“Bloody hell, woman, just STOP!”
“NO! BENTLEY!” She shrieked back.
Red lightning shot over their bodies. I jumped and spun – only to find Deacon using his Devil magic to persuade the vines to release him. In the blink of an eye Deacon was up and sprinting toward that damn tunnel opening.
Royce dropped to his knees and screamed so loud his face turned red and the veins in his neck pulsed. He thrust his arms forward and hundreds of vines ripped through the sand, forming a wall between us and the tunnel.
Kessler gripped the vines and tore them straight out of the ground, then threw them over his shoulder. Emersyn’s fire scorched a path that let her, Devon, and Deacon get through. Tegan was already on the other side and I hadn’t even seen her break through.
Braison got stuck between two but it wasn’t going to hold.
“ALBERT! GET HIM!” Chutney screamed from behind me.
A black shadow raced by me. I turned toward it only to find it was Albert, the black mastiff. He cleared the beach in a flash and tackled Braison to the sand and then sat on his back. Olli appeared from out of nowhere and draped himself over Braison’s head. He looked up with the proudest expression – but I couldn’t praise them for a job well done.
Everything was happening in rapid speed yet in slow motion at the same time. Deacon, Emersyn, Kessler, Devon, and Tegan were getting closer to the tunnel. My pulse pounded through my veins. I waved my wand and just fired any spells I could think of, but I knew I was of no help right now.
Think, Savannah, THINK! I had to help. I had to do something.
“Taste THIS, Devil boy,” Lennox growled and flicked her wrist. A stream of blood red magic shot from her wand and slammed into Deacon.
He shouted and lifted off the ground, his back arching – then he dropped motionless to the sand.
Come on, Savannah. You use black magic. You know something to help. I flipped through the pages in my spell book in my mind, hoping one would jump out at me. I couldn’t take on Tegan, but maybe one of the others.
All of a sudden a silver metal box dropped down on top of Emersyn, trapping her inside. Easton cheered in success. The metal hissed and then exploded into shards like shattered glass. Emersyn twirled her fingers and all the pieces rejoined together to make a single pole behind her as she charged forward again.
“She controls metal. Dammit why do I always forget that!” Easton smacked his forehead. “HOW THE HELL DO WE WIN THIS BATTLE?”
Battle? A spell appeared in my mind. I saw it on the page in my book perfectly. “I beckon in the darkness, my biding be done. Caged by time and fear, until the battle is won.”
I flicked and jabbed my wand in the air and black smoke hit Emersyn like a runaway train.
She froze in place instantly. “NOOO! LET ME GO!” Emersyn screamed.
I turned and fired the same spell at Devon but it only froze one of her. Another just popped right out and kept running. SHIT. The literal only reason they hadn’t made it to the tunnel yet was because they’d been all the way on the other side — wait. How did Tegan not just materialize to it?
And then I saw Mona running right behind her, tossing salt at Tegan’s back while chanting a spell. I grinned at the sheer brilliance of Mona. That spell was for restricting magic and it was keeping Tegan in her human form.
Timothy ran up from the side, running parallel to the water. He jumped and threw himself at Kessler. Timothy was a big guy but Kessler was bigger. He just plucked Timothy off of him and tossed him aside.
“EASTON!” Tennessee yelled. “HERE!”
Easton spun and his eyes widened. He threw his hands up without hesitation and metal covered Saffie’s body. Tennessee let go of Saffie and Easton dropped a metal box on top of her.
I glanced back to the shore and my heart stopped. This was it. They were almost there. There was only a few feet between the Seelie tunnel opening and the three Bishops gunning it down.
Light flashed and raw electric energy pulsed through the air — and then Tenn appeared right in front of the tunnel opening. His body lit up like a full moon. He thrust his arms forward, green and blue magic shot out of his palms and slammed into Tegan, Devon, and Kessler. Hurricane-force winds rushed in from the ocean, blowing everyone back except for them.
Devon and Kessler dropped to the ground.
Tegan screamed and leaned into his magic like she was trying to push through it.
Gold wings popped out of Tenn’s back. He planted one foot in front of him and leaned toward her…and magic so white that I had to look away blasted out of him.
When the light faded I spun back and my breath left me in a rush.
Tegan was on her knees in front of him.
And the tunnel was closed.
I cursed and pushed my sand-filled hair out of my face. “Damn, he’s hot.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
Amelia
My knees slammed into cold, hard ground. Hands shoved my back, pushing me onto all fours like a dog. Pain shot through my hands and up my arms. Landy face-planted on the pale stone, her black hair flying over her head and in every direction.
Something gripped the back of my shirt and yanked me upright. I gasped and looked up— my eyes widened. My pulse quickened, beating faster than an express subway during rush hour. Everything was so bright. Golden light shined down from all around, shooting through the openings in the tall stone walls.
I had no idea where we were but it looked as if someone had taken Rivendell from Lord of the Rings and the Woodland Realm from The Hobbit and smushed them together. The walls and floor were made of a pale gray stone but there were vines and weeds covering everything. The cracks between the stones had long, purple flowered vines poking out. Thick green leafy vines covered almost all of the walls.
Trees sprouted from within weedy cobblestone and towered above us like skyscrapers. Vines and moss dangled from each branch. Large, wide stone steps that led to a massive arched doorway were overrun with bushy tall grass. Beside that was a hill thick with green grass and colorful plants. They reminded me of wildflowers growing on the side of the mountains back home.
Where are we?
“Sage, my dear, I sent you for one,” A soft, deep voice purred.
I spun toward the sound and gasped. We weren’t alone. We had an audience. A couple dozen people stood around two people who sat in what I assumed were thrones – they seemed to be made from trees. The two people sitting in them wore elaborate crowns of flowers and bones. The one who spoke sounded like a man but the prettiness in his face made him look feminine. His hair was royal blue and his eyes burned like hot embers. The heat in his stare made my stomach roll.
The woman on the throne to his left had long, bright red hair that fell in loose waves over the side of her tree-throne. The sharpness in her violet eyes made her look sinister and cold.
A gorgeous blue-haired woman wearing a thick flower crown shrugged and flipped her hair over her shoulder and I saw the pointed tip of her ear. She sat on the arm of the red-haired woman’s throne, “A necessary side effect, Father.”
Wait. WAIT. HOLD ON. Pointed ear? Sage?? I knew that name. I’d heard The Coven talking about it. Princess Sage…of the Seelie Court. Oh no. NO, NO, NO, NO. Because if that’s the princess then —
Another man stepped out from behind the throne and my thoughts vanished in a cloud. This guy was tall and lean, with sharp pointed ears and cheekbones nearly as sharp. He had fiery red hair that had more shine than Caroline Davenport’s. The eyes that looked like hot coals on a fire told me he was related to the first guy, the one whose throne he leaned on.