City of Gods and Monsters

If Loren tipped her head at just the right angle, she could make out a faint greenish cast from the protective forcefield that formed a dome over the city, its magic stemming from the Control Tower in the heart of the North End. Magic sparked, the smell of it—like smoke from blown-out birthday candles—coating Loren’s tongue as it swept through her airways. He didn’t have to punch many people before the whole club broke out into a brawl—before the men who were making a beeline for Loren were intercepted by right hooks and invisible walls of magic. From some faraway place in her mind, she finally understood was he was saying.