Page 23 of Ignited Spirits (Haunted Magic #3)

IZZY

A deafening roar shakes the walls, sending concrete dust raining down on us.

The man holding me looks behind me before his mouth drops open in surprise. His face contorts in horror, and his hold on my hair slackens.

Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, I pull free of his hold and look up.

I almost swallow my tongue when I see a massive, nine-headed serpentine monster that’s as tall as the concrete bunker.

While it has four legs, its body looks like a snake or a dragon.

Then, of course, are the nine heads all hissing at the council goons.

I look over at my mates and brothers. Both Rhys and Aiden are staring up at the creature in awe. Levi, Bishop, and Cain are all running toward me while firing off attacks. Luca leaps and changes into his wolf in midair before crashing into one of the council dudes right next to me.

Cerberus follows my mates, their steps shaking the bunker as they do so.

My forehead crinkles in confusion as I look for Archer but don’t find him. After looking around a few times for him, all I see is the massive monster straight out of mythology. It’s then that it clicks.

“Archer?” I whisper, staring up at the creature with equal parts fear and amazement.

All nine heads turn toward me. The one in the center chuffs, which almost sounds like a laugh. His lips pull up into what I think is a smile, but it’s terrifying on a giant creature that’s at least two stories tall.

Well, we know what my magic and the Styx turned Archer into. A twenty-foot-tall snake monster with way too many heads. At least that mystery is solved, I guess.

Distracted by me, snake Archer doesn’t notice a blast of magic that hits him right in one of his many necks. The bolt tears straight through his neck and severs one of his snake heads clean from his body.

Archer roars in pain, and I can’t help the whimper that escapes my mouth at him hurting.

He drips blood onto the ground below him, and it eats through anything it touches. I watch in shock as his blood burns a hole straight through the concrete rubble that’s more than four feet thick at this point.

The craziness isn’t over, because his head that was cut off starts to regrow. As I watch, not one but two heads appear where the other head used to be.

“Oh, shit,” someone says behind me, and I couldn’t have summed it up better myself.

Archer is some sort of mythical snake mixed with a dragon who has nine heads that can regrow.

It’s a pretty cool power to have, and I’d be super excited about it if we found out any other time. As it is, my distraction costs me. Strong arms pick me up from behind.

I thrash around, trying to get out of the hold, but he’s too strong for me. I’d use my magic, but that’s not an option until I get these cuffs off me.

“It’s just me, angel,” Cain whispers in my ear. I go limp in relief in his arms and briefly rest my head against his chest.

When I get ahold of myself, I pull out of his arms and spin to face him. “Thanks for the save, quiet boy. Any chance you can do anything about these cuffs?”

His mouth twists as he thinks about it. “I can try. But there’s a high likelihood I’ll burn you. I don’t know that it’s a risk I want to take.”

“I’m willing to take the risk if you are.

I’m a sitting duck out here without my magic.

” As I say that, a spell comes hurtling toward my face.

I stare at it like a deer in the headlights, having no idea what to do.

At the last second before it slams into me, a shield flickers to life in front of my face.

“Careful, little raven,” Levi warns before he flings magic at one of the many guards swarming around us. His attention is quickly pulled away as he deals with what feels like ever-multiplying council minions.

“Please, Cain.” I hold out my wrists for him.

His face is reluctant, and I know he doesn’t want to hurt me. But my mates can’t deflect every attack that comes my way. I’d rather have some burns to deal with than be killed by magic I can’t defend against.

I can see the moment he gives in. Letting out a sigh, he holds out his hands for mine. I place mine in his warm, calloused ones and stare up at him with absolute trust.

Closing his eyes, he loses himself to his hellhound magic.

When flames slowly creep from his hands to mine, I brace myself for a searing pain that never comes. Instead, it feels like a cool breeze blowing over my skin as his flames playfully wind around my wrists. When they reach the metal of the cuffs, they burn straight through.

I tense, expecting the molten metal to burn me, but it doesn’t.

I smile up at Cain as the cuffs fall away, but my grin drops as something burns into the underside of my wrist. Yelping at the sharp pain, I look down to see a small red flame tattoo that wasn’t there before. As I watch, it flickers in and out like it’s a real fire instead of a mark on my skin.

With wide eyes, I look at Cain. He’s staring at the flame with a mix of satisfaction and trepidation. When he notices me watching him, he blanks his expression as he waits for me to say something.

I open my mouth to do just that when a spell whizzes past, narrowly missing me. Shaking my head at myself because I can’t seem to stop getting distracted in this battle for our lives, I tell Cain, “We’ll figure it out later.”

Looking around the battle, I see Bishop, Luca, and Levi on their own, completely surrounded by council guards. The three of them are fighting for their lives.

Archer is stomping through the battle, being careful not to injure any of us. He seems unsure of what to do but seems to enjoy eating his enemies. It’s a little gory to watch, but I can’t argue that it’s effective.

Rhys and Aiden are with Dad in the defensive dome. They’re firing off spells as they can, but it’s clear they’re getting tired like the rest of us. Dad is looking royally pissed off as he has to watch the action and not participate, thanks to his magic-suppressing cuffs.

We need to get out of here. There are more council goons than we can take down. I just need to get everyone back to my brothers and dad so we can leave together.

“Head back to Aiden and Rhys,” I instruct Cain before taking off at a sprint to the closest one of my mates, which happens to be Bishop.

Unfortunately, Cain doesn’t listen to my instructions and instead runs alongside me. I roll my eyes at him but don’t bother to argue. All that’s going to do is slow me down.

Letting my magic have free rein, I don’t even blink when council minions are vaporized, eviscerated, and strangled, among other gruesome ways to die, in front of me. All I can focus on is getting to Bishop, who is taking more and more hits as I watch.

When I reach him, he flicks his gaze to me in surprise before having to deflect a spell headed right for us. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“Just peachy. Other than the nearly one hundred council lackeys trying to murder us. Go back to the defensive dome so we can get out of here. I’ll only open a rift once we’re all safe.”

Bishop snorts. “I’ll go back when you do. Let’s go get everyone else.”

He takes off before I can even say anything. We make a beeline for Luca, who is covered in gashes that stain his blond fur crimson. Anger at the council hurting my mates bubbles up and makes my magic more volatile.

Much to my disappointment, though, it doesn’t explode out of me and kill everyone in its path, unlike last time. And I could really use it right now, but my temperamental cura magic doesn’t care.

When we skid to a stop next to Luca, he looks over at us with his amber wolf eyes. His gaze lingers on me as he looks me up and down for injuries. Apparently satisfied with what he sees, he dismisses me and moves protectively in front of me.

I sink my hands into his surprisingly soft fur, hoping this isn’t some sort of shifter faux pas. I’ve never really interacted much with my mates in their shifter forms, so I don’t quite know what to do.

Hoping he can understand me, I lean down. “We need to get out of here. You can either join our merry band or head back to Rhys, Aiden, and Dad.”

Trusting him to choose an option, I rush off in Levi’s direction, the whole time being pelted with spell after spell.

As I tire, I struggle to deflect the hits.

One sneaks through and tears a stripe through my abdomen.

I grunt as blood seeps out of the wound, but I can’t afford to pay it much attention.

Once I reach Levi, I bend over and place my hands on my knees, needing a second to breathe. I feel like I’ve run a marathon, but all I’ve done is expend way too much magic.

Once I catch my breath, I straighten up and try to ignore the concerned looks from my mates, all of whom, unsurprisingly, decided to follow me.

I meet Levi’s mostly red gaze. “We need to get out of here. Let’s head back to my family so we can open a rift and live to fight another day.”

Levi nods. “Lead the way, little raven.”

With the five of us lobbing attacks at the swarm of goons, it doesn’t take too long to force our way back through the swarm to reach my brothers and dad.

Once we’re safely back inside the defensive dome, I realize a flaw in my plan.

Snake monster Archer is still out there in the horde, and I have no idea how to get his attention or communicate what we need to do.

Figuring it won’t hurt anything, I cup my hands around my mouth and shout, “Archer!”

It takes him a moment to realize I was calling for him.

When he does, he rushes over to me, his giant feet crushing everyone in his path.

If we were in a different situation, I would find it comical.

As it is, I can’t watch with anything other than anxiety at his advance, hoping he doesn’t get hurt in the process.

Once he’s reached the dome, Archer lowers his massive center head to be even with me. His warm breath blows directly on me, sending my hair flying back like I’m in a windstorm.

He has shimmering black scales covering the entirety of his body, including down his snout. I have the urge to touch him to see if his scales are soft or sharp or smooth or rough, but I hold myself back. The other heads are swiveling around behind him and snapping up anyone who gets too close.

Serpentine purple eyes watch me as I watch him. I manage to tear my gaze away from my inspection of him after a moment.

I make eye contact with what I think is the main head. “Any chance you can turn back to your human form? We really need to leave, and I don’t know how to make a rift big enough for you.”

Tilting his head in thought, Archer bobs it up and down before a flash of purple and black light engulfs his massive form.

I have to cover my eyes from the blinding light. When I no longer feel like my eyes are burning behind my lids, I cautiously peek one eye open.

I grin when I see Archer in front of me. “It’s good to have you back, sunny boy.”

“I am glad I pleased you, mate,” he rumbles, his voice sounding deeper and raspier than it normally does.

It’s then that I realize I’m not speaking with Archer. Whatever new form he has, it seems to come with another consciousness inside him. Guilt at what I did to him bubbles up, but I can’t deal with it now. Shoving it down, I ask, “Um, do you have a name?”

He dips his chin. “I do.”

I blink at him as I wait for him to tell me what it is, which he doesn’t. “What is it?”

“Legion.” He says nothing more but watches me intently. He doesn’t blink as he observes me, and it’s unnerving.

I want my smiley Archer back, but I don’t know how to go about it. And all that really matters right now is getting us all out of here safely.

Blowing out a breath, I open a rift to what I hope is Levi’s suite in Infernus . That way, if any of the lackeys follow us, I won’t lead them back to our house or the Nightshade Pack.

I’m not sure if Hades was joking about me creating portals into his throne room making him look bad, but I want to be careful in case he was serious. I’m very aware that Hades can’t afford to look weak, and it can cost him his position and his life.

When the black abyss spawns in front of me, I gesture for everyone to go ahead of me. “All aboard the train to Hell. It departs promptly, so no dillydallying.”

Aiden rolls his eyes at me, but no one argues as they shuffle into what I’m crossing my fingers is the right place. I don’t think anyone wants to stay here and get obliterated by all the goons, so leaping into a black hole is the better of two bad options.

Once my family is through, my mates wait on me to go first. I sigh. “I need to be last so I can make sure no one follows us through.”

I can tell that they all want to argue. Levi is the first to deflate and go through the rift. Cerberus shrinks down to their rottweiler form and walks through. My other mates follow suit until it’s just me and Legion in Archer’s body.

He notices me watching him and gestures at the rift. “After you, mate. I will ensure no one follows you.”

As much as I want to argue with him, I don’t. Instead, I bite my tongue and walk through, trying to trust Legion to follow through on his promise.

When I emerge on the other side of the rift, I’m relieved to see that it is, indeed, Levi’s living room. It’d be super awkward if I accidentally portaled us into my great-grandparents’ private quarters or something.

I let out the breath I’ve been holding when Legion walks through unharmed with no one following him.

Letting the rift close behind me, I turn to my very worn-out mates and family. “So, that went well.”