Each Indy hissed in approval, cheering for his death.
For the first time that day, true fear swirled in Sean’s gut. His gaze darted to and fro, searching for a safe path through.
He found none.
Before he’d decided how to proceed or what to say, they lurched for him.
Sean rose his arms to fight, but Bel barred the way, and she barely flinched when one jammed a blade into her stomach.
“Isobel!” Sean shouted, reaching for her shoulders.
David grabbed her and practically threw her at Sean, then placed himself in the path of the Indies.
“I’m fine,” Isobel said, straightening. “It’s already healed.”
“Stop.” David’s voice wasn’t loud, but it ricocheted off every object, every body, lodging in Sean’s ears.
Bodies stilled, both human and possessed, and every pair of eyes turned to look at him, eager for their next instructions.
David’s voice trick had never worked on Sean, despite his manyattempts as kids, but Sean heard the magic tainting it, saw the exact moment David’s will became their own.
“Move out of the way,” he said, sweeping two fingers subtly to the right. Dozens of people obeyed, shuffling until the exit was unblocked. David pushed Autumn’s shoulder, then Sean’s, urging them toward the exit.
Isobel stayed by Sean’s side as he took small steps away from the Indies, ensuring none broke through David’s coercion and attacked.
David kept his body language deceptively apathetic, but tension had coiled down deep, tightening Sean’s chest. A ripple of fire passed down his neck, and the world spun.
“Now you’ll let us leave,” David said, sugary and hard. “And you won’t follow.”
None of them spoke, but their gazes were riveted to him.
“Say you understand.”
“I understand,” they chanted in unison. Even the unpossessed humans.
David turned to meet Sean’s eyes and hissed, “Go—now.”
The others moved, but despite the coercion, the threat of violence spread through the restrained creatures. David could make them stay. He couldn’t make them want to.
Fear for his other half kept Sean glued to the spot.
He couldn’t go.
Not without David.
David rolled his eyes. “Stay,” he said one last time to the creatures, the power of his voice rippling several feet in a shimmer of disturbed air.
And then he turned to run, grabbing Sean’s arm on the way. Just outside the exit, Sean noticed the tremble in David’s grip. Turning to look, Sean found his soulmate’s face stark white and strained. A gray tinge colored the spaces beneath his eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“When I say go,” he said, practically dragging Sean toward the parking lot. “That meansgo.”
Sean took up a jog. “I couldn’t leave you.”
David panted as he ran, clearly spent. How much power had that taken? To coerce dozens of people to act against their own wishes in this place where magical energy barely existed?
“David—”
