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“Fuck.” Travis pushed a hand through his hair, squeezing a fistful of it so hard his knuckles cracked. The others were watching him, eavesdropping, casting apprehensive glances at each other. “Atlas, once we’re in there, if the spell feeds go out?—”

“This is theonlyoption,” Tanner said. His tone was strained.

“But Darien?—”

“Darien’s in Blackwater, Travis.”

A collective gasp rippled among the group. All the blood left Travis’s head, so swiftly he swayed on his feet.

“Blackwater?” he whispered. He raised a hand to his mouth. What thehellhad happened?—

“We have to try this on our own, Trav,” Tanner urged. “Do you at least know where the front doors are? If you can get in, I can do my best to guide you from there, but you’ll all have to take off your talismans. The spell feeds don’t extend beyond thebuilding, so I can’t see you on the street. You’ll need to find the doors on your own.”

Travis cursed under his breath.

“The front entrance faces south,” Atlas said. “Put me through to your headsets and stick together as a group.”

“Okay.”

“Hold hands if you have to. Just please don’t get separated, whatever you do.”

“Okay,” Travis said. “Okay—hold on.”

It took him two tries, but he managed to put Atlas on speakerphone, his hands trembling as he pulled up the hands-free call settings on the device. The darkness was so thick, his phone screen seemed dim.

“What about the monsters?” Max asked as the call connected through everyone’s headsets with a sharp burst of static.

Travis slid his phone into his pocket.

“I can see them,” Tanner responded.

“How many are there?” Aspen squeezed out.

A beat of silence. And then Atlas said, “Lots.”

109

Blackwater Penitentiary

ANGELTHENE, STATE OF WITHEREDGE

Darien whirled.He grabbed Glen by the wrist, twisting it back so far he shouted out in pain and dropped the knife.

As it clattered to the ground, Darien’s heart stalled at the sight of the black blade. At the red-hot, glowing lines forking through the glasslike material like molten lava.

Brimstone. The prick had stabbed him with a fucking brimstone blade.

The guards were shouting.

“Freeze!”

“Don’t move!

“Get back against the wall!”

“Hands where we can see them!”

Darien spun, kicking the gun out of the hands of the closest guard. Lightning-fast, he punched the butt of that gun into the guard’s mouth, cracking teeth. He yowled in pain, blood gushing down his chin.