Free Sylvia's Torment (Enforcers and Coterie Book 2) by Veronica Del Rosa Page A

caring who gave the order, he obeyed his friend and surveyed the area. The rest of the mages and werewolves had also stopped.
    Scrutinizing the dark shadows, he wondered when Seraphina had disappeared. No spell casting had betrayed her intent. Well versed in glamours and other spells that took little energy or time to cast, the Fair Folk turned magic into child’s play.
    The ease with which she had opened the portal was staggering. Never had he seen someone create a seamless gateway.
    He would’ve admired her expertise if he didn’t hate her.
    With a light shrug, he dismissed her. He refused to give Seraphina any more thought as long as she stayed out of their way. The Fair Folk enjoyed causing destruction and mayhem and didn’t care who they caught in the crosshairs.
    Anger spiking again, he shut down that line of thinking and forced himself to think about Sylvia. He was here to save her and punish those who’d taken her. Her safety was more important than his hatred for an entire race.
    An itchy voice filled his mind. His eyelid twitched and he rubbed at his head, trying to block the sound. Damn it. He recognized that horrible noise. Jackson’s imp, Xerix.
    Mind-speak , while useful, was limited. A set amount of words or images could be sent before the spell dissipated. No sense wasting it on information the imp gathered when it had the ability to speak mentally. Its preference was whispering to its victims and driving them insane. Today, his ability was helpful.
    “Guards coming. Human weapons. Smell no magic on them. Human victims, delicious.” When he started cackling Victor pushed him from his mind. The imp’s pleasure at attacking humans was unnerving.
    Xerix shot forward, a dark streak in the shadows. Victor knew the bloodshed the imp could cause if Jackson didn’t keep a tight rein on him. Why Jackson kept the little bugger was beyond him. He would have melted down the ring years ago after banishing Xerix back to the demon plane of existence. For some reason, Jackson appeared attached to him.
    He wondered what Julia, Jackson’s fiancée, thought of the nasty little creature. She was too sweet to actually tolerate a demon, let alone like one. Then again she did tolerate Victor, so who knew what went on in her mind?
    Screams distracted Victor from his musings. He shook himself mentally and focused on the upcoming battle. It’d been a while since he’d engaged humans. Mainly he tracked down and banished demons – those breaking the law, of course. Not all demons were evil. He snorted at that thought. Yeah, right. The only good demon was a banished demon.
    He ran through his spells, making sure they were all active. He double-checked the ones on Zmitro, not wanting his friend hurt in the battle. While Zmitro would heal quickly, loss of blood was a serious factor. Plus he wanted the wolf to have all the advantages possible. Shielding, extra strength and extra speed were the main defensive spells, but Victor had also added a few special ones.
    When a human looked at Zmitro, they’d see a nightmarish werewolf, one with massive teeth, blood-red eyes and sharp claws, larger than the average werewolf. He also wouldn’t be in the same spot where the human would see him. Instead, he’d be a foot to the left. Other races wouldn’t be fooled by this spell due to scent and sound, but a human was much weaker and easier to deceive. They relied on what their eyes showed them and not what their other senses perceived.
    A wailing siren cut through the silence.
    Took them long enough to respond, Victor thought in disgust. Enforcers would’ve had this area secure by now.
    The screams died off as Xerix incapacitated the guards. Victor knew Jackson wouldn’t let the imp kill them. They wanted prisoners, and more importantly, Jackson took his Enforcer vow seriously – they both did. Enforcers were not executioners, merely the force that kept the fragile balance between the races in check.
    Markus took the lead with Derek