But there was nothing.
“Shit,” Ben whispered. “They’re gonna…”
“Don’t panic,” I said, cutting over his tightening voice. Butstars,the primal fear burrowing in my chest made it hard to think, hard to evenbreathe.Death might be preferable over the alluded fate of these captives.
I braced my palms together and raced through the incantation to send a volley of razor-sharp ice shards toward the encroaching guards, but my lungs seized as more and more of the mist made its way into me.
My wings became heavier, my eyelids leaden. Ben grabbed my hand, and by the look on his face, he was fading fast, too.
With the pale haze closing in on us, I pulled him down to the open glass tank, where Zia and Rowan clutched each other in the corner, their wings clipped. The iron-core frame that held the glass together numbed their magic while inside—but if I could pull Zia out, get her to help… She was a noble. She had more power than all three of us combined.
I dropped on top of the glass case, letting Ben’s hand slip from mine. His shout of protest melted behind me, turning into a ragged cough as he sank to his knees.
I leaned over the opening, casting a desperate look to Zia. “You’re a noble. You can stop them if we just get out of there.”
Zia shook her head, her face twisted in anguish. “Even if you could, I can’t help. I’ve sworn not to bring harm onto any living being.”
My jaw dropped. “Now is not the time for oaths!” I shouted.Stars, I couldn’t believe I spoke to a noble like that.
I glanced at Ben next to me. His wings looked awry, half-folded at an odd angle like they could scarcely remember how to fly. I wondered if I looked the same. My thoughts felt thick now as sedation sank deeper into my bloodstream. Every moment felt like wading through molasses.
“Help me get her out,” I begged him.
“No!” Zia protested in a strangled voice. “I can’t—I won’t hurt them.”
“They put you in here. They might kill you,all of us! Are you insane?” I snarled.
Zia buried a sob into her hands. “I know. I-I’m sorry.”
The last thread of my plan evaporated before my eyes.
I slammed my fist against the reinforced glass, blinded by rage and terror and utter desperation. Aching at the hole that Jon was gone, and Cliff had turned on me, and I might die tonight without ever finding my family again.
“Fuckingdo something!” I shrieked, voice raw.
Behind me, I spotted Cliff had pulled on one of the protective masks that covered his nose and mouth—and was now moving toward us.
A fragile seed of hope blossomed. This was it—with Tammy gone and Eros’ defenses defused, he could drop the act. He was coming over here to save us, to kill the guards with a few well-placed movements that I’d seen him capable of so many times before.
Ben’s coughing seized again, his wings fluttering feebly. My vision swam in doubles, my will to resist unconsciousness weakening by the second.
Cliff tilted his head at me, his words muffled by the mask. I wanted to believe it was something reassuring—a hope that dissolved like acid when I felt him wrap a hand around me and lower me into the case with the others.
Trapped.
I was almost grateful when darkness crawled over my vision completely.
17
Jon
Róisín stepped across the jagged remnants of glass clinging to the cylinder that had housed her. Even when her bare feet pressed over shards and drew inky dark blood from her, she moved without flinching. I couldn’t detect even a hint of glee on her face in response to her freedom from the choking control of the cylinder, but she did carry a spark of life I had yet to see from her. Afocus.
As she descended from the back of the van like falling silk, frantic orders began echoing across the loading bay. I ducked behind the van and inserted a fresh magazine into the semi-automatic.
My heart thudded at a runaway rhythm as I peered through the gap between the van and one of its open back doors. My left arm still sent white-hot shoots of pain with every movement.
I wasn’t sure what I expected from Róisín—chanted words or a wave of her hands like Sylvia, maybe. My close encounters with earth affinity fairies had me second-guessing myself. We were surrounded by concrete and metal. Could a forest nymph even tap into the earth from here?
