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IT HAD TO BE A CRUEL joke. Ciara didn’t want to believe her own eyes.
“Hi.” He looked straight at her with his all-too-familiar grey eyes. He was smiling a little, showing the dimples that Ciara had been so used to seeing. All that had changed was his hair. It was shorter than it had been when he had died.
Ciara tried blinking, but he was still there. She tried again, but it wasn’t a hallucination. Then she blinked again, but it only made her feel dizzy.
“Thanks, Theresa.” Theo turned to look at the black-haired witch. “Go after the blonde girl and the guy.”
Theresa nodded, heading for the door.
“What?” Ciara found her voice, and her eyes snapped onto Theresa.
Theresa smiled sheepishly at her. “Um, sorry? It was too easy not to fool you. I mean, sleeping bags? You honestly thought we use those? Nope, all planted to make it look like we had actually been there.”
“Theresa’s on the witch hunters’ side. She’s coming for Bill and Iris,” Liam said through the link. “And Theo is here.”
Theresa turned to face Liam, pouting. “You just ruined my fun.”
He didn’t say anything. He stood right beside Ciara, ready to pull Ciara behind him and to use his wand.
Ciara had trusted Theresa. She had spent hours working with her. She had even hung out with her outside work. Theresa had done all the hacking for the team.
She had even found the floor plan of the warehouse.
She had found the floor plan.
And she had modified it.
Ciara had suspected nothing. Not even once.
“Have fun,” Theresa said to Theo and walked out.
Ciara turned to look at Theo, shaking with shock. “How?” It was an effort to keep her voice from breaking.
Theo frowned. “No welcome back?”
“Y-you’re with them.” Ciara felt as if she couldn’t get enough air. As if she was choking. “Y-you’re killing people. You’re lying to people. You’re—”
“I’m sorry you had to spend a year without me,” Theo said, sounding sincere. Like the Theo Ciara had known. The Theo she had agreed to marry. “But it had to be done.”
“Why?” Ciara rasped out.
“For the greater good.”
“Killing innocents isn’t good!” she screamed at Theo. Her breathing was shaky, and the room was swaying. But she couldn’t pass out. Not with everything going on around her.
Theo pursed his lips together. “We’re not doing it for fun, Ciara.”
She shut her eyes tightly. “You’re just a hallucination. You’re dead. You died a year ago.”
“Even your new boyfriend can confirm I’m real.” Theo sounded smug.
Ciara’s eyes flew open. His posture matched his voice. She stared at Theo, not quite understanding his words.
His lips curved into a smirk, and he nodded at Liam. “Ask him.”
Ciara turned to look at Liam, the words stuck in her throat. “What is he talking about?”
Liam’s eyes glistened with regret. He opened his mouth, struggling to find the words. “I didn’t want to tell you, because—”
“What is he talking about?” Ciara raised her voice, demanding answers.
Liam looked at Theo, unable to make eye contact with Ciara. “He killed Doherty.”
The horror struck her. Her gaze flew back to Theo. She was about to scream.
“He saw it happen,” Theo said, gesturing to Liam.
Ciara turned to look at Liam, subconsciously taking a step back. “You’ve known for months?” she spat at him.
They had both lied to her.
Liam tried to apologise, but he was cut off before he could speak.
“He didn’t tell you. No idea why.” Theo shrugged dramatically. “Jealousy, maybe?”
“Shut up!” Ciara snapped at Theo.
Theo’s face hardened. “Enough fun, then. I want you to come with me, Ciara.”
Ciara shook her head. “No, Theo.”
She was furious at him, but also shocked he was alive. Even relieved. She wanted to cry and rush into his arms. And at the same time, she wanted to cast a killing curse at him for everything he had done.
He had put her through hell.
Theo lost his composure, hearing his name slip off Ciara’s lips. “You’re on the wrong side, Ciara,” he snarled through gritted teeth.
Ciara shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“You don’t believe in the good of all?” Theo asked, taking a step closer to Ciara and Liam. His eyes were mostly fixed on Ciara, except for a few cautious glances at Liam. “Because I know you do. You hate how the government mindlessly makes decisions, even deciding what’s good and what’s not.”
“It’s the law!”
“An ancient law. A law for inequality and injustice,” Theo said. “We don’t kill for nothing. We are fighting for our rights. For the rights of everyone. This is a war against injustice.”
“You’re killing innocents, Theo!” Ciara screamed, her voice breaking. She couldn’t believe her Theo was capable of such violence.
“We wouldn’t have to if society acknowledged what’s wrong! The same problem in every country of this world. There’s no equality for us, no matter where we go.” Theo looked at Ciara with desperation. “We’re not free. We can’t live our lives as we wish. You know that. You know that very well. You know how cruel the system is. You know better than anyone. You know the system makes it right to punish someone for accidentally using magic in front of a non-magic person. How is that right?”
Ciara clenched her jaw. “Accidents are rarely accidents.”
“There are genuine accidents that people are punished for.”
Ciara shook her head. “What you’re doing is wrong.”
“We’re fighting for freedom. We do what we have to. We don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice!” Ciara yelled. “Like you could have chosen not to fake your death! Do you have any idea what your mother is going through?”
“You’re just angry because you still care,” Theo said challengingly. “You brought up my mom because you still care. You hate the fact that you care about a witch hunter.”
“No. I—”
“Theresa escaped,” Bill announced through the telepathic link.
“The warehouse is swarming with witch hunters!” This time it was Hugo.
“Get out safely! Now!” Kellan ordered.
“We need to go, Ciara,” Liam said quietly. He tried to grab her hand, but she didn’t let him.
“Why did you fake your death?” Ciara asked Theo.
“You do care.” Theo’s lips curled up. “It was the best way. No one knew I switched sides. I had useful information, and it stayed useful for a while, too.”
“You could have told me!” Ciara cried out.
Theo furrowed his eyebrows, seeming regretful. “I did now.”
Ciara was shaking. She wasn’t sure if it was anger or shock.
“Why did you kill Doherty?” she demanded.
“He saw me. He would have told you. And he was becoming a threat, anyway.” Theo turned to look at Liam. “I tried to kill him, too.” He returned his gaze to Ciara. “I was unsuccessful. Although it looks like I finally got my opportunity.”
Ciara jumped in front of Liam. “No.”
“We can’t get out!” Jenna screamed through the link. “We’re trapped.”
There was invisible pressure on Ciara’s chest. “Someone help them!” she ordered through the link, panicked.
“Ciara, come with me,” Theo said, his voice silky smooth.
“No.”
Theo sighed. “Fine. Since this isn’t working as I hoped, I have to change tactics.”
The doors opened behind Theo. Theresa and a tall, muscular witch hunter guy walked in, dragging Iris and Bill with them.
Blood flowed out of Bill’s nose, covering his shirt. He had cuts on his face. He had taken quite a beating.
Iris didn’t look much better.
Ciara’s eyes widened, realising what Theo was doing. “Don’t.”
Theo turned to look at her.
“Please, Theo.” She looked him in the eyes, begging him to stop. She prayed he would see the pain he put her through.
“Don’t kill them?” he asked.
Ciara nodded, praying Theo would listen.
“Then come with me.” Theo held out his hand, fingers twitching.
“And do what? Kill more people? More innocents?” Ciara hissed. She looked at her fiancé in disgust.
“Only if it comes to that.” Theo let his hand drop to his side, a bitter smile forming on his face.
“Ray’s hurt! It’s bad!” Dominic, the MPG member, yelled through the link. “Where’s Iris?”
“Iris and Bill are injured and held prisoners,” Ciara informed him through the link.
Liam stood frozen behind Ciara. He had gone pale, seeing the state Iris and Bill were in. Hearing about his father just made it worse.
“Theresa,” Theo ordered.
Theresa flicked her wand, making a knife fly out of her left boot and right towards Iris.
“Don’t!” Liam screamed. He was about to run forward, but Ciara stopped him.
Ciara had cleared her head a little. She couldn’t risk having Liam in the same position as Bill and Iris.
The knife hit Iris’s abdomen. She cried out, and her face contorted in pain. Liam winced.
“She’ll bleed out if this takes too long,” Theo said, looking grim.
“Just stop!” Ciara yelled at him. “You’re hurting people as if they’re nothing to you!”
Theo sighed and turned to look at Liam. “Liam, how about a switch?” Theo gestured to Iris. “You get your lady over here back, still alive, and you return my fiancée.”
Liam’s fists clenched. “Not a chance.”
“How about we gut your ex, then?”
“Don’t even think about it,” Liam snapped.
“They killed Eric,” River said through the link. Eric—Ray’s friend and the one who had already lost his brother to the witch hunters.
Everything was failing. The witch hunters had set a trap for them, using Theresa. The mission had been doomed from the beginning.
“Theo, stop this!” Ciara was growing more desperate. Almost desperate enough to consider Theo’s offer.
She didn’t see any other way out.
Jenna and River were trapped with one of Mary’s friends, Hannah. Bill and Iris weren’t too far from being killed, either. And for all Ciara knew, Ray could have been dying, too.
One of them was already dead. How many more would die before they got out?
“How does this help you?” Ciara asked Theo.
“I need you on our side.”
“I’m never going to become a killer like you!”
“We are fighting for freedom. You just can’t see it yet,” Theo said calmly. As if he truly believed it himself.
“Theo, please, stop this,” Ciara begged. “This...this isn’t you.” She had to gasp for air. Her chest hurt, as if someone were crushing her lungs.
Theo looked at Ciara solemnly. “I’m sorry about this.” He flicked his wand in the air.
At first, nothing happened, but then Bill screamed. He fell onto his side, writhing in pain.
“Stop!” Ciara screamed, forcing her feet to stay where they were. “Stop! Stop!”
“Henry’s injured,” Kellan said through the link.
“Ray’s unconscious. There’s a pulse, but it’s looking bad.”
“Hannah’s dead,” River announced. That meant it was only him and Jenna. Half of their team had been killed.
“Shawn was hit!” Hugo screamed through the link.
“Bill is...” Liam couldn’t find the right words to describe Bill’s condition.
“Can anyone get out of here? We need help!” Kellan shouted through the link, but no one responded.
Out of nowhere, Bill stopped screaming, and the room became silent. His eyes closed, and he stopped moving.
Ciara couldn’t see his chest rising.
She screamed, and the door shattered into shards of wood. Everyone except her was thrown against the shaking walls, and a part of the ceiling fell down.