Her grandmother let out a low groan, swaying where she stood, but she didn’t move. Her mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but no words emerged.
Kay tried to reach for her again, but Elizabeth stepped back. Her expression was tortured as she pulled her hands apart to reveal blood Shadows churning between them.
Kay reared back, flinging a wall of Shadows between them, but she was too close and too late. Elizabeth leaped forward as if pushed by a dark force, closing the small gap between them to smear the sticky Shadows across Kay’s face in a brutal sweep of fire.
The blood Shadow burned and twisted as its tentacles spread around her neck and pierced through her skin to wrap around her mind once more. She lurched forward onto all fours on the damp grass, heaving, working hard to stay calm while her body tried to reject the poison invading her mind.
The phone had fallen with her, and the shaft of light sent long eerie shadows up the walls around them, illuminating Elizabeth as she fell to her knees next to Kay, her hands clasped to her stomach as she groaned weakly.
Kay pushed herself back up to kneel next to her granny, the furthest the blood Shadow would allow her to go, and reached out to touch Elizabeth gently, whispering, “Don’t fight it.”
A slow clap started, mockingly, from the open back of the abbey, where there had once been a great stained-glass window. As she watched, a figure detached from the wall, and James stepped forward.
She hadn’t quite believed that the blood Shadows could mask a person entirely. But here he was, almost on top of them, twisted Shadows swirling around his legs like fog.
James’s face shone with an unhealthy sweat, his hands shaking as he ran them through his unkempt hair. His eyes were bloodshot and his nose was still swollen and bruised, unhealed since their fight.
She couldn’t help her shocked gasp—even with the blood Shadow riding her mind. In the short time since she’d seen him last, he’d gone from stressed and on edge to utterly broken. His breath panted in rough gasps, and, even in the dim light, she could see his skin twitching.
James let out a shuddery breath. “Well done, ladies.” He stepped up beside them, drawing a vial from his pocket, but his hands shook so badly that he couldn’t draw out the stopper and he eventually had to resort to pulling it out with his teeth.
“Elizabeth, give me your hands,” James demanded, and she raised them slowly, palms up. He poured the twisting Shadows into her palms where they settled in a dark pool. “Put this on Zach,” he rasped, wiping sweat from his eyes. “We’ll take him with us when we go.”
James turned to Kay. He drew the hunting knife from the holster at his side and passed it to her. “Hold this.”
“No! No… I won’t!” She threw herself back, desperately fighting, her body arching as she warred with herself.
He scowled down at her. “Take. It.”
God. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she fought back, screaming helplessly in her mind as her muscles spasmed and convulsed. She had expected a trap. Expected to be caught. But hadn’t expected to be the weapon that James used against the others.
Her hands reached out and took the knife.
James stared down at her, his face a picture of conflicting distress and conviction as dark bruises moved under his skin. “Kayleigh, I’m sorry. I tried. God. Why couldn’t you just come with me when I asked you to?”
“Please, James… I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. “Please don’t make me do this.”
“It’s not—” He shook his head, blinking. “It’s okay. We’re all going to be okay. We have to sacrifice the norm. And then… then I can keep you safe. I’m well. You’re going to be fine.”
His words horrified her more than anything else he’d said. Almost as much as the gleaming blade gripped tightly in her hands. Something truly appalling had happened to James, and now he was using her against the people she loved.
She shivered helplessly as footsteps crunched in the distance, echoing through the silence.
“Stay still and keep quiet until I give the order.” His voice shook, but the command was clear as James faded back into the wall, the dark Shadows rippling up to cover him completely.
Zach and Ethan made their way between the fallen stones, David and Bryn right behind them. Light beams flickered over the grass and tumbled down walls, then landed on Kay and Elizabeth, and their steps faltered.
All they would see were two women on their knees. The darkness hid the Shadow tentacles under Kay’s hair and clasped between Elizabeth’s hands, and neither of them could move a millimeter, even to open their mouths in warning.
“Kay?” Ethan called softly.
Her hands were damp with sweat, but she still had a strong grip on the knife. Next to her, she could feel Elizabeth swaying as she battled the blood Shadow wrapped around her neck and lodged between her hands.
“Kay, say something,” Ethan whispered taking a step forward.
Zach put out an arm to stop him. “Just wait.”
They all froze.
