His blue eyes swirled with emotion as a pulse throbbed in his neck.
“Cricket, I--”
“If I have to bury my baby girl because of something I did, I might as well be dead. Please, Patrick. I can go in with my mind clear if I know your primary goal is to get Lizzie out in one piece.”
His jaw clenched and he nodded. “It’s not going to come to that. We’re all walking out of here tonight, together.” I opened my mouth to press but he held up a hand. “But if it does, you have my word. I’ll get her out.”
I released the breath that had been trapped in my chest. It was the same hushed conversation I’d had with each member of my extended coven at various points as we prepared and then drove to the abandoned factory. And each of them had agreed.
Which meant that I could focus on one thing and one thing only.
Defeating Verbena in hopes of saving the rest of the people I loved, and saving future covens from her reign of terror.
“She knows we’re here,” Connie murmured as she moved closer to where Patrick and I stood, a few yards from where we’d parked Trudy’s van.
“Yup,” I agreed grimly. There was no world in which we got the drop on a witch as powerful as Verbena. She was going to be waiting and prepped for battle. I just had to hope we could use the few surprises we did have to our advantage.
Mee-maw, Zoe, and Trudy all came forward and we formed a loose circle.
Trudy cleared her throat. “Whatever happens, know that I wouldn’t change a thing. Even if I could go back to before I knew you, and what I know now?” She shook her head. “Nope. This has been the honor of my life to stand by you all.”
I smiled at her, but before I could reply, the wind began to howl hard enough to shake the trees around us.
I turned toward the abandoned Glassman building that had been cloaked in darkness, and realized it was now bathed in an unearthly, green glow. Like the world’s creepiest traffic light, beckoning us forward.
I did my best to ignore the horrible memories from the last time I’d been inside, but the sensation of a noose around my neck was almost palpable, and I reached a hand to my throat.
“Oh yeah. She’s waiting,” I muttered.
I took a few tentative steps forward and the others followed suit until we reached the front door. No point sneaking in through the back when she’d all but rolled out the red carpet for our arrival already.
I reached for the handle but it swung open before I could even touch it.
“So you’ve decided to bring the whole cavalry along and go down with a fight, I see,” Verbena’s disembodied voice said, reverberating through my body like a vibration. “Admirable, but foolish. I’d hoped to spare you all the pain of a gruesome death. But this is fine, too. Come on, then.”
I stepped gingerly forward, waving the others to file in behind me, one by one. Each of us faltered over the threshold for an instant as the overwhelming level of magical energy permeated every inch of wall and floor around us.
Her raw power chilled me to the core, and I had to swallow back a rush of bile burning the back of my throat.
You can do this. They’re all counting on you. Including Lizzie.
A light overhead flickered and then burned brightly as the ambient sounds around us went dead quiet. An instant later, it was sheer pandemonium. The eardrum-shattering sound of metal squealing against metal as the concrete walls around us began to crack and buckle, the steel support beams curling inward like they were made of aluminum foil.
A steely calm settled over me as I leapt into action.
“Move!” I shouted, waving the others forward as I pressed my magic against Verbena’s, resisting the force pushing the walls inward with everything I had.
She would injure us without a second thought, but we’d already decided to bank on the fact that Verbena wouldn’t try to kill us witches outright in battle. Not when she had a chance to get control of all three of our items if she waited until she could separate us from them. She wasn’t going to bring this whole part of the building down on us all. This was a show of power, meant to instill fear.
For a few seconds, I was able to hold the walls together by sheer force of will, but my resistance was short-lived. The lights flickered and died around us, and there was a massive surge of power.
“Cover your heads, it’s coming down!” I shouted, pulling my energy from the walls and sending it above our heads, like a magical umbrella.
I’d barely gotten the words out when the walls gave a final, eardrum-splitting screech and shattered, the concrete crumbling into dust as the supports gave out completely.
Dust and loose sheetrock pelted my head and hands but by the time the dust around me settled enough to see, I found that our little crew was shaken but largely unharmed.
“Let’s keep moving,” Zoe murmured, her eyes glinting in the dim light as she swiped the grime from her face. “I can’t wait to get a piece of this witch.”
I nodded, looking around to find that, now that the inner walls were gone, most of the massive factory floor space was open and in view, but the outside walls still seemed to be intact. The only light source? The sickly green, yet incredibly bright, glow of Verbena’s magic, which was coming from straight ahead, her dark form just in view at the center of it. She wore a black, floor-length dress that seemed to whirl and spin as the magic moved and writhed about her.
“Nice outfit,” I called, pleased to hear my voice was even and steady. “A little showy for my taste, but I guess if you need the attention…”
“I don’t need a pretty dress to get attention. Just ask Phil,” Verbena said with a smile.
Zoe stiffened as she pulled up beside me, but I grabbed her arm to silence her.
“This is what she wants. To get us angry and afraid and upset so that we act irrationally and make mistakes. Don’t let her bait you.”
The structure began to shake and rattle again and I was terrified that the ceiling would collapse. Even the walls themselves seemed to glow with her energy, as if the entire building was being held together by her magic alone.
Verbena turned toward us, the bright light of her energy pulsating as she spoke. “Do you fully understand the difference between us now, little witch?”
“Let me guess,” Mee-maw said, stepping in front of me. “You’re a psycho and she’s not?”
A bolt of light came searing across the room and she sidestepped it, allowing it to hit the door we’d entered through.
“Do you need glasses?” Mee-maw asked, feigning concern. “Or are you just a lousy shot?”
“Grab hands,” Zoe whispered, gripping onto mine from behind. “I’m about to make us even harder to hit.”
The rest of us laced fingers and, almost instantly, Verbena’s distant form began to fuzz and fade.
Invisibility.
Since our connecting at the mausoleum, Zoe had gained the ability to replicate some of her potions’ effects without actually having to brew them. This new power was definitely going to come in handy in this fight. Though the primary purpose of the potions was to make us difficult or impossible to see, the added bonus of almost fading away from this realm would help us remain less detectable to Verbena.
“We don’t have much time, it will wear off quickly. We should reposition so we’re behind her. Maybe we’ll be able to get the jump on her,” Zoe said, fully audible and visible to me, since she was under the effects of the potion, as well. She gestured to the side, toward the large main room that’d once been blocked off by a shattered wall.
“A parlor trick,” Verbena’s voice droned, sounding muffled and distant despite how loud it’d sounded before. Her actions, however, told a different story. A gout of green flame shot from her hand, aimed directly at the area we’d been when going invisible. She scanned the room with annoyance, looking for any trace of us, as she realized her attack hadn’t connected.
I spared a brief glance back, motioning for the others to follow as we charged through the room. Th
e floor that would’ve been beneath our feet was dusted with patches of molten green lava, the entire area a smoking mess. Though it’d been aimed at leg-level and wouldn’t have been enough to kill a witch, it was likely we’d have lost the battle outright if it’d connected directly.
“Cricket, look! Lizzie’s there,” Zoe hissed, grabbing my arm and pointing me to an area toward the south end of the building.
I shook my head as I followed her gaze, my blood beginning to boil with rage as I thought back to the time I’d spent in the same cell.
Verbena must’ve repaired it for the express purpose of keeping her there, just to push my buttons.
“You and Patrick go get her,” I said. “The rest of us will keep her distracted.” Our ability to attack was limited when we were invisible, but we could manage small feats that would at least get her attention.
“Show yourselves, fools,” Verbena called, sounding irritated now. She spun in a slow circle and then paused before beginning to stride confidently in the same direction Zoe and Patrick had just begun moving. “You’ll go for the girl first, won’t you?”
I watched in horror as she lifted her hands toward them, ready to unload.
I bent down and grabbed a hunk of cement, using all my concentration to close my fingers over it. With a Herculean effort, I was able to lift it and hurl it through the air. It landed a good five feet away from its intended target, but it did the job and had her whirling toward me, hands raised.
“Hit the deck,” Mee-maw growled a second before power arced from the witch’s fingertips as she fired a volley of attacks our way.
Connie, Trudy and I dropped to the debris-covered floor, covering our heads with our arms.
The breath was sawing in and out of my lungs as the room went quiet again.
“Hello there, little rabbits,” she whispered.
I let my hands fall to my sides and then used them to push me off the floor, dread closing over me. When I looked up, it was to find Verbena standing just a few feet away. Her waist-length black hair buzzed with magical energy, and she was staring right at us as our invisibility faded.
Her smooth, beautiful face contorted into a wicked grin as she lifted a single finger and crooked it at Connie. She muttered some words under her breath and Connie stood. “Take care of Finneas’s useless spawn and the other non-magic user, won’t you, my dear? I’m going to play with the Crow’s Feet Coven for a while.”
Connie wheeled around, her eyes glazed and wild. A ball of green energy formed in her hand and I barely had time to throw up a makeshift shield in front of Trudy before she shot it in a bolt of green lightning aimed directly at her face. I opened my mouth to scream for the others to run but Patrick’s voice boomed from behind me.
“Cricket, look out!”
I spun just in time to see the steel beams, which had once been used to support the building, snaking their way toward my arms. They curled and twisted as if alive, dancing after me even as I leapt backward.
When I’d put enough distance between them and myself, I spared a quick glance toward the cell and was horrified to find Verbena already there, leaning down to throw Lizzie’s limp form over her shoulder.
How had she gotten there so quickly?
“This should make things a bit more interesting, no?” she called, leaping high into the air and hovering above us on a cloud of magic.
I heard a loud crack to my right and spun back to Connie, who was blasting fireballs and lightning bolts at Trudy in rapid succession, only to have them blocked by a stone-faced Mee-maw and a harried looking Zoe.
“We need to find a way to stop her,” she muttered. “It’s draining my energy fast.”
“Should I use the necklace on her for a second to shake her out of it?” Trudy gasped, her face drained of all color.
“No. We need to save that for Verbena once she’s weakened, and we don’t want to tip our hand. Give me a second to think.”
I turned back toward Verbena as her magical presence grew almost suffocatingly close. I caught sight of her hovering above us, just in time to see her send a bolt of power into the ground before us, sending shockwaves reverberating through the already weakened foundation. I held my position, using every ounce of my focus to temper the force of the blast so it wouldn’t hurt the others.
Connie paused her attack to regroup, and then began gearing up for a second round as Patrick moved closer to her.
“Connie, you do not want to hurt us. You are our ally, not our enemy,” he murmured, his voice so deep and commanding that, despite the fact that he wasn’t directing his ability at me, I could literally feel the magical pull of his words.
“Keep going,” Mee-maw urged as Connie blinked but didn’t lower her hands.
“The Crow’s Feet Coven needs you now,” Patrick pressed on. “You are their Everlasting Conservator, and if we are defeated today, all of your coven’s items will be lost forever. Resist. Resist.”
Connie shook her head furiously and began to shake, but, a moment later, she let out a primal shout and dropped to her knees.
“I’m okay,” she panted. “I’m okay.”
“Thank God,” Zoe sputtered, clearly out of breath.
It was a tiny victory that we didn’t have time to celebrate as Verbena dropped to the ground just yards in front of us.
I tried to detect some sign of life from Lizzie’s motionless body, and relief coursed through me as her foot twitched, filling me with a renewed sense of determination.
We weren’t done yet.
“Impressive,” Verbena said, cocking her head as she continued. “That magic feels familiar… I’ve met your mother, you know. I coveted that bracelet of hers. Shame that she was weak and took her own life before I had the chance.”
“To prevent you and the Organization from having more power to wield against others,” Patrick spat, his face a mask of fury. “Funny you call her weak, when you came cowering back to them like a traitorous dog, even after they killed your sisters.”
“You know not of what you speak,” Verbena thundered, frowning as she lifted her hand out toward Patrick.
I built up my magic, preparing to shield him, but I stopped, confused, as nothing happened.
Suddenly, Patrick’s hand went to his throat, clawing in vain.
“I can’t br--” he started, choking off as her invisible grip seemed to get even tighter, leaving a hand-shaped imprint on his neck.
“We need to do something!” I shouted, pushing as much energy as I could toward her, in an attempt to blast her off balance.
Mee-maw joined in, holding her hand in front of her and sending out a weak but visible crackle of energy to join mine.
Verbena just grinned as she deflected our magic with a casual wave of the hand. “Let’s play a game. Your daughter or the turncoat. Choose.”
I released the magic, horrified as I looked back toward Patrick, who had dropped to the ground. Already, his eyes had begun to roll back in his head.
“Patrick!”
I couldn’t let her hurt Lizzie, but what was stopping her from using that same tactic against me with each and every person in the room, until they were all dead or captured, Lizzie included?
I made a fist, my nails digging into my palm as I tried to think clearly through my terror. I couldn’t attack her directly but maybe there was some way I could--
“Leave my friends alone!” Trudy shouted from just behind Verbena as the horrible, bone-jarring crunch of metal smacking flesh echoed through the room.
I spun back to Verbena just in time to see her drop to the ground, stunned.
Patrick gasped for air behind me, coughing and panting as he rose to his feet. “I’m okay. I’m all right.”
I acted quickly, sprinting toward Verbena with a speed I didn’t know I had in me. I crossed the distance in an instant, wrenching Lizzie free of Verbena’s grasp in a burst of magically enhanced strength.
I dashed backward, Lizzie feeling remarkably light, despite the fact that sh
e weighed almost as much as I did. I pried the tape from her mouth as I skidded to a halt in front of Patrick and Mee-maw, a trembling Trudy just on my heels.
“How dare you?” Verbena roared, clenching her teeth as she struggled to her feet. I turned around just in time to see the skirt of her dress flaring open to reveal sleek thighs, a black leather garter wrapped around each one. Hanging from them were a host of items, each glowing with magic.
“Dear God,” Connie whispered.
Just then, Lizzie groaned and began to wriggle against my shoulder.
It was about to get serious.
“Patrick, get her someplace safe! We’ll give you cover.” He hoisted her over his shoulder and nodded.
“I’ll be back,” he promised.
But I didn’t take time to respond as I spun back around, facing Verbena, who now had a pair of glowing scissors in her hand.
“You will let us pass freely,” Patrick shouted hoarsely as he started to move.
Verbena just chuckled. “Your powers are far too weak for that, traitor.” She pointed the scissors in our direction and snapped them shut.
The floor in front of her split, the crack lighting toward us at a ridiculous speed, as if she was cutting space itself. It left a gaping chasm in its wake that surely led to death by cement in the basement below.
I dodged to the side and put my hand out to blast Patrick and Lizzie the other way but the crack was already upon them. Patrick’s feet flew out from beneath him and he held on to Lizzie tight. Then, the abyss began to swallow them.
“Lizzie!” I howled, my heart shattering into a million pieces as they disappeared from sight.
Chapter 21
Zrrrp.
“Your powers are far too weak for that, traitor,” Verbena shouted.
Mee-maw.
God bless her, she had managed to work under pressure and turn time back a few seconds before Verbena had cut the floor.
I dashed sideways and sent a bolt of power toward Patrick and Lizzie, tossing them to the side as the floor began to split again.
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