How exactly I’d do that, though, was another question. What I did know was that if Clarence had the pieces, my plan would be more difficult. So I hated to hand them off.
Not that I had much choice.
“There’s more,” I said, as I reluctantly passed the thing to Clarence. “My arm popped on the next location.”
“Did it?” Clarence asked. “Well, let’s see.”
I begrudgingly held out my arm and discovered that the second tattoo was no longer raised. “But it was,” I protested. “It started burning right after I got the necklace.”
“After you obtained the necklace?” Zane asked, leaving Kiera’s side to join us. “Or after you put it on?”
I tried to remember. “On,” I said. “I remember I slipped it on, and my arm began to burn again.”
He turned his attention to Clarence, and damned if he didn’t look a little smug. “I’m afraid your time with the relic is up, mon ami. If you wish to find the second hiding place, the relic belongs in Lily’s hands.”
Clarence hesitated, then peeled off the necklace and passed it to me. “All right, then. Let’s see it.”
I slipped it back on and felt my flesh begin to sear.
“They’re connected,” Zane said. “Each one untrace able until the previous one has been found. And none discoverable except by the one who holds them all.”
“Lucky me,” I said, but though I’d added sarcasm to my voice, in truth, I was secretly pleased. This new turn of events gave me another level of control. And so far, in this crazy world, control had been seriously lacking in my life.
“What are you waiting for?” Clarence asked. “See if you can get there.”
“Now?” The idea was really not appealing.
“The convergence comes, Lily,” Clarence said. “There is no time to waste.”
And since that was a point I really couldn’t argue with, I let out a loud, annoyed breath and held out my hand for Clarence. “Don’t let go,” I said. Then, on the count of three, I pressed my palm over the tattoo and let the portal suck me in.
Once again, I encountered the same protections, and I couldn’t get close. The bridge didn’t work, and my mission was going to be aborted until Clarence could manufacture another spell to conjure another bridge and get me close to the relic.
This time, however, it wouldn’t be a mystery where I was going. Because this time, even I knew the landmark.
“Stonehenge?” Clarence said, when I’d returned and told him.
“That’s what I saw. But how a piece of the key could be hidden around a bunch of big rocks is completely beyond me.”
Kiera was sitting up by then, still weak, but alive and alert. “Another dimension?” she said, the words clearly costing her. “Maybe Stonehenge really is a doorway to another dimension, like in all those stories you hear.”
I moved to sit beside her, momentarily forgetting that I didn’t trust her. I’d been paralyzed like that before, though I hadn’t been put to sleep as well, and I still vividly remembered the sense of helplessness and fear that had overcome me in that vulnerable state.
“It’s a good idea,” I said. “Except my mystical magical map powers don’t work if the doohickey is in another dimension. It’s there,” I said. “It’s just hidden.”
“And now we build the bridge,” Clarence said, standing and beginning to move around the room. Now that he knew what to do, I assumed it didn’t take a whole lot of prep to put the thing together.
“Hold it,” I said. “We’re wiped. And I told you about warrior dude. I want to get stronger. And Kiera and I both need to rest.” I also needed time to figure out if there was a way to force Johnson out of Rose. If this whole thing moved at lightning speed, there was no way I’d keep up.
For a moment, I thought Clarence would argue. Then he nodded, apparently realizing a rested hunter is a happy hunter. “Very well.” He held out his hand. “The relic, Lily.”
“But—”
“You don’t need it at the moment, and it needs to stay safe.”
I’m not sure why, but I twisted around to find Zane’s eyes. He nodded, and I took the chain off again. “Don’t lose it,” I said dryly, earning me a smile from Clarence that was utterly lacking in humor.
Kiera turned down Zane’s offer to train, claiming she still felt ripped from the paralytic. I, however, was eager for the kill. And though I knew I should get Rose home—though I knew that the last thing she needed to see was her sister impaling demons—I stayed and took them on. Demon after demon, letting Zane release them, then toying with them until I grew bored and stabbed them hard with my knife, then stood there, head back, as the power of the kill filled me and flowed through me. Glorious.