There’s a tug, then a yank, before the pendant flies out of Veda’s hand, and a slim, manicured fist curls around it. Marlene is gone. In her place stands the person they’ve been looking for all along.
Ariadne.
Brown eyes shift into a flat, icy blue. “Not exactly the reveal I had in mind, but this willdo.”
Ariadne’s words are laced with unbridled power. It spreads like a virus, infecting everything in its wake. Hiram yanks Veda back with enough force to make her stumble, but she’s not hit.
A black beam strikes Francisco in the stomach. Eyes wide, face twisting in pain, he clutches his chest and drops to his knees, blood pouring from wounds too fast to track.
“I’ve been wanting to do that formonths. Let’s get started.”
The world is but a blaze of blinding light.
Twenty-Two
Pressure squeezes Hiram’s skull tight as the scent of magic goes from acrid to ozone. With a pop, sound floods his awareness, his vision clearing. Hiram rushes to account for everyone. First he hears Francisco’s harsh pants, then Gabriel’s panicked shouts for backup a short distance away. Veda is ...
Standing alone.Frozen, lost in a dream.
Ariadne is on her knees, momentarily staggered by her own spell. Her head jerks up. Hiram’s running before he realizes it, snapping Veda out of her trance by wrapping his arms around her and yanking her behind a nearby tree, yelling the first protection spell he can think of. Ariadne’s wild magic burns it up.
With the clap of her hands, magic showers the grass in ashes. She smiles at Hiram. “Hello,cousin.”
Veda stretches to touch the base of the tree, whispering, “Impetum.”
The leaves turn into blades and rain down on Ariadne. Veda crumples with a cry, paying the full price for her spell. Hiram reacts instinctively, summoning a cyclone that coils around his cousin, buying time as he pulls Veda to her feet. They need to get the hell away.
“Come on.”
They run to Gabriel, who’s bent over Francisco. There’s blood on his face and hands from his efforts to stop the bleeding. Veda drops next to him. Francisco is breathing, only barely.
“Hiram, Veda, take over. I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Hiram looks at Gabriel like he’s lost his mind. “Fight her?”
The ground quakes as the tornado sparks and splits, no longer under Hiram’s control. Ariadne emerges through it, bleeding from numerous cuts. Her face shifts from her own to a familiar blond.Seren.“Hey, y’all.”
“Shit,” Gabriel breathes. “Not her, too.”
“Yes, her, too,” Ariadne mocks.
“This would be anexcellenttime to have unlimited magic,” Hiram mutters.
Veda’s obviously stunned, costing her an extra minute before she casts a spell that sends a familiar bolt of light into the sky. It strikes a tree, slicing it in half. Hiram holds his breath, thinking it’ll fall just right, but Ariadne opens her hands.
A shock wave explodes, sending them all to their knees. The tree splinters into thousands of pieces that hang in suspended animation.
“That was cute.” Ariadne’s smile turns crazed. “My turn.”
Hiram yanks Veda toward him as an ugly fireball flies past her head. He overcorrects, and she falls on top of him, her elbow jamming into his ribs. Another curse speeds over their heads. A third slams into the ground, blasting chunks of grass and dirt skyward. Hiram shields them in time, his amulet pulsing green as debris ricochets off the dome he’s cast over all of them.
They’re sitting ducks.
Hiram glances around for Gabriel, who is moving on the ground, clearly in pain. There’s a gash on his head from debris, but he keeps muttering healing spells for Francisco. The dome extends over both, too.
“How long is this shield going to last?” Gabriel asks over Ariadne’s attempt to rip it apart one spell at a time.
“Two minutes. Maybe three.” Light explodes against the side of it. The shield shakes but holds. Hiram winces. “Or less.”
