No wonder their instructions had been vague. I had one job: to die.
“You set us on the path.” I went to her and took her hand. “You did everything in your power to help.”
“You have to…get to my family.” She squeezed my fingers. “There’s a…fail-safe.”
Worst-case scenarios churned through my brain. “What kind of fail-safe?”
With great effort, she rallied her strength and steadied her voice.
“The vampire who stabbed me wanted me to die knowing…the bubbles are linked. The second will burst after the first is breached.” She centered herself. “He told me the black witches sold out his master, that you know where your friend is being held. He said you would save your friend and…let my family die.”
“I hate to burst your bubble—” seriously bad choice of words, “—but that’s not me.”
Hope fluttered in the pulse at her throat. “Can you save both?”
Gazes locked, I let her see I was serious. “I can try.”
“Good.” She exhaled. “Thank you.”
“Jefferies will have watchers posted to report which of us exits the gauntlet.”
Sue was in no shape to move, but I couldn’t waltz out and get help without risking both our loved ones.
“Yes,” she confirmed in a whisper, “but I have a way out.”
“How?” I scanned the area behind her. “I thought the only way out was through.”
“Use this.” With her blood, she drew a sigil on the concrete. “It will cut through the magic.”
Smart of her to come into this with an emergency exit strategy.
And, in hindsight, this might explain her interest in my magical capabilities.
Just as I had come armed with contingencies, so had she.
“Come with me.” I searched her face. “You’ll die if I leave you here.”
“I was hoping…” she smiled then winced as her swollen lip pulled, “…you would say that.”
“Hold still.” I rushed past her, Ambrose whirling around me. “Let me open the way first.”
The modified pen didn’t like brick much, so it was slow going to get the design solid enough to activate. Ambrose pumped energy into the design while I resisted the urge to bite my nails. Slow at first, then gaining speed, the wall twisted and warped, spun and swirled, a whirling vortex of power.
The portal reminded me of the hop to Faerie and back and made my stomach churn.
“It’s safe.” Sue attempted to rise again. “I’ll go…first.”
Bending down, I looped her arm around my shoulders and eased her onto her feet. “Let me help you.”
“I must…leave of my own accord.” Her smile ended in a grimace. “That’s the only…way…this works.”
As much as I hated to admit she was right, Linus had been explicit in his instructions.
We both had to wait out the gauntlet for a draw. That meant we both had to exit of our own free will.
Before I waffled further, Ambrose read my unease and zipped through it at warp speed.
White-hot agony splintered in my chest as we were cut off from one another, separated by the wall of magic containing the gauntlet, but it eased up when he stuck his head through and jerked his chin toward the portal.
Not a portal, I reassured myself. Just a swirly exit door. That’s it.
Breaking free of me, Sue lurched forward under her own steam and fell through to the other side.
Picking up one foot, I stuck it through, relieved when it hit solid ground. I drew in a long breath, braced for it, then shifted my weight and slid through into a pocket of normal Atlanta. It ought to have filled me with relief, but dread settled around my shoulders like Linus’s dark cloak.
I had no phone to book a ride to Lake Lanier, but I wasn’t hanging around to wait on the Grande Dame. She might call a draw, a default, or disqualify Sue and me outright. She didn’t need us present during her deliberation, but the tactical witch coven— They could use every spare hand they could get.
For better or worse, I was out of the gauntlet. To make that sacrifice worthwhile, I would be there when Neely was pulled out of the water. I deserved to have a win, and I would take that one happily.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
I yelped and spun, about to wet my pants. “Remy?”
“Four, but sure. Close enough.” She glanced down at Sue’s limp body. “I expected trouble, but I did not expect that.” She nudged Sue with her toe. “Is she dead?”
“She’s well on her way.” I shoved her back. “She doesn’t need your help to get there faster.”
A thoughtful glint brightened her eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Get Sue medical assistance.” I pointed a warning finger at her. “Do not kill her.”
Four grumbled under her breath and wrinkled her nose but gave the impression she would behave.
“Then call Bishop.” I dropped my arm. “Tell him I’m heading to the lake…after you call me a Swyft.”
Good grief.
What a humbling reminder of how dependent upon cell phones we had become as a society.
“Call Remy.” A faraway look entered her eyes and then she hummed softly. “She’s already in her car.”
“If I had a phone,” I pointed out, “I wouldn’t be leaving you with a list of calls to make for me.”
“Take mine.” She reached in her pocket. “Three is a block over.” She handed me her cell. “I’ll use hers.”
A fresh wash of nausea rose within me before the gratitude hit. “Thanks.”
“Think how it feels to be trapped inside her and the car when she drives how Sonic the Hedgehog runs.”
“No thanks.” I placed a hand over my stomach. “I’m already plenty queasy for what lies ahead.”
Lake Lanier awaited us an hour to the northeast. With Remy driving, I could cut that time in half.
That gave me thirty minutes to form a plan, implement it, and pray everyone made it out alive.
Afraid of drawing attention, I walked down a few blocks before I broke into a sprint that carried me to the nearest major intersection. I was torn on whether wearing the balaclava made me disappear into the night or the running made me look like a criminal on the loose. Probably door number two.
About to dial Remy, I leapt back three feet when her lime-green sports car hopped the curb in front of me. The door swung open, and she waved me in.
Shucking my gloves, I jumped in then demasked. “How did you find me?”
Other Remys must be posted around the city to keep an eye out if Four and Remy reached me so fast.
“The phone.” She chuckled. “Bishop gave us fresh burner phones last week to test an app Reece’s been developing that allows me to track any phone it’s downloaded on in real time. It’s way more accurate than the old one. I was tracking Four, but then she passed the spare off to you.”
Six months ago, I would have balked at the cost of arming all the Remys with individual phones they lost with alarming frequency, but tonight proved why communication was critical between team members.
“How did Four know where I was in the gauntlet?”
“Magic.” She took one hand off the wheel to wiggle her fingers. “Why are we zooming off to the lake?”
This once, I was happy to let her inner speed demon out. Mostly. Though I still wished for Dramamine.
“Sue was attacked by Jefferies vampires. The one who eviscerated her was nice enough to tell her the bubbles in Lake Lanier are linked. Drop the ward on one, and the other will flood. He wanted her to know I would save Neely and leave her family to drown. That they would die for her failure to follow the rules.”
“Those special touches really do make all the difference.”
Unwilling to touch that comment with a ten-foot pole, I dialed the coven leader, Meredith.
“There’s a fail-safe,” I warned her. “A counterbalance will flood the second bubble after the first is breached.”
“Um, hello?”
“Sorry.” Smacking my palm on my forehead, which I instantly regretted, I backtracked. “This is Hadley.”
Gritting my teeth against the wave of nausea from jostling my head injury, I outlined the latest problem.
“Thank the goddess we held off on the Billiards.” She blew out a breath. “This will require precision.”
Had they sprung the family sooner, we would have lost Neely before we ever knew he was in danger.
“Linus wouldn’t have recommended you to us if you weren’t the coven for the job.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She barked orders in the background. “We’ll see you soon.”
The phone rang the second the call ended, and I braced for bad news. “Hello?”
“Your mate is coming unglued on the sidelines,” Reece informed me. “Call him.”
The crowd must be too loud where he was positioned for a call to be smart. That, or he was too near the Grande Dame, and Reece didn’t want me to risk being overheard. Either way, I would do as I was told.
He ended the call without expressing surprise I was out of the gauntlet or zooming away from Atlanta.
“Does Reece ever freak you out?” I stared at the phone. “He’s not omniscient for real, right?”
Between the tracking apps, the surveillance, and his computer skills, he was an oracle of a different kind.
“He kind of reminds me of that super lame movie you made us watch a few months back. God is a Robot, and He’s Always Watching.”
“That one’s a classic.”
“Black-and-white film does not a classic make.”
“Did you see the twist coming at the end?”
“The part where the hero poked out God the Robot’s all-seeing eye?”
With a fountain pen of all things. The ink splatter was truly inspired. “Yes.”
“A better question is who didn’t see it coming?”
“God the Robot, that’s who. On account of his eye…” I sighed. “Never mind.”
None of my friends appreciated classic cinema.
Unlike ninety percent of my contacts, Midas’s number was one I could dial in my sleep. “Hi, Hot Stuff.”
“No matter how good, a plan is pointless,” he said calmly after the first ring, “if you don’t stick to it.”
“Surprise!”
A long, slow exhale was his response.
“Vampires came after us hard in the gauntlet.” I skipped the parts about how my ears still rang from the blow I took to the head. “They were on Jefferies’s payroll. They gutted Sue and expected me to leave her to die.” It made my headache worse to cobble together my thoughts. “They told her there was a fail-safe, a countermeasure guaranteed to cost us one bubble or the other. She left to get medical attention, and I headed for the lake to help the coven.” I would rather do that than sit on my hands. “Who all knows we’ve exited the gauntlet?”
“No one can see in, except the Grande Dame, but she’s informed the faction heads.”
“Ask Linus to hold his mother off for as long as he can. We need every spare minute we can get.”
If anyone could sway her, it would be her son. Though I hated forcing him to play the mom card.
“I’ll fill in the others. We need a plan in case the Grande Dame isn’t moved by Linus’s argument.”
I loved that he trusted the Grande Dame almost as much as me.
I would marry him for that alone.
“Can you let Addie and Boaz know I’m okay? I would call, but you know how Boaz is. He’s a wheedler.”
This situation was complicated enough without involving my brother, however useful an Elite might be.
“Consider it done.” He called out to Ford. “I need to start rallying the troops.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
The best medicine was to shut my eyes and let Ambrose work on me until we arrived.
For once, I took my medicine without complaint.
Abbott would be proud.
A bony hand on my shoulder woke me out of a sound sleep that I hoped wasn’t trauma induced.
“We’re here, wimp.”
Hissing through my teeth, I sat up straight. “It feels like we’re still moving.”
“I bet you’re loads of fun on a boat.”
The idea of sloshing around on water just now soured my stomach. “We’re about to find out.”
The car had indeed stopped, and I exited the vehicle on shaky legs.
Probably head wounds and swimming didn’t mix, but I was willing to risk it, given the coven presence.
“Hadley?”
I searched out the voice and identified the coven leader, Meredith Argent.
“Hey.” I put one foot in front of the other. “Nice to see you again.”
“Nice to charge you again.” She flashed an impish grin. “You guys always pay invoices same day.”
“We do what we can to keep everyone happy.” I cut to the chase. “Are you guys ready to do this?”
“As ready as we can be.”
A wave of her hand led us down the manmade beach to where a long dock protruded into the water.
“I want to go in with the team assigned to Neely.” I drew myself taller. “How do I get down there?”
“We’ve been using diving equipment to avoid potential interaction between the spells we’re casting and the magic fueling the constructs. It’s safer for everyone that way, and it lets us reserve our power. I have a different method in mind for you.”
“That’s probably wise,” I admitted, second-guessing myself, “since I’ve never gone diving.”
“Oh, you’ll love this.” A laugh brightened her expression. “We’ll magic you an air bubble helmet.”
Picturing the fishbowl-style glass helmets used in some old movies, I grinned. “Very science fiction-y.”
“I thought you would approve, given the marathon we watched while on lockdown at the Faraday.”
The coven had required sleep, food, and entertainment while they recharged their magical batteries after their contribution to the battle against the witchborn fae.
Lucky for them, I had an extensive library of films eager for new fans to discover their awesomeness.
“Before we get started, I need to ask.” I crossed my fingers. “Are there any necromancers here?”
“One.” She pointed at a man pacing a cruiser on the water. “That’s Higgins. High Society. He’s married to one of our witches. His wife is pregnant and refused to sit this one out. He’s here for the long haul.”
Rude as it was to ask, I had to know. “He any good?”
“He was the best in Detroit before moving here, but he’s not in Linus’s league, if that’s what you mean.”
“Who is?” I hoped my smile conveyed I meant no offense. “There’s no one like him.”
“Except Grier,” she countered. “I met her last year. She’s cool. A power too.”
Their magics weren’t the same, exactly, but I could agree their talent ranked on a similar scale.
“Let me make a call right quick.” I stepped away from Meredith. “How long until our ride’s here?”
“About a minute.” She pointed out a speedboat heading our way. “You’ve got time if you make it fast.”
The phone rang in the infirmary, and I asked to speak to the last man who wanted to hear from me.
Our conversation was short, to the point, and left me filled with dread that I had already failed Neely.
Meredith and Remy were halfway down the dock when I caught up to them.
“Here’s our lift.” Meredith waited until the boat nudged the dock before jumping in. “This is Shea.”
“Hi, Shea.” Not trusting my wonky balance, I sat on the pier then slid in the boat. “Nice to meet you.”
“Don’t throw up, girl.” She frowned down her nose at me. “You’ve that look about you.”
With a growl, Remy joined me, sizing up the driver like she was competition.
“Hold on to your butts,” S
hea called as she stomped on a foot throttle. “Away we go.”
For whatever reason, the water fascinated Ambrose. Without a care in the world, he mimed dipping his fingers in the current then grinned over his shoulder at me. The sudden interest made me question, again, who he had been during his life, but that was a mystery I might never solve.
In watching Ambrose, I missed the bulk of the short trip to the cruiser, but I tuned in when Shea cut the engine. We floated until we bumped the other vessel then tied ours to its side.
Higgins, a curious light in his eyes, threw a flimsy ladder over the edge.
“Higs, we have guests.” Meredith climbed up first. “Hadley and her friend Remy.”
“The ceremony is over already?” He checked his fancy watch. “I expected more pomp from the Society.”
“There would have been pomp. Even some circumstance. But I had to see a man about a lake.”
The ramifications of my actions tallied in his eyes, and respect shone back at me. “I see.”
“Scooch over.” A hard shove knocked me to one side. “I’m blowing this popsicle stand if you’re not.”
Remy shimmied up the swaying ladder, eager to escape the small craft, and I stuck close behind her.
Higgins offered me a hand up I was glad to accept, given how woozy I felt swinging in the breeze.
“Meredith tells me you’re High Society.” I stepped onto the deck. “Can you help me with something?”
“Perhaps.” Interest tilted his head in an expectant expression. “What did you have in mind?”
A grimness settled in his features when I asked my favor, but he agreed to my request without haggling.
A text chime drew my attention to the burner phone.
>>The Grande Dame can give you thirty more minutes.
Had my lips been as stretchy as The Mouth that Swallowed Downtown, I would have kissed Midas.
>I’ll start the clock.
Thirty minutes for a rescue mission was tight, maybe impossible, but I would take it.
I wanted everyone out of their bubbles before the general paranormal public discovered Sue and I were no longer in the gauntlet in case Clan Jefferies had some means of drowning their victims remotely. With black witches involved, I wouldn’t expect anything less.
The Epilogues: Part I: Badge of Honor (The Potentate of Atlanta Book 6) Page 13