“I guess death really takes the life out of a person.” Clay snorted at his bad humor. “What? Too soon?”
“I’m going to end him.” Bryan doubled up his fists and raised his hands, a gesture I now recognized as him channeling my darkness.
I covered his fist with both hands and lowered it. We’d need to work on him controlling the darkness later. For now, we needed to survive this war. “How about we not kill each other and focus on beating the Council.”
“We tried,” Rob explained. “Our numbers are depleted. When the Sentry members saw you die…” He paused and swallowed. “They retreated back into the woods to regroup. Even the legends disappeared. The elements are resisting our calls. They’re tired of being used as weapons.”
“Then we use the one element the Council can’t control.” I smiled when none of them picked up on my meaning. “The element of surprise. They think I’m dead. Why not let them believe that, just long enough for us to get into position.”
“If you’re back, does that mean Stace is too?” Clay lost his smile when I shook my head. “What do you mean?”
“Only one stands in the way,” I stated quietly, sadly. “She sacrificed herself to save me. Only one needed to die to fulfill the prophecy. She stood in the way of that being me.”
The guys all gave a moment of silence for their fallen comrade.
“The prophecy isn’t fulfilled yet.” Leo pointed out the obvious. “Alec is still out there. As soon as he finds out you’re still alive, he’ll keep coming for you. He won’t stop.”
“I know. That’s why I plan to stop him. Permanently. Come on. Let’s rally the troops.”
The guys insisted I wear the crystal, which this time I agreed without argument. It would help with the element of surprise, give me the chance to sneak up on him without him noticing. As the five of us left the infirmary, I made a request to the elements. “Please, help us end this once and for all. Help us unite our world. If we don’t, this will never be over.”
“What was that?” Clay looked to Rob.
“I didn’t say anything. Come on, look defeated. Really sell it. That’s not selling it, dude.”
Clay hadn’t stopped grinning since we left the infirmary. “I’m just happy. I’m a happy guy. That’s who I am, man.”
Rob rolled his eyes and drudged forward.
When we came to the scene of the battle, at the number of bodies on the ground, we all slowed. Alec was still there, along with Spencer and Virgil Graves. None of them smiled or seemed all that pleased the battle had ended. Then they spotted the guys, and all brought their hands up to the ready.
Bryan lifted his hands in surrender. “Whoa, we agreed to a truce so we could collect our fallen.”
They all lowered their arms. It was Alec who spoke. “Make it quick.”
“We need to get the rest of Sentry to help.”
He chuckled. “It won’t matter. There’s not many of you left, now is there?”
Bryan tensed but said nothing. He hung his head as we all moved past them. Bryan and Rob walked on my left, Clay and Leo on my right. Even invisible, I still had my guys protecting me.
“Isn’t that interesting,” Spencer said in that haughty accent. “They still leave a space between them when they’re walking, as if she walks with them.”
“Yes,” Alec agreed, his tone suddenly sharp, edgy. “Interesting.” He raised his voice. “Hold up.”
We all stopped and waited for Alec to approach, Graves and Spencer on his heels. He stared at the ground beneath my feet. Directly beneath my feet.
“Montana, levitate.” Clay spoke through clenched teeth. “Right the fuck now.”
I did and followed the path of his attention. There, on the ground behind us, were five sets of footprints sunken into the wet grass. Oh crap. Apparently being invisible didn’t make you weightless. Good to know.
“What did you do with the quint’s body?”
“She has a name.” Bryan challenged Alec, once again doubling up his fists. “It’s Katy, not quint.” He shifted his attention to Spencer. “Not dilute.” He finally glared at Graves. “Not prophecy. Katy.” His voice shook with each word. Talk about selling it.
“And what we did with the body is none of your damn business,” Clay joined in. “You said we could take her. That’s what we did.”
“I won’t ask again.”
“Good,” Rob barked. “Then don’t. Look, man. You won. You got what you wanted. Katy’s gone. You fulfilled the prophecy by killing her. The world as any of us know it is no more. She was our world, and now she’s gone. So, congratulations. You’re the supreme one. She was the one standing in the way of you taking over our world. Now that she’s gone, there’s nothing stopping you. I hope you rot in hell, you son of a bitch. Come on, guys. Let’s recruit some help to get the rest of them.”
“I haven’t given you permission to walk away.”
Rob spun and threw a punch, knocking Alec to the ground. Both Graves and Spencer jumped in and called air, throwing a wall up in front of Alec.
He wiped at his now broken and bleeding profusely nose, smearing red across his scarred cheek before bringing up his hand. “It’s all right. Let them go. You have one hour to collect your dead and report in for duty.”
That caused all of us to stop and turn. “Duty?” Leo asked.
“Yes. As I’ve removed the one standing in the way and united our worlds, that makes me in charge.”
“I beg your pardon?” Graves spoke up. “You are not in charge, Alec. You are only where you are because I’ve put you there. Do not forget your place.”
“Oh, I haven’t. Virgil, we knew this day would come.” Alec removed his glove and, without hesitation, shot a stream of orange at the head of the Council. Just as it’d done to Trevor, it burned a hole right through him, killing him.
I didn’t have time to freak out over
