by Linsey Hall
“’Course not,” I said.
Bree peeled away, and we dropped the rest off. We were close enough now that our fighters split off, headed for the back of the army.
“See you later!” Del shouted from the back of the buggy. She jumped off, her form turning transparent blue as she became half Phantom.
She was the only one of her kind, and damned if she wasn’t a sight to behold. She sprinted into the middle of the mercenary army, her sword flying. Nothing could hurt her while she was in her Phantom form, and she’d turn corporeal just long enough for her sword to turn to steel so she cut could off an enemy head. It was a terrifying dance.
Ares kissed Nix, then jumped off next, the vampire hybrid so fast that he almost disappeared as he raced toward the opposing forces.
Ali and Haris jumped off as well, racing toward the closest mercenaries. The djinns disappeared right into the mercenaries, who immediately started to fight each other to the death.
Lachlan turned to me. “I’ve got to go. Be careful.”
I pressed a hard, fast kiss to his lips. “I will. You too.”
He jumped off the buggy and shifted into his lion form, then roared as he thundered toward the opposing forces.
Connor joined me on the front platform, while Claire stayed in the middle.
That left us with Rowan behind the wheel and Caro and Nix on the back platform.
“Let’s kick demon ass!” Caro shouted.
I grinned.
In the sky, Bree shot her lightning, while the two griffons swooped and dived, taking out four demons at a time as they plowed through the opposing forces. Roarke was just as deadly, his huge wings carrying him down toward the army as his sword glinted in the sunlight. The rest of our friends fought with sword and bow, fire and ice. Magic flew through the air.
I looked for the Fates but couldn’t find them. Nor could I feel them. Where were they? At the front?
My eye zeroed in on the massive shape that lumbered along at the front of the pack. It looked like an elephant, but dark magic swirled around it, smelling of rotten fruit and decay. It was some kind of creature built of dark magic—not a living creature at all. It picked up speed as it plowed toward the main gate on the external wall.
It wasn’t far off, either.
Four demons rode on top of it, directing it toward its target.
I pointed toward it. “We’ve got to take it out before it breaks down the wall!”
“Hold on!” Rowan shouted as she pressed her foot on the gas. The buggy jumped forward, and the wind tore at my hair.
This was exactly what I liked.
I whooped as we raced forward, catching sight of Princess Snowflake III and Bojangles racing toward the army from the left. Bojangles disappeared, and I pitied the demons that he latched onto. Muffin was nowhere to be seen.
We were close enough to the dark magic beast to launch an attack. I called upon my fire magic, shooting a bolt straight at the creature. It slammed into his side, but he didn’t move. I tried again.
No luck.
I sent the next bolt at the demon who rode on the front of the monster. It slammed into him, throwing him off. He was swallowed by the foot soldiers below. Caro shot a jet of water and blasted another demon off, while Connor took out the last two with his potion bombs.
“We need to get closer to get the creature!” I shouted.
Rowan steered the buggy closer. Several mercenaries caught sight of us and veered off, ready to attack. One shot a bolt of green light at us, but Rowan dodged, swerving the vehicle left. The next leapt up with his sword, determined to board.
Claire met him head-on, swinging her blade like the pro she was. She took off his head in one swoop.
Lightning peppered the air from Bree in the sky, taking out demon after demon, while my friends launched land attacks from all sides. We’d taken out half their forces already, but they were so close to the first gate. With that magical elephant plowing along, they were going to breach it.
Then there were only two more walls left.
I directed another blast of fire at the elephant, but it was deflected by the monster’s thick hide. Whatever dark magic had created this battering ram of a beast, it was strong. Caro tried another jet of water, this one moving as fast as a bullet.
It, too, bounced off the elephant, and I cursed. Connor tried his potion bombs, but to no avail.
The elephant was nearly there!
I tried calling upon my earth magic, heaving the ground in front of the monster upward. It worked, the ground rising up, but the creature kept running, stumbling over the earth like it was some kind of ramp.
It charged faster, flying off the ramp and into the gate, breaking it.
Shit.
The mercenaries plowed through, into the first ring of land. It was only fifty yards wide. We’d have to stop them before they breached the second gate, which was manned by four Celtic warriors.
Because the Oppidum and the walls were built on a hill, I could see what was happening inside the first ring even though I wasn’t in there yet.
The guards on the wall shouted and shot blasts of fire at the oncoming demons, taking out some of them, but there were too many. Our forces had to make it past the wall.
“Clear the way with the buggy!” I shouted.
Rowan jerked the wheel right, plowing into the enemy fighters. We’d run them over, making a clear path for our friends to follow. The massive metal spikes on the sides of the buggy were painted with Ravener poison. Wherever it hit the demons, they froze and fell, the poison deadly.
But there were so many Fomori. The whole place stank of rotten fish and dark magic. They turned and jumped, trying to climb the front of the buggy. I drew my sword and fought them off, side by side with Claire.
When a massive boulder flew in front of the buggy and smashed away most of the demons, I grinned. Another came, flying from the same side and clearing more of the way.
I looked back, catching sight of Lavender, hurling boulders at our enemies, making a path.
“Connor!” Nix shouted from the back platform. “Come help me! I’ve got an idea!”
Connor climbed back, scrambling over the seats as Rowan kept driving toward the gap in the wall, clearing a path with the buggy.
In the back, Nix’s magic swelled on the air. I peeked, catching sight of a massive metal ball attached to chain. She and Connor hooked it off to the back platform and chucked it overboard. The ball bounced in the dirt, slamming into the demons who were closing in behind us.
“Swerve the buggy!” Nix shouted.
Rowan whooped and did as she said, jerking the wheel left and right. The iron ball hanging off the back began to swing wildly, slamming into demons and taking them out.
We cleared a path, and our fellow fighters fell in.
I still couldn’t find the Fates, or Muffin. Where the heck were they? The Fates wouldn’t miss their own battle. And Muffin wouldn’t want to miss any battle.
Rowan drove the buggy through the gap in the wall, and I zeroed in on the monster who was racing toward the next gate. He was almost there.
I called upon the earth, making it heave upward, but I was too late. The monster plowed on, breaking through the second wall.
Only one left.
“Faster!” I screamed.
With fewer Fomori in our way, we sped across the hill, climbing upward to the second wall and the gap that the monster had made.
As soon as we drove through, I gave it everything I had, calling upon the earth and commanding it to my will. The ground rose up in front of the monster, a wall of dirt that crashed down on it, sending it rolling backward down the hill.
Rowan swerved right, avoiding the tumbling creature, and the metal ball hanging off the back swung wildly outward, wiping out a few demons in the process. I turned to watch the monster’s backward progress.
Lachlan leapt through the gate, his massive lion form even more terrifying in battle. He leapt onto the elephant, and the
griffons joined him.
They tore at the creature, and it burst into a cloud of black dust, the magic dissipating. All around, the battle was fading. Celtic warriors who had guarded the last wall had joined the fray, but most of the battle was over.
My army—my friends—were taking care of the last of the figures.
But the Fates were still nowhere to be seen.
A shiver raced over my spine.
Something was wrong.
In the distance, a tiny shape flew toward me. I squinted.
“Muffin!”
He hurtled toward me, green eyes wide. Boris rode on his back, the little rat waving his tiny arms and squeaking like mad.
“Oh, shit. Something is wrong,” Claire said.
Muffin slowed as he neared me, his face wrinkled up with worry. Boris squeaked like his tail was on fire.
Muffin meowed. Fates invaded from the back of the village. Snuck in with help while everyone was distracted. In the potion master’s house. Go!
16
Panicked, I turned back. “Rowan, drive for the main gates! Fates attacking from the back of the village!”
Rowan pressed on the gas, and the buggy jumped for the last gate.
I waved at the people standing on the wall and screamed, “Let us in! Attack from behind!”
“What? Battle is still going!” An old druid shouted.
Holy crap, was he for real?
I looked for my mother but couldn’t see her. “I’m on your side. Come on! Open the gates.”
“What?” he shouted.
He couldn’t hear me.
They couldn’t hear me. Not through the shouts and screams, the clashing of swords.
I turned back to Rowan. “Can you ram it?”
“I can try. Bail out, though. You got no seatbelts.”
“Safety first.” I jumped off the buggy, followed by Claire, Connor, and Nix, who took a moment to unlatch the metal chain and ball.
I caught Rowan’s eye. “Be careful.”
She nodded, then turned forward, a determined glint in her eyes. She pressed the gas, and the buggy revved forward, crashing into the wooden gate and slamming through. I saw her jerk forward, her body stopped by the racing-grade safety harness.
A low growl sounded from my side, and I turned. Lachlan stood next to me. I jumped onto his back, and he plowed forward, then jumped through a hole in the fence.
“Wait for me!” Rowan sounded so pissed and determined that Lachlan stopped, waiting.
She scrambled on behind me, grabbing onto my waist.
“Go!” I shouted.
Lachlan leapt forward, sprinting through the village toward the back. Muffin and Boris flew ahead of us, leading the charge. Thank fates for Muffin, finding the Fates.
We sped past shocked faces, but in the air above, I spotted Bree. She hadn’t let us out of her line of sight, and now she was backup.
At the far end of the village, we found the potion maker’s house. It sat right up against the wall, in a remote corner of town.
They must still be in there! Muffin meowed. Doing something!
Boris screeched his rage. Something was really pissing off that rat.
A half second later, a crazy old crone lunged out of the house, her wild hair askew. A total rat’s nest. Boris started to squeak even louder.
Her eyes widened and she hissed. “Boris!”
I swore Boris screeched, You bitch!
Yeah, there was history there. And this must have been the contact who had helped the Fates sneak in. Whatever they’d wanted in the potion master’s house, they’d had plenty of time to find it, what with everyone being distracted by the massive attack from the other side of town.
Then the Fates came out, the three shadowy figures looking almost human again, if you ignored the shadowy gray skin and semi-transparent figures.
They had no thread or scissors with them, like the traditional Fates, and were still dressed in their military garb. Something had changed for them, that was for sure. They were playing a different game than they ever had before.
A vision flashed in my mind, so fierce and strong that I couldn’t stop it.
My druid sense going wild?
But one of the Fates was looking at me, her eyes burning into mine.
They had lost their thread and scissors. Or someone had taken it away from them. Yes, that was it. I could see it in my mind’s eye. It had happened long ago, when they were still old crones dressed in their feminine Roman garb. They lost their power over life and death. Their only power.
They hated that.
They wanted to fix it.
So they were.
Right now.
“Ana!” Rowan shouted.
I snapped back to reality, blinking.
The Fates were trapped between us and the building, with the exterior wall at their backs. And damned if they didn’t want to escape. It vibrated off of them. The one on the left, the tallest one, had something clutched in her hands.
She couldn’t have it.
I called upon my magic, blasting them with flame. It plowed through them, not having any effect.
Bree shot her lightning, but it did no good either.
At my side, Lachlan shifted back to his human form. He called upon the earth, making it rise up. I joined him, adding my magic to his. It slammed into the Fates, and they stumbled back.
Then their magic burst forward, that same terrible sonic boom that had slammed into me before, back in Italy. It tore through my middle, making my organs vibrate. I spun head over heels, tumbling backward, Lachlan at my side. He must have been hit, too.
I slammed into the ground, blinking.
Get up! Muffin screeched.
I heaved myself up, catching sight of the old crone running away. She wasn’t my problem.
It was the other two Fates who were running that made my heart thud. The one with the package was already ten feet away. Fifteen.
A scream sounded from the other side.
Your sister! Muffin shrieked.
His tone made a cold shiver run over me.
I turned.
Somehow, Rowan had missed their sonic boom and grabbed ahold of one of the fates, determined to stop her. And instead of blasting her backward, the Fate had grabbed onto her, too, squeezing around her neck.
Rowan kicked and thrashed, trying to break free. She was gasping raggedly, clearly still unable to breathe.
Her face was turning a dark gray. The Fate was killing her. Whatever dark magic she was using was sucking the life right out of Rowan.
Two of the Fates were getting away—with whatever they’d come here for—but there was no choice here.
I raced for Rowan.
Behind me, Lachlan thundered toward the Fates, charging after them. Please catch them.
I reached for the Fate who had Rowan, but as soon as my hands hit her, darkness seeped into me. Sickness and death and misery.
I stumbled back, my mind alight.
This was the opposite of me. The opposite of my light magic.
It was so obvious I wanted to cry with joy, but instead, I called on the last of my magic. So much of it was gone, used up in all the fighting we’d been doing. But there was enough. There had to be.
Lightning struck in the background, no doubt from Bree as she tried to stop the other Fates, but I had eyes only for Rowan, who was turning a darker gray every moment.
I let my magic fill me, remembering Sulis. The light burst out of me, so bright it was blinding. It slammed into the Fate, who shrieked and fell backward.
I hit her harder, giving it everything I had. Pouring all the goodness and light and hope into her. She screamed again, then disappeared in a poof of dust.
I stumbled. The light faded.
Rowan gasped, and I ran to her. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her color returning, and her gaze darted around me, toward where the Fates had run.
They were gone, disappeared through a back gate. In the sky, Bre
e screamed, a sound so frustrated, I’d never heard anything like it.
“They got away,” I said.
Rowan coughed. “Clearly. Bree sounds pissed.”
I hugged her. “Are you really okay?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was scratchy. “Thought I was a goner for a moment, but I’m fine.”
I pulled back and inspected her. She really did look okay. Pale and miserable, but whole and no longer gray. At her side, a pile of dust sat on the ground.
I nudged it with my foot. “I think I killed one.”
“Yeah, she sure didn’t like your light power.”
“Good job, grabbing her.”
“Their boom missed me. I thought I was helping.” Distress gleamed in her eyes. “You could have gone after the one with the package if not for me.”
“No way to know how it would have gone down,” I said. “We did our best.”
We did our best worked better for kindergartners who were trying to build a sand castle that kept falling down, but I was going to cling to it. And to our victory. I wanted to get back to the main part of the village and check on our forces. Our mother.
I prayed there were no fatalities.
Muffin fluttered next to me, an angry-looking Boris riding on his back.
“What’s his deal?” I asked.
The crone was his old master. He’s not a fan.
“We’ll stop her,” I said.
Bree flew overhead and landed next to me. “Lost them. They made it outside the gates to where a portal was waiting. Lachlan tried to grab them but couldn’t. They were too fast.”
Lachlan padded up to me in his lion form, his big brow creased, frustration evident. He shifted back to human. “I’m sorry I missed them.”
I squeezed his arm. “You’ll get another chance. There’s no way this is over. Not yet.”
After the battle—during which we experienced some horrible injuries but no casualties, thank fates—the reunion with my mother and sisters was pretty much the best moment of my life.
The surprise and joy on their faces was something I’d never forget. Jude had taken a moment to update me on our status and to tell me I’d done a good job, but then she’d left me with my family.