Imogen watched as Chun’s head fell to the ground and splattered. The cold fury that constantly burned inside her flared into a full-fledged inferno. Chun had been a good man, loyal comrade, and adequate sorcerer. That last was probably what got him killed. She’d often wondered, when they first met, why the archmage chose him for her Crimson Legion.

He hadn’t been especially skilled or powerful. As they worked and spent time together Imogen had come to understand. He was loyal and dedicated. Give him any task, vital or minor, and he’d do it and do it well. The more people she met, the more Imogen realized that was a rare talent.

And now he was dead. Murdered by one of Connor Blackman’s agents. Before Imogen could lash out at the traitorous sorcerer Lon flew after her. The two of them raced through the sky exchanging blasts. Imogen frowned. She wanted to kill the woman herself. Well, she had other options.

Alden was locked in a sorcerers’ duel with the man on the roof leaving the girl on the demon horse for her. The pale, she hesitated to say woman as Imogen wasn’t certain her opponent still qualified, stared at her, head cocked at a forty-five degree angle, an insane smile stretching her face to its limit. The girl had no power of her own, but her scythe fairly crackled with corrupt energy. Had the weapon driven her insane? It could happen if an ordinary person laid their hands on a demonic weapon.

The scythe slashed through the air, sending a ten-foot-wide blade of hellfire racing toward Imogen. The Crimson Legionnaire conjured a golden ax to hack a chunk out of it. Hellfire blazed past her on either side. Its inherent wrongness twisted her insides.

Yes, handling such power could definitely drive a person insane. She had to put the woman down before she hurt anyone else.

Imogen conjured golden armor and strengthened her ax. She raced to close the distance between her and her opponent. She was barely able to dodge out of the way when the girl countercharged, her flaming scythe sweeping toward Imogen’s neck.

Imogen spun, her ax hacking at the girl’s back. The demon horse brought its rider around far faster than a normal horse could manage on the ground. Ax met scythe, the two grinding against each other, black and gold sparks flying.

The demonic weapon immediately began to degrade Imogen’s ax, forcing her to spend more power to maintain it. The girl cackled and hellfire flared, disintegrating the ax and almost taking Imogen’s hand with it. The horse spat a stream of flame that drove her back. The golden armor held, but Imogen had to spend even more power to renew it.

At this rate Imogen was going to use up all her soul force just staying alive. Perhaps she’d underestimated the scythe’s strength. She didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with demonic weapons. Her specialty was in questioning and extracting information, the same as Alden. They’d been assigned this mission assuming they’d have someone to interrogate. She doubted the grinning lunatic facing her knew anything useful or that Imogen would be able to extract it if she did.

Imogen glanced toward Alden and found him backpedaling from a furious series of blasts from his opponent. The man’s back was to Imogen and she got an idea. It wasn’t exactly a fair way to fight, but it might work.