I shot to my feet. “Get her over here.”
Mrs. Costas angled her neck to look up at me. “I haven’t agreed to help you.”
My hands flashed, reaching behind me and drawing my weapon. I placed the barrel on her temple. She responded as I’d known she would, by lifting her own gun, but I was ready and snatched her wrist, giving it a brutal twist. She cried out in pain and dropped the gun. It fell into the grass beside her wheelchair.
“I don’t have any more time to play nice,” I said. “I tried asking. Now I’m telling. We’re going over to the Nakki, and you’re going to tell her to transform.”
“Nakkis live in the water,” Ciara huffed. “They don’t create their own.”
“They can take whatever water is there and amplify it,” I corrected. “I saw her do it when she tried to kill me. All we need is a tiny bit for her to work with. She expands the water. You get in it. You transform. You use your voice, and you stop this war.”
“What if I don’t? What if I refuse?”
She was stone cold, angry. Underneath that façade, I sensed something else. She was brittle. Fragile as glass. A woman pushed to the edge and ready to break.
“Then I’ll kill you,” I said softly. “And Sean will probably survive, thanks to Carter, since the Talos will do anything to protect Sean. That means he’ll have your son. He’ll have Jackson, and he’ll have your red cap. Forever. Is that what you want?”
She stared me down, weighing her options, probably wondering if I’d really kill her. I held my breath and prayed. I wouldn’t, but I was hoping she wouldn’t run the risk of Sean winding up with sole custody of their child. I guess she decided not to.
“Damn you, Ellie,” she breathed. She released a breath and the rigidity left her shoulders. She slumped in her chair. “There are water bottles in the truck. Mack drove it here, and he always has water with him.” She nodded at the nearest vehicle. “Grab several of them. And follow me.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Keeping my gun trained on her, I did as she ordered. It wasn’t easy trying to keep an eye on her, keep my gun ready, and rummage around for the water bottles, while simultaneously making sure this wasn’t a trap and another shifter wasn’t waiting to jump me.
Despite Mrs. Costas’ seeming capitulation, I still felt jittery. Anything could go wrong. My plan could still fail. I didn’t know if it was a good plan to begin with, unleashing the power of the Merrow. It would most likely work on the men. Not as likely on the women, but once the men stopped fighting, the women would too, right? That’s what I was counting on. I had no clue how long the spell would last, especially since we were using the Nakki to create a makeshift pool. This was far from a Merrow’s natural habitat. However, all we needed was a brief interlude. Because I had another idea.
Something had been teasing at the back of my brain all this time, like I could suddenly see how the puzzle that made up the Stones and Carter and the sword and the other world and the voices, the presences Carter had sensed in the other world, and the angel and the title he’d given Carter of Repairer of the Breach…I could suddenly sense how these things fit together and how to unlock them all.
I didn’t say anything about that to Mrs. Costas, though. I didn’t dare, as she urged her electric wheelchair across the rough ground towards the Stones. It was slow going. I was juggling the water bottles and keeping my gun trained on her. When she got stuck in the rough grass, I dropped the bottles in her lap and gave her a push with one hand to keep going. Finally, we made it, circling around behind the Stones, keeping out of the fray, coming up behind the Stones where a young woman in a filmy white tank top and dark jeans stood observing the battle. Her pale blonde hair was unbound, strands of it floating on the night breeze. I stared at her a moment, reliving the terror of that night in Carter’s bathroom, a little shocked that so much fear could’ve been caused by this girl who didn’t look any older or any more vicious than I did.
“Helena.” She turned when Mrs. Costas called her name. Her eyes widened when she saw me. “You remember Ellie, right?” Ciara jerked a thumb over her shoulder at me.
Helena smiled a little half-smile. “I’ll never forget that night. For the record, you’re the only person who ever escaped me.”
Again, it was hard to stand there and reconcile my memories of the terrifying Nakki and the implication of her being a coldblooded killer with this normal looking young woman.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t have, if Carter hadn’t been there.”
“The Talos.” She nodded towards the battle. “I’ve been watching him. He’s doing everything to protect Sean, but he’s getting worn down. He’s going to fall eventually. They both will.”
My heart jumped to my throat. I strained to see Carter. He was squaring off, again, against the terracotta warrior. As they circled each other, another shifter, some huge, dark, hulking form I couldn’t identify, took the opportunity to leap on his back. The Talos stumbled. The terracotta warrior charged.
I turned away. I couldn’t look. We had to act. Now.
“It’s time to move,” I said to Mrs. Costas, doing my best to
