“Kat, I’m not going anywhere near this Lydia.” Evan stood beside the couch in the hotel room. His entire four-foot-tall body vibrated with tension. “She’s too dangerous.”
“If we take the dagger and leave, Percy’s dead. Ellie’s dead.” They wouldn’t be able to fight Lydia.
“And if we stay, we’re dead. Lydia is powerful enough to kill us all.” He marched over to me and gripped my arms with surprising strength for a child. “If we take the dagger, Percy might not go to Lydia. He will realize he can’t take her on without it.”
“Percy will do anything to save Sarah.” The blood rushed to my hands and feet. My frustration flowed through Percy’s veins. “He’s a Kingsley. Of course he’s going to charge into a dangerous situation, especially one he’s not equipped to deal with.”
“I don’t,” Evan said quietly.
“You don’t have your amulet yet.” He didn’t understand the pull of the amulet. The weight of duty. The responsibility that rested on Percy’s shoulders. He hadn’t felt what it was like to hold so many lives in his hands, but I did. “Taking the dagger away would be like stabbing Percy and Ellie.”
“They’d still have a chance.” The slightest quiver in Evan’s voice betrayed his inner uncertainty.
I hated having to do this to him, but it was the only way. “I’ve got the dagger and the locket.”
“What are you saying?” His forehead wrinkled up.
“We’re not in danger yet. We’ve got time.”
“Are you refusing to let me open the portal?” His voice went dangerously calm for a child.
“I’m saying it’s not just your decision. It’s my magic that brought us here. It’s my magic that saved your life. Maybe you need to trust me and my magic.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose like I was giving him a serious headache. “Do you want to die?”
“I don’t want to live because I’m a coward who let my ancestors die without trying to help them.”
“You are needed in the present. We’ve got a supernatural storm brewing there. That’s where you can do real good.” His eyes pleaded with me.
“Didn’t you learn anything from what happened to Cassie and Sebastian?” Before he could reply, I rushed to add, “The dangers we end up facing are usually rooted in the past. I wouldn’t have this ability to change the past if I wasn’t meant to use it. If we can help Ellie and Percy, it might help us too.”
“We didn’t help Cassie and Sebastian.”
His words stung like a slap. I didn’t realize I’d taken a step back until I bumped into the fireplace mantle. “I tried my best.”
“Kat, no, I didn’t mean,” he fumbled for the right words, “I know you did all you could for them.”
Tears burned my eyes. The guilt of not doing enough in time. I turned away from him and went to the window, staring down at the street below while I got control of myself.
“You aren’t going to change your mind, are you?”
“If you want, I’ll send you back. I’ll stay on by myself.” I only needed a drop of Ellie’s blood to get home.
“I’m not leaving you here alone. But I need you to do something.” When I refused to answer, he came over and tugged on my sleeve until I looked down. “Promise me we will return before Percy’s death date.”
It was the next night. We still had a day. I nodded.
Evan stared up at me with a suspicious expression. “I want you to say the words this time.”
“I promise we’ll return before Percy’s death date.”
Evan wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me. His face pressed against my stomach. I resisted the urge to pick him up because I knew what he was really after.
“You’re not getting the necklace,” I said.
“Not yet” was his muffled reply.
***
It was late afternoon by the time Percy woke up. He’d spent hours dozing beside Ellie. Oddly, he didn’t feel rested.
As soon as Ellie was out of bed, he asked, “What’s Lydia’s address?”
She crossed her arm and gave him a stubborn look. “I’m going with you.”
“It’s best for me to go alone.” He didn’t trust Lydia, especially with Ellie.
“Lydia told me to bring you to her. We have to go together.”
“We don’t have to do what she says. Just give me the address.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I only know how to start. Once I get going, I’ll know where to go next.”
Blast it. Lydia was forcing his hand. Maneuvering them around Vienna like chess pieces.
He could play games, too.
Before they headed out, Ellie and he stopped in the hotel restaurant for some food. After Ellie devoured her roasted pork, the color came back in her cheeks.
He was about to ask if she’d like dessert, when she tossed her napkin on the table and said, “We have to go.”
Her voice didn’t quite sound like hers. “Ellie?”
“She’s getting annoyed,” she whispered.
“How do you know?”
“She’s talking inside my head.” Ellie’s face contorted with that confession.
If Lydia was inside her head, who knew what else she might do to Ellie. He paid their bill quickly.
As they left the hotel, Percy asked, “Should I hail a carriage?”
“It’s a fifteen-minute walk.” She headed down the street.
Percy rushed to catch up to her and grabbed her hand. “Don’t lose me.”
She giggled. “We won’t.” Her eyes turned the same silvery green as Lydia’s.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up like they were preparing for battle.
Ellie blinked and her eyes were moss green again, but the star sapphire glowed brightly in his dagger’s sheath. He was walking into a supernatural threat without the Langley heir. And the person he’d sworn to protect was under the control of someone he couldn’t trust.