Raised voices bounced off the rock walls, mixing with the sound of water dripping. Maybe they had an underground pool or pond they used. I followed the sounds down a tight, dark space, holding onto the smooth rock for support. The adrenaline that helped me fight Xavier had worn off, leaving me in a sluggish state.
I should have eaten the muffin.
Maybe then I would have thought to ask Xavier who his benefactor was. And I should have killed Juliette and her sister. They were bound to come after me. I just wasn’t at that dark place yet. But I would be soon, especially if people kept kidnapping me.
Cries rang out. They must have started the ceremony already. How the hell was I supposed to stop Gavina and whoever else she had participating in her ritual from killing the girls? The ones who Monique had said left, because that’s exactly who they were—the ones Gavina had told her followers left because they became afraid of the freedom she offered.
Bullshit.
Gavina had to be sacrificing them in a blood magick ritual to make herself a god. The only question was why. Why did she want to become a god? She showed no interest in leading her church. So, something else was driving her. Fear, maybe?
My vision blurred, and I stopped. My hand slid along the wet rock as I worked to steady myself. I should have asked Juliette what she gave me. Hell, I should have done a lot of things, like text Devlin to let him know where I was going.
If I survived this, I’d have to get that tattooed on my hand.
Another woman cried out, and I pushed forward. Doubt wiggled its way inside my head. I hadn’t considered that the women might have gone into this willingly, like at the gathering when they gave their magick to her freely.
I thought back to the woman who had opened up her vein to help some blood mage’s fight. She had been all too willing to serve her masters. Were the girls here similar? Would I have to fight off daggers made of blood?
A light shone ahead. I moved toward it, my hand still running along the wall. When my hand ran into an indentation in the surface, I stopped. Blinking to bring the image into focus, I stared at the glyphs on the wall. They were similar to the ones on the altar Xavier was using. The ritual depicted on the Ark. It was the same scene Set had shown me. An Ark in the middle of a clearing with bodies lined around it, their blood draining into the crevice that held the Ark. So, that meant Gavina and Boyd knew about the ritual to create an Old One. Cold sweat broke out on my skin as I took in the box like structure that had been carved out in the rock. Each wall equal in length and width to resemble a rectangular shape. Depictions going from one side to the other.
The cave had been converted into a life-size Ark.
If I walked into that room, I would be offering myself up as a sacrifice. There was no other way to look at it. A single switchblade wasn’t going to protect me unless they planned to use magick to attack.
Another woman screamed, and the fear in her voice solidified my decision. Outnumbered or not, I needed to try. I could only hope the team would realize something was up and track my phone. Yeah, that wouldn’t happen. Juliette was stupid, but not that stupid. She wouldn’t have brought my car and phone to the church. Someone would have discovered it.
I had to do this alone.
I stepped out of the cave and into a hollowed-out room and was deposited at the base of a white marble dais. Makeshift altars had been erected on it. Twelve girls lay bound to them, tears streaming down their faces. One of them was Monique. Everything in me screamed. I started for her but stopped. I had to try and save them all—including myself. Fuck. I should have told her something, helped her in some way. But how?
I went further into the room. I needed to understand the ritual more, hope I could disrupt it somehow.
The altars the girls were lying on rested inside of four circles—three green, three gold, and three black, with four altars per circle.
Gavina stood in the middle of a red circle, her robe open to reveal her nudity. Gold glyphs were drawn on her skin. It was the same configuration we found on the floor at Tribec Insurance; the one used to bring a god into existence. Jonah said the red circle should not be touching the others. But here, it was.
Gavina was doing the ritual wrong.
Boyd stood to the side, arms held up in welcome, as he ran through a sermon similar to the one he gave on Sunday. Their girls went from one bound girl to the next, rubbing blood on their heads.
“Interesting ritual you have going on, here,” I said, stepping up on the dais, knife held at my side. My vision wavered again, and I blinked against the sudden blurriness. “Now…” I let out a breath. “Is this the one to channel energy through combined orgasm? Or some sort of homage to Dionysus? Will there be wine? I’m so confused and might need you to enlighten me.”
Everyone turned my way, including the girls on the altar. Monique locked eyes with me, and my gut wrenched. Nothing but terror inside those once-happy eyes.
“Nicole,” she mouthed.
“I’ll get you out,” I promised. “I’ll get you all out.” Including myself. Because chances were, I’d die here today.
Boyd, after sparing me a brief glance, resumed his mock sermon, raising his hands to the heavens and muttering about his family’s new prosperity. He showed absolutely no concern about what was going on behind him.
Gavina signaled for her children. They rushed over to her, surrounding her as if I were a threat.
I was outnumbered. The gravity of that situation was now coming into focus, along with my vision. The last dregs of the drugs started to dissipate—too bad that meant absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. I couldn’t take five people on my own. And I didn’t hold out any hope I would be found in time, either. But again, I had to try.
Monique and the other girls were counting on me.
Gavina smiled, and my heart dropped. “You have saved me some time.” She stood there, robe parted, running her hungry eyes over me. “I have to say, you’re not looking too good.”
This was not good. I had assumed my presence would throw her, or at least make her scared. Instead, it looked as if I had offered myself up. All that was missing was a bow around my damn neck.
I was such a damn idiot. Why didn’t I just leave and come back with backup? I looked down at the switchblade in my hand. Gavina couldn’t attack me with magick. That meant they would come at me physically. I couldn’t take them all, but I could hurt them.
Now, all I needed to do was stall them. It would give me time to figure something out. Because for some strange reason, Logan left me here. He must have believed I could win this battle with magick.
“Rip their souls from their bodies.”
Should be simple. Yeah, not.
All I’d been able to do thus far was touch someone’s soul, and that took both concentration and time—neither of which I had.
So, for now, I’d use the one power I knew I could wield effectively: my smart-ass mouth.
“Didn’t your son tell you? He planned to make himself a god, too.” I tsked. “Seems ol’ junior wasn’t happy with his place at the bottom of…” I glanced around. “Whatever the fuck this is.”
“Mom,” Vidette said. “She’s by herself. We can take her.” Vidette started for me, and Gavina reached out and grabbed her.
“Not yet. We don’t know what type of power she has,” she said, studying me along with Oralee and Salome. That’s right, she didn’t understand my power. Maybe I could use that to my advantage. “Let’s give her the opportunity to attack. When she’s done, then we’ll grab her.” Or maybe not.
She stared at me, her eyes hard, while a sneer slid across her face. “We’re waiting. Or was your little taunt meant to goad us?” She shook her head, her face filling with disgust. “Xavier was useless. He knew that. I told him that.”
“Was that before or after you took his magick?” I asked.
She didn’t even have the decency to look ashamed. Oh, I was so going to relish killing this bitch. She narrowed her eyes. “His attempt to restore his power is interesting. If he had, I would have taken it, too. Men.” She shook her head in disgust.
“Did you kill him?” Hedia, their youngest, asked in a soft voice. The look in her eyes told me she savored the idea of her brother’s death.
I held up my knife. “Yes. I buried this in his gut.”
I spared Boyd a brief glance. Still nothing.
Time to throw Gavina off her game. “He told me he had a powerful benefactor—one who wanted to punish you.”
Gavina’s face drained of color.
“What’s wrong, Gavina? You don’t look so good. Afraid?”
“If she was going to attack us, she would have done it already,” Vidette said, seeming unconcerned about her mother’s silence.
Gavina looked at her daughter, then at me. “You’re right.” She patted her daughter on the head. “Bring her to me,” she said, a quiver in her voice. She knew exactly who Xavier’s benefactor was.
I gripped the knife and readied myself. I might not be able to take them all, but I was not going down without cutting at least two of them. Maybe three.
Vidette started for me. I want to say I hesitated because she was just a young girl, but I was past trying to find ways to justify the actions of people who seemed innocent. Juliette and her sister had fooled me. True, I knew something was off about them—I just didn’t know who the real player was. But these girls were beyond innocent.
So, when she was in range, I slashed out, running the knife across her throat. The look of surprise on her face was comical.
Did she expect me to just lay down and let her tie me to the altar?
Gavina screamed, and Boyd whipped around. His gaze went to his daughter. Vidette backed up, her hand held to her throat as blood ran down her chest. He dismissed her and returned to his sermon.
I had to be in the Twilight Zone.
Gavina ran to the first girl tied up, picked up the knife that lay near her head, and slashed it across her throat. “I must complete the ritual. I need power!” Three of the kids blocked me from rushing to help. I watched in sick horror as she ran from one girl to the next.
I needed to do more than just touch her soul. I had to figure out how I could rip it out. I had to go deeper inside myself…to the magick I had yet to learn about. It was there, deep inside me—I just needed to find it.
The phoenix wings lay open, waiting. As if the mere thought of me using my magick had opened them. I looked past them for that spark of magick I’d seen inside of me when I’d been attacked before and found a pulsing red ball of energy.
Magick was in the blood. It wanted to be used. I just had to will it. I concentrated on my intent and a few tendrils separated from the mass, slithering forward. I centered my thoughts, my energy, my desire—my hatred on Gavina. She stood over the second girl; blade raised.
Letting the power flow through me, I let my gaze go distant, bringing Gavina’s gray aura into focus. Divine Evil. She was so much more than that.
“She’s using her power,” one of the girls said; it had to be either Oralee or Salome. They were both earth mages and could see the magick in others.
“Mom said to be careful,” one of them responded.
Good. Let them fear me for a little while longer.
I used that time to search deeper inside of Gavina. All the souls I’d seen before looked like bright lights in the center of a person’s being. Gavina’s soul looked dull and rotten. Maybe this was where the Divine Evil came from. I’d have to ponder it later. With my newly-tapped energy surging through me, I reached out and grabbed her soul.
Gavina suddenly stopped. Her body went rigid. A cold sensation writhed in my hand. I looked down at it. Empty. I focused inward and saw the red tendril linking from me to Gavina.
Without thinking, I yanked my hand forward. A single guttural cry rang out, and Gavina turned, eyes going completely white. She fell, sliding down to the ground in a graceful sort of way as if she were being deflated. My entire body felt encased in a frigid mass. It moved around me, twisting as pieces of it thrashed in my hand. I had Gavina’s soul. Now what was I supposed to do?
Before I could decide, I was knocked to the ground, forcing me to release Gavina’s soul. I heard a gasp, only to be drowned out by Salome. She loomed over me, screaming and beating at me with her fists. I blocked the worst of it. Fuck. I should have been paying attention.
A new weight was added. I shifted and took in Hedia. Her eyes were wild. She snatched the switchblade from me. “Move, Salome,” she yelled, raising the knife over her head.
Salome jumped up and moved away. I rolled just as she brought the knife down. It crashed into the rock floor, breaking on impact. That would have done a lot of damage. I jumped up and stepped back, keeping them all in sight. It looked like I was about to use some of that training Ezra gave me in his Krav Maga class. Since using my magick and trying to watch my own back wasn’t going to work. Gavina stood, rubbing her chest as if she were in pain. I thought I’d killed her.
No time to ponder that now.
“You’re outnumbered,” Gavina said, leaning on Oralee. “Give up now, and it won’t be painful.”
“Fuck you,” I gritted out. She should have died.
She laughed. “Do you think you can take us all?”
Before I could respond, someone struck me across the back of my head.
The world went black again.