Wraith’s arm didn’t budge and when I tried to sidestep him, he anticipated my movements and shifted with it.
“Don’t believe me?” The blond’s left brow raised sardonically. She looked to a spot behind me on my right and signaled with a chin thrust. I turned to see a man drive a long-bladed knife into Lilly’s companion—Daniel, I think I heard her call him. He twisted roughly. The sound of bones crunching caved my legs, forcing me into a crouch.
“Wraith, please!” I croaked, violent images of the same happening to Amelie and Caden, sending a frisson of panic through me. He turned and I saw my raw desperation reflected in his mirror balls. A girl ready to crumble into dust. He took three steps back. Mustering all the strength left in my body, I forced myself to my feet, fighting to keep my knees from shaking as I strode forward into death’s grip.
With an icy smile, Imogen wrapped her thumb and index finger around my jaw and squeezed. Pain exploded as my old injury lashed out. Even as I moaned, even as tears trickled, she didn’t relent.
“Julian said you were special to Sofie. Why?” she asked. “No matter. We have you. We have her,” she jerked her head toward Veronique. After examining my yellowed eyes for a moment, she shoved me to the ground toward the crippled body, wiping her hands on her jeans. I wasted no time, scrambling to Veronique’s side to lift her head and place it gently in my lap. “We have all that we need to trap and rid this world of these vile creatures, once and for all.”
“But you don’t have Viggo and Mortimer,” I answered hurriedly, aware that I was grasping at straws. Sofie … where are you? I need you right now!
Another wicked smile. “Oh, don’t worry. They will be along shortly. And they will die.” Turning to the Sentinel thugs, she commanded, “Bring them inside the circle.”
The circle … My eyes darted to the ground to see the yellow chalk line snaking over the broken concrete and around the scorched gardens to form a giant warped circle, fifty feet in diameter. I watched as the Sentinel dragged Amelie, Lilly, and her cohorts within the boundaries of the line. Caden, Max, and his brothers already lay inside. When all was said and done, only one witch stood outside the circle with thirty Sentinel surrounding her.
“Not you,” Imogen’s finger shot out to Wraith, who inched forward. “You take twenty steps back. Now.” After a long pause, he listened, his steps small. Still, the twenty-pace gap may as well have been a thousand. Satisfied, Imogen reached out to either side of her. “Sisters. Join hands. Lend me your power.” All witches but Caden’s captor shifted forward until their toes touched the inside of the yellow chalk line. They clasped hands. As Imogen chanted softly, the others joined in. It reminded me of the Tribal women when they were trying to save Julian, though I knew beyond a doubt there was no healing intended here today.
My hands formed a protective barrier around Veronique’s body as the chant continued. At first, nothing happened. But then I noticed an iridescent pink glow rise from the yellow chalk, stretching higher and higher until it converged in a dome shape thirty feet above our heads.
“It is done!” Imogen’s shoulders sagged with relaxation.
A sickly moan pulled my attention down to my lap. Veronique’s eyelids fluttered open briefly to show only the whites of her eyes. My pulse began to race. Veronique was a goner.
“She’s going to die!” I leveled Imogen with as hard a look as I could muster. “Help her or you’ll never get what you want from them, I promise.”
“Yes, she likely will die. But I can’t help her, even if I wanted to. She’s a vile toxic mess, like you.” She dismissed me with a shrug, turning her attention to the dark-skinned witch standing outside the circle perimeter. “Sharie? Please let our friends know we’re ready for them.”
The woman nodded and turned to face the garage entrance, silent words fluttering off her lips. Like a malfunctioning mirage, I watched the perfect cast-iron gate illusion drop, revealing the gaping hole where the witches had stormed Viggo’s palace not long ago, and the street beyond. A perfect view of the impending war should a passerby slow long enough to notice.
“They’re not out there,” I said half-heartedly.
Imogen’s head fell back as a bone-chilling cackle echoed. “They’re always out there. The Merth boundary is down. It won’t be long now.” Triumphant eyes crushed me with their confidence.
It took five minutes. Five minutes for the spies watching the place to inform their employers. Five minutes for Viggo and Mortimer to drop their Jonah hunt. Five minutes to appear out of thin air, two looming forms stalking in perfect unison. Five minutes for me to resign myself to the fact that this was it—the last nerve-racking secret revealed to all.