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The ground shakes and rumbles as a crack forms in the shape of a cross. Fingers, bony and stained, reach through, the dark nails catching the firelight. An arm follows, then a shoulder, a head, a torso. With slithering inevitability, a form emerges from the dirt, a woman with dark hair and a dark cloak, the similarities to Dinah uncanny.
Only her eyes glow a deep, frightening red.
If Elara had more strength she’d be shaking with terror being so close to a witch who could destroy her with one look. Samara straightens, angles her head as if stretching her neck, then smiles. The red in her eyes slowly fades away until they’re green and focused, though still unnatural somehow. This woman bleeds evil with every movement she makes. What has she done to be surrounded by so much darkness?
Dinah and Samara clasp together in an embrace deserving a long-lost mother. Elara collapses onto all fours as she’s released. She needs to get up. She had to get to Kade. But she’s far too weak. Her arms tremble just trying to keep her head up.
As Samara withdraws from the hug, her eyes turn to Elara and her lip curls in a sneer. "An evolved wolf. An abomination."
She extends her hand, her raspy voice like nails on a chalkboard as magic crackles between fingers.
Dinah pushes her mother’s hand back down. "No, Mother. We need her.” She grins. “For now.”
Chad hauls Elara off the ground to present her to Samara, or maybe to put her back with the others against the cave wall, but Elara catches the nearly imperceptible nod from Dinah.
It's time.
Please, please let this work, she begs silently as she reaches for a small dagger hidden in the waistband of Kade’s sweatpants. It's been there since Dinah spoke to her in the clearing.
The memory replays in Elara's mind as she lunges for her target, swift as the wind during the worst of storms.
Dinah warned her there was no way to stop Samara from being resurrected. The shifters had too many backup plans, and Ebony had been too powerful.
They had to be tricked.
So Dinah lied about the talisman being of the same element as Excalibur. She cursed it, then planted it. That’s what killed Ebony.
Elara’s role would be to channel the replica of Excalibur. Although it wouldn’t work in the same way as the real sword, it could tear the veil between worlds. It would just be…painful.
And Kade couldn’t know. There’s no way he would’ve agreed to something so risky.
With a cry, Elara drives the dagger straight into Chad's throat, plunging deep. She has to make a killing blow. She can’t think about the moral implications now. The shifters need to be stopped.
As Chad falls with a gurgle and a thud, Samara's anger flares. Lightning crackles between her hands as her eyes flare red once more.
“No!” Kade cries.
Samara lurches forward, only to be blocked by Dinah. She claps a chain onto Samara’s hand, one that instantly mutes her magic.
Samara spins to her daughter. “What is the meaning of this?”
Dinah ignores her, smiling as she turns toward the shifters. “I’d suggest you run.”
Chaos breaks out as the shifters flee. Some run, others morph to bats and rats again, all pouring from the cave and away from the surprising loss. They leave their fallen leaders without a backward glance.
"What do we do with her now?" Elara asks as she weakly pulls herself back up to a standing position, glancing at Samara.
Kade rushes to her side, supporting her. She leans against him, just his presence soothing her battered spirit.
Dinah shrugs. "Torture is the best way forward, if you ask me. The bitch really deserves it. Trust me, I’d know."
26
Kade
Kade doesn’t leave Elara’s side as Dinah leads them to the western edge of Mercy City. She claims she has a property waiting for them that will contain Samara. He watches the witch with wary unease.
Dinah saved their lives.
