If this is his power, a treacherous voice said in my head, you have no chance. No chance. You’ll never get close enough to use the knife.
I clenched my teeth and steeled myself against that thought, pushing it back lest it rob me of the determination that had seen me get this far.
Reality, however, could not be pushed back forever.
As I skidded along a section of gravel and threw myself around it, I finally faced him.
McCain.
He was standing there in his polo shirt and chinos, his stolen gold watch glistening in the reflected power buffeting off him.
In his hand, he held his magical sword. It absolutely pulsed with power as if it were the heart of a star.
He was facing off against Sarah. She was down on her knees, blood dripping from a wound in her brow.
Despite her injuries, the look of defiance in her gaze was unmistakable.
McCain hadn’t seen me yet. Sarah had.
As her gaze switched toward me, her eyes pulsed wide.
“Get out of here,” she screamed.
Hell no.
“McCain, leave her alone. Save all your battle for me,” I quipped in a spitting hiss of a breath.
McCain’s body had been loose, his movements easy, but now, one by one the muscles along his back stiffened almost as if his tension were climbing him like a ladder.
Slowly, as if savoring the moment, he turned.
His expression was at once one of the darkest and yet most confused I’d ever seen. His glee at having me walk right into his trap was obvious. And yet, a pulse of unmistakable fear shot through his gaze as his eyes darted down to the dagger. Maybe he realized what it was, because his cheeks paled as he pushed back. “How? How did you get that? Where is the McLane contract?” he spat.
“It’s been destroyed, asshole,” I managed as I fought to slow my thundering heart. Casually, or at least as casually as I could manage considering half of the tip behind me was exploding in flame and destruction, I walked around and stood in front of Sarah. Rather than bring up my hands and clutch them into a defensive position, I locked them on my hips, negotiating around the bulk of the sacred knife so I didn’t inadvertently stab my thigh.
I shot him the kind of look that I hope told him he had no chance. “You know where I’ve been, don’t you, McCain? You know who I’ve been talking to, right? You know who helped me destroy the contract, don’t you?” With every word I spoke, I took longer and longer to let the syllables drawl out of my mouth. I hoped it didn’t sound like I’d had a stroke, and rather that I was completely unperturbed by the sorcerer king in full swing before me.
Sarah was no longer begging me to leave, and I hoped she’d realized I had a plan. That being said, she didn’t turn tail and run like I wanted her to. Instead, with a grating wheeze that sounded as if she’d popped a lung, she managed to stand. Then she took a step until she was right beside me. I locked my attention on her in my peripheral vision, not wanting to pull my gaze off Max for a second.
He still stared at the dagger warily, his cheeks paling. His sword, however, didn’t stop crackling and spitting with power. Not for an instant. So it would take more. I hardened myself against my fear and kept pushing.
“You wanted me for my ability to go to the past, McCain. You wanted me for my ability to open a gate to this time. My ability to expand your future. But you didn’t account for one fact, did you, my dear McCain?” I said, copying the exact tone Mary had always used when she’d talked of McCain.
It had the desired effect. He twitched as if I’d slapped him. Me? I just laughed. Because hey, apparently I was pretty good at playing the evil bitch.
“You lie.” McCain found the power to speak. As his voice punched from his throat, his sword reacted and crackled with a new blast of power.
Even though it frigging terrified me to be this goddamn close to a pissed off sorcerer king with a sword that looked as if it had been crafted by the Devil himself, again I dug deep and found the power to control myself. My heart could thump all it wanted just as long as McCain couldn’t see my fear.
I took a nonchalant chuckle as if we’d just shared a joke.
“Mary did this for me.” I brought the dagger up and brandished it, forcing an easy smile over my lips. Heck, I even chuckled. “She’s in good health, McCain. You should really go back and see her. She misses you,” I added in a singsong tone. “For some damn reason, she still loves you.”
On the admission Mary was back in the past, that I’d seen her, that she’d created this dagger for me, Max had barely reacted, but on the admission that Mary still loved him? Oh boy, I honestly thought he would pop.
Sarah drew closer alongside me. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she whispered. Though her voice was weak and shook, she was still standing, and that was a real bonus. Because this was a frigging gamble.
Max took a shaking step toward me as he rounded his hands into fists. He drew his fingers in until I saw little flecks of blood collect between them and dribble down his palm.
The number one rule of a good fake fortune is to never give up once you’ve found a weakness. A great fortune teller
