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  Then Adrianna walked to the edge of the power dome and used the knife to cut an arched doorway in the side. She motioned Storm and Evalle inside. Power crackled as she sealed the opening, then sent Evalle to the blanket with directions to get comfortable.

  Evalle gave Storm a long look she hoped telegraphed how much he meant to her, then she stepped carefully onto the pentagram and stretched out on the blanket.

  Adrianna told Storm, "I need you to walk over to the side with me so I can tell you the chant."

  Evalle popped up. "Why can't I hear it?"

  Adrianna made a noise deep in her throat. "Because you'll be thinking about it and, with your bond to Storm, you'll screw it up. You might even harm him."

  "Oh, never mind." Evalle dropped back down.

  ***

  Storm backed far enough away to be out of Evalle's hearing, which she could power up with her Belador genes, but she wouldn't do that after Adrianna's warning about harming him.

  When Adrianna stepped up to Storm, he asked, "Why did you lie to Evalle?"

  "Because she will not agree to leave me with my sister and save herself if this goes badly. I'm sure she believes she can pull us all out alive, but if that doesn't work out I have to destroy whatever is holding my sister for any hope of stopping Veronika. I'm giving you the backup plan for snatching Evalle out and triggering a spell."

  "Let me get this straight. You want me to flip the switch that will kill you and your sister in cold blood."

  Tension showed in Adrianna's stiff movements and in the strain of her voice. "I wouldn't ask anyone to do that if I had a choice. And I'm the one who will be responsible for any death." She handed him a pouch. "All I need you to do is hold this. I'll give you a chant to use when you receive a signal if Evalle and I have failed. I need to know that you will say the chant. If you have any doubt about doing this, just remember that when Veronika comes for all of us--and she will come for Evalle eventually--you could have prevented it."

  "I understand." He might not like it, but he wouldn't let Adrianna down.

  "You have to believe me when I say this is your best chance at keeping Evalle alive. That's why I know you'll do what I ask. You won't kill in cold blood, but you will kill anything that tries to harm her."

  "Damn right."

  "Remember being in Mitnal?"

  The hellish memory burst into his mind of a thousand demons lead by their king who enjoyed torture and murder. "Hard to forget."

  "Think of all those demons turned loose and multiply that by a hundred. Even that would be nothing compared to the apocalypse Veronika will unleash if we fail."

  Adrianna glanced over at where Evalle lay on the blanket. "I have no doubt you would die for her, Storm, but the best defense is a strong offense. That means we cut off Veronika's power now. Do that and she'll go into hiding with her people until the next opportunity comes around a thousand years from now, if she is immortal."

  Adrianna was right.

  Some battles were better avoided.

  She continued, "I spent the first six months Ragan was captured trying to figure out how to rescue my sister and came to the conclusion I can't allow Veronika to take Ragan to the end of this. So, yes, if we can't get my sister out and destroy the host connection, then my plan is to bind myself to whatever holds Ragan and call out the chant that will activate the pouch you hold."

  A kamikaze death. He ground his jaw. "Would your sister want you to do this?"

  "Yes. She would do the same in my place. If Ragan dies and we are apart, I will very likely not survive anyhow, due to our bond. I'm asking you to stop Veronika and help me free my sister in some way, even if it means I go with her."

  Storm had never expected this from Adrianna, who most of the teams thought was just another cold and self-centered Sterling witch.

  She'd proven herself to be a valuable part of VIPER, but she'd also kept herself apart from everyone except him, and now he understood why.

  He could also see how Evalle had become friends with the witch. He asked, "What do you want me to do?"

  Adrianna nodded at the pouch. "That contains a lock of my hair, a stone from Veronika's ancestral home, and a lock of my sister's hair. The minute you feel energy building in the pouch, start this chant." She said it twice for him. "Not before you feel the energy."

  "Got it. Then what?"

  Adrianna whispered, "The pouch will burst into flames. I know it won't harm you, not with your bloodline. Drop it and immediately use your tie to the emerald and yank Evalle out. If the pouch does not burst into flames within ten seconds of finishing the chant, pull Evalle out anyhow."

  "What about you?"

  "No one will be able to save me at that point. I'm going to cloak Evalle with a spell as soon as we enter the realm. The guardians should come after me, but in case something happens to incapacitate me, if they target Evalle, the same spell will blast bright energy in their faces if they touch her. That will allow her enough time to escape and hide until you pull her out."

  Evalle would never run and hide.

  He wanted to haul her away and lock her in that cramped underground apartment, but she'd never forgive him and Adrianna spoke nothing but truth. She did mean to put a protective cloak on Evalle. "You're sure you can't take a male with you?"

  "I'm as sure as my research. Look, my Sterling blood will be the draw."

  Evalle called out, "How long is that freakin' chant?"

  Adrianna lifted a hand to stall her and Evalle grumbled something under her breath.

  His hellion. She was deadly, but she bled and she could die.

  "Evalle's not fragile, Storm. I wouldn't take her with me if I thought she wouldn't come back."

  "I know." He stepped inside the small pentagram circle, still holding the pouch. He sent out his energy, searching for the emerald.

  The stone glowed beneath Evalle's shirt, shining green light on her chin.

  She smiled, moving her hand to her chest. "I feel it."

  All systems were go, but he had a sinking feeling about this.

  Adrianna stepped into the larger pentagram and sat down before stretching out. Every movement she made was a precise execution.

  Was her sister currently screaming in her mind?

  If so, Adrianna kept any sign of it off her face.

  She reached over and clasped Evalle's hand, then began chanting. Candle flames grew and grew until Adrianna shouted a word Storm did not recognize.

  The flames shot ten feet in the air, roaring like giant blowtorches.

  Eyes shut, Evalle and Adrianna lifted off the blanket.

  Dread clawed its way up Storm's spine. He opened his mouth to call out words that could break a spell in midchant, but wind swirled and both bodies disappeared.

  Hadn't Adrianna said their bodies would remain here?

  No, she'd insinuated that he was here to guard them, and Storm took that to mean their physical forms.

  Adrianna had lied by omission.

  Storm stared at the empty blanket, afraid to move from this spot now that everything was in motion.

  He gave his heart a chance to slow down and calmed himself so he didn't send anxiety to Evalle through the stone, but he needed to feel that tether. He wanted the reassurance that he could pull her out in an instant.

  Drawing on his energy, he sent a wave out searching for the link.

  He waited.

  And waited.

  No. Storm called up a blast of power he forced straight at the large pentagram on the blanket to search for Evalle's trail. The energy shot through the empty space and on to the other side, causing a quiet flame to flare up.

  His skin chilled.

  He had no connection to Evalle.

  Chapter 20

  Evalle heard a quick blast of sound and felt heat. Had the candles exploded? She couldn't feel the blanket.

  She couldn't feel anything except Adrianna's cold fingers, which she was now grateful to be holding. But had Adrianna died crossing into the realm?r />
  Evalle opened her eyes. Colors warped past her, but she didn't feel as though her body moved.

  All at once, everything stopped.

  The sudden loss of feeling connected to reality reached inside where she kept her deepest fears and shook them awake. She flinched and gripped Adrianna's fingers tighter.

  "Put your feet down, Evalle," Adrianna said softly.

  Looking to her left, she found the witch pivoting from horizontal to vertical. Evalle willed her own body to move and her feet lowered to the ground.

  "Will you let go now?" Adrianna asked in a chiding voice.

  Evalle snatched her hand away. "I didn't want to do that to begin with."

  "Right." Adrianna pushed long hair off her shoulders and turned, eyes searching.

  When Evalle's eyes focused, she felt like an ant in a giant forest.

  So this was the realm of Jafnan Mir.

  Evalle's gaze climbed a hundred feet in the air to where huge palm-frond-type branches sprouted from smooth gray trunks. Trees? Twisted vines with spines crawled up around the trunks.

  The entire place appeared to be in sepia tones, like an old, brownish-colored photograph, which added to the ancient feel. The sky was an odd shade of gray.

  Strange vegetation everywhere reminded her of a leafy plant in Georgia used for poke salad. Or it would have if poke leaves were as long as Evalle's arm and had a black base as thick as her leg.

  The ground shifted and made a sighing sound.

  Evalle pointed down. "What the-"

  Adrianna said, "Everything here is part of Veronika's family. Every bush, the trees, any creatures. Our presence will become known to the guardians before long, but let's try to delay that as much as possible."

  "Got it. What do we do next?"

  "I'm going to cloak you in a spell."

  Evalle shook her head. "No, you're not."

  "Why?"

  "For one thing, I don't like anyone using majik on me, and for another, I have no idea how my powers will react to anyone's majik except Storm's."

  "You let the witch doctor cloak you."

  "I had no choice, plus I don't need to be cloaked. It might hamper my powers like the witch doctor's invisibility cloaking did."

  "Why are you always difficult?"

  Evalle let go of the argument and focused on what Adrianna had been up to before leaving the construction site. "Did Storm tell you to put some kind of protective spell on me?"

  "No, but I told him I would cloak you and I don't want to face him if you do something stupid and get hurt."

  "Stupid? You mean like using my powers to watch your back?" Evalle felt something move nearby and wished for the millionth time to have her dagger. She lowered her voice. "Something's coming. Let's move out."

  Adrianna nodded. "Give me a minute to locate my sister."

  "I thought you heard her all the time."

  "I do, or I did, but she got quiet when I entered the realm. Button it up so I can listen for her."

  Evalle wanted to get in and out, so she let that mouthy comment slide and opened up her empathic senses.

  Lights flashed around her in small bursts of white-blue the size of her hand.

  "Don't touch those power pops," Adrianna warned. "I believe those might be explosions of majik powering the realm."

  "Wonderful," Evalle groused. She kept searching the area with her empathic ability and felt a tug on her power. That was weird.

  Adrianna took a step in the same direction Evalle had felt the tug.

  Evalle started to ask if the witch was being pulled that way when she sensed something moving toward them from behind her. She spun and narrowed her empathic senses in that direction.

  Whatever stalked them kept coming and was emitting one single emotion. Aggression.

  A noise crackled seventy feet away, then again at fifty.

  Evalle told Adrianna, "Something is hunting us. Ask your sister where she is and let's get moving."

  Adrianna turned to her, skin pale and blue eyes wide with shock. "I can't find her. She's ...she's not here."

  More lights flashed, popping everywhere at once.

  The bushes leaned to each side on their own.

  Evalle did a double take at what stepped through the opening.

  She tried to categorize the creature, but where did you file something with a body resembling a rhino covered in grayish-green plates that shined like metal and the head of a jackal with blue fur?

  A massive jackal.

  The thing roared and it sounded like two terrifying animals in chorus.

  The magnetic pull tried to draw Evalle to her right. She planted her feet firmly to keep from being dragged to the side.

  To Adrianna's credit, she stepped up beside Evalle and faced the creature with a determined glint in her eyes.

  Lifting her hands, Evalle prepared to use kinetics and hoped like hell that her powers worked in here.

  Adrianna whispered, "Don't use your kinetics yet. Every time you use power in here, the realm takes an equal amount for itself. You may only get one or two uses."

  That limited her choices, but saving her juice for later wouldn't matter if that thing ate them.

  Adrianna pointed a perfect red fingernail at the creature and it snarled.

  Then wide jaws opened, but this time a human voice came out that sounded as raspy as an old man who had smoked his whole life. "Who are you?"

  Adrianna said, "I am family."

  "Not my family."

  "Yes, I am."

  "Prove it."

  Adrianna tapped her chin as if thinking and said, "I know. I'll let you taste my blood. If I prove I am family, you will allow us to pass."

  Evalle couldn't decide if she wanted to give Adrianna an award for best bluff ever, or conk her on the head for the stupidest idea she'd heard in a long time. Evalle whispered, "Do I get to cut your head off to feed him for this taste test since you clearly aren't using it?"

  Adrianna sent a scathing glare in answer, then her entire body leaned away from Evalle in the direction of that strange pulling sensation.

  Evalle grabbed Adrianna's shoulder and brought the witch back vertical again.

  Murmuring her thanks, Adrianna smiled at the creature. "What will it be?"

  "Veronika did not tell us of new family."

  "She has too much to get done before the eclipse, and the young woman feeding Veronika power for Witchlock is growing weak. I am the host's twin. I was sent to keep her strong."

  Evalle watched the creature. Did he realize Adrianna was lying through her teeth? Or did he buy that line?

  "Give me your blood and I will decide."

  That would be no he didn't believe her.

  Adrianna looked around and caught a branch with a leaf the size of a serving platter, but she didn't break it off. She told Evalle, "Hold the leaf level."

  While Evalle did as she asked, Adrianna used a fingernail to slice across her palm and drizzle her blood onto the leaf.

  Evalle asked, "Shouldn't we have pulled this leaf off first so it would be easier to feed him?"

  "Do not harm any plant or it will retaliate. Everything in here was created by their ancestors and of their ancestors."

  "How can a-" Evalle sputtered to a stop when the leaf veins opened up and absorbed the blood.

  It even made a slurping sound.

  Okay.

  Message received. Don't antagonize the landscape.

  When Adrianna nodded, Evalle released the plant and waited.

  The creature lifted its head and angled it to one side as if listening to someone. Then he growled and said, "You may pass, but Veronika will be informed of this."

  When would the four-legged grump tattle on them? Now or later?

  "Where is the host?" Adrianna asked, ignoring his comment.

  The jackal's green eyes sharpened with predatory intent. "You would know that if Veronika sent you. Who. Are. You?"

  Oh. Crap.

  Adrianna said in a hushed voice to E
valle, "I can't hear or feel Ragan. She hasn't been silent one second in the last seventeen months."

  The ancestor creature shouted, "Veronika did not send you. You are an intruder."

  Evalle said, "We need to fight or leave."

  "Agreed." Adrianna reached up and yanked a strand of hair from Evalle's head.

  "Ouch. What the hell?"

  Adrianna whispered words quickly while gripping the strand, then tossed it into the air where silver-blue power poofed at Evalle. She sneezed and swatted an empty space. "I swear I'm going to kill you myself."

  The creature lifted a massive hoof and slammed it down, shaking the ground. He roared, "Intruder!"

  Something shrieked in reply in the distance.

  Skin around his mouth pulled back, revealing sharp teeth twice the length of Evalle's fingers. He snarled and leaped forward.

  Evalle pushed Adrianna aside and dove in the opposite direction, rolling then coming up on her feet. She spun around, ready to toss a kinetic hit at the creature, but Adrianna had her hands up and was chanting in a language Evalle had never heard.

  Using kinetics might harm Adrianna, who had stepped between Evalle and the creature.

  Thrashing plants right and left, the creature dove at Adrianna and red power burst across his head and body. He screamed in agony and backed up, trying to get away from whatever Adrianna had conjured.

  He stood all that body up on his short and stocky hind legs.

  Evalle wouldn't have thought that possible.

  Then he crashed backwards, shaking the entire area with trees swaying and the ground rippling. Evalle danced around to keep her balance.

  Adrianna was doing the same then she started sidestepping faster and faster.

  The plants parted to make a path.

  Any help from the plants could not be good for either of them.

  Evalle lunged for her, but Adrianna took off running backwards. The witch yelled, "I can't stop!"

  Gaining her feet, Evalle turned to go after her, which was a good thing. That magnetic force gripped Evalle's chest and yanked her in the same direction as the backpedaling Adrianna.