I touched his arm. “They grieved you.”
His face fell. “I know.”
“I’m usually you, the one everyone loses. So I get how you’re feeling, like hey, you’re here and you’re sorry, but you want to move on.” I shook my head. “This time, however, I mourned you, too. I had to send you on.”
He met my gaze. “You were … amazing.”
“It’s my gift, I guess.”
Our conversation was stopped as our non-talented group walked toward us. I wasn’t surprised to see Levi in the front. He stopped when he reached me, shooting a quick glance at Victoria and Troy. They did look funny with the blood all over them.
My ex sat down next to me. “This was a hard one, Kendall. Talk about giving us a ridiculous amount of control over the universe.”
“Would you rather I have made all the decisions myself? Just decided for you?”
He laughed. “This time, yes. Okay. We want you to do it. Change this place. Truth is, I loved having a place where I knew the kids could be safe. But what life will they have? They won’t have lovers. They won’t have children, unless your daughter falls in love with Victoria’s son. And the rest of us are not content with waiting out our lives here. So you should do it.”
I’d known that’s how they would decide. “Do you ever wish you’d sat down at someone else’s table that day in college?”
“Never. Not once.”
Levi could still surprise me.
It took the better part of a day for everyone to get ready to return to Earth. I walked through the cabins, making sure nothing got left behind. I touched the walls, the small furniture. It would all be gone very shortly.
The Others were gone; still, I spoke aloud to them. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have chosen to be the phoenix, but I did ask you for help and you gave it to me. Thank you for the safe place.”
It was time to end this mess once and for all.
Being back on Earth wasn’t odd for me—I’d been back only days earlier—but the others hadn’t seen the subtle ways it had become a Shadow Dimension the way I had. By the late afternoon when we gathered at Victoria’s to finally start the process of destroying the shadows, I saw dark circles and pale faces on my loved ones.
There really was nothing left for me to say.
Henry leaned against a fence, waiting to watch his wife preform what would be her greatest act of magic. I took my place beside him. “This should be a piece of cake.”
His mouth quirked. “Oh, completely.”
“I mean, we create dimensions and destroy shadow masters all the time.” I waved my hand in the air. “Like cooking dinner.”
Amusement coated his eyes. “Not even as hard as that. Like turning on the faucet.”
“Do you hate me a little bit, Henry? I’m always screwing up your wife’s life. Things get scarier because of me.”
He rubbed his chin. “Don’t ever forget that we were right there with you the whole time. The question the Others asked you? The one where they had you choose if you wanted to be part of this fight? They asked us too. We all said yes. I would never ask Victoria to be less than she is. My wife is a witch and a warrior. I wouldn’t lock her up into safety. I’d never think to consider it. So no, I don’t hate you, Kendall. I think watching the two of you together is like seeing the best of the universe inside the two most magical people I could ever imagine.”
I didn’t want him to see how much what he said affected me. Maybe I didn’t even want to deal with it myself. I’d asked the question. I hadn’t expected him to give me such an intense answer. We’d been joking around.
I turned my attention to Victoria. She didn’t need us in a circle or any other help to do what would be done. She stood in her backyard, surrounded by the artwork Henry had made during the years. Her eyes were closed.
“What does she do in these moments?”
Henry sighed. “She feels the universe. It speaks to her.”
I wasn’t going to pretend I knew what that meant. “Where is your son?”
“With you daughter. Do you suppose that when Levi was spending all that time in school studying engineering he ever imagined he’d spend all of this time doing childcare for a bunch of quasi-sane magic wielders while they tried to stop the apocalypse?”
“I …” I shook my head. “Levi changed after Top Hat took him over. I think my husband of many years ago would have felt there were better uses for his talents. Now? He’s grateful to be with our children and to help in whatever way he can. Watching Grayson be possessed killed something in him, and whatever was left after that went to Top Hat. This calm, centered man? I hardly know him.”
Victoria raised her arms. Clouds moved in to block the sun. The wind picked up. The kids were all inside. Any grown-up who wanted to witness the creation of a dimension could do so at their own discretion.
She opened her eyes. They were black. I gripped Henry’s arm. “Um …”
He shook his head. “I know. Not all magic is white light. Witches walk lines; sometimes they go dark. Victoria knew what she was headed into when she did this. She thinks she can still toe the line. She’s darkening a light place. But for a good reason.”
Malcolm came up next to me. He’d been inside, but the change in weather must have brought him out. “Sounds like a lot of bullshit, Henry. And I think you know that.”
“I let her lie to me. I had no choice. She knew I knew, too. She has to do this, and I had to let her.” He rubbed his eyes. “A feat I believe you are familiar with, Malcolm. Being married to strong women is a lesson in suppressing machismo, and we’re probably better off for having done so.”
Malcolm grinned, which shocked me. What was amusing? “Or at least that’s what we tell ourselves, right?”
Rain pounded down, coming from the ever-darkening clouds. Victoria laughed loudly, and Troy, who had watched from the sidelines, stepped toward her, a grin on his face.
“Nope.” Chase grabbed his arm. “This isn’t for you. This is not your show, Troy.”
“Chase?” I stepped forward, and he waved me off.
“He means no harm. He’s drawn to her like a moth to a flame right now.”
Victoria started to chant. First in Latin, and then it changed to something else, a language I didn’t know. There were parts of it that reminded me of what little Aramaic I had studied but not quite the same. She spoke in an old language, that much I knew. I was transfixed. The wind whipped up around her, blowing harder than it did on the rest of us.
Lightning struck around her four times. I jolted, and Henry tried to run for Victoria. Malcolm pulled him back. “She’s not in trouble. She’s calling the lightning. Look at her. She’s fine.”
Victoria looked more than fine. “This”—she reared her head back—“this is what I was meant to do. This is what they’d always told me I would do.”
She was beautiful. Glorious.
And terrifying as all hell.
Chapter Thirteen
As the storm passed, the power surrounding Victoria dissipated. She slumped forward to her knees. Malcolm let go of Henry, who reached Victoria and scooped her up in his arms. “It’s done, Kendall,” she called out to me. “Troy’s turn.”
Chase let go of Troy’s arm, and the Mage stormed forward. “About time.”
“Still on track,” Chase called out.
Troy’s gaze found my own. “I’m doing this to be done with all of you. When this is done, I’m done.”
“Fine by me. We’d rather be done with you, too.”
He nodded once. “By the watchtowers of the Earth do I call to thee.” The wind picked back up, and Malcolm held on to me from behind. I let myself feel his warmth. We had given Troy back his powers and taken as many precautions as possible. Whatever happened now, I would prove to be either entirely correct or entirely wrong in having done what I did.
Malcolm kissed my cheek, a gentle caress. “Where is your faith, Kendall?”
“I don’t know. Have enough for both of u
s. Please.”
Troy smiled at the sky. “Watchtowers of the sky hear me.”
“He’s not invoking for the four watchtowers I’m used to.” I wished Victoria could do this. But she’d said it had to be Troy. Family blood. Whatever that meant.
“Troy always does things his own way.”
A green glow took the sky. “I call The Master. I call him here, now. He cannot resist me. As blood calls to blood, so do I call him.”
Victoria squirmed in Henry’s arms. “You have to put me down. It’s not done.”
“You can’t do it.” Henry shook his head. “I’ll do it.” He turned to Block. “Take her for me. What has to happen can’t be her.”
“I’ve missed something.” I tugged on Malcolm, but he didn’t let me go. “What’s going on?”
“I know you like to be all badass, Kendall. But your big heart still beats in kindness. He’s a very bad man who did a terrible thing. Even knowing all of that, you’d never be able raise Troy up for the slaughter. Family blood. Blood calls to blood. Victoria understands it. We’re past the point of good versus bad. This is survival.”
His words dawned on me. They were going to do something to Troy, and they thought I’d object? “How bad is it? Whatever you’re going to do? Did Troy agree to it?”
“He has no idea,” Block finished. I stared at him. Block knew about this?
Malcolm held me really tightly. “I’m not going to let you get in Henry’s way. Unless you kill me again or whatever.”
“Low blow, Malcolm.” I was obviously not going to kill him. “I’m a little surprised you all thought you had to hide it from …”
Then I understood. Troy hadn’t understood the spell he cast. It required his own blood—and not a little bit, but a tremendous amount. Where had Henry gotten the knife he held? Troy with his head back, feeling whatever incantation he’d given to the watchtowers, didn’t know he was about to have his throat slit.
I closed my eyes. I’ll admit it. I couldn’t watch the scene and not because I held any love for Troy. I didn’t. Still, that moment was brutal and not one I could have imagined. Ross, Peter, and Logan were there too, and I heard none of them complaining. No one tried to help Troy.
“I’m sorry.” Malcolm’s voice was in my ear. “You weren’t made for this. Whatever else you think of yourself, my love, you’ve always held the belief that things have to be fair. This is completely wrong and absolutely necessary.”
I opened my lids. “I’m not a child, you know. I don’t think you kept this from me because I couldn’t take the blood or the brutality.” I yanked myself out of Malcolm’s arms. “I think you kept this from me because this will take something from Victoria.”
Block set my best friend down. She was pale but held my gaze steadily. I pointed at her. “Henry pulled the blade out, but this is your magic. What happens here? You’ve known since we brought him to the Other Space that he would die, haven’t you? Even before you knew about the family blood?”
A thought dawned on me, and I whirled around to see Chase. He’d been in Troy’s mind. He’d …
“Troy didn’t feel it.” Chase strode over to us, looking perfectly fine for having been in the head of a person who’d had his throat slit. “I made sure of it. He never knew it was coming, and he felt nothing. It was peaceful for him. And, hell, you’re the phoenix. If you want to bring him back, I assume you can.”
“Every single one of you knew, and no one told me because something bad is going to happen to Victoria.” I pointed at her. “What is it? Tell me. Are you going to die?”
There was no earthly way Henry would have agreed to his wife’s death. He’d go with her. And they had a baby, so their loss wasn’t an option. “Someone start talking. Now.”
“When this is over, my powers will be gone. Forever. No working them back. No fixing it. Mine are gone. I will be an ordinary clothes store owner. Shadows can possess me. There won’t be a single thing I can do. The powers that have sustained my life will leave, as I effectively took Troy’s. Karma. It’s not life for a life because he was a bad man.”
I wanted, for the very first time, to cause Victoria physical pain. I wanted to bring down the wrath of the phoenix on her head. I made myself cool down. “Why would you make a choice like that without discussing it with me?”
“Because you’d say no. You’d say, ‘Find another way.’ You’d say, ‘Kill me instead, Victoria.’ You’d say, ‘Oh wait, I can’t die, Victoria, so cause me a lot of pain.’ You’d make me hurt you. You aren’t the only one of us who can sacrifice.” She pointed at Troy’s dead body. “The Master’s going to be here any second. When he dies, if you can kill him, for a split second there will be a vortex formed. All the shadows who held allegiance to him—maybe all the shadows everywhere—will be available to be sucked into the dimension I made for them. They won’t be getting out of it. But you’ll have to get them in. You have magic in you, Kendall. That phoenix. She can do it.” She visibly shuddered. “My powers are leaving. You’d better get to it.”
Henry, covered in Troy’s blood, stormed over to us. “You want to fight with her, Kendall, you can take it up with Victoria when she isn’t about to suffer the worst pain of her life. I think you have something else to do, anyway.”
“Victoria.” My voice shook. “I love you. You’re my best friend. You always have been. Even when I couldn’t remember. You showed back up when I needed you. And now you’ve done this—thing. You rescued me from the Shadow Dimension, or at least gave Malcolm the power to do so. And you think I’m the one who is always self-sacrificing? I love you. And I hate you right now for doing this and not letting me talk you out of it.”
I pointed at Malcolm. “You’re lucky I know how much I hate killing you.”
I was filled with angst. Maybe that was the problem because when I saw The Master, I didn’t take into my mind just how powerful he was. He looked around, no longer wearing Malcolm’s body. He was in a man I’d never seen before. He was in another body. If that made me a bad person, then so be it. There were millions upon millions of bodies I needed to keep The Master out of.
He was scared; for a second I saw it. And then he hit me hard with his power.
I fell backwards. I knew I had to let the pain move through me or I wouldn’t be at full power. But I pushed through instead. I wanted him dead. And I was going to blast him with my phoenix power until I—
He shoved at me again, this time running at me with his body. Like we were football players in the middle of a tackle, we hit the ground together, my head slamming into a rock that was unfortunately right there. I saw stars.
The Master got one punch at my face before I managed to block the next. “I hate you, you stupid bitch. I hate you so much.”
That was good since the feeling was mutual. He was yanked off my body. Malcolm had him in a death hold.
“The last time we met, you got me because it was a surprise. You just hit my wife. I am not getting jumped from behind. Guess what? I’m not so powerless myself.”
I tried to sit up to watch him, but my head spun. I’d really taken a bad hit to my noggin, which served me right, considering I was so consumed with magic I’d forgotten how much physical pain hurt. Chase came up behind me. He was talking to me, but I couldn’t hear him. Why couldn’t I hear him?
I watched Malcolm. He raised his arm, and suddenly the site around us was filled with ghosts. Hundreds of them. Maybe millions. They seemed far away from me, like I saw them through a tunnel.
Why hadn’t I thought of it? Malcolm was always our warrior. He could control ghosts. For decades he’d dragged around the one who’d killed us. I tried to sit up and couldn’t. Chase helped me, his mouth moved, and I heard injury but nothing else. I didn’t care if I was hurt. I was the phoenix. I came back.
Malcolm’s ghosts whirled around the air, all of them attacking The Master. He roared in pain. Ghost possessions were rare, but they could happen. Usually a ghost couldn’t possess a person for very long.
Moments, that was it. But Malcolm was hitting The Master over and over. Soon The Master fell out of the body he held onto. The deceased shell hit the ground, and The Master’s shadow was visible in the distance.
Malcolm wasn’t done. Block jumped forward. He controlled space. Although I couldn’t see what happened, he blocked the Shadow from leaving. An invisible wall.
Logan cried out, “There.” He pointed right, and Block stopped The Master. Then Peter. Then Ross. They were seeing where The Master wanted to go before he did, and Block was stopping him. He usually used that power to keep people safe. It was amazing to see him turn it around.
I was so proud of all of them …
The world was fading for me. Chase’s voice was in my mind. “Hang on, Kendall. We need you. Only you can handle the Cascade, the vortex coming.”
He was right. There was no time for me to die, not yet. I had to hold on. When the Master was gone, the others would follow. I raised my arm. I could send him away. The dimension Victoria had made was there and ready. It would keep him.
Everyone would be safe.
I flung my power forward and felt when it caught him like I’d wielded a net. I tugged on it. He pulled back but had nowhere to go, thanks to Block.
He sprung forward in my power, heading for the dimension where he’d now stay forever. The other shadows moved with him. Oh hell, I could feel all of them. The vortex started; it was as Chase said, a cascade of power. One thing after another. Unstoppable. Moving, and all of it right through me.
It was too much. I was gone.
I didn’t wake. Instead, I floated. I looked down at myself on the ground. Everyone was around me. The shadows were moving away, being sent where we wanted them to go, and the ghosts Malcolm had released were leaving. Now that it had happened, why did it seem so obvious that the ghosts had to kill the shadows? Why hadn’t we known? Why hadn’t we understood that our original gifts were the ones we needed?