Shrieking, I hit the floor. I was looking at the ugly carpet squares when a bright flash made everything white-light hot. Cries rang out, and guns popped. Nothing hit me, and I got my elbows under me and looked up. Lee was standing over me like an avenging angel in a baggy suit, hands moving as he spoke a ley-line charm. My hair began to float and I shivered. The black curse slithered over me, rubbing my aura like black silk, whispering of power. I’d felt Lee’s strength before, and it had crushed me. He really was the better witch.

Brooke was down, one of her legs and a red shoe showing through the open door. The three men in the hall were blinking, clustered together at the center of a charred circle that ran up the walls and touched the ceiling. Doors were opening, and heads were poking out. “Leave, or you will die,” Lee said, and the one with the wand bolted back the way he had come.

“No!” I shouted, but Lee threw the spell hazing his hand with dripping blackness. His magic hit the two remaining men, and they screamed,the sound clawing out of their throats as if being pulled by twisted razor wire as they collapsed into a convulsing pile. The doors down the hall shut. Someone had pulled the fire alarm, and I covered my ears.

The two men were silent, no longer moving as blood spilled from their eyes and ears. Shit. Shit. Shit. I was going to get blamed for this.

“You got a way out of here, right?” he asked, my hands falling as he pulled me up.

“I wish you hadn’t done that,” I whispered. I was going to throw up. I knew it.

“I said, do you have a way out!” Lee exclaimed, hoisting me higher and tucking his shoulder under mine. “Can you jump us out or something? You’re the demon here.”

“I’m not a demon,” I slurred. “And I can’t jump a line. Where are we?”

“University,” he said shortly, lifting me back up again. “Philosophy building.”

Oh, that’s nice. “Gun,” I reminded him, but he was irate, clearly wanting to leave it behind. That was when the pop of displaced air shocked through us.

Al, I thought in panic, but the sudden beating of wings told me it was Bis. And if Bis were here, then Pierce wasn’t far behind. “Hey!” I yelped when Lee dropped me again and I fell at his feet in a pile. “Damn it, will you stop doing that!”

“Step away from the lady!” Pierce said as I pushed myself upright against the wall.

“Ow, ow, ow,” I hissed, holding my elbow as it vibrated all the way to my skull. My hair flew wildly as Bis’s leathery wings shifted the air.

“Rachel!” Bis shouted. “Are you okay?”