As soon as we had the spell formed, we leapt out from our cover, drew on our magic as deeply as we could, and blasted the spell toward Ash.
The resulting flash of light blinded me. I staggered, shrieking in pain as it overwhelmed my borrowed vision.
Nikolai grabbed my shoulder and dragged me forward, while I clutched at my face.
We slammed into the bars around Ash's cell just as something slammed down around us, attacking my ears with a pressure induced pop.
Nearly totally blind and unable to hear, I clutched at Nikolai's arm.
It took me a moment to sense them both through my bond and them trying to reassure me that it was all right. I hadn't even known I could use Doc's vision like I had, and I certainly hadn't been ready for the heat and light show that overwhelmed me.
Nikolai placed his hand on my forehead, and healing energy cooled the fiery pain.
"Thank you."
"Welcome. Is okay. Look."
I hesitantly opened my eyes. When I wasn't assaulted with blinding pain, I looked around. Soft light illuminated the space, probably from a spell Nikolai cast. Ash was sprawled on the floor. Long platinum blond hair covering his face. His chest rose and fell gently, reassuring me that we hadn't killed the poor guy.
Bars still separated us, but Doc touched them hesitantly, before gripping them in his hands and snapping them back easily.
"Don't be too impressed," he said, a small smile curling his lips when he saw the expression on my face. "The magic weakened them considerably."
Nikolai snorted. "You could have broken them if it hadn't. Don't lie."
Doc shrugged. "Maybe."
"Okay, we're trapped." Nikolai looked at a nearly visible shimmer surrounding us. "We release Ash now. Don't want them to see what we're doing. Sofia, secure our location. They may have us trapped but doesn't mean we can't also keep them out."
I got the idea of what he was after and cast an opaque shield around us. It would keep most everything out long enough for Nikolai and Doc to work on Ash.
The shield sprang into place just as footsteps crashed down the stairs to the dungeon.
There was a much longer pause than I had expected before I heard some muffled what the fuck whispers.
That reminded me... I pulled out my phone. Adriana had gotten my text and replied with a 'be careful.'
I suspected she didn't think she would ever hear from us again. Before they did something to block cell signal, I sent her another text.
Sofia: Ash is down. We're releasing him now. Could use a save though.
I put the phone back in my pocket. They would either come or they wouldn't, and I needed to concentrate on the shield spell I had up.
My skin prickled as someone probed the shield with magic. I glanced at the guys. Doc's long black hair mingled with Ash's as he leaned over the unconscious demon, fangs in his neck.
"Are you okay?" Nikolai said hesitantly.
"Not as bad as last time," Doc said when he leaned back, "but not pleasant. I'm not going to be feeling very good for a while." He wiped a bit of blood off his lips, wincing.
Nikolai clenched his jaw as Doc bit his own wrist so he could transfer the demon's magic to Nikolai. That was the big secret about releasing the demon, you needed some of their magic to do it. Doc had the ability to transfer powers between people with his blood. It was super secret. If the wrong people knew, they might lose their fear of the elusive race and start hunting vampires in earnest.
The mage took Doc's wrist and pressed it to his mouth.
I had tasted Doc's blood before. The first time he had taken Ash's blood in a successful attempt to subdue the demon. He hadn't known how badly demon blood affected him, though he had burned through a lot of the borrowed power rescuing me, it had still almost killed him. I'd taken the magic out of him by drinking his blood. It hadn't exactly done me any favors either, but at least I had been able to handle the demon magic better than Doc. Once I'd gotten beyond the fact that I was drinking blood, I hadn't found it distasteful. Nikolai clearly didn't share my experience in that regard by the twisted expression on his face.
He side-hugged Doc for a moment before falling into the spell to release Ash. It wouldn't take long, thought the prickling on my skin intensified as they assaulted my shield in earnest.
"Sofia," Alex's voice washed over me, and I shivered at the slimy feel it coated my skin with. "There's still a way out of this for you. With some training and a few promises, you'd be welcome amongst us."
I shuddered. Though I hadn't seen much of Alex recently, which I appreciated, I couldn't forget what he had done to me and everything he had helped do to our friends. Putting Victoria in danger, using Ash, helping kidnap me so they could use me to host a greater demon.
"Go fuck yourself," I replied.
"Now there's an idea." Alex snarled and proceeded to describe what he was going to do to me when our shield finally fell.
My eyes widened and I hunched in on myself. Doc crawled over, though he clearly felt like shit, and wrapped his arms around me.
"Don't listen," he whispered in my ear. "Just keep the shield up. We'll take care of him as soon as Ash is free."
I wanted to point out that he didn't feel like he could lift a kitten the way he held me, but his eyes glowed with Ash's amber magic and I thought he might have a few reserves once he got over how awful demon blood made him feel.
He helped me tune out Alex, kissing my neck gently while I
