Noah headed out the back door, trusting that his brothers would follow. Expecting a firefight, spoiling for one actually, he drew up short when he came face to face with his uncle standing on the lawn. “Where the hell did you come from?
“Does it really matter?”
As all three of his brothers spilled onto the deck, each stopped and stared, just as surprised to see their uncle as the others. No one spoke or moved until Jake came out the back door. When he spied the bastard they called family, he rushed forward before anyone could react and grab him.
“You son of a bitch. You hurt her. I warned you if you hurt her there would be no mercy for you. You should have listened.” Jake hurtled himself towards Scott, looking to tackle him to the ground. Instead his body slammed into a red energy field they hadn’t seen. He twisted and turned in mid air, his body bent back, stretching to the point of breaking.”
A female scream from behind snapped him from the picture in front of him as he grabbed his hand around Jessie’s slim bicep when she tried to run past him to get to her brother.
“Let me go. We can’t just let him die.” Her words lashed out at him as much as the burning hatred in her eyes. Red demon eyes.
He held fast, not letting her get away. “No one dies on my watch tonight, sweetheart. Get back.” he replied sharply.
Calling the heat and energy he needed took only a second, yet time seemed to stand still as he flung the flaming ball at Scott. The heat and fire mixed against the demon wall, weakening it enough to release Jake, who slammed into the ground lifeless and still.
“You can’t win tonight, Noah. I’ve waited and worked far too long to not be sure this time.” The surety of his uncle’s words made him hesitate. Scott might be an asshole of epic proportions and drunk on demon magick, but one thing was certain: he was not stupid. They were missing something.
“You’re wrong, Scott. Despite your many attempts to sabotage us, we’ve managed to piece the true prophecy together and know that you’re too late. The four of us are here and we each have our mate, even demon magick can’t beat the four of us together.” Graelen stepped closer to the wall as he spoke until, when mere inches away, he stopped and wordlessly dared his uncle to try it.
“Maybe—maybe not. But I don’t just come with demon magick.” He gestured behind him, where through the heat and haze of the unbroken energy, a dark woman stood. Scott turned to his other side and, from behind the trees, eight cloaked women moved forward.
“What the hell?”
“My coven,” Raven said.
“And a Voodoo priestess…” Noah’s words trailed off in thought. A coven of witches he knew how to handle, betrayal by Severina another thing. Surely the magick of the four could still outdo even a group of power like this, but not likely without collateral damage.
“Severina, how could you?”
The woman stood stoic and still, not saying a word in response. Noah forced more betrayal and anger to the side, giving a quick glance to his brothers before once again standing to face Scott. He’d known since he was a child this day would come. He would take a stand against the evil that was Scott Cunningham, but he’d never thought it would be this complicated or crowded.
Noah pulled the internal cord that reined his power in and the energy flooded his system, fire building in his veins. The creep of dark power became an overwhelming rush. In a connection that could only be familial, he sensed his brothers do the same. Even Denn had come prepared for this one, cloaking himself in earth spells so strong he could smell the musty trace from here. Together they pooled their energy, ready to break down the barrier that stood between them and the end of a curse that had endured for centuries and plagued them for decades.
The power they created together sizzled and crackled around them, raising goose flesh along his arms. Darkness swirled inside him, rage accompanying the deepest magick he could pull. He’d never unleashed that level of fury, always afraid of the repercussions of it. He looked at Jessie next to him where he’d subdued her—she’d removed the shirt that covered her brand. The mark Scott had given her glowed deep, dark red and the look on her face was pure agony. He was ripping her up from the inside out with his greed.
With a simple thought of directed focus, Noah unleashed a stream of fire and blue energy directly at his uncle with the sole intention of burning through that shield, and what ever happened after that, well, he’d brought it on himself. That kind of karma Noah could live with.
One after another each brother added his brand of magick to the mix until the power generated glowed white-hot and unstoppable. Sizzles and pops sounded like cannons in the night air as the red shimmering wall was blanketed with the white magick. He heard the coven of witches chanting in the background, which was interrupted when Raven, the little water witch she was, created her own energy burst from the swamp and cut them off from Scott.
An unknown female screamed and the energy field exploded in a burst of orange flames and blue sparks, knocking them all back on their asses. Noah landed on his back, the air in his lungs expelled forcefully. His brain pounded inside his skull as he gulped in short, shallow breaths, trying to get past the pain in his chest and back.
“Is everyone okay?” Denn’s voice questioned, but Noah still couldn’t slow his heart. “Noah, are you okay?” He wanted to reassure his brother but he couldn’t. Breathing hurt so much it wasn’t possible to attempt speech.
“What’s wrong with him?” Graelen stood over him and
