Page 43 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

“When I find the person who told you about this, I will end them.” His jaw clenched. “Dawn. Not a second later.”

He shoved open the door, and he left. Probably. It at least looked like he’d walked away and into the woods. But he was fey. Maybe he’d illusioned the exit and he was still sitting in the back seat, waiting for us to confess all.

Eyebrows raised, I looked at Melissa.

“Who did you talk to?” she asked.

“No one,” I said. “You’d know if he was still here, right?”

“Of course.” She looked offended. Then she looked out the window. “You think he’s watching us?”

“I think he left rather easily.” I shifted into drive. “This spell has to work.”

“What if he shows at the site?” Melissa asked.

I’d still have until dawn to hand over the token. That didn’t mean Canyon wouldn’t do something. “Just don’t let him interfere.”

“You’re cutting it close.” Astrid’s voice carried across the sloped field, loud enough to be heard over a wind that smelled like pine and wet earth. She stood with Camille and another witch near the dark tree line.

“I know.” My boots slid in the dewy grass as I walked toward her. “Canyon finally made an appearance. Where do you want the token?”

Astrid’s brown eyes widened. “He found you?”

“He’s coming for the token at dawn.” I kept my voice calm, like I wasn’t at all worried he might show up any second.

“So no second chances if I screw this up.” She glanced toward her coven—the twelve witches who’d driven or flown in from across the country. They stood in clusters, talking quietly.

Astrid drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Okay. We should know if this works pretty quickly. Put the token in the middle of that pentagon.”

The location was easy to identify. An area in the center of the field had been blackened by salt and fire.

Each side of the pentagon appeared to be the same length, an inch or so less than a foot.

I took the token from my pocket. Garion had said it would be heavier outside the Null.

He was right, and for a heartbeat, I thought I felt it vibrate, like it was filled with the same nervous anticipation that ran through my body.

I set the token dead center on the blackened grass, then wiped my hands off on my jeans.

“Wait over there,” Astrid said. She pointed toward Melissa, who stood near the edge of the clearing, speaking to someone on her phone. It looked like a serious conversation, so I walked toward her, an uneasy feeling tightening in my stomach. I didn’t need bad news.

Tree branches moved behind her. I opened my mouth to shout out a warning, but she’d already lowered her phone and turned toward the threat—

Relief eased the tension in my chest when Christian stepped out of the woods and wrapped his sister in a hug.

It felt right that he was here. He’d completely changed the course of his life when Melissa became a vampire, walking away from the order and discipline of the military and into a chaotic world he hadn’t even known existed.

“I’m glad you made it,” I said.

Christian responded with a careful, measured smile. “I want this to work as much as you do.”

I doubted that. Melissa had time for second, third, and fourth chances. If the spell didn’t null the token tonight, I’d be forced to choose between Garion’s freedom and Canyon’s murder.

Paranoia made me scan the clearing again. My brain wouldn’t accept the idea that Canyon would have already made an appearance if he were here. The token was on display and the obvious target of a spell. The time for him to intervene had already passed. Probably.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I slipped it out, half expecting a message from the fey saying “Gotcha.” The notification wasn’t for a new text though. My bank was confirming a large deposit. I tapped it and read the details.

I read them again.

And then I grinned.

“Good news?” Christian asked.

“I made money!” I threw my arms around his neck and spun us in a circle, which was totally awkward, and I totally didn’t care.

My plan was working. I’d sent four emails yesterday.

I’d missed the first notification, so I now had two vampires booked: the first for three nights and the second for seven days. That was a fifty percent success rate!

A wide, unguarded smile stretched across Christian’s face. His blue eyes brightened, and his expression warmed with a happiness edged with something that might have been pride. “I knew you would do it.”

“I can pay bills,” I whispered, loud and conspiratorially.

“Almost like you’re running a real business,” he said.

I just grinned. When was the last time I felt like I had a win? The past few months consisted of one defeat after another. I’d barely survived, literally and figuratively, and while I’d made some progress, it came with warnings and caveats. This I could celebrate.

“Are you ready for us to get started, or do you want a group hug first?” Astrid asked. She, too, was smiling. Most of the coven was because I wasn’t exactly containing my relief.

“I’m ready,” I said, now optimistic about the spell.

If—no, when—it worked, I’d finally have some breathing room.

I’d connect directly with more paranorms. I’d help them, give them some hope.

With Sullens’s help, I’d get The Rain running efficiently.

I’d update the rooms, the common areas, and the restaurant.

Definitely the restaurant. And Garion could decide if he wanted to stay at The Rain or go because this spell would set him free.

“All right,” Astrid called out. “Let’s do this, witches.”

I should have invited Jared and Nora. They knew what we were attempting; they just didn’t know we were attempting it now.

I’d decided not to tell them because Jared’s position as master of the compound was still new, still a little shaky.

Nora would have come if I’d asked. Astrid and I had discussed including her for security, but Melissa had volunteered for that role.

Even though she was young, she would sense a nearby paranorm, and there wasn’t one sign of alarm on her face.

She’d drifted away to watch the spell from a perch on top of a boulder.

Christian stood with his hands in his pockets a few steps to her left.

He glanced my way, our gazes caught, and he gave me another smile.

He was optimistic about this moment too.

The coven began the spell, their low voices weaving together in a single, thirteen-note incantation that softly built in harmony.

This was the part Astrid said would take the longest.

The wind picked up, carrying the scent of pine and iron, and chill bumps scurried down my arms. I glanced at the time: seven minutes until midnight. That’s when the spell would hit. We’d learn if it worked, and if—

A sudden shrill shattered the quiet. I realized it was my phone, yanked it from my pocket, and silenced it. Then I guiltily looked toward Astrid.

She opened one eye to glare at me.

I gave her my best oops, sorry grimace, then looked down at the caller: Blake.

Heat spiraled downward. We’d only been apart a couple of hours. My body was already craving him. I wanted his arms around me. I wanted to make him smile and laugh…

Later. I refocused on the spell and Garion’s token. Was the token beginning to glow? When it was in my peripheral vision, it seemed to, but when I looked at it directly, I wasn’t sure.

My phone vibrated. Blake again.

I chewed on my bottom lip. It really wasn’t the best time to talk, but what if it was important?

A message popped up on my phone. ANSWER!!!

My anxiety, which had lowered to an almost nonexistent level, spiked hard. Blake didn’t capitalize and overpunctuate his texts even when he was pissed at me.

My gaze swept across the coven. They were focused on the spell and their magic, but Melissa and Christian were both looking at me, Christian with a frown, and Melissa with curiosity.

I faked a smile. Don’t mind me. Everything is totally fine.

It had to be fine. I walked away from the coven’s circle until I could barely hear their incantation. Then I called Blake.

“Where are you?” he demanded.

My heart thumped in my chest. “I’m out with Astrid. Why?”

“Is Melissa with you?”

I looked in her direction. She was still sitting on the boulder. “Yeah. Is there a—”

“She’s organizing the stray wolves. Get back to The Rain.”

“What?” I said, maybe too loudly. Melissa was more focused on me than the coven and its spell.

I lowered my voice again. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would a werewolf take orders from a vampire?”

They took orders from Shelli, a voice in my head pointed out.

“Are you walking away?” Blake demanded.

“I’m…” I checked the time: 11:58. “I can’t.”

“Kennedy,” he growled.

“Two minutes. Then I’ll leave.”

“Her master has been dead for over six months.”

The chill bumps covering my arms crept inside my body. “That can’t be right.”

“Get away from her, Kennedy!” he ordered.

I moved toward the coven.

“Kennedy?”

“Are you sure?” I asked. The burned lines of the pentagon began to glow, as if the salt and fire that had scarred them were sparking back to life.

“We captured one of the wolves who attacked at your apartment. We’re sure.” It sounded like he was talking with his teeth clenched. His eyes were probably full gold. He was in protector mode, but I couldn’t just walk away. I had to give Canyon the nulled token at dawn.

If the spell worked. If it didn’t… Well, if Blake was right, I needed to be close enough to grab it before Melissa had a chance.

Frowning, I eased closer to the circle. If Melissa was a villain, she could have stolen the token in the car. Had Garion’s curse deterred her? Was she after something else?

My questions would have to be answered later.

Each member of the coven held out their right hands, thirteen vials of witch glass centered on their palms like an offering.

The liquid inside, my blood and Astrid’s plus whatever else the spell required, brightened with the same orange and red glow as the scorched earth pentagon.

When I was a few short steps away from the coven’s circle, I whispered into my phone. “We’re about a mile northwest of the end of Harper Creek Road. I’ll call you when I’m away.”

I hung up before Blake had a chance to ask questions or make more demands. The coven was too focused on their magic to have heard my words. Melissa? I didn’t know if she’d picked them up, but I felt her watching me watching the token.

Less than a minute until midnight. My body went taut, waiting for a surge of powerful magic. I counted the seconds, not knowing exactly how many were left. The magic grew, humming through the air and reaching for the token and the coven.

As one, the coven closed their fists around the glass.

The first eruption came from Astrid—bright blue sparks jetting from between her fingers. Camille was next. Then the man who stood beside her. One by one, the magic flared and leaped from witch to witch, faster with each link, until it completed the circle and slammed back into Astrid.

Blue flames roared into the sky. Twisted and beautiful, they split like lightning, arching through the night until they collided over the pentagon.

A thick, single bolt of lightning rocketed down.

It hit the token. Then it lashed outward, warping the atmosphere as it split into thirteen too-bright tendrils that struck each witch in the chest.

They flew backward.

The tendrils disconnected, then re-formed into one. That single bolt spiraled around the former circle, faster and faster until it found an outlet.

Until it found me.

Pain rent through my body, white-hot and absolute. My blood became fire. My knees buckled. My world tilted, and then it just… switched off.