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Even across that distance, I felt those fathomless black eyes fix on the jeep. The erratic pulse of the energy warbled faster, making my skin twitch. For an instant, I was frozen, my lungs not even able to expand to draw breath. The flare of my spark inside my chest dulled.
I didn’t have the power in me to turn back that thing. Not right now, not on my own.
As that realization washed over me, the demon shifted its gaze again. I couldn’t tell whether it had understood what the jeep was or that there were living people in it, but at the moment it didn’t appear to care.
How long would this respite last? I swallowed hard, pushing myself straighter in the seat.
Every second that monster was still moving around freely out here, more people could die. More of our world was rotting in its wake. I might not be able to take it on now, but I’d find a way. I’d push it back into that portal or kill it and see the gate into their world sealed, no matter what I had to do.
There were no other options. Even if the man beside me and too many of his colleagues didn’t see me as anything more than a miscreant.
“All right,” I said, my nerves still jittering. “I’ve made my observations. Now let’s head back and get that plan of action figured out before that thing gets any farther.”
Chapter Four
Rose
By the time the jeep pulled up in front of the Assembly building, my stomach had just about settled. My thoughts were still spinning. How could we overcome the demon when so little of our magic could affect it? There had to be some kind of answer in the Frankfords’ files. I knew Kyler and at least a couple of my other consorts were pouring over them again alongside the Assembly officials, but I figured I’d better add to those efforts.
When I stepped into the front hall, though, Gabriel and Seth were waiting for me. “Hey,” Gabriel said, studying me. “How was it?”
I couldn’t suppress the shudder that rippled through me. “Not good,” I said, which was about as optimistic as I could manage to be. “It’s killed people. It’s destroying the land it crosses. We can’t let it keep going.”
“We won’t,” Seth said firmly. “It’s just one demon. There are a whole lot of witches. We’ll stop it.”
“Yeah,” I said, but just for a second all the bravado I’d been trying to hold onto fled. I stepped forward, reaching for both of my consorts, and they enveloped me in a joint hug. Their muscular frames, Seth’s more broad and Gabriel’s leaner, encircled me, and their combined scents—sweet and dark, warm and bronzy—filled my lungs.
What I’d said to Brimsey in the jeep was true. Ineededthese guys, for far more than to keep my spark lit. They steadied me.
They gave me all the reason I could ever require to fight my heart out.
Brimsey sighed as he stalked off, and I decided it was probably best to refrain from any overt PDAs here in the Assembly’s office building. We were supposed to be here for business, after all. They’d take me and my consorts more seriously if we kept a somewhat professional attitude.
“Lady Ainsworth—Thalia—wanted you to come see her in the rooms where the recovering witches are staying,” Gabriel said as he eased back. “The Assembly people brought in a few more of them this morning. She sounded like it was urgent—she was hoping to talk to you as soon as you got back.”
My heart skipped a beat. Had something happened with the newly freed witches that Thalia didn’t feel comfortable discussing with the Assembly? I could imagine they wouldn’t be in a hurry to trust any of the officials when several of the members of the Frankfords’ faction, including Charles Frankford, had been officials themselves.
“I’ll go right now,” I said. “Did she mention anything else?”
He shook his head and hesitated. “We’ll come with you, if you think it’d be for the best.”
“If our being there isn’t going to upset anyone,” Seth added. “Jin went by and did up protective tokens for the new arrivals, but he said some of them looked really shell-shocked.”
“Why don’t you come along and we’ll see how it goes,” I said. Gabriel’s easy-going charm and Seth’s stoic determination might be as comforting to the witches as Jin’s playful good humor had been. “We still don’t know everything they’ve been through. We’ll just have to approach things cautiously.”
Gabriel nodded. “If you think it’s better for us to leave, just give the word.”
We found Thalia in the same lounge room where I’d met with the first few recovering witches earlier. Nine of them were now sitting on the couches and chairs around the room, talking in hushed voices, their hands moving with nervous twitches. Thalia hurried to the doorway to meet us and ushered us back into the hall.
“What’s the matter?” I said. “Is everyone okay?”
She gave me a tight smile. “As okay as they can be, after everything.” Her own eyes were shining brighter than before, even more color back in her cheeks as her own recovery progressed. I could only imagine how much weight had been lifted off her with the removal of the spell that had kept her silent for so many years. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, though. I’ve been speaking with all of them as they’ve come in… They all understand the threat we’re facing. And most of us agree that we have to do everything we can to defend against that fiend.”
My gaze slid past her to the room behind her. “Of course. I mean, any information they can give that might be helpful, tactics we could use—as long as it doesn’t strain them too much to talk about it. I know none of this has been easy for any of you.”
“That’s where I thought perhaps you could help,” Thalia said. “We’d like to do even more than that if we can. At least a few of us would be willing to face those things again if it means we never have to fear them after that. But wanting to and being able to find the strength to… are not quite the same things. Your mind is clearer. Your magic hasn’t been twisted the same way. And it’s hard for us to turn to anyone in the Assembly in good faith. I’d like you to try guiding us through some joint healing exercises.”
I balked instinctively. “I don’t have that much practice at healing. I don’t have that much practice atanythingmagical, really. I only came into my spark a few months ago.”
