“Monica!” I screamed. I wanted her to run away. I wanted her to abandon me— save herself. I was nothing compared to her life. I’d die and be tortured if it meant that she could live.Take me instead, I wanted to scream.
But it was already too late. The guy thrust his blade forward, and it sank into Monica’s gut.
Time seemed to slow as the world tilted on its axis. Monica went as still as a statue, her mouth hanging open and eyes wide in shock. She stumbled back a step and dropped her gaze to the knife protruding from her abdomen. She yanked it out and stared at the blood-covered blade like it had come from another planet. She couldn’t seem to process what had just happened. Blood poured out of the wound, and she collapsed.
“No!” I cried out, so loudly that it seemed to shake the entire earth.
“You idiot!” the guy holding me growled to the other. He must’ve been shocked, too, because his hold on me loosened.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed Monica, cradling her to my chest with one arm. I pressed my other hand to the wound, but blood poured through my fingers and soaked into my clothes. Monica gasped for breath.
“Monica, no!” I cried. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I stared down at her. “No, don’t leave me! You can’t!”
Her mouth bobbed, like she was trying to say something, but she couldn’t get the words out. Her eyes glossed over, and I sobbed harder. She reached her hand toward me, like she needed to feel me, to make sure I was real.
Tires squealed nearby, and I heard familiar voices coming to my rescue— Mama and my grandmother. I didn’t know how they’d found me, but they’d come a moment too late. I heard my mother scream, and the smell of ash filled the area as her powers ignited the men into flames.
“A-Ava,” Monica rasped, before her hand went limp and fell to the ground at her side. Her head lolled back, and her eyes became like glass.
I knew then that I’d lost her.
“MONICA!” I screamed. I wrapped her tighter in my arms and pressed my face into her hair. I didn’t care what the world did to me now, because nothing mattered anymore. I didn’t know how to live without her, or even how it would be possible. She couldn’t be gone. Shecouldn’t.
But she was. Gone.
Forever.
And without her, I was lost.
* * *
I startled awake, my entire form dripping with sweat. I clutched my clothes as if I might find evidence of blood on them, but there wasn’t any. It took a few moments for me to process it as a dream. When I did, I rolled over and buried my face into the pillow.
Hell, Ava, I thought.I’m so sorry.
I could relate to Ava’s experience, because I’d experienced something similar. My friend Marty had been shot in a drive-by shooting, and I’d held him when he died. But to see Ava’s experience from her own eyes… it was horrifying. I never wanted to relive something like thateveragain.
But howhadI relieved it? It was Ava’s memory, not my own.
What’s wrong?Oberi’s voice came through our bond. He’d stayed with Ava last night, but that was only on the other side of the wall. I could hear him clearly in my head.
Nothing. Bad dream,I told him.Go back to sleep.
It’s past six. Time for breakfast.
I’m not hungry,I said.
Well, you’re going to have to drag your pretty little ass out of bed sometime. Ava wants to meet you in the Lair pronto.
Oberi didn’t give me a chance to respond. I felt our connection slip, like he’d rushed out of the cellblock. I was about to tell him to fuck off, before I realized the Lair meant only one thing.
The potion was ready.
I scrambled to get dressed. I swung by the cafeteria to sign in for breakfast, then grabbed a takeout sandwich and ate it on the way. I counted my steps across the prison yard and used my Earth magic to navigate through the trees. I couldn’t hear my friends until I stepped into the Lair— courtesy of one of Kallie’s illusions.
They were all here. Ava and Kallie spoke in low tones, and Marcus cleared his throat nearby. I felt for the couch Kallie always conjured and plopped down next to Marcus. He blew a breath. I could tell he was sulking.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
