Mira closed her eyes and pulled a thread of her magick, a sizable one, and readied it. Around her she heard and felt the men get their magick ready too.

She rose from her crouching position and stepped around the corner, raising a tempest along with her. Wind rose gently but became stronger fast It ripped her long black coat and blew her hair around her head until she probably looked like Medusa. Adrenaline surged through her body, but she put everything she had into maintaining an aura of dangerous confidence. She even swaggered a little.

There were about thirteen warlocks in the lobby and only a couple of Coven witches left standing.

Once the wind kicked up, all eyes turned to them. She couldn't do the tornado trick like she'd done in Jack's apartment because the effort might leave her unconscious, and also because she couldn't be sure she wouldn't hurt any of their own people.

The warlocks advanced on them. Her guards engaged, and fighting began around her, but she never faltered in her forward march. Walking toward them, she lifted her hand and tossed a warlock backward to hit a wall when she felt him raise a strand of power. Another tried to throw fire at her, but she sucked the air out of it like Jack had taught her. One of the warlocks doused her in water. She felt it grow colder and colder, but she raised a warming wind around her, drying her skin, hair, and clothes before the warlock could freeze her.

Mira kept advancing on them, but now they were retreating. One by one, feeling her power rising within her, she tossed the warlocks backward to get them out of their way.

She almost felt giddy. Now she understood the power of air. No one could defeat air. It was too vast, too supple, and easily managed by the witch who wielded it.

Who could stand against her?

No one, that's who.

New power skittered over her skin—dark and strong. Earth magick. A spell woven from the magick of the earth herself. A strand released itself from a curvy, diminutive blonde warlock to her right. Mira turned just in time to block her blast of energy with a wall of air, dissipating the spell before it reached her.

"Come on, guys," she shouted, elated. "Is that all you've got? I could do this all day!”

Something hit her throat. She gagged and reached up to feel a pointy object sticking out of her neck.

TWENTY-THREE

TWENTY-TWO

Oh, that was never a good thing.

Sharp pain washed through her veins, bleeding quickly into a hazy, numbed nothingness. Suddenly, she felt wrapped in cotton, her mind, her body ... everything. The wind in the room ceased, and she heard people cheering and clapping as if from a distance.