"He’s here?"
Who was here?
Danny’s words left everyone staring at him in confusion.
Then came the unmistakable sounds from outside: wheels scraping across the ground, followed by explosions, roaring impacts, and the shriek of something moving far too fast.
There was only one possible answer.
The Ghost Rider.
"We need to move. Now."
Claire acted immediately. With a brass ring already fitted over her right hand, she began tracing circles through the air. Golden magical lines followed her fingers, weaving themselves into a glowing portal.
"Everyone through. This will take us straight back to the aircraft."
"Rumlow!"
Melinda drew her hunting knife and shouted.
Only she and Claire had any real chance of slowing the Ghost Rider down. Everyone else would only get in the way.
Rumlow understood immediately.
He scooped Danny into his arms and led the rest of the team toward the portal.
They were barely halfway through when—
BOOM!
The Ghost Rider smashed straight through the workshop wall.
Melinda brought her knife up.
Claire summoned a massive magical shield, every muscle tense as she prepared for the attack.
Then both women froze.
The Ghost Rider had only come halfway through the hole.
His upper body hung inside the workshop, both hands gripping the broken edge of the wall like a man clinging desperately to a cliff.
Even in such a ridiculous position, neither woman dared relax.
They continued backing toward the portal, waiting for the last of the team to escape.
The Ghost Rider had other ideas.
His flaming skull turned toward Claire, whose body was still glowing with magic.
Then his attention shifted to Melinda.
"Sinner!"
His right arm snapped forward.
A black chain shot toward Melinda.
Claire immediately stepped sideways and planted herself in front of her.
The massive magical shield in her hands caught the chain and knocked it away.
Claire frowned.
Because the shield wasn’t merely solid. It was constructed from magic, which meant she could feel the force behind every impact.
The Ghost Rider’s attack had looked devastating.
But in reality...
"Weaker than I expected."
Claire glanced down.
There was no hellfire burning along the chain.
That had simply been an ordinary strike.
She couldn’t help being puzzled.
Since when had the Ghost Rider learned restraint?
The Ghost Rider apparently didn’t appreciate having his chain blocked.
He yanked it back, then hauled himself completely into the room.
But instead of standing, he dropped onto all fours.
Then he began crawling toward Melinda.
Fast.
Far too fast.
The sight was disturbing enough that Claire and Melinda exchanged a bewildered glance.
Then they noticed the state of his lower body.
And suddenly everything made sense.
The Ghost Rider’s punk-style motorcycle leather pants were practically shredded.
White bone showed through the ruined fabric.
The hellfire that should have been blazing around his legs had almost completely gone out, leaving only thin wisps of black smoke.
And the few flames that remained...
Were green.
Claire stared.
Melinda stared.
The Ghost Rider had somehow become the supernatural equivalent of Voldemort after a very unfortunate encounter with a highlighter.
This was, of course, Evenson’s doing.
After dealing with Milkhakov, he’d noticed the Ghost Rider heading toward the workshop.
Unfortunately, there was too much distance between them.
And with the Ghost Rider’s flaming wheels accelerating him, even Evenson’s Nightmare couldn’t catch up.
So he’d improvised.
He pointed toward the Ghost Rider from a distance and cast Immolate.
The ordinary flame did almost nothing to the Ghost Rider.
That was fine.
Evenson hadn’t expected it to.
Immolate was merely the setup.
The real spell came next.
"Fel Fire!"
Evenson rose slightly into the air as a series of fel-infused fireballs erupted around him.
They immediately began pursuing the Ghost Rider.
The Rider was fast.
But not fast enough.
By the time he reached the workshop, the fireballs had already closed in behind him.
Just before impact, the Ghost Rider sensed the enormous danger approaching from his rear.
He twisted around.
And nearly cursed.
Green fire was bad enough.
But why was the entire sky chasing him?
There were limits to how unreasonable a fight was allowed to be.
Apparently nobody had informed Evenson.
The Ghost Rider’s anger exploded into violence.
He whipped his hellfire-wreathed chain through the air, scattering wave after wave of green fireballs.
But the fel energy immediately began eating into the chain’s flames.
The hellfire went out.
Without his burning chain functioning properly, the Ghost Rider’s defenses opened.
The remaining fireballs slammed into him.
Most of them struck his lower body.
Explosions erupted one after another.
The Ghost Rider threw back his head and released a furious roar.
Yet the blasts also propelled him forward.
He crashed into the workshop.
By then, everything below his waist had been ravaged by fel energy.
He couldn’t feel his legs at all.
The result hadn’t quite matched Evenson’s original plan.
Still, he allowed himself a small breath of relief.
He’d practically crippled the Ghost Rider.
That should give Claire and Melinda enough time to get away safely.
And it did.
The Ghost Rider might have been crawling with terrifying determination, but crawling was still slower than running.
Claire and Melinda reached the portal first.
They jumped through.
"Honestly," Claire muttered as she emerged on the other side, now safely inside the aircraft. "We were almost finished, and he had to give us one last surprise."
She turned and raised a hand.
The portal began collapsing.
Smaller.
Smaller.
Until it was barely the size of a dinner plate.
Then, just before it vanished completely—
A shriek echoed through the portal.
Two flaming skeletal hands thrust through the narrowing opening.
The Ghost Rider seized the edges.
"Damn it!"
Melinda cursed.
That man was like supernatural duct tape.
"Close it!"
"I already cut the magical power!"
Claire stared as the Ghost Rider forcibly widened the portal.
"He’s feeding it with his own hellfire!"
She immediately began working both hands, trying to force the portal shut.
For several seconds, she struggled.
Then her expression darkened.
She gave up.
"This is ridiculous. He took control of the portal."
She stared at the Ghost Rider in disbelief.
"Does his whole ’cannot be killed by ordinary means’ thing come with portal hijacking too?!"
The portal continued widening.
"He’s coming through."
Claire summoned another magical shield.
This time it was much smaller, a round shield held in her left hand.
A blade of condensed magic formed in her right.
"Looks like we’re fighting him after all."
She glanced toward the Ghost Rider.
"At least he’s not at full strength."
"Don’t worry."
Melinda slowly ran a hand along the edge of her hunting knife.
Green lines began crawling across the blade.
"I’ll make sure he stays that way."
The portal was now large enough for the Ghost Rider to pass through.
But just as Claire prepared herself for the inevitable clash, her stance suddenly relaxed.
Because something had appeared behind the Ghost Rider.
A golden...
No.
Purple archway.
The glowing violet doorway flickered once.
Then someone stepped through.
...
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