The snake-men came for them less than an hour later. Kara wasn’t surprised. She knew those bracelets meant something.
When they arrived, they glanced at Kara’s wrist and nodded. Her brows lowered, Kelly held out her ankle.
“Where are we going?” Kara asked.
“The hall.” A gold-toned snake-man motioned for the twins to lead the way.
A huge ring of pulsing power was set up in the middle of the hall, the floor dirt instead of the stone Kara remembered. Jormun reclined on a floating dais filled with pillows. Risk stood next to him.
Kelly shot Kara an “I told you” glance.
Blinking back tears, Kara turned her gaze to the ring. Inside Lusse waited, her white cape rippling as if a breeze touched her alone.
How did she stay so clean and collected-looking? Even with the jumpsuit, which seemed to not only maintain body temperature, but also be self-cleaning, Kara felt worn and dirty.
The snake-man led them right up next to the energy barrier. The section faded and disappeared, forming a small doorway, just big enough for Kara and Kelly to pass through.
“What do we do?” Kara whispered to her sister.
Kelly glanced around.
Snake-man after snake-man began filing into the room, circling the ring.
“My God, how many are there?” Kara asked, her eyes rounded.
“Too many.” Kelly shook her head. “I don’t like this.”
Kara stared at the snake-men. There had to be thousands of them squished into the space now. The row behind Kara and Kelly pressed against the sisters, nudging them closer to the open doorway.
“We can’t fight our way through this many, can we?” Kara asked in a rough whisper. She hadn’t wanted to hurt even one of the somehow sad creatures, but the thought of turning on this many, slaughtering them by the hundreds before there was any hope of escape, made her stomach lurch.
“No. We can’t.” Kelly’s reply was flat, final. “We go in.”
Clasping hands, the pair stepped into the ring as one.
Jormun rose to his feet; the snake-men emitting a low hiss in response. “Welcome, witches.” He held up his hands. “We have had a challenge.”
Kara glanced at Kelly. Her sister’s lips thinned to a narrow line.
“The rules are simple. No death strike. Aside from that, last witch, or witches—” he gestured to the twins “—standing wins.”
No death strike. What had Kara gotten herself into that the phrase even had to be said?
Kelly gripped Kara’s arm tight. Her fingers digging painfully into Kara’s skin, she pulled Kara close to whisper, “We take her out fast.”
Kara’s shocked gaze darted across the ring to Lusse, who stood gazing at the snake-men, a content expression on her face.
“But, it doesn’t even look like she’s going to fight,” Kara objected. As the words fell from her lips, Lusse turned, a bowling ball — sized sphere of power flying from her hand.
“Drop,” Kelly screamed, yanking Kara onto the dirt. Loose soil flew up around them, creating a cloud, shielding them for a moment.
“What were you going to say?” Kelly hissed.
“Nothing.” Kara struggled to breathe, the dirt blocking her airways.
“You still think your boyfriend is here to save us?”
Kara swallowed, her throat dry and raw feeling.
Kelly grabbed her by the shoulders. “We can do this. Remember what we practiced. There’s at least one hundred times the power here that there was in our tube. Use it.”
A ball of blue flame landed inches away.
“Hell.” Kelly pushed on Kara’s shoulder, sending her rolling across the ground.
Kara landed on all fours, her chest heaving, dirt clogging her throat with each breath. Coughing, she looked up at the dais. Risk stared down at her, his hands fisted, his fingers white with strain.
“Lose,” he mouthed.
Lose? The note, this was what he meant. He wanted her to lose the battle against Lusse — the witch he claimed held him in bondage. It made no sense. Kara shook her head, tears spilling from her eyes.
“Kara!” Kelly screamed.
A stream of power snaked from Lusse’s hand, wrapping around Kelly’s ankle and jerking her to the dirt. Kelly fell, her fingers clawing helplessly in the loose soil.
Kelly. Kara stood, all thoughts of Risk’s betrayal and her own fear dissipating. Her arms held out, she concentrated >on pulling power from the room. Energy flooded into her, knocking into her like a speeding train. She staggered backward, her hand pressed to her stomach.
The power whipped back and forth within her body. Raising her head, she gazed around. The world around her changed, colored, as if she was seeing through blue-tinted glasses.
Kelly flipped onto her back, her hands flying forward, her own stream of power meeting Lusse’s. Her brows lowered, her mind focused, Kara held out her hand to her sister and let the energy she had pulled merge into her twin.
Kelly stiffened as the power touched her. Her head dropped against her chest for a second, as she accepted Kara’s strength as her own.
Opening her eyes, she smiled, and hit Lusse square in the chest with a gleaming streak of blue flame.
Eyes round, Lusse flew off her feet, the continuing line of Kelly’s power holding her six feet off the ground.
Kelly laughed, a harsh sound that scared Kara to her center. Remembering her own battle with the heady sensation of controlling so much energy, she jogged across the ring and dropped to her knees next to her sister.
“Kelly, let her down.” She pulled on her twin’s arm.
Kara wanted to win, wanted to escape, but if she lost Kelly to power madness in the process…
“Kelly.” She wrapped her hands around Kelly’s cheeks and twisted her face toward her. Her sister’s eyes stared up at her wild and vacant. Keeping her voice firm, Kara repeated, “Let her down.”
Without changing her expression, Kelly twisted her head back toward Lusse. The witch still hung in the air. For the first time, Kara noticed a tear in the other witch’s cape, a gray tinge to her skirt and stray hairs that clung to her angry face. Lusse’s face turning red with the effort, she whipped her body back and forth in an attempt to escape Kelly’s energy stream.
“Kelly.” Still no response. Pulling back her open hand, Kara struck her sister across the cheek. The sharp sound of impact echoed in Kara’s ears.
Kelly jerked, her eyes closing then snapping back open. Pressing her advantage, Kara grabbed her by the front of her jumpsuit and shook. Kelly stared at her for one heart-stopping second then dropped her arms.
Shrieking curses, Lusse fell to the ground with a thump.
“I had her,” Kelly murmured, her eyes darting side to side. “Had the power. Did you see me?”
Her hands still fisted in the front of her jumpsuit, Kara stared into her sister’s eyes. “You didn’t have the power. The power had you.”
“Had the power,” Kelly repeated.
“No, Kelly. Think. How did you feel? You weren’t in control.”
Kelly blinked slowly, warmth, intelligence and what Kara recognized as her sister returning to Kelly’s eyes.
“Oh, my God,” she muttered.
“I know. I know,” Kelly responded.
“No. The witch. Move!”
Kelly rolled to the side, a power bolt splitting the ground between them as she moved.
