I didn’t recognize any of the cemeteries. It was a hard ask, anyway. I’d seen the crypt Dimitri had exited from, several rows of graves, and then the grave he’d started digging up. Most of these photos were aerial shots or tasteful architectural pictures of walls and angels and whatnot.
As the seconds ticked past, the pressure started to build until it felt like I was in a pressure cooker about to hit boil. My hands were now trembling so hard, I practically tore through each page as I clutched it and leafed to another.
No.
No.
No.
I couldn’t find the right cemetery, and we only had 25 minutes left.
Just as I came to the last book, just as I prepared myself to give up completely, I finally saw something I recognized.
Though the memory was now hazy, there had been a tree next to the crypt – an old, twisted pine tree with a large canopy that had cast long shadows over the gravestones beneath it.
And here in my lap was a photo of that same tree.
I froze.
Max was the first one to notice. He threw himself from across the room, skidded to a stop beside me, plucked the book out of my lap, and stared at the photo.
“No time to waste,” Bridgette snapped from beside him.
I was trembling all over now. Leafing through a book was one thing – what would come next would be completely different.
“We can’t just go in there without a plan,” Max warned, his brogue shaking through the room. “Or weapons,” he added.
“Of course not,” Sarah agreed. If she was affronted by Max’s suddenly icy mood towards her or his harsh words, she wasn’t showing it. Because she was a professional, wasn’t she? All of them were.
Well, except me. I was the lying loser who’d been dragged into this world and was very much not up to this task.
Before my heart could sink or just stop beating altogether and give up, Bridgette stalked over to the door and thrust it open. It revealed several witches all lugging in boxes.
Though Max still looked unquestionably stressed, his eyebrows did tick down as he saw the boxes.
“We’ve already gathered together all the weapons we have. And we’ve got plenty of witches too.” Bridgette grabbed one of the heavy boxes off the closest witch and hauled it into the room, chucking it on one of the couches with a thump. She yanked the lid open and pulled out something that looked suspiciously like an ordinary horse whip.
Now, I wasn’t any expert, but I doubted a whip could do much against a magical gun, or a pissed off fairy, for that matter.
I couldn’t deny that Max looked interested, though. He walked over and accepted the whip from Bridgette, checking it with a thorough eye. “This is good, but we’ll need more. We need to overpower him immediately. Get in, get out. It’ll be the only way.”
They started to discuss tactics quickly amongst themselves, leaving me to just sit there, growing sweatier by the second.
I couldn’t stop watching the clock. I became obsessed with the second hands as they ticked down relentlessly.
They didn’t have the time for this. It wouldn’t work. There was no—
Max shifted on his foot and walked over, looming above me.
I ticked my head back.
There’d been a time when all I’d wanted to do was get away from this brute. There’d been a time when I’d regretted ever meeting him. And hey, in many ways, I still wholeheartedly regretted being dragged into this world. But the look he shot me promised me one thing: he’d see this through to the end.
“We’re going now, Chi,” he said.
I blinked. “Wait, what? Aren’t I coming along too?”
“It’s much safer for you to stay here.”
“Safer?” My voice twisted uncontrollably high. “How is it safer?”
“You’ll just be in the way if you came. Plus, your Dimitri’s target,” Max pointed out slowly.
My blood boiled and yet my skin instantaneously felt as if I’d wandered into an ice cave. I shook my head as hard as I could. “No, Max. You can’t leave me.” If my voice had been twisted before, it was nothing compared to how wretched it sounded now. I would have seemed like a pathetic child unwilling to let their parent go.
Though Max made steady eye contact, it wasn’t enough.
I pushed shakily to my feet, swiveling my attention to Sarah and Bridgette, hoping they at least would see reason. But as they both shot me pressed-lipped looks, I realized I’d get no help there.
My thoughts started to spiral once more. My mother’s tiger energy was far from my mind right now. There was no way I could challenge this situation head on, but I could take Max on.
I clenched my teeth as I faced him. “You’re not going to leave me here alone.”
“You won’t be alone,” Bridgette said as she took a sharp step towards me, her heels clicking against the polished concrete. “We’re going to keep our strongest witches here. You’ll be surrounded. You’ll be safe.”
I jerked my head from side-to-side, hair trailing across my cheeks as my eyes pulsed wide. “Safe? Don’t you mean contained? You’re the ones who pointed out that Fagan has friends in the highest places. How do you know what he’s capable of? Plus, Dimitri,” I brought my hands up and jerked them around, now so nervous I couldn’t hold them still, “had all these transport keys. What’s stopping him,” I snapped my hand to the left and pointed a stiff, sweat-slicked finger at the door, “from using one and transporting here?”
Sarah shook her head in a strong move. “He won’t be able to access that door – or any door in this
