Page 34 of Mage Massacres

“Hello?” I shouted with a bit of a bite in my voice as I tapped my foot impatiently.

A smaller male with jet black hair popped his head around the door of the records room. When he spotted me, he shouted over his shoulder, “I told you I heard someone.”

“Can I help you with something?”

I feigned innocence as I picked at his mind gently, seeking out why they were here to begin with. His mental barrier was weak, the security lacking, but his thoughts were muddled. The idiot was drunk.

I sighed. “Whose records are you looking for? Maybe I can be of some assistance.”

“Kill her and come help,” a muted voice sounded from inside the records room.

The male stepped out, swinging the door shut behind him. He was short and stocky, his shoulders broad and his hair cropped close to his scalp. A slimy grin crept across his face as he took measured steps toward me.

A smirk lifted the corner of my lips as I let the rage manifest within me. It boiled over, slowly fraying my control, and I released my hold, allowing the brewing storm inside me to make an outward appearance.

I flung my hand out, focusing my intent solely on him. He flew into the door, leaving a large dent in the metal framework. As he stood, he straightened his jacket and stretched his neck from left to right.

“You wanna play, little girl?” he growled. “Then let’s play.”

He whistled sharply, calling his associates to attention. As the door behind him opened, the smirk I’d been wearing turned into a full-blown smile. Everything about my life had been flipped on its head, but fighting? That was one place in which my confidence would never lack.

I sassed, “Four at once is a tall order for a little girl like me. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“We’ll be gentle,” one of the guys told me with a shrug.

“Like Hell,” the man beside him mumbled.

Excitement coursed through me. “That’s all I’m asking.”

I turned to view my guys, making it look like I was thinking about running. Palmer sat with his feet kicked up on my broken desk, aimlessly flipping through a nondescript book. Vaughn and York were whispering to each other behind my demon.

Stone was leaned against the door frame, observing every move that I made with careful consideration. He’d be the first to jump in should I need help. I winked at him as I took a step back, and then another, and another, pulling the intruders toward my waiting mates.

I mimicked Palmer’s bright orange bolts, throwing them at the softer parts of their bodies. I wanted to have a sliver of fun before killing them, but I accidentally struck one of them in the heart.

“Damn,” I drawled. “Sorry about that.”

“Mar—”

“Leave him,” the stocky male snarled, charging at me.

I misted as he reached out to grab my arm, appearing between them in time to watch Stone’s fist fly, smashing into a taller male’s face. York peered down at him, sucking a sharp breath in through his teeth.

“He’ll feel that tomorrow.”

“We all know he’ll be dead before then,” Palmer commented from the office, where he was oh-so-helpfully holding the furniture down.

I snorted at my thoughts, then heard the shorter male mentally calculating a plan of attack. I wanted to hate the idea of breaking into his mind, but I had hoped there would have been some loose information floating around.

He’d been of no use.

“That won’t work,” I sang, evading some sort of strange magical orb. “There’s five of us, not four. And now there’s only three of you.”

I cackled, letting my voice leak into his mind. “They aren’t the dangers here.”

I pivoted on the ball of my left foot, putting myself behind one of the taller men—the conscious one. I grinned, baring my teeth at the stocky male as I shoved my hand through his associate’s chest. I snatched my arm back out, letting him drop dead at my feet.

Keeping my eyes on the stocky, slightly intoxicated man, I side-stepped, moving toward the formerly unconscious male on the floor in front of Stone. He attempted to get up, but my demon shoved him down with a boot to the chest.