The team moves with perfect coordination.
Xander uses his mere presence to keep Holden in the hexagon. Every step Holden takes backward, Xander mirrors him by stepping forward, herding him deeper into the ritual insignia’s footprint.
Holden’s focus shifts back to me, power coalescing between his palms as he prepares for a killing strike.
Branson materializes at my side, solid as stone. A blast of green energy slams into his shoulder, spinning him sideways, but he doesn’t fall. Doesn’t even make a sound. Just plants his feet and keeps moving, positioning his body between me and Holden’s line of sight.
Stay focused, Ethan!Rhiannon warns.Now, Akila!
I’ve breached the hexagon. There’s twenty feet between me and the prism.
Akila cuts in from the left, blade flashing.He will pay for what he did.
The rage fueling her isn’t tactical. It’s personal. She moves without hesitation, anger driving every step, daring Holden to engage.
It works. Holden twists to meet her charge, sending out a blast of green fire following her trajectory.
Akila drops into a slide, the magic projectile screaming over her head, close enough to singe her hair. She neither wavers norslows. Just keeps moving, forcing Holden to keep track of her and Xander at the same time, tochoosebetween threats.
I see my opening. Ten more feet.
The prism pulses. Green light courses through the salt circuit, and the charm around my neck answers with heat that borders on painful.
Almost there,Rhiannon says.
Holden roars something in a language I don’t understand. The temple shudders. Branson takes another hit and goes down hard, but I’m past him now. There’s nothing between me and the cornerstone but empty air.
Keep Holden away!Rhiannon commands.
I keep my eyes ahead, refusing to check on the chaos behind me.
Wait for the lull. Three... two...
I yank the necklace off, letting the chain coil around my wrist. The crystal sits between my fingers, warm and thrumming with borrowed rhythm.
The surge crests, then peaks.
NOW.
I press the crystal against the prism’s surface.
There’s a tsunami of light.
Pure, blinding white sears through my closed eyelids and burns afterimages into my brain. A sound like the crystal is singing — high-pitched and close — drills into my skull.
Everything happens in slow motion. Cracks spider-web across the translucent surface like ice breaking under too much weight. The thread of light from Haron’s charm skates along each fissure, widening them, forcing them apart. The ward fractures.
But the energy finds nowhere else to go.
So, it floods into me.
My arm goes numb from my fingertips to my shoulder. There are no pins and needles. All feeling is justgone, like someone flipped a switch and disconnected the limb from my nervous system. Pain erupts behind my eyes, sharp and bright, and warmth trickles from my nose.
The taste of copper floods my tongue. My ears ring.
This is what happens when human tissue conducts magic it wasn’t built to hold.
My knees buckle. The world tilts sideways. Stone rushes up to meet me, and I barely get my hands out in time to catch myself. My palms scrape against the frost-slicked floor, and the impact sends shockwaves up my lifeless arm.
