Page 19 of Arcane Entanglement

A sinister energy was pooling around the three men. Their dark magic turned the shadows to a thick, oily fog that made it hard to breathe and sent an unpleasant buzzing through his ears.

Evander braced his legs and drew on his elemental powers. They pulsed through and out of him, clearing the air on a violent, sparkling haze that shook the leaves in the nearby trees and made the ground quake.

The mages hesitated on the verge of launching their next attack, their nerves showing at this absolute show of force.

It was all the time Evander needed to act.

A dozen icicles bloomed around him, the weapons moving even as they formed. The first and second mages tried to jump out of the way, only to find their feet yanked out from under them by shackles of dirt. Gargled cries left them as Evander’s ice attack pierced their clothes and pinned them to the street.

Evander deflected the dark magic wreathed blade the third mage threw at him with the folding cane that sprung out from inside his sleeve. He sidestepped the man as he charged at him and whacked him in a flurry of lightning-fast strikes.

The mage shook his head dazedly. He tottered about and fell clumsily onto a knee, as if intoxicated.

“What the hell did you do to me, you bastard?!” he snarled. He tried to get up, to no avail.

Evander straightened and propped the cane on his shoulder. “I hit your pressure points.” He cocked his head. “Learned it from the same man who taught Lady Hartley how to fight like a street thug.”

“I heard that!” Ginny snapped from behind the dirt wall.

Evander smiled coldly at the mage. “You won’t be able to get up for a while, so I suggest you and your associates sit tight and wait for the police to?—”

An evil smirk twisted the mage’s mouth.

Air shifted behind Evander. Pain exploded inside his skull before he could react. His breath locked in his throat, the agony of the attack dulling his senses and sending his ears ringing. It took him a moment to figure out what had happened.

The Brute had slammed his giant hands on either side of his head. He squeezed.

Black spots blossomed in front of Evander’s eyes.

Ginny screamed his name.

Something jolted the Brute as he began crushing Evander’s skull. The motion loosened his hold for a fraction of a second.

Evander grabbed the back of the giant’s hands and let loose his ice magic, his head throbbing and his stomach roiling.

The Brute released him.

Evander whirled around.

Ginny had climbed over the wall of her barricade and jumped onto the giant’s shoulders. She wrapped her legs around his throat in a choke hold and pressed her gun to the base of his skull, a scowl darkening her face.

“Wait!” Evander warned. “Magic doesn’t work against them!”

“We’ll see about that,” Ginny said grimly. She squeezed the trigger.

The pistol cracked. Once. Twice.

The Brute remained unfazed by the projectiles that fastened on his flesh and tried to stun him. He looked at the ice fading fast on his fingers and reached up to grab Ginny.

Evander ripped his cufflinks off his sleeves, engaged the explosive magic they contained, and lobed them at the Brute’s face.

“Jump!” he yelled at Ginny.

She pushed off the giant and somersaulted into the air.

The Brute brought his arms up as the enchanted devices detonated in front of him. He grunted at the blast, staggered back half a dozen steps, and shook his head. His expression cleared for a moment.

Confusion clouded his face.