Page 48 of Mage Massacres

We gave him varying degrees of a shrug as we all answered, “Nothing.”

Felix didn’t move from his seat, but he turned his upper body enough to glance at his fallen guard over his shoulder. I flicked my wrist, throwing bright orange bolts of lightning-like magic into the chests of the two men on his left.

The last guard locked eyes with Hyde, his murky golden irises glazing over before he slumped onto the chair in front of him.

Dead.

All four of his guard dogs.

“Miller,” he demanded. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She leaned back in her chair, crossing her right arm over her chest as she propped her chin up with her left hand.

“This is my board now, Felix. You made me forget how strong I am. Then I remembered that I could kill you without getting out of my seat. You may think you’re the king, but you’re not. I started as the pawn, and I’ll finish this game as the queen.”

She glanced at Hyde and me, both of us nodding at her as she muted the screaming banshee of a mage-vampire. He seemed to be stuck to his chair suddenly, and I idly wondered if Miller knew anything about Palmer’s magic chains.

“Killing him is a necessity,” Hyland confessed in a hushed breath. “We’ve all been through more shit than I would wish on anyone. It’s important to clean up frayed ends like this. Lo and I learned that the hard way.”

“The apples stay close to the tree in the LeBlanc family.” I gave her a sad smile, knowing that euphemism was true. “Felix’s younger brother, Gideon, is dead too. Novak killed him a few weeks ago for things that he’d done to Blaire and me.”

Palmer’s sister stared at us in disbelief before laughing at Felix’s shocked face. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself before her eyes hardened.

“Your turn, baby. Maybe this is a lesson you’ll remember.”

Miller pulled her hand in front of her face, her palm near her lips. As she blew a soft breath, what appeared to be black glitter floated off her fingertips. It circled Felix’s face, leaving acid-like burns on his skin. When he silently screamed, he sucked all that darkness into his lungs.

His body convulsed before it went limp, collapsing to the right and landing on top of one of the other men.

I wiggled in my chair as I sipped at my tequila, happy but not entirely satisfied.

“Gods, Lo.” Hyde sighed. “Just do it already.”

“Thank fuck.”

I tugged one of my obsidian daggers from my boot and set out removing the vampires’ heads before shoving them into the Void. One of the other guards was a shifter, but I gave him the same treatment as the girls finished their drinks.

I kicked Felix’s arm with the toe of my boot. “What do you want to do with him?”

Miller drank the rest of my tequila as she shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m not sure.”

I cut my eyes to Hyde. “Do you think it would be too much to ask Grim to collect his soul?”

“I’m not a fucking genie,” the reaper fussed as he stepped out of the Void. “You can’t just summon me whenever you want me.”

He stopped talking as he glanced around. “Where did the other bodies go?”

“I pushed them into the Void.”

“It’s not a fucking trash can, Lo.”

I gave him a bright smile. “Sorry, not sorry?”

“Go,” he urged. “I’ll deal with this and see you in a few days.”

I kissed his cheek as I picked up my empty glass. When I turned around, I could see the guys watching us from a table by the window. York rolled his eyes, and Stone watched me with a hooded gaze.

Poor Arwen was gobsmacked. He stalked Hyde’s movements as she kissed Grim’s other cheek and linked her arm in Miller’s.