The Better Part of Darkness

you don’t keep Emma and the others safe, I’ll let him live within an inch of his life and turn him over to ITF. How long before you think his lawyers get him out? How long until he’s back in control of the Council of Elders and realizes you helped me? You want him gone? You want control? Then you place your bet with me. You have nothing to lose. Just free the others from the lab and get Em out of here when I spill my blood. That’s all I’m asking.

Desperation nearly overwhelmed me, and I wasn’t even sure I was making sense, but he was the only one I knew who could do it. There was no one else. I’d run out of options. And I needed insurance. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that whatever happened, the jinn would kill Titus and Emma if Carreg didn’t act.

Get her to my sister, I said softly. Please.

“Momma?”

That one small, terrified word burst through the night like the brightest shooting star. The hold on my throat vanished, and I spun to see Emma being led from the pavilion by a dark-figured Abaddon.

It wasn’t an Abaddon. It was Carreg.

“Emma!”

“Mom!”

Carreg released her and she ran to me, launching herself into my arms. I caught her and held on for dear life. My chest swelled with her presence. I breathed her in. My hand cupped her head, the other on her back. I squeezed her hard, nearly bursting with love. It sang through me with such wonderful relief, tears spilled down my cold cheeks. She was all that mattered.

Finally, I lessened my hold and held her back from me, cupping her face and staring into her eyes. So happy she was all right, yet heart-stricken to be here, like this, with her. “Are you okay?”

She nodded, her bottom lip quivering, tears trailing lines down her cheeks. “Are you?”

I grinned, denying my tears, refusing to show her the fear coursing through my system. “I’m much better now. I told you I’d come.”

The urge in me to become hysterical was overwhelming. I hugged her again and kissed her cheek. “Listen to me. You trust me, right?” She nodded. “You see that man over there?” I glanced at Titus.

“Amanda’s uncle.”

“Right. He’s gonna take you somewhere safe while I finish up here.”

She glanced around the field, her face so pale and full of fear. “Hey,” I said, drawing her attention back to me. “I know what I’m doing. This is what I do, remember? The superhero of Atlanta and all that.” I squeezed her arms and smiled, remembering her words only a few days ago when I’d wanted to transfer to a desk job. A half- hearted laugh escaped her. That’s my girl.

I gazed over her shoulder to Carreg’s stony face. His head dipped in a faint nod. Deal on. Relief washed over me. I winked at her. “Chin up. I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

She lifted her chin and swallowed hard. “Okay. But hurry up.”

My heart constricted, but I forced a light voice. “You got it, kiddo.”

I hugged her tight one last time and drew on the emotions coursing and building, hoping that it would be enough. Opening my mind, I tapped into the same emotions as I had earlier to heal myself. Our bond. Mother and daughter. I imagined a path to her mind, a link open and accepting. Once the familiar hum of energy pushed against every cavity and crevice of my body, I poured it into her. “Sleep,” I whispered to my daughter. “Sleep, baby.” Please work. Profound gratefulness went through me as she went slack in my arms. I braced for the full force of her weight.

Whether using my power weakened me or not, I didn’t care. I was determined to keep Em from witnessing what was about to follow.

I faced Mynogan. Emma was not going back into that pavilion. “Once this is done, she goes with Titus. They walk out of here alone and unharmed.”

“Agreed.”

I kissed the top of her head, letting my lips linger as I carried her over to Titus. Gently, he took her in his arms, but his gaze was fixed on me. “Charlie. You can’t do this,” he whispered, glancing at Emma. “I understand, but the city …”

“Just … don’t say it. I know what I’m doing. And if you don’t keep her safe, I’ll be coming after you next.”

Two jinn fell in behind Titus as he sat in the grass with my daughter. My only option was to continue with the ceremony and hope to hell Carreg would come through if I couldn’t find a way to thwart Mynogan’s plan and get to my kid.

My legs felt wooden as I proceeded voluntarily toward the center of the circle. From the corner of my eye, I saw Carreg edge back into the shadows of the pavilion. Weariness swamped me. I was so tired. And I really didn’t think I could handle any more emotion.

That’s good, I convinced myself, just center yourself and focus. Bryn’s crystal charm warmed my chest and gave me the calming comfort of her presence. When she’d given it to me after my death experience, I’d never really asked about its properties. And the only thing she’d told me was that it would help protect me. Fat chance of that now. But if it eased some anxiety, that was good enough for me.

The soft ground dipped beneath my feet, the cool dewiness against my bare skin sending chills up my arms and releasing the scent of tangy grass into the clean air. It’s too beautiful a night for blood and death.

The six figures, Abaddons no doubt, surrounded us, widely spaced around the large circle of grass. My blood pressure rose. How did one kill an Abaddon noble? I drew in a resigned breath. I guessed I was about to find out. Strategies darted through my mind, elusive and insubstantial as I came to a halt in front of Mynogan. I’d become brain-dead. Great.

A victorious gleam came into Mynogan’s eyes as he pulled a dagger from his coat and held it to the moon. It was iron. Black. And so sharp the moonlight glinted off the blade. There was no decoration of any kind on the weapon, giving it an even more sinister appearance.

If there was ever a death blade, this was it.

He chanted in Charbydon, which sounded similar to ancient Hebrew or Aramaic. His confident, rhythmic words stirred power into the night air. Energy gathered and coalesced within the circle. Every hair on my body lifted. Even the ends of my hair curled up as though acknowledging a change in the atmosphere around us. I thought I heard the faint echo of drumbeats, the sound vibrating through me like a second pulse. But there were no drums here.

I swayed as memories darted just out of reach, evading me like teasing fireflies. Not my own, but familiar. Primeval. Basic. Like the drums. On an elemental level, I recognized the power growing within the circle. It was earth. It was matter. Water. Life. Creation. My eyelids grew heavy, my thoughts hazy. Somehow I knew I was connected to this in a way no one else could claim. I was part of three worlds. The individual energy that ran through them all, and made up them all, ran through me.

The cold, rough iron hilt of the dagger pressed into my palm. I glanced down, seeing my hand, a pale contrast to the coal-black dagger. Shivers snaked through me, and it took all my effort just to stay lucid and focused, the chanting having some kind of hypnotic effect.

With a slow glance over my shoulder to Emma, sleeping in Titus’s arms, his face stricken and white as a ghost, and Carreg edging ever closer to them, I drew in my courage, squeezed the blade tightly, and held out my left arm. This was going to hurt like hell.

My pulse beat hard and fast like the drums inside of my head. Tensing, I pressed the blade into my flesh until vivid red blood blossomed over the pale skin. Then, I drew a burning, stinging line from the middle of my forearm down to my wrist, cleanly slicing the artery. I’d seen enough successful suicides to know how to do it right.

Mynogan’s breath hissed from his thin lips, his eyes drawn to the gush of red spreading out in a warm thick line against my skin. I swayed again, but kept my arm out where he could see it, his reaction stirring something in me and triggering a sudden hunger. To kill. To take.

My grip flexed on the dagger. My blood pounded in my ears, blending with an ancient memory of frenzied, writhing bodies dancing around fire as the chanting grew louder. The power in the circle fed me, making these images in my mind, images as old as time. My vision warbled and tilted. I tried to swallow, but my throat and