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The whole thing looked like the origin point.
No wonder nobody had gotten out.
A human word, savage and angry. Another incantation, strong enough to raise Pritkin’s limp body half a foot off the floor, to outline it in pale blue fire. And then another expletive, because that hadn’t worked, either.
“Caleb—” I breathed.
“A major curse,” Casanova muttered. “I saw it land—”
“Caleb!”
“He isn’t responding.” Caleb looked up, eyes dark with the same emotions flooding through me.
“Then try something else!”
“I’ve already put enough magic through him to lift a dozen curses!”
“Cassie?”
I looked up, and realized I’d missed Jonas’ answer. And based on his expression, whatever question he had asked after. “What?”
“Leave her alone! Can’t you see she needs to rest?” Rhea, I thought vaguely, seemed to have come out of her shell. Her eyes were snapping at Jonas as she handed me some coffee. I guess she’d figured out how to use the pods. Not too surprising; she looked completely unlike the frightened girl I’d come across in the kitchen.
“She will,” Jonas said calmly. “But first I must know.”
“Know . . . what?” I asked. My lips felt numb.
They were bringing out smaller body bags now, ridiculously small. They couldn’t have belonged to initiates. They looked like they’d barely fit a child of five.
“The nursery,” Rhea snarled, and okay. Timid girl was definitely MIA. She was gripping the mug so tightly I was afraid she was going to break it and spill scalding coffee all over herself. It didn’t look like she’d have cared. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a purer form of hate on any face.
Well, maybe one.
“Where do you think you’re taking him?”
“Away from you!” Rosier snarled, his face white with grief. If I’d ever wondered if he loved his son, I didn’t now. “Away from you, where he should have stayed!”
“Cassie!” Jonas’ voice had sharpened. “I really must know if you’ve seen anything, anything at all, that might help us.”
“About this?” I shook my head. “No—”
“Not about this. About Ares.”
“What?” I looked up, confused, and
tried to remember what we’d been talking about. But it didn’t matter, since the answer was the same. “I haven’t had a vision about anything.”
“Even in the tarot?”
“No. That is, the Star card showed up, but . . .”
“But . . . ?”
“It lied.”
“How can this be the will of the council?” Caleb demanded. “Did you hear nothing Artemis said?”
But the council was already leaving, the guards holding us back. They did not explain themselves to mere mortals. They’d killed him, and they wouldn’t even tell us why.
