With the notable exception of Jael, I spotted everyone in our group. They were all still on their feet, still fighting hard.
And then Haley went down.
I charged back into the melee, shooting an electric bolt at a hybrid who’d jumped into my path. When I got to my sister, she was on her knees, her head bent back at a severe angle, her eyes half-lidded. She seemed to be in a deep trance.
In one hand she gripped a bloody dagger, her other clenched in a fist, dripping with blood.
I knew at once she was doing a spell.
Calling up another surge of earth magic, I channeled everything I had into protecting her, drawing up an iridescent shield around her as Liam continued to swing his blade at any beast in our periphery.
Temporarily safe inside the shield, Haley used her blood to draw a pentacle on the floor, then pressed her palm against it. The symbol glowed at her touch.
All around us, the team continued to fight. And the beasts continued to emerge from the darkness.
And then, the chanting began.
It started soft—so soft I almost wasn’t sure it was Haley. But then her voice grew stronger, louder, more powerful, the tenor of it reverberating inside my chest.
The words felt sinister, dark, so unlike anything I’d ever heard come out of my sister’s mouth, I had to check again to make sure it was her.
Slowly she got to her feet, her eyes closed, her head bowed, her words rising above the sounds of our battle, raising the hairs on the back of my neck.
“Blood of hell, blood of night
I call on the darkness to show us the light
May evil and malice and violence intended
Return to its hosts uprooted, upended
Dark Goddess I bend, Dark Goddess I bow
Hear my petition, and thusly I vow
My service is yours, by blood and by blade
Until my last breath shall deem it unmade.”
Nine times she spoke the spell, her words growing more impassioned with each repetition. My shield was dimming, revealing Haley in her full, terrifying glory. Blood shone on her lips, her eyes wild, her face stark white. A deep and chilling darkness seemed to emanate from within her, but still, I held onto that shield for as long as I could, pouring all of my magic into it, all of my power, all of my love.
I had no idea who she’d petitioned or what, precisely, she’d promised, but I didn’t dare disturb the spell.
Haley’s magic was working.
Slowly at first, and then all at once, the tide changed. There was a single heartbeat of silence, as if someone had hit the reset button.
The smoke began to clear.
All of us looked on with awe and wonder.
And one by one, the hybrids turned their attention away from our group and onto each other.
I’d never seen such brutality, such gruesome violence. Such single-minded determination. They tore into each other, shredding flesh and bone, destroying, devouring.
I was mesmerized.
Strong hands suddenly gripped my arm—Asher’s? Emilio’s? I had no way of knowing. Snapping out of my near-trance, I grabbed my sister’s hand, and all of us charged for the door.
