"Over my dead body," Lia snarled.
The Collector's laughter scraped against my consciousness like nails on a chalkboard. "That can be arranged, little witch. We collect all debts, eventually."
I called up every ounce of magical energy I could muster into a protective barrier around Zoe. My sisters added their protection to the mix, creating a shimmering dome of combined power. The entity tested our defenses while we tried to figure out how to get everyone out alive.
Finally, Kota stepped forward. "What if we offered you a trade?" she said. "Information about the other Guardian families in exchange for the girl?"
"Kota, no," I hissed at the same time she moved closer to the entity.
"We know where they are," she continued. "We even know about their security measures. Wouldn't that be more valuable than one teenager?"
The Collector's form wavered between solid and shadow as it considered the offer. "You would betray your own kind?"
"To save an innocent life? Absolutely." For a moment, I thought Kota had lost her mind. Then I realized she was buying us time while Dea gathered the spirits around her. Her power built in the air like an approaching storm.
"The offer is... tempting," the Collector mused. "But we think we will simply take the child and extract the information from your corpses."
The Collector lunged forward, but Dea was ready. She thrust her hands out, and every spirit in the cemetery answered her call. The air exploded with ghostly forms as dozens of restless souls slammed into the entity. Knowing they needed force, I cast a spell giving them weight. Lia, Dre, Phi and Kota added more to my spell, and they hit the creature with the force of a freight train.
The Collector's shriek of pain and fury split the night air as the spirits tore at its essence. They disrupted whatever dark magic held it connected to Zoe. "RUN!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.
We bolted for Lia’s SUV like our asses were on fire. It wasn't entirely inaccurate under the circumstances. Zoe clutched her grandmother's journal as we threw ourselves inside the vehicle in a chaotic tangle of arms and legs. Lia hit the driver's seat,cranked the engine, and floored it before anyone had even managed to get their seatbelts on.
"Jesus Christ, Lia!" Kota yelled from somewhere in the backseat as we careened out of the cemetery parking lot.
"Buckle up and shut up!" she shouted back, taking the corner fast enough to make the tires squeal.
Behind us, the Collector's furious roars echoed through the night. The spirits were still giving it hell. Dea had bought us the time we needed to escape. We didn't slow down until we were safely in Willowberry's parking lot.
"Everyone still breathing?" Lia asked as we untangled ourselves and stumbled out onto the asphalt.
"Define breathing," Dre said weakly, leaning against the side of the car.
Zoe was still clutching her grandmother's journal like a lifeline and had tears streaming down her face. "Thank you," she whispered. "I thought it was going to take me."
"Not on our watch," I said, guiding her to the back door while my sisters followed in various states of magical exhaustion.
CHAPTER 6
DEANDRA
The emergency meeting with the Aegis Council couldn't have come at a worse time. I was still recovering from channeling half the spirits in Lafayette Cemetery against the Collector. Zoe was still camped out in the ladies' parlor at Willowberry, jumping at every shadow and clutching her grandmother's journal like a supernatural security blanket. When Kassandra called, saying the Council needed an immediate update about the escalating dangers we were facing, I knew we couldn't put it off any longer.
"I feel like we're about to walk into a supernatural tribunal," I muttered as Lia parallel parked along the narrow street near the Council headquarters.
From the outside, the building looked like any other Creole house in the Quarter. It had weathered brick walls, wrought-iron balconies dripping with ferns, and the kind of shutters that had seen better decades. Tourists probably walked past it every day without giving it a second glance, which was exactly the point.
My sisters and I had gutted and renovated the interior to suit the Council's needs. The central courtyard was lush with banana trees and jasmine. Their heavy scent greeted you the moment you entered. The place housed meeting rooms warded to containthe kind of magical energy that could level city blocks. It was the supernatural equivalent of a bunker disguised as a garden party. We'd gone overboard, but we had no idea what would happen if discussions got heated during meetings. We were too new to the supernatural world. Our experience told us it was likely to be explosive.
"More like a supernatural intervention," Dani replied, clutching a folder with our research on the Guardians and the Collector. "Everyone wants to know why the situation's deteriorating so rapidly."
The council chambers were packed when we arrived. Representatives from every major faction filled the room with enough supernatural tension to choke a horse. Lydia St. Claire sat with vampire-perfect posture. Her pale hands were folded in her lap, but I could see the strain around her eyes. Talindra and Keryth flanked each other. Their usual political rivalry had clearly been set aside in favor of genuine concern.
The demon contingent was particularly unsettling. Molvith's presence dropped the room temperature by several degrees, while Tanarak radiated barely contained fury that agitated my empathic abilities. Shayla lounged in her chair with practiced seduction, but even she couldn't completely mask her unease.
I inclined my head to Marie, who commanded attention without saying a word. Her dark eyes took in every detail of the room with the kind of ancient wisdom that made me feel like a supernatural toddler. Kaveh sat next to Kaitlyn.
"Thank you all for responding so quickly," Kassandra began, her gargoyle heritage giving her voice a resonance that came from stone. "We've called this emergency session because the situation with the entity has escalated."
