Max’s eyes narrowed. “And what would that be?” he asked, for some reason his Scottish accent becoming thicker than usual.
“We attack first,” Bridgette said, gaze unflinching as she stared hard into Max’s eyes.
He stared right back. “Trust me, that’s suicide.”
“It’s better than waiting around and doing nothing or walking into one of his traps. We need to find Dimitri, stop him, capture him, and use him to get to Fagan. You said it yourself,” she switched her attention to me, “Dimitri is the one to catch you. If we capture him, then you’ll be safe.”
Max growled, obviously not liking that logic. And, to be honest, I didn’t like it, either. Yes, in the vision Fagan had revealed that Dimitri had captured me, but that didn’t mean that if Dimitri was taken out of the equation, Fagan wouldn’t find some other way to get his hands on me. Plus, wasn’t I forgetting something? Wasn’t I still pushing away some rather uncomfortable truth?
Max was meant to betray me. Max was meant to be the reason Dimitri finally got his hands on me.
As that thought rose, I shook my head and thrust it away. I took an uneasy step towards them. “I’ll be honest – I don’t know what the best thing to do is. But Bridgette’s right – we have to do something. We can’t just sit here,” I said, but I stopped abruptly as I realized what I was saying. Apart from my confusing abilities to see the future, I didn’t have any magic of my own. Nor had I ever been in a real fight. I’d fought to survive, yes, but that was different. I’d never attacked anyone. And that’s what Bridgette was suggesting we do.
Max watched me. Hell, Dimitri could have popped up behind him and tried to sock the Scotsman on the jaw, but I doubted Max would have turned.
“This won’t be easy, Chi,” he muttered.
Brigitte practically snapped up beside him as she obviously realized that he was softening to her plan. “No, but it’s the only option we have.”
When Max didn’t whirl on his foot and continue arguing, Brigitte switched her attention to me. In fact, as I gulped and looked around the room, I realized all attention was on me.
Ordinarily, I didn’t mind being under the spotlight. I was used to a basic amount of attention – either welcome or unwelcome – as a fortuneteller. Set your booth up at the wrong market, and people would either insult you or grovel at your feet.
This was different. Oh, heck was this different. This was people waiting for me to make the next all-important, critical decision.
I took a breath, but it felt like the hardest thing I’d ever done as my throat constricted and my mouth dried to the consistency of sand.
Though Bridgette and Sarah Anne looked pressured, stressed, even terrified – Max held my gaze evenly, his eyes like two little ropes offering me support in a storm.
I let out a tense breath that rattled through my chest. “Okay… I think Bridgette’s right. We don’t… we don’t seem to have any other option. Either we go after Dimitri… or he comes after me.”
For several seconds there was nothing but silence, then both Sarah Anne and Bridgette let out rattling sighs.
“You’re right,” Bridgette encouraged, “it’s the only way.” She flashed her gaze towards Max, obviously giving him one more chance to change his mind.
He didn’t.
Though I locked all my attention on him, trying to figure out what he was thinking, his expression was blank, his body revealing nothing as it took up his usual defensive pose.
Sarah Anne whirled on her heels, darted from the room, and appeared to call for someone down the hall.
I waited, nerves tying loops around my stomach. It felt like every second was another link in the chain I’d just used to strangle myself. Because, hello, this was a terrible plan. Sure, it was the only plan we had – but I just knew it would end in tears.
Oh, and blood.
I didn’t have any chance to back down, though.
No chance….
Chapter 9
Sarah Anne acted quickly. Within minutes, she was back with several books hooked under her arms.
She ushered me over to a chair, dumped the books on a coffee table, then dragged it forward until it practically pinned me against the chair.
I looked up at her as she bent down and opened the books, arranging them before me. She took a tight breath. “These are all the cemeteries in Bane City. I’ve narrowed them down to cemeteries where our sisters have been buried recently. Look through them – we don’t have much time. Try to figure out if you recognize where Dimitri was.”
“Can’t you… can’t you narrow it down by figuring out where the latest murder victims were buried?” I hazarded. “The grave looked fresh,” I added.
“He’s not necessarily going after one of the murder victims. All he needs is a witch who has recently died and who had a connection to this coven when she was alive.”
I nodded.
She stood above me, watching me intently, her features all screwed up with concern and stress.
Me? I’d given up on wondering how awful I looked. I imagined I was a seriously awful sight, not just from the dirt and stress, but from the pressure. It was starting to push against me like a wall, dragging me backward to the awful fate that awaited me….
I plucked up the first book with a trembling hand and rested it on my lap. Sarah Anne had already folded down the corner
