It wasn’t Colter or Killian this time. It was fuckingEsther.Revulsion churned my innards as I snapped, “Fuck off, Esther. How’d you convince them to let you talk to us?”
“I told them we weresuchgood friends at the Institute, and you just needed to hear a familiar voice!” she said chipperly. “Please come out, so this can all end happily!””
“The minute we step out of this building, you and your demigod buddies are going to obliterate us,” I hissed.
“You should be more concerned about your immortal soul,” Esther crooned. “The only way to salvation is to seek refuge under the wings of The Mission’s god. You don’t want to bejudgedin the afterlife, do you? The god of The Mission doesn’t forgive without repentance. But if you hand over the key, and plead for his forgiveness, I’m sure my uncle will?—”
Nope.I slammed the phone back onto the receiver. Any doubts about the choice I’d just made flew out the window once I’d spoken to Esther.
Everybody on this planet wanted to use and manipulate us, and I knew better. I berated myself for being so stupid to nearlyfall for the Union’s pleas… told myself I was an idiot for being soweak.
I’d made my decision, and I was never looking back.
“That was Esther. She’s here,” I said. “She doesn’t have the key. She asked us to hand it over, so she thinks we stole it first.”
“That means the Warden doesn’t have it in his hands yet, but somebody else does, somebody that doesn’t work for him,” Marcus whimpered. “We’ve been played.”
“I bet it’s that fucking spy we’ve got hanging around at the palace. The bank knew we were coming. Whoever the mole is, they raised an alarm, and somebody moved it just before we got here,” I seethed.
“If Esther’s here, the Warden isn’t far behind. He could arrive any minute,” Kallie worried.
“We can’t fight them all off. We need togo,” Marcus insisted.
A loud voice drifted through the walls of the bank. Esther had transferred to using a megaphone, and was screaming religious propaganda. “THE GOD OF THE MISSION WILL DESTROY THOSE WHO DO NOT WORSHIP HIM! SUBMIT NOW, AND BE CLEANSED OF YOUR SIN?—”
I blocked her out as I shouted over the sound of the megaphone. “Kallie, make us a portal. It’s time to leave.”
She let out another pained noise. “I can’t do that, either. It’s not just my demigod abilities. Everything’s affected.”
“What can you still cast?” I asked desperately.
She gave a gasp of pain as she attempted to create a spell. A spell flickered out and died. “All I’ve got is battle orbs. I can still use my gun, but I don’t have access to anything stronger.”
“It’s okay. I’ve got a pocket mirror, I can portal us out—” I began.
But as I reached into my pocket, I gasped as my skin cut on bits of shattered glass. I drew the mirror out of my pocket and ran my fingers over it.
It was just a frame. There was no reflection. I’d landed on my side during the fight with the vampire. It must’ve broken then.
I couldn’t use it to make a portal and get us home… which meant there was nowhere else to go.
This was it. We were trapped inside the bank, surrounded by enemies with no way out.
Chapter Six
AVA-MARIE
“Charlie, what do we do?”
My question failed to rouse a response. He wore a blank expression, even as Oberi nudged his side.
“Where the hell are we supposed to go?” Kallie cried. “Esther is going to break through our shield eventually!”
“They’ve got us pinned,” Marcus half-sobbed.
Charlie remained silent. He was completely helpless, which meant it was time for me to take action. We’d been cornered back in the Infernal Underground, and I’d go to hell before I allowed something like that to happen again.
“If you can get me to my car, IpromiseI can get us out of here,” I swore.
