Rachel shakes her head. “One of the boys is good with crystal magic, and the youngest girl has made the lights go out when she’s upset before. She’s only eight.”
My stomach churns. Mr. Trent obviously didn’t send me all the files. He’s killed more people in an attempt to build a magical army for himself.
“Do you think you could get them all in one room and do some sort of protection spell?”
“There’s a guard upstairs.”
“Just one?”
“Yes. He’s armed and will tase us if we step out of line.”
“Leave him to me. I’ll cause enough of a distraction down here to get him to come running. Then take all the kids and go into one of the rooms. Close the door, and if you all work together on the spell, it should hold long enough.”
“Long enough for what?”
“Long enough for me to come back and get you all out.”
Rachel doesn’t seem convinced, but she nods. “I’ll try.”
“You’re a strong witch,” I tell her. “That spell you did at my house was impressive. Painful, but impressive.”
“I’m sorry about that. She told me you would attack us first. She said you were a bad witch.”
“She?”
“Another witch.” Rachel casts her eyes down. “I always got a bad feeling around her.”
“Who is she? Is she here?”
“She works with Mr. Trent sometimes. I think she’s the one who told him about you and the creatures of the night.”
“Melissa.”
“Yes.” Rachel’s eyes narrow. “You know her?”
“Unfortunately. She’s tried to kill me before. Tried and failed.” Dammit. I knew she wouldn’t just go running with her tail tucked between her legs. She wants blood, and now she’s going to get it. “Don’t worry about her, okay? I can handle it. Do you happen to know if she’s here?”
Rachel shakes her head. “I’ve only seen her a few times. The kids are scared of her.”
“Rightly so. She’s a bad witch. If you see her, though…pretend like you don’t know, okay?”
Rachel’s starting to look more and more terrified. “Okay.”
I put my hand on her arm and she flinches from the touch. “You’re going to be okay,” I try to soothe. “We’re going to get out of here. No one will control you again. No one will make you hurt others anymore.”
She blinks away tears and nods. I peek outside the door again. Whoever got off the elevator went the opposite way.
“Where is Mr. Trent’s office?”
She points to the elevator. “Two rooms down from that. It’s always locked, though.”
“Shouldn’t be a problem. Go now, and act like nothing happened. You never saw me. When you hear the guard running, get the kids.”
With another nod, she hurries down the hall. I pull the key ring from my jeans pocket and hold it splayed on my palm, holding my other hand above it.
“Reveal,” I say, and one of the keys glows bright yellow for a split second. I grab the key, silently moving the others to the side, and close my hand around them all to keep them from jingling as I move.
Then I dash out into the hall, moving as fast as I can, not stopping until I get to Mr. Trent’s office. I try the door first just in case it’s not locked, but it is. Quickly, I stick the key in the lock and open the door. I half expect an alarm to sound, and am a little surprised when one doesn’t. Though I suppose it’s not surprising that Mr. Trent is such a cocky asshole he thinks he’s invincible.
