught my breath. Time and space shivered with the impact.

The third null bomb just went off. Anna, you're running out of time.

Joshua's grin widened as his hands erupted in electric bolts. I recognized the power, the dark twist and the burning rift in the aerial set up around us. This magic was meant to kill.

He shoved his hands forward into the space between us and the night exploded with deadly magic. I pulled on the cuff, drawing up another wall of air. The dark magic bit into my erected walls, scraping, eating up my air magic as if it was nothing. I squeezed my eyes, pushed forward with all I had, reaching for more magic.

There was more motion on the rooftop in the front – a struggle, then someone stepping forward. I could see it from where I was standing. The next witch was going down.

I was running out of time. If they managed to break through another layer, only one ring of protection stood between Medici and the Invisibility Cloak's headquarters. I shook my head and shoved against Joshua's dark magic.

Now or never.

I let go in a sudden move and the wall of air dissolved. I grabbed what air magic I could get, manipulating the air in front of me. I raced through space, heard the soft tear and crash of dark magic colliding with something solid behind me. My feet were carrying me to the front of the roof.

Bolts followed in my wake, heavy footfalls tracing mine. I ducked and darted through a hailstorm of dark magic, electric fissures tearing through space in front of me. Joshua was right behind, so close, I could feel his darc aura like a breath of cold air. I had to be fast.

The small water tower was behind me, and I was making my way past ventilation shafts, right to the front of the rooftop. Right towards-

I stopped dead. Shadows elongated and yawned forward within the blink of an eye. Five rogues stepped out of the shadows and got right in my way.

"Where are you going, sweetheart?" Marley said, stepping forward.

Another familiar face among the ranks of my enemy. Again, someone I'd talked to casually had turned into an enemy in a deadly fight. Marley's mane of black hair looked like it was part of his cloak, swallowed by the darkness. The scar on the rogue's forehead stuck out even in the shadowland of the rooftop.

I lifted my hands, palms up and drew up walls of air – for protection and to buy me time.

The rogues circled me, faces grim. The physical reality trembled. My head snapped up. A portal opened in the front of the roof, tectonic plates shifting. I saw scraps of long blond hair, motion in the form of a struggle. The witch yelped before she was dragged into a portal by one of the rogues.

I gritted my teeth. The next witch was on her way down to set off the next null bomb.

Too late.