“Yes, fuck off,” Riley spat from behind him, sounding enraged.
Gordon turned his wrist and the raven holding the dagger spread its wings, heaving itself off the ground before turning its focus to shredding their Shadows with its beak. A new host of its brethren soared through the air, renewing their brutal attack. And, just behind them, Diedre launched another volley of wasps and darts. They stung and sliced into their skin, but they also burrowed into the net around the raven, biting and tearing.
Out of the corner of his eye, James saw Riley pull a massive scythe from the Shadows and start swinging. Emma spun her long, serrated knife and pressed forward, fighting back against the onslaught.
Whatever Gordon saw on their faces, it was enough to push his rage even higher. He dragged a long sword from the air and whirled toward Kay, cutting a ragged path through their wall as he focused entirely on her.
Hell. James knew better than to touch the dagger, but he couldn’t let Kay leave herself open. “We’ll get the blade,” James called to Kay as he and Zach threw their Shadows into defeating the raven. “You concentrate on Gordon.”
Kay met his eyes, a quick glance of agreement and thanks, and then let go of her ropes. She lifted her hands and pulled her pair of wickedly sharp blades from the air just as Gordon arced his sword down toward her head. Their Shadows clashed silently, Kay’s midnight blue against Gordon’s blue-black, sparking and writhing as they fought for dominance.
Gordon had decades of experience and some kind of darkly tangible power fueling his Shadows. But Kay had her own formidable will and stubborn strength, and she held her own.
Their battle raged. Shadow swords thrust and parried as they circled each other through the basement museum.
A vast swarm of wasps descended on Zach, crawling over his body in a bloodthirsty cloud, and he fell back, desperately fighting them off.
It was everything James had feared. It left him to keep a grip on the raven—and the stone blade—alone, and itburned. Voices whispered and screamed in his ears as he fought to keep control. Acid traveled back along his Shadows, corrupting and twisting his net while mottled bruises slid beneath his skin.
He couldn’t lift it. But he couldn’t leave his friends either. He had to try something different.
James dropped his Shadows from the blade and poured them into his fighting shuriken. Behind him, Riley and Emma fought off Diedre’s swarms, and he trusted them to hold her back. His eyes locked on the duel between Kay and Gordon, and he readied himself. All he needed was an opening.
Gordon grunted as he slashed and stabbed. Somehow, he kept just behind Kay. He was never exposed enough for James to finally fucking end this.
Kay lengthened her twin blades to meet Gordon, lunging and stabbing in a cloud of midnight Shadows. James danced around them, needing her to move, needing her to step back from a fight, just this once. “Kay! Give me space!”
Gordon’s raven faded as all of his concentration focused on Kay, and he crowded into her space as she ducked and weaved, trying to give James the opening he needed.
Zach strode forward, finally clear of wasps. Gordon’s eyes flicked his way, and for a second, James thought there was an opening. “Grab the blade! Destroy it!” James called to Zach, sending a shuriken soaring, only for Gordon to batter it from the air.
Zach reached for the blade. He was only seconds away from grabbing it. And then Diedre screamed.
She let out a chilling howl as she flung herself to her knees, sliding along the tiles toward Zach. “Have mercy!” she wept, her lined face twisted with misery, one hand reaching out toward him as if in supplication. “It’s not my fault!”
James glanced at her, distracted from his attack on Gordon only for a moment. But it was long enough to see the danger. It was a ruse. Diedre held the last vial of blood Shadows. And the vial was open.
“Zach! The last—!” His words were too slow. James wrenched away from Gordon and Kay, desperate to reach Zach in time.
He threw himself across the room. But Diedre was already launching herself up, blood Shadows pouring out across her palms. She ducked and spun, twisting to smear blood Shadows over Zach’s arm, and as she moved, she splattered a handful over James’s cheek as well.
Zach howled as James crashed into him, both burning with the same churning horror.
Diedre straightened and gave them a cold smile, shaking out her hands. Her voice grated as she commanded, “Be. Still.”
James had wielded the blood Shadows, and Gordon had launched the dart from the stone blade into his heart, trying to force him to obey. He was prepared for the burning fear and the corrosive tendrils as they whipped over his skin, spreading along his neck, through his hair, and into his mind. But he still wasn’t ready for the horror of sudden dissociation as the pervading wrongness overtook him and his limbs shuddered to a halt.
Thick bile clogged his throat. Tears burned in his eyes as his body trembled, his muscles locked in battle against the Shadows in his mind.
Everyone froze. Riley’s and Emma’s harsh pants sounded loud at the back of the room. Kay let out a hiss of horror as she stalled in her attack, gaze darting between Gordon and Diedre as she weighed up who was now the greater threat. Even Gordon lowered his sword slightly, adjusting to the shifting balance of power.
“Who shall we kill first?” Gordon taunted, but James couldn’t reply. There was nothing he could do. Diedre had told them to be still.
“Guard me,” Diedre commanded, and James and Zach turned on wooden legs to face their friends. Their hands rose helplessly as they pulled their Shadows into a misty shield around her.
“Stop this!” Riley’s scream sounded anguished as she roared at Diedre. But there was nothing she could do either. If she attacked Diedre, she would have to go through James first.
Kay stalked forward and positioned herself in front of Emma and Riley. Then she raised her twin blades and settled into a balanced fighter’s stance, preparing for the worst.
