"Bastard," Bryon grunted.
They were okay, all of them. And Maia was buzzing with power, so full of magic that she glowed brighter than ever.
Maia drained the red mist like it had drained them and countless others before them, yanking hard until it fell apart, fell into nothing. With no life to sustain it, the mist had only death, and where Maia's power faded, Azrail rushed to his feet and blasted his smoke at the Levaen.
Maia watched him, breathing hard, feeling so powerful that she could rebuild this wasteland around her, or devour it like the Levaen had. She'd never felt this incredible strength before, never felt the seductive urge to use more, to reach out for the life hanging in the air and absorb it into herself.
Ismene wouldn'tdaretouch them if Maia had even more magic, and maybe even the dark saint would think twice before hurting her. Hurting her mates.
Maia slid past Azrail's deadly smoke, glowing brighter than a star, and found the heart of life within the beast. As easily as breathing, Maia wrapped her magic's fingers around its soul and tore it free.
The sudden silence was deafening. Maia's heartbeat was so loud she could feel it in her neck, in the tips of her fingers.
"What just happened?" Ark asked, sliding his arm around her from behind. "How did you do that, Azrail?"
Az shook his dark head, staring at the dead creature. "I didn't."
The look he turned on Maia was full of confusion.
"It took our life, so I stole it back," she explained, not recognising the resonance in her voice. "I thought it had killed you, and I can't—"
Maia swallowed, needing more power, more magic she could use to keep them safe.
"Let's go back," Bryon muttered, standing awkwardly a step behind them. "You'll feel better when you're all together."
You're, Maia noticed. Notwe're. Maia felt guilty for arguing with him so often, but he made it easy with the way he looked down his nose at her.
"Where's the mirror?" Azrail asked, scanning the emptiness around them.
"There," Maia said without turning, feeling the knot of power hanging in the air. She lifted her hand, reaching out for it, but caught herself before she gobbled down this bit of life, too. They needed to get out. She needed to get back to Kheir and Jaro.
"When I find the man who sent us here," Bryon muttered, "he'll wish he hadn't been born."
"Yes," Maia agreed.
The soldier was dead for this, no matter what he knew about the monsters devouring cities.