A surge of sparks crackle through the air. Byron sucks in his breath as if startled—and lightning roars down from the sky.
That first strike will catch Cole’s attention, let him know it’s time to call in the troops.
It should also let anyone watching Ross and Jovak’s progress know something’s gone very wrong with their plans.
Byron could have reined in the power of his glim with just that. We have plenty of other strategies at our disposal.
But Ross gives a cry and hurtles toward us with his jagged blade aimed at my throat.
I don’t know how much thought Byron puts into the next surge of his glim. He has more control now than when we really did first awaken it, but maybe he’s acting more on instinct than anything else, seeing me in danger.
Another streak of lightning careens down from above and smacks straight into the top of the captain’s head.
Ross’s body spasms and crumples. The dagger drops from his fingers.
He slumps over on the grass, limp as a sack of laundry.
Nothing’s left of his face but a blackened wreckage. If you can even call it a face anymore.
As I stare at the charred remains, Salvatore drops down at my other side.
He acts his part well for the benefit of anyone who might be watching. “I just felt—holy fuck! You’re my match.”
“She’smymatch,” Byron snaps back with another crackle of electricity through the branches overhead, maybe not entirely feigning his possessiveness either.
Salvatore yanks at his glove as if to confirm the bond mark is there. I tug off my own, stare at my palm, and then grasp his hand as if without thinking.
Just in time. A wave of magic crashes into the shields we’ve all wrapped around our huddle, potent enough even with the protection to set my teeth jamming against each other and all my nerves jangling.
Salvatore whips his arm out, and a wall surges up from the ground around a form who was invisible until thatmoment. With a pained gasp, Professor Jovak snaps into view with the cracking of his concealment spell.
His eyes narrow with concentration, but Salvatore heaves the makeshift prison all around the professor, pinning him up to his chin.
Byron whips out a lash of magic of his own. Jovak’s eyes roll up and then dim. His head sags, unconscious, against the structure now holding his body in place.
Byron’s gaze flicks to me. “I figured it was better not to fry him so the police can find out what he has to say for himself.”
His mouth twists with a hint of regret. We hadn’t planned on him fryinganyonetonight, but Captain Ross was coming at me so quickly.
Salvatore heaves to his feet with a beckoning gesture. “We’re not done here.”
No, we’re not. Before the police arrive, we need to make sure the woman who prodded Jovak down this path realizes she should step in.
Or, rather, the men beside me need to. My glim won’t make the right kind of spectacle.
Lightning blazes across the darkened sky, overwhelming the paler shine of the moon. Clumps of material stream out of the earth to merge into a spiral staircase that soars up higher and higher until it’s twice as tall as the neighboring trees.
Salvatore keeps a defensive stance, glancing around in search of a new threat. But the next sound we hear reverberates from somewhere far beyond our view.
A shriek pierces the night, followed by a pained cry. A panicked shout travels from somewhere farther to the left.
Something like a snarl filters through the sounds of human distress.
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I scramble to my feet, swiping at the blood drying on myneck with one hand while I grope for my flashlight with the other.
Where did it end up? I can’t even see its glow anymore.
The underbrush rasps, and Asher bursts into our small clearing. A tear has left the sleeve of his sweatshirt gaping over a red-streaked cut.
