The dismissal in her voice made me want to punch something. Or someone. Preferably Marcus, for putting us in this situation in the first place. Instead, I nodded stiffly and headed for the bathroom. The shower ran cold, but I barely noticed the temperature. All I could feel was the hollow ache where Talin's trust should be.
Talin had been silent during our walk over to her aunt's, the distance between us growing with each step despite the mate bond tugging us toward each other.
"Are you ready for this?" I asked as we climbed the steps.
She nodded, clutching her sketches to her chest. "Yes."
The door opened before we could knock and Judy stood there, her short gray-streaked hair disheveled as if she'd been running her hands through it. Her sharp blue eyes took in our appearance, lingering on the obvious space Talin put between us.
"Good, you're here," she said briskly. "Everyone else is waiting."
We followed her into the living room, which had been transformed into a war room of sorts. Maps of New Orleans covered every surface, marked with symbols I didn't recognize. Killian and Kenya sat on one couch while Lizzy made a cup of tea in the kitchen. Esme, Alice and Angel sat on another. Brogan sat on the arm near Esme. Jamal leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Dae stood behind Alice's seat, his presence surprising me. He rarely attended these mixed gatherings, but I guess Killian would've requested for him to be here, too.
"Now that we're all here," Judy said, taking her place at the head of the room, "Talin, show us what you have."
Talin spread her sketches on the coffee table. "I think I found the binding points," she explained, gesturing to the drawings. "Four of them, forming a perfect circle around the city. And I think Marcus used them to create the pocket dimension where he's keeping Alex."
"And these binding points," Kenya said, pointing to the sketches, "they're what's keeping the pocket dimension stable?"
"Yes. They're anchors, tying Marcus's dimension to ours." Talin spoke directly to her aunt. "If we can disrupt them simultaneously, I think we can weaken the barrier enough for me to slip through and get Alex out."
Judy frowned, studying the drawings. "These locations aren't random. They form a perfect ritual circle encompassing some of the oldest parts of New Orleans."
"Places of power," Angel added, her voice soft. "Where the veil between worlds is already thin."
"Can we destroy them?" Killian asked. "So he can't use them again?"
Judy shook her head. "No. But we can do what Talin suggests and disrupt their currents. Breaking them entirely could have catastrophic consequences. We'll have to be very careful as it is."
"Like what?" I asked, not liking where this was heading. "What kind of consequences?"
"Like collapsing both dimensions," Alice said quietly. "With Alex and Talin trapped inside."
My body went rigid. "Okay. No. We're not doing this."
Talin glanced at me, her expression hardening. "It's the only way."
"We'll find another way," I insisted.
"There isn't one," she shot back. "I've seen the threads, Elias, remember? All of them. Every possible future. This is our only chance."
"There has to be something," I insisted.
Esme spoke up from the other side of the room. "She's right, there's not."
"No one's talking to you," I snapped.
"Hey!" Brogan stood up, flashing his fangs at me. But the pink flamingos on his shirt made it kind of hard to take him seriously.
Esme's brown eyes widened in shock, and I immediately felt bad. When she came to this town, I was one of the few people who were on her side, and she didn't deserve to have her head bitten off like that. "I'm sorry, Es. I'm just…" I couldn't seem to describe the whirlwind of emotions whipping around inside of me.
"It's okay," she said, pulling Brogan back down. "I understand. But Talin is right. This is the only way to get through to Alex."
The room fell silent.
"So what's the plan?" Kenya asked softly, breaking the silence. "How do we disrupt these points?"
Judy sighed. "We'll need four teams. One witch and one vampire at each location. The witch disrupts the magic while the vampire provides protection."
