Pollux was slumped, his eyes closed. His hat was missing and his non-human state was on full display. I couldn’t tell if he was okay and I whimpered behind my own hand as concern flooded me.
The most disturbing thing though, was a bed made of wood and stone front and center on the platform. Upon it laid Brandon, his face looking the same as my dream, calm and devoid of life. Panic splashed up inside me.
“Brandon is alive,” Makwa whispered, his words barely audible from my lips. I saw he was right, Brandon’s chest moved up and down.
“You came,” Ben’s voice called out loudly over the crowd. He was standing on the platform, his eyes reflecting torch fires as he looked directly where I hid in the trees. “Come forward, Ava. We won’t harm you or your creatures if you don’t make this difficult.”
“What do I do?” I asked Makwa. There was no right answer. They all ended badly. There was no coming away from this unscathed. I felt my eyes burn.
Makwa encouraged us forward, stifling my fear and instincts. He made one foot step in front of the other until we emerged in front of everyone. It was hard to tell who had more control right now, me or him.
The people parted, reminding me of the Nix concert when Caspian called my name and everyone shifted apart like the red sea. Except tonight it was yellow animal skulls turning to look at me under the naked moon. The eye sockets gaped at me, the shine of human eyes deep set inside them.
Caspian looked at me with a horrified expression on his face. He frantically tugged at his restraints.
“Run!” He screamed at me. How was I supposed to run now?
“You don’t need to,” Makwa whispered in my head. I wished his assurances could be trusted.“Give me control.”I knew what he wanted and planned. He’d been begging me to kill Ben from the start. His morals and sanity were questionable. How could I let something like that take over?
“Morals and sanity aren’t the tools we need to save your boys,” Makwa mumbled before stretching my mouth in a smile. Perhaps he was right, if I was desperate enough what did those things matter?
The robed, skull masked group began to sing their eerie song again—long haunting notes that combined imperfectly. They reached out as I passed them, their fingers brushing my dress, arms, and hair. I didn’t like it but it wasn’t as bad as the ghosts who had been in the cave. Makwa, however, despised their touch and jerked away from it.
“Don’t fucking touch us,” he hissed venomously from my mouth. It unsettled me how disturbed he was by their touching. I wasn’t sure of all the specifics of what had happened to Makwa but it hadn’t been good. He’d been killed and left in that cave.
My eyes rolled over Caspian and Pollux. I was most concerned about Brandon though. He looked like the main event, like a piece of meat laid out on the table for everyone to feast on. Or like a sacrifice awaiting his brutal death.
“Ava,” Caspian called and I looked at him still struggling in his restraints. Bruises and cuts were visible on his body. There was also blood under his fingernails and coating his fists, evidence of his own violence.
“Run,” he begged, brown eyes dark in the night. “Please, Ava. Please run. Please.” He was whining, desperate. I wanted to run. I wanted to do what he asked because Caspian had that quality about him. He asked something from someone and you wanted to please him. You didn’t have to, but youwantedto.
My feet kept taking me forward as I looked at him with wide eyes.
“Go,” he begged, tears slipping down his cheeks. I wanted to do what he asked, what he thought was best. Yet when I tried to turn and run, Makwa kept me moving forward. He didn’t want to run.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to Caspian. He snarled, his mouth suddenly filled with razor-sharp teeth, snapping in the direction of Ben and raging against his restraints. His muscles tensed and bulged but nothing happened. I climbed up on the platform, keeping my eye on Ben as I stepped up slowly to Brandon. I swallowed as I looked down at him. My fingers brushed against his arm, feeling the warmth of life. For now, he was okay.
“Ava Marigold Luna,” Ben said slowly. He smiled with his mouth but his eyes leered. He looked haughty and full of himself, standing in front of his family or whatever they were.
The singing continued hauntingly behind us.
“Makwa…”I said in my head. What were we doing?
“I’m going to help,” he responded with amusement. I swallowed. There was something else motivating Makwa, something I couldn’t quite understand but could feel. He looked at this crowd of people with their torches and singing with a sickening hatred so deep and complete it made me nauseated. He wanted to see them inside out so badly that that desire bled into and infected my own mind.
“I guess you want some explanation,” Ben started. “My people and I worship inhuman creatures and have for a long time.”
“Worship?” I asked with thick judgment. My eyes slid to Caspian and Mothman. That didn’t look like worship even if they were strapped in strange thrones. They were still bound with ropes and had been attacked. They were captives.
“Yes,” Ben said loudly, his voice edged with discontent to have my judgment. “Lifetimes have been spent searching for a way to accomplish what we want. It took a long time to find you. You’re the key to it all.”
“What?” I asked, backing up a step.
“You’re a witch. They are so rarely born but when they are they burn so bright they’re hard to miss.Ifyou know how to look.” He reached up and touched the forest crown they’d placed on my head. He shot me an anticipatory smile like I should be happy about his words.
“You’re insane,” I mumbled, gulping nervously. His smile dropped and I saw the mask of his charm slip away, displaced by a very cold calculating cruelty. I took a step back but reached the end of the platform. The crowd pressed tightly against the stage. Their fingers tugged at my clothes, all wanting to touch a part of me. I stepped forward again, my fingers pressing into Brandon’s arm.
A hand slammed on my wrist in a tight cuff. Ben jerked my arm forward then he pulled a knife out, sliding it across my skin as I gasped and jerked back. Blood dripped and he pulled a wooden chalice up, already filled with something that smelled disgusting. My blood dripped into the liquid.
