On my other side, Baz is already shaking his head. “Stevie, even if we wanted the objects, we can’t get to them. The Fool’s Grave was completely demolished. There wasn’t a single rock wall left standing.”
“I know,” I say. “Jareth took us through the whole area. It’s all rubble, just like we left it. But I could sense the objects there—especially the Sword. Everything is still safe and sound, locked up behind the magickal barrier we made.”
“I suppose that’s a bit of good news too, then,” Nat says. “The Magician hasn’t gotten his hands on the goods.”
“Not yet,” I say. “Rubble or not, no one can get to those things without the blood of all five members of the brotherhood. We need to get there first.”
A wave of Baz’s red-hot anger smashes straight into my chest. “Those fuckers already have Cass and Ani. Now you want the three of us to show up like some kind of offering, completing the magick circle? Why the fuck did we bury the objects in the first place, then? Why not just hand them over right from the start, save us all the fucking trouble?”
“Baz, I’m just—”
“Oh, and let’s not eventalkabout the Magician’s hard-on foryourblood,” he snaps. “No. No way. End of discussion, game over, pick another plan because that ain’t it.”
I squeeze his hand, trying to calm him. “Baz, we need those objects. Rail against it all you want, but you know damn well it’s the only way we’ll have enough power to make a stand.”
“She’s right, Baz,” Kirin says.
“Yeah, no shit.” He clenches his teeth so tightly, the muscle on his jaw ticks. “I hate it. I hate that you’re right. I fucking hate everything about this, but… but I also don’t see how we get our brothers back without those damn objects.” The last of his anger dissipates into resignation, and he squeezes my hand back.
“What about the blood, though?” Casey asks. “Don’t you need Cass and Ani’s blood to unlock the protection magick?”
“Doc’s blood is not the problem.” I nod toward the back bedroom, where the blood is still pooling on the floor—more than enough to salvage for our purposes. “As for Ani… the Black Sun will be waiting for us at the Fool’s Grave. I know it in my bones, guys. You have to trust me on this.”
“Why are you so sure he’ll be there?” Kirin asks.
“He knows we’ll be after the objects—either to use them to gain an advantage or to prevent the Dark Arcana from doing the same thing. We’ve seen what they did with the Wand—they know we won’t make a move without securing the other three objects. And they want the objects too, obviously. The Fool’s Grave iseveryone’snext play. No way around it.”
“If only we had more time,” Professor Broome says, her voice thin and full of regret. “I thought we could prepare. Train. Figure something else out. Reinforcements or… I thought... Well, no matter. We all must work with the cards we were dealt.” She offers a tired smile, but her eyes still hold a spark of hope. “Tomorrow, Kelly and I will make our way back to campus through the portal. We’ll turn ourselves in to Eastman—convince him we believe Trello’s become completely unhinged. We’ll go under the guise of seeking his protection. If we can get in his good graces—make him believe we’re truly worried about our own safety and that of our students—well, that’s two more experienced witches we’ll have on the inside.”
Professor Maddox doesn’t even hesitate. “From there, we’ll do what we can to spread the word about what’s coming, and see who we can count on to fight on the right side of all this.”
I return their kind smiles, my eyes misting. “A better witch would try to talk you out of this, but—”
“Wasn’t it a better witch who said ‘Everyone needs to fight, or everyone is going to die?’” Professor Broome winks at me and reaches forward to pat my knee. “We’re all in this together, Starla Milan. Kelly and I will get onto campus and raise the proverbial alarm—leave that to us. You, Kirin, and Baz need to focus on Cass and Ani.”
I nod, the knot of emotion in my throat making it difficult to speak. Thankfully, Baz seems to sense this and takes over.
“Once we’ve got the guys and the Arcana objects, we’ll make our way to campus. I have no idea what we’ll face along the way—if we’ll need to cross realms or what—but we will find a way to get back to you. With any luck, we’ll rendezvous before an attack from the Soldiers of Light or the Arcana assholes, strategize our own attack, and hit them before they know what’s coming.”
“The dark army’s going to strike tomorrow,” I finally manage. “There’s no doubt in my mind. I’m not sure whether they’ll hit us at the Fool’s Grave, the Void, or hold back and launch their full attack on campus, but either way, we need to be ready for that fight. Even if we manage to recoup on campus before a strike, I doubt we’ll have much time to plan our attack.”
“Then I guess I’d better start planning it now.” Casey rises from her chair and glances at her phone, paging through her contacts. “I’ll see what help I can get from London. They may not be willing to spare any men, but they can at least spare a few minutes to talk. We need more intel on Eastman’s black-mirror mages and any other tricks he might have up his sleeve. If we can get a better handle on some of the shit Eastman’s been digging into, that could give us an advantage.”
“So what’s our next move, Case?” Quintana asks.
“After I get this intel, we’ll see about sneaking in through the back door, like you said. That was actually a good call, given the options.”
“Iron and Bone lands? Or maybe Breath and Blade—see if we can use that mist as a cover?”
Casey shakes her head. “Too close to Dark Arcana territory. If they’re materializing already, we don’t want to be anywhere near that.” She taps her lips, then says, “River of Blood and Sorrow. That’s our route.”
Quintana sighs, but eventually nods his acceptance. “Good thing I know how to swim, because something tells me this mission is gonna get cold and wet.”
“I’m not worried about our comfort level,” she says. “I’m worried about getting spotted. We still need to figure out a way to distract the mages guarding the campus perimeter long enough for us to sneak past their lines.”
“Distraction?” Carly beams, lighting up the room with her mischievous grin. Linking her arms with Nat and Isla’s, she shakes out her lustrous raven hair and says, “You leavethatto the hot-girl squad.”
Seven
