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We load onto the elevator, a tight fit with two hospital beds between us. My heart pounds as we begin to ascend. What’s happened to Ryder? And what lies in wait for us above?
“We have several advantages,” I say, mostly to comfort myself, but for Tamsin’s benefit, too. “They don’t know the men they sent failed. They also don’t know your collar is broken. And they don’t know that we’ve teamed up.”
“You’re an amazing friend to Luciana,” Tamsin says, and her voice breaks on her sister’s name. “I’m glad someone was there for her when I wasn’t.”
“Hey.” I reach out and place a hand on her shoulder. “You’re going to get out of here. And you’re going to find a cure. You two can start over again.”
She draws in a shuddering breath and lets it out again. “Thanks, Ven.”
We reach the top and the elevator grinds to a halt. I feel like my chest is going to explode as the doors slide open.
The hallway is empty.
We peer out the doors and see no one. Tamsin goes first, wheeling her bed before her. Once we’re both out of the elevator, she picks up a jog. Not a full-on run that’s going to make a lot of sound, but enough speed to make good time. Because time is something we have precious little of.
I expect at any moment for someone to step out into the intersection of the hallways ahead and block our way. But it remains clear. Tamsin doesn’t slow at all as we cross the other hallway. I dart a glance to either side as we pass through. I know one way leads to the garbage disposal, but the other I don’t know. It’s the unknown.
The length of the hall on the other side of the intersection is much shorter, since it’s the part of the lab that’s not burrowed deep into the mountain. Before long, I see a large room ahead with a bank of windows. One of the aerial cable cars is docked up against it. I don’t see anyone there. Surely it can’t be this easy…
A horned demon steps out of the control room, blocking our path. He narrows his red eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. Then he lifts his snout and sniffs the air.
“I can smell your fear,” he growls. “And also…” He smiles and locks eyes with me. “Someone has a hex problem.”
His eyes dart to my leg, the one that got caught in the forcefield, and he raises a clawed hand and curls his fingers inward into a fist. A feeling like lava shoots up my leg and I scream. I remember being tied to the stake by the witch hunter, the flames licking my skin, hungry. It feels a hundred times worse now. I fall to the ground, pulling my suit all the way down, wiggling free from it.
The black vines have crawled to my thigh. And they’re pulsating a bright orange.
Two things happen almost simultaneously. First, I see a spear of glowing green light pierce the demon through his heart. And second, Tamsin stabs me with one of the needles.
Sparks fly before my eyes, and I’m fairly certain it’s because I’m dying. I’m burning, that much is certain. Burning like thousands of witches before me, burning like I almost burned in that cave outside Raven’s Roost. Except this time, I’m burning from a hex. It seems I can’t avoid my fate no matter how hard I try.
My body convulses and I feel my heart stop.
Then something hits me, hard, right in the chest. A second time, with magic.
My heart restarts and I gasp air into my lungs. The burning is gone. Looking at my leg, the vines are gone, too.
“What did you do?” I ask Tamsin.
“The hex was demonic. The neutralizer is for demonic energies. It seemed logical.” She shrugs but looks relieved. “Since you weren’t full demon yet, it seems to have been more effective than it is on these guys.” She nods toward Luciana and the others.
I guess doctors have to make life and death decisions every day. It paid off, so I’m not going to be mad she took a gamble. These aren’t exactly ordinary circumstances.
I shake my head. “And what the hell was that green spear… did you do that, or was I hallucinating?”
She flinches. “A family spell. From my Scottish side. It’s called a ghost spear. All of the witches and warlocks in our coven can summon them.”
“You’re going to have to tell me more about all of this later,” I say. “And why you gave up such wicked cool magic.”
“Deal.” She smiles and helps me to my feet.
A quick look at the hall behind us tells me the coast is still clear. We wheel the hospital carts to the cable car. The doors to the car open, and Tamsin pulls the bed with Luciana into it, while I shove in the second bed. When they’re all inside, I stop and look down the hall behind me again.
“You’re not coming with me, are you?” she asks with a frown.
I shake my head. “I can’t leave Ryder.”
A storm of emotions moves through me. It’s more than just a sense of honor and not abandoning a partner. The idea that he isn’t okay is driving a spike of terror through my insides. The idea that I might not have a chance to tell him how I feel. How his magic spoke to mine in a way that I’ve never experienced before.
