The disbelief in the room is a palpable force. Good.
“And how would it have done that, pray tell?” Benjamin asks. “How would it have procreated with a Lycan when there are no Lycans in Hawthorne and the taint can’t leave the faewilds?”
Balthazar sighs. “I don’t know.”
“Could you be mistaken, Balthazar?” Benedict asks. “A cull is no light matter, and once the Wardens are woken, they cannot be put back to sleep without a blood sacrifice.”
The Wardens are a myth among the Mageri said to be held in a deep mystical sleep. Huge, powerful hunters, they’re said to be Mageri by nature but also more powerful, created by the Dagda as a final gift to humanity. Held in protection by the Inceptum. This will be the first time in history that they’ll be woken. If that happens, I’ll be one of the first Mageri to see them.
“I…I don’t know…I…I suppose I could be wrong,” Balthazar says.
His confidence is shaken and so I make my move. “If the Wardens are woken, if your intel proves to be wrong, then it is only fair that you pay the blood sacrifice.”
His head whips up. “What? No. I only meant to warn… to relay what I saw. It is for the council to decide what that is. I don’t know. I don’t know what it was for sure, it simply seemed…It could have been… Please…I didn’t mean to waste the council’s time.”
“Your petition has been heard,” Benedict says coolly. “The council will now deliberate.”
“Wai—”
The holo-feed cuts off.
Silence reigns for several seconds.
“Well…” Alfred says. “That was a colossal waste of time.”
“There is no conceivable way that this Lycan is the taint’s progeny.”
And it is the Mageri’s arrogance and complacence that will save Quinn. “I agree. The taint has never left the boundary and Lycans cannot enter it. If the taint had left the faewilds, we would have sensed it.”
Murmurs of agreement greet my statement.
The final dregs of tension in my body ebb. The outcome is obvious now.
“There is not enough evidence to warrant a formal vote on action,” Benedict says. “Are we agreed on that?”
“Aye,” everyone echoes.
“In that case, I move to dis—”
The light in the center of the room turns red and a shrill alarm goes off a moment later.
“What is that?” Benjamin yells over the sound.
My heart sinks, pulse beating hard because I know exactly what this is.
This is the end.
This means all hope is lost.
11
QUINN
“Stop, Quinn! You have to stop!”
Hands were on me. Pulling me, shaking me. But no. I wouldn’t let go. Not letting go. I had to squeeze, squeeze the life from the monster.
Bea…
Bea was dead.
Bea was dead.
Dead. Dead. Dead.
Willow had to die too. She had to fucking die!
I squeezed harder, wanting to feel the life jettison from her body, wanting to feel her go limp and lifeless.
“This isn’t you,” a female voice cried. “This is what she wants.”
Hands gripped my wrists and squeezed hard enough for pain to radiate through my limbs. I fought the reflex to let go, but my grip grew slack despite my efforts.
“Quinn, let go.” Selene’s voice was calm and grounding, forcing the darkness to retreat a little. “If you do this, the taint wins. Don’t let her win.”
The twisting pain in my chest intensified. “Bea…She killed Bea.”
I sensed Selene’s shock and felt her horror like a fresh wave that melded with my own.
“Let go, Quinn. Don’t let the taint have this.”
I blinked down into Willow’s pain-filled eyes, then at my hands wrapped around her throat.
“Let go, babe,” Selene said softly. “You’re better than this.”
I took a shuddering breath, then another, and slowly, increment by increment, willed my hands to relax and release her.
“No!” Willow grabbed at my wrists. “You have to. You have to do it. Please. Please…” She sobbed. “You have to kill me. If you don’t, he dies. If you don’t, she’ll kill him.”
“Who?” Selene asked.
“My husband. She has my husband.”
The darkness slid back into its box, but my rage remained. “Good.” I let go of her and staggered back. “I hope she kills him. I hope she fucking makes it hurt.”
Willow let out a strangled cry. “Please…”
I stood over her, an icy calm settling over me. “I won’t kill you, Willow. I want you to go back to the bitch who sent you and watch while your lover dies. I want you to live with that image for the rest of your miserable fucking life.”
I turned my back on her, searching the ground for Bea. Where was she? Where was my friend?
There was a scrambling sound behind me followed by an oomph. I spun to see Selene picking herself off the ground.
Willow lunged at her with the dagger.
I moved on instinct, placing myself between the two, grabbing Willow’s dagger hand to bring it down and twisting to force the dagger point away from me. She grabbed at my hand, and for a moment I thought she was trying to pry me off, but then she stepped forward. Into me and onto the blade.
“Fuck!”
She slumped against me, tipping her face up with a smile. “Thank you.”
I let go of the knife, backing away and shaking my head. “No. No, no, no.”
“It’s okay.” Selene wrapped her arm around my waist. “She did it. She did it to herself.”
She had, but could I have stopped her? Could I have prevented this?
No. The question was, had I really wanted to.
We were almost through the hall of mirrors. I needed to be outside. I needed Tate. I wanted to go home. I had to check on Meri and Grumble. Oh, God, I needed to shatter.
Bea was cold and lifeless in my hands.
I couldn’t look, but I needed to look, dammit. I needed to see her.
“Keep moving.” Selene guided me, one arm around my waist. “Walter, hush, please. She’ll be okay. She’ll be fine.”
Walter? The ghost. He was still inside her?
We rounded the corner to the exit but were blocked by Paul. He’d parked his wheelchair in the center of the path and was signing furiously.
Anger rushed up my throat like a stream of lava. “Get out of my way. Get out!” My words broke on a sob.
“What?” Selene took a step forward, studying Paul’s hands. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Paul, what are you—” The curly-haired woman appeared behind Paul. Her gaze zeroed in on me. “Oh.”
She sounded almost surprised.
“We need to call the police.” My tone was mechanical, almost robotic. “There’s been a death.”
I cradled Bea to my chest and strode past Paul and the woman. I needed to get outside. I needed—
Cool air blasted my cheeks.
“Quinn, there you are, I was…Quinn?” Tate gripped my shoulders. “Quinn, what happened?”