“Because his first two attacks on you failed, and it frustrated him. When you took off the emerald, he saw an opening, and decided the wedding was the best moment to overwhelm you with force, so he wouldn’t fail again.”
I looked down at Dimitri. “Well, it’s working!”
“No shit, but it’s stringing out his power. Break one chain and the whole web unravels—” She clutched at her middle.
“Grandma?!”
Her eyes met mine in horror. “We’re too late…”
Dimitri choked. I didn’t even know if he’d been well enough to listen. “Go,” he waved me off, “I’ll catch up.”
I hesitated. Hades. He’d nearly died, and I was about to leave him lying here.
“Lizzie,” Grandma said, working her way to her feet. “He’s right,” she said, planting her hands on her knees for support. “Your wedding over there is the key. Zatar needs a blast of power. That means a lot of souls in one place. You brought everybody together.”
For heaven’s sake. I tried to stand. “I didn’t even want a big wedding.”
She snorted. “Too late.” We both flinched as a boom sounded from the herb garden. She shook her head. “He’s coming. We gotta get over there.”
I glanced one last time at Dimitri, who had one hand braced on the ground.
“I’ll be back,” I said, in the most optimistic statement of all time, seeing as I could barely stand, much less fight the Earl of Hell.
Grandma and I took off for the arched trellis in a staggering run.
The sky had grown dark. The Earth rumbled.
Grandma braced her hand against the woven wood as we made the first turn. Her eyes were still normal, but I was waiting for them to go pink. I didn’t know what I would do if it happened in here. “You okay?” I called out to her.
She shook her head, still guiding herself along the wall with her hand. “Mostly.”
We made the second turn, and I smelled sulfur up ahead. “I can’t blast everybody.”
She didn’t argue. Crimeny. What was there to argue about? It had been hard enough to free Grandma.
My head felt hazy, but I tried to think. “Rachmort deals with lost souls. Can he help?”
We both breathed heavy as we made it toward the last turn. “Is he compromised?”
“Pink eyes.”
“Don’t trust him. Hell, don’t trust me.” She doubled over and fought another wave of possession. I stopped, gripping her shoulder to steady her and myself. “The dead bride is the key,” she said. Grandma shook me off, and we started moving again. “She is the one powering his connection. Free her and you free us all.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sure. Focus on the dead bride. I was going to be a dead bride if I didn’t fix this.
The emerald at my neck warmed, and the metal around it softened and began to snake down my chest.
We broke out of the covered trellis and into an overgrown section of the garden bordered by a tall hedge. The ground rumbled. Smoke and shouting erupted from the other side. I couldn’t imagine what was happening, but it wasn’t good. The acrid stench of sulfur burned my nose.
My poor mom and dad. Cliff and Hillary didn’t deserve this. They never asked to be a part of this world. I’d dragged them into it, and now a demon had them.
Zatar held power over everyone I’d ever loved.
Liquid metal wound around my right arm. Well, it had better hurry. We were going into battle. I drew a switch star and prepared to round the hedge wall.
“Hold up.” Grandma grabbed my shoulder at the last minute and shoved my back against the prickly, overgrown bush. “They’re going to attack.” Her mouth set in a grim line.
No kidding. Unless she was talking about something different. “Do you mean Cliff and Hillary?” No way I could hurt them back.
Grandma was desperate, on edge. “Everyone.” She gave me a hard shake. “Zatar’s orders are for us to rip you apart, keep you breathing only long enough so he can suction your power and use it to break out of hell.”
Cripes. Maybe I didn’t want to duck around the hedge.
The ground shook, and I nearly tumbled out anyway.
Okay.
Her grip on my shoulder tightened. “No.”
“Why the hell not?”
She clenched her teeth. “I’m going under.”
Fuck a duck.
Then I saw it. Her eyes were going pink around the edges. I shoved her away. “Stay with me as long as you can. That’s an order!”
She groaned and punched at the air. “God damned mother fucking demon!”
Yeah, well, she could get pissed off later. “Let’s go!”
“Me first,” she said, surprising me as she darted out in front. Smart. It could buy me an extra second if they saw her first. The emerald necklace had re-formed into a single, iron arm guard with a row of sharp spikes and the locket at the center. It covered my entire left forearm.
Grandma drew up short, and I nearly ran into the back of her. My guests were in a full-scale battle with each other. It was biker witches against Greeks against society mavens against more biker witches. It was as if they had been primed to hate, born to violence.
Frieda had climbed onto Aunt Ophelia’s back and had her hands wrapped around her neck. The large Greek woman spun and sat, crushing Frieda against a white folding chair as the biker witch tried to take a bite out of the older woman’s ear.
A sharp pain lanced my ankle. “Ow!” Pirate had sunk his teeth into my skin. I yanked him away, careful not to hurt him, losing my shoe in the process.
I had him by the collar. He bared his teeth. “Die, demon slayer!”
“Gimme!” Grandma snatched him, and he tried to take a chunk out of her arm.
Flappy shrieked and I watched him crush the catering tent, blood lust in his eyes. The white dragon’s razor-sharp claws ripped through the thick canvas and shot out as he flew straight for me.
Frick! I ran, dodging hockey great Matt Shott, and taking out Mrs. Rodgerson who had lost her blonde wig and was kicking a live spell jar at Antonio and Creely. Luckily, I was going down because Sidecar Bob had tossed a spell jar at my head.
I fell onto my right knee. A Mind Wiper spell headed straight for me, and I deflected it with my bronze- plated arm.
The ghost stood in the center of the horde, shackled, held in place by a demonic force.
Flappy was almost on me, claws out. Grandma’s eyes were hot pink.
“Go get her!” she screamed, as I scrambled to my feet. Grandma dove in front of Flappy and took the shot meant for me.
Zatar’s power crackled in the air like loose lightning.
I ran for the ghost, and when I glanced back, I saw Grandma rising from the ground, her shoulder bloody, her eyes scarlet, and her stare lethal.
Rachmort came at me from the side. I threw out my arm, ready to block him when he dove past me and took Ant Eater down.
White wedding chairs littered the ground. I shoved them aside as I made my way to the ghost. She clutched at the chains that held her. The manacles were lined with sharp spikes that pierced her skin. Rivulets of blood ran
