They crept to the door and Victoria scanned again; the room seemed to be empty but she couldn't be sure. Gabriel was nothing if not resourceful. Chances were, he already knew that she was there but she was hoping that he wouldn't be prepared for Enhard, which would give them a slight advantage. Indicating that Enhard should remain in the shadows for a few minutes before following, she invoked an invisibility spell and stole into the room. She felt the alteration as the protective wards within the chamber negated the simple spell of her own magic, and she gritted her teeth. Push forward, she thought. She didn't want to engage the blood magic unnecessarily.
The room was still in a shambles from Christian and Gabriel's fight, and she moved noiselessly to the doors in the back, her senses alert and her mind searching for Christian. Suddenly, every cell froze as she felt the delicate shift in the air.
"I knew you'd be back," Gabriel said.
Victoria turned, her features composed. Gabriel stood flanked by three people she didn't recognize, two older guys and a girl. Behind him, stood Angie, and Victoria almost gasped aloud in horror—her face was covered in purple bruises, her lips puffy with one eye swollen completely shut. She held her head down and shielded her face with her hair. Victoria's face must have reflected her horror because Gabriel smiled grimly.
"That's what happens when you defy me," he said, his tone hard and menacing. Victoria straightened her shoulders.
"Is that supposed to scare me, Gabriel?" she said. Victoria raised her hand and Gabriel laughed.
"Remember, your magic doesn't work here."
"Oh, is that why Holly and I were able to get out?" she said, and was rewarded with the barest flash of unease in his eyes, which he quickly masked.
"No matter, it won't help you this time. And if you try anything your boyfriend dies," Gabriel said. He nodded to the three people beside him and they fanned out. Angie remained where she was, motionless. Victoria watched the other two warily. "Oh, and in case you were wondering, they're warlocks and she's a witch so you may as well give in now, and I will honor my promise to you. Devereux can go."
Gabriel feigned sincerity, but Victoria knew that he would never let Christian go, just as he would stop at nothing to control her. She smiled coldly, she could already feel the blood hotly pressing against the inside of her skin, tingling. It was ready. She was ready.
"Where is he? How do I know he's even alive or still here?" she asked. Gabriel nodded toward Angie and she walked obediently to the last room, opening the door where Christian lay slumped in the back corner, his hands bound behind his back. Victoria's heart lurched upon seeing his beautiful face, so deathly pale that her knees almost buckled. The wounds on his shirtless body were deep oozing lacerations and she could see the poison infecting the grayish flesh beneath them. It was a spell of sadistically evil proportions. Her hands clenched in a rage so terrifying that her entire body shuddered with it; she didn't even have to draw blood, it came on its own as she brushed her nose, the blackly red smear shimmering on her fingertips.
The time had come.
"You really should be afraid you know," she whispered. "Obscurum!" The entire room was plunged into darkness. In the seconds it gave her, Victoria dispatched the other witch with an energy blast so powerful that her entire body imploded into nothingness within moments.
Victoria could feel Gabriel's wards pulsing outwardly against her, trying to force her magic into obedience, but the blood-craft was far more powerful, especially now that it had already received one death with such ease. She felt its power churning wildly within her and she reined it under control.
"Iacio!" A heavy chest hurtled toward her. Victoria watched it in slow motion as if it were being hurled underwater.
"Impedio," she said, and it came to a dead stop just above her head. She twisted her hands and it rocketed back the way it had come, dispatching its owner with a wet crunch. Her blood whistled, gleeful. She spun to her left trying to get closer to where Christian and Angie were but was immediately blocked by three fire bolts that flew past her head. She whirled around, brandishing her hand in Christian's direction and shouted, "Protectum!" At the very least the shield spell would protect them from getting hit by the blasts in the cavern.
Through the hazy darkness, Victoria could see the two warlocks circling her, one on each side. Gabriel's face contorted with anger and he screamed a lethal pain spell. "Excrucio!"
"Corpus venenum!" roared the other warlock at the same time. Victoria barely had time to use a shield charm against Gabriel's spell, diffusing it completely, before blasting a lightning bolt in return. In the seconds that she saw the bolt send him flying backwards into space, the corporal poison spell from the other warlock hit her dead center in the middle of her body. Curiously, she felt nothing at first and then she realized that her blood was boiling hot, bubbling like lava as it absorbed the most brutal part of the spell. Still, she staggered backwards, a sheen of sweat coating her forehead as her skin glowed red.