Broken furniture.
Shattered glass and wood.
And blood. A river’s worth, running in a wide black slick on the other side of the bed.
The smell of it curdles the air, threatening to make me retch.
Oh, Doc. I’m so, so sorry… Please, please be okay… You and Anihaveto be okay…
“Stevie.” The urgency in Professor Broome’s voice yanks me out of my misery. Pushing the bloodied tangle of hair from my face, she says firmly, “What happened in here? Where are Dr. Devane and Ani?”
“Whose blood is that?” Nat asks, and Isla let’s out a strangled gasp at the sight.
“Stevie?” Broome presses.
“Gone. They’re just gone. Ani attacked us and…” My voice breaks, and I shake my head and turn away from her. Ihaveto stay focused on the mission. There’s no time for sorrow or regret. Only time to act.
I cross the bedroom, searching the dresser and night tables for any magickal supplies left unbroken—anything we might be able to use on our quest. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be an intact spell jar or candle in the place. Everything was decimated.
Professor Maddox runs her hand along the mattress, her eyes glazing with tears. “So much anger,” she whispers. “So much violence. I can feel it in the very air.”
“Ani,” Baz says. “It was all Ani.”
She nods, her shoulders slumping as if she already knew Ani was the source. “What happened? How did he regain consciousness? That sedative should’ve kept him under for hours.”
“The Nightmare’s Lullaby potion was a bust,” Baz explains. “Ani went completely ballistic. He’s gone total dark side, just like Stevie feared. Cass was trying to do the spell and Ani just…” He shoves a hand into his hair, his eyes wide as if he’s reliving the shock of it all over again. “Everything unraveled so fast. He flew into a rage and…”
The words die on his tongue, just like they died on mine. The others look to Kirin, but our Tower only shakes his head, eyes fixated on the pool of blood where—justminutesago—Ani nearly bashed in Doc’s skull.
Disgust and terror twine around my heart, making my chest hurt.
None of us can give voice to the horrors we’ve just witnessed. Horrors perpetuated by one of our own.
“He’s got the Wand,” Kirin finally admits.
Everyone sucks in a shocked breath at that.
“That would explain why he’s so much more powerful than we imagined,” Maddox says. “But the darkness in him… Goddess, I wouldn’t believe it was possible if I couldn’t feel it for myself. He’s the Sun Arcana. Goodness and light, through and through.”
“Ani’s… not in his right mind,” I say, “but we can get him back. Willwillget him back. We just need a few supplies and… We’ll bring thembothback.”
Carly narrows her eyes. “Back from where, exactly?”
When I don’t respond, she grabs Baz’s arm, her gaze desperate—the complete opposite of the cool queen of snark I’m used to.
I swallow down another wave of terror. We’re falling apart, one by one, and that’s thelastthing we can afford to do. We need to be strong and united. Unstoppable. Unbreakable.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she implores Baz. “Where are they?”
“You tellme, Carly.” He turns away from her, his anger rising. It washes over me like lava, threatening to burn everything in its path. “Aren’t you supposed to be the clairsentient one here?”
“Baz…” I shake my head in admonishment, but I know his anger isn’t directed at Carly. We’re all freaking out.
He finally meets my gaze again, and I nod for him to go on. As far as I’m concerned, everyone in this house is in the inner circle. Keeping secrets isnotan option.
After a deep sigh, Baz turns back to Carly and says, “Stevie thinks Cass and Ani are being held captive in the spiral caves.”
“Spiral caves?” she asks.
