“Marcus.”It’s her. My charred lips curl up, the sense of her soothing the pain somehow. She needs to go. Surely, I’ve given her enough of a head start. It has to be enough…because there’s nothing left in me to give. But still, the death blow doesn’t come. Something has distracted him.
I hear boots from nearby. Shouts.
“Get away from him!” Darick’s voice rings out. Magic explodes through the gallery – bright and clean, cutting through Lucien’s darkness. Morgan and the others surge forward, their combined power pushing Lucien back.
“Ah, well.” Lucien straightens his jacket casually. “Much as I’d love to play with all of you, I have other appointments to keep.”
He vanishes in a swirl of shadow, leaving me broken on the marble floor. My body won’t heal. Something’s wrong. The darkness spreads through me like poison.
I’m dying. Actually dying.
24
Chapter 24
Kara
I’mbarelybreathingasI wait for the door to burst open. But I draw in a deep breath when my lungs start to burn because nothing happens. The commotion I’d heard has died down to nothing.
Lucien. Where is he?
Something’s wrong. The silence beyond the gallery doors feels thick, cloying. I sense Marcus’s presence nearby – but there’s something off about it. The steady strength I’ve grown used to feels…diminished. I realize that my fingers have curled around the pendant again.
“What’s going on out there?” Mom is frowning. “I’m going out to see. We can’t stay in here forever.”
“Wait.” I hold up my hand, stopping Mom from opening the door. The others freeze behind me. I strain my senses, trying to pick up some sign of what’s going on out there.
“Marcus?”I reach out to him, opening my mind to the intrusion that’s become so familiar. There’s no response; nothing clear, at any rate.
“I can’t hear him thinking,” I say, turning to the others, then regretting it. I’ve never told them that I can get into his head.
Gran and Seraphina exchange a look that makes my stomach twist. There’s recognition in their shared glance, some understanding I can’t grasp.
“What’s going on?”I try to focus on Marcus’s thoughts, but they’re fragmenting, slipping away like water through my fingers. My heart races wildly.
Mom steps in front of me, her hands raised, light gathering around her fingertips. The protective gesture would normally irritate me, but right now, I’m grateful for it. Something about this silence feels predatory, waiting.
“Kara?” Gran’s voice is tight with concern.
I shake my head, trying to clear it. But the wrongness persists, growing stronger. Marcus’s presence in my mind flickers like a failing light. Fear races through my veins, making my hands tremble.
“Something’s happened to Marcus,” I whisper, the words feeling strange on my tongue. I shouldn’t care this much. I shouldn’t feel this rising panic. But I do.
Ignoring the fact that I just told Mom not to open the door, I do it myself. I fling it open, not sure what to expect. Lucien might be out there, but somehow, I don’t care.
Here goes nothing!
I burst through the door into the adjoining gallery space. The first thing I notice is the group gathered there – a mix ofvampires and witches gathered in a tight circle, their backs to me. Something about their postures makes my stomach clench.
I should be relieved because there’s no sign of Lucien. But I’m not. Something is wrong. Very wrong.
“What’s going on?” I say out loud. Several heads swivel toward me. Soren and Mia are there with some of the team who’d gone to attack the Assembly.
Why are they here?
“Marcus?” I say, already knowing, somehow, that he’s not going to answer me. I look at the others. “Where’s Marcus?”
I already know. I start to move without thinking.
