Heir of Night (The Thorne Hill)

“You are going to turn yourself into the police for your attempted mugging tonight. You’re also going to confess to any past crimes, and you’re going to forget you saw the four of us here.” I can feel my magic working inside his mind with ease. The less strong-willed a person is, the easier it is to magically alter their memories. I’ve always had a knack for getting inside people’s heads like this, which makes sense considering angels can do it without having to make a magical connection the way I do.

“Yes.” His head slowly bobs up and down.

I press my finger a little harder against his pulse. “Go now.”

He nods again, and I let go of his wrist. He slowly blinks, looking at us like he has no idea where we came from, and then starts toward the street, waving his hand to get someone’s attention.

“Now let’s really get out of here,” I say, letting out a sigh and closing my eyes for a beat.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” Abby tells me as we start walking again. “That’s, um…impressive and scary. I thought only vampires could alter memories.”

“Angels can too,” I tell her. “Without trying. My dad said no one remembers when they appear or disappear. Same thing with Julian. People don’t notice or don’t remember.”

“When will you get to do the memory thing?” Abby asks.

“When I’m around five hundred years dead,” Eliza answers. She holds up a compact mirror and checks her makeup, making sure drinking someone’s blood didn’t mess it up.

“The magic inside vampires gets stronger over time,” I explain. “That’s why the older a vampire is, the stronger they become.”

“Opposite of humans,” Melinda mumbles.

“Don’t be jealous now.” Eliza snaps her mirror shut. I hold my hand out in front of me, walking toward Melinda’s truck again, and summon a small flame of hellfire. Hellfire burns red and turns purple when the usual blue magic I summon mixes in. What I’m holding in my hand is blue and almost feels cold. It makes no sense, I know. I put out the fire and look up at the dark sky.

“Julian?” I call. “Are you there?”

Abby’s heels click along the sidewalk, and a car drives by, blasting rap music. My cousin doesn’t appear, dammit. The clicking gets louder, and then I realize Abby’s not wearing heels today. I come to a sudden halt and whirl around just in time to see the shadowy outline of a red roan horse walking across the street.

Chapter 21

Magic sizzles around my fingers, and without a second thought, I take off, crossing the street as fast as I can.

“Hey!” I yell, but the horse keeps going, directed by its rider. A few people nearby stop and look at me, wondering who I’m yelling at. A car drives by, illuminating the large sword War is holding at his side. “Stop!” I call, and somehow, I know I spoke the word in Enochian. War pulls back on the reins and slowly turns.

I come to a stop on the edge of the sidewalk, heart in my throat. He’s wearing tarnished armor, stained with blood. I can barely make out two dark eyes glowing beneath a medieval knight’s helmet. He’s staring right into my soul, and I can feel the grip he’s trying to take on the world.

“Do you want to get hit by a fucking car?” Eliza pulls me onto the curb, eyes wide and face pulled back with worry and anger. “What the fuck, Callie?”

I shake away her hold on my arm, lips parting and my breath coming out ragged. “You don’t see him?”

“Who?” She follows my gaze and shakes her head.

“It’s War.”

Still looking right into my eyes, War pulls the large sword from its sheath and raises it into the air. I throw my hands out, hitting him with a blast of energy. It goes right through him and shatters the window of a store behind him. I can’t see his face, but somehow, I know he’s laughing. People scream, and the security alarm blares.

“Oh, fuck.”

“Callie,” Eliza whisper-yells and grabs my wrist again. I have no idea if there are cameras out here or not. All I did was throw my hands out. No one can say it was anything other than a coincidence. “What did you do?”

“He’s still there.” I hold up my right hand, summoning a blue energy ball, ready to throw it at him. I have to kill him. Take him out now before he can infect anyone else. Eliza pushes my hand down, burning herself on the energy ball. She jerks back, charred flesh starting to heal already.

A pair of women with their phones out walk over to the broken window, oblivious to one of the freaking Horsemen of the Apocalypse standing only feet from them. The energy ball in my hand starts to fade, and my eyes widen in horror when War swings his sword right through one of the women.