Christina watched as the fires went out. Confused at her sudden loss of control, she tried desperately to light the flames again. But it seemed all her powers had been turned off.
Around her, the others moved in concert, just as they were supposed to. Walter looked like an action movie in slow motion—an elbow here, a fist there, a bullet over there. She spun, throwing a punch with her prosthetic arm, and Christina watched as the man reeled backward, almost flying. Clearly, he’d expected to meet bone and flesh, not metal.
Noah was staring at her, a disturbing look of alarm on his face, but she waved him away. Without her fake fire holding them down, the soldiers had begun to stand and put up a real fight. Christina knew her team was outnumbered. They needed Noah fighting, not making faces.
As she reached for her own gun, she tried again to reach inside and reignite whatever power she had.
It didn’t work. But this time it might have failed because she was surprised and distracted.
Eleri Eames walked calmly through the crowd.
Where she’d come from, Christina couldn’t figure out. “Eleri!” she called out, not managing to keep the surprise from her voice.
“Christina,” the other agent replied with a friendly wave and a tone that didn’t lend credence to the bullets flying around her. Her hair hung in waves nearly to her shoulders and her pale green eyes were bright. She smiled as though she were walking into a picnic, not a battle.
Did a bullet just fly through her friend? Christina blinked in disbelief.
Eleri seemed unfazed. She didn't even jolt or look to the side.
But as she got closer, her expression changed. Sobering and with a sense of urgency, she leaned in and spoke to Christina. “Aegis isn't real. Not in the way you're thinking.”
Okay. Christina wasn’t sure what Eleri was saying or why in hell she was saying it now. She made a move to push her friend out of the way. Bullets were flying. They couldn't stand here and have a philosophical conversation. Maybe when they got back to the compound…
Even as she pushed Eleri away, Christina squeezed several times on the trigger, taking down a soldier coming at her. Eleri moved only one step to the side and continued speaking.
“The bones are part of a spell. If you steal the bones, they will have nothing to hold the illusion together. Then you'll have the upper hand.”
“It's real enough,” Christina cried, once again turning and firing off a shot at an approaching soldier.
“Oh yes,” Eleri replied, “It is. And some of them believe, too.” She waved at the soldiers around her. Her sweeping gesture included the other NightShade agents, who didn't even see that Eleri was here.
Still pulling the trigger, still fighting to get them out of this intact, Christina looked over and watched as Dr. Marks went limp, his granddaughter still holding on tight. GJ seemed unwilling to let him go or stand back up and fight.
Christina would need to go and put a bullet in him. She’d already decided she would not be asking GJ to do that again. She started toward the two, ready to end this, but Eleri put out a hand and stopped her.
“They believe, but that doesn't matter. All of the power comes from a spell.”
“It’s a pretty powerful spell!” Christina shouted, exasperated, so she wasn’t surprised when she pulled the trigger it only clicked. With a sigh and a smooth motion, she traded out her magazine and aimed her gun again.
“Like all spells,” Eleri continued, as though she hadn’t been interrupted, “it’s only as powerful as the energy put into it over the centuries.”
So many centuries, Christina thought. No wonder it seemed so strong.
“If you get the bones,” Eleri repeated firmly, “you not only break their power, but you can claim it for yourself. You can work the spell. You can control Aegis.”
“Well, you'll have to get them,” Christina said. There was no way in hell she or any of these yahoos on her NightShade team had half the wiccan skill Eleri had. Hell, if they did, they would probably blow themselves up first.
“I can't,” Eleri replied.
“Sure, you can.” Christina turned, pulling the trigger on a soldier who had almost lunged at her.
Why was Eleri not fighting? None of this made sense.
“How do we get the bones?” Christina asked.
But Eleri slowly began fading from existence as Christina watched, stunned, even as she noticed a tapping sensation at the side of her face.
The tap grew more frantic, turning into a slap as Noah materialized above her.
Christina found herself lying on the ground, looking up at the sky. Noah smacked at her and demanded, “Wake up, Christina! Wake up.”
Eleri Eames was nowhere to be seen.