All of Us Villains (All of Us Villains, #1)

by Amanda Foody

But high magick doubled the class of any casting. Alistair’s curse sprang out of his ring in a cloud of noxious red. It swarmed across the room, making other spellmakers throw up defenses of their own or clamber desperately out of its path. It shot through the man’s shield as though tearing through parchment. To the man’s credit, he did not scream. The color of his fair skin deepened and reddened into that of a vintage wine. The whites of his eyes wrinkled, the eyes themselves shrinking like pieces of rotten fruit. His limbs swelled, and he yanked off his spellrings as they started to strangle his bulging fingers. They clacked as they fell against the stone floor. For a moment, the man stood silently, swaying as though he might faint. Then a cough shuddered through him, spraying out a strange, violet liquid. The juice began to trickle from his eyes and ears, then pour freely down his neck. He was leaking, shriveling. And even amid his unspeakable punishment, he raised his head and looked Alistair Lowe in the eyes. What remained in his sockets looked like peach pits. Alistair gaped. Even with the high magick, it was merely a hangover curse. It shouldn’t have managed … this. Not unless he’d messed up the crafting. Unable to help himself, Alistair leaned over the arm of the couch and threw up on the carpet. When he finished, the man was on the ground. He wasn’t dead—his chest still rose and fell with his breaths, but he was gravely and likely permanently injured. He lay pathe...