Page 138 of Samhain Savior

“I’ve never taken it off before,” I admitted, reluctant to do it now.

“I know,” Modi said, his smile soft. “And that’s what’s kept you safe. The power of Sloth was in its ability to hide in plain sight. It also kept your magic bound, making it difficult for your enemies to find you. But the time hascome.” Holding out his hand, he waited, his impatience clear but he didn’t rush me.

Licking my lips, I gave the pendant one more squeeze, feeling the familiar ridges in its surface one last time, before I undid the chain and slid it off.

Modi took it, offering me another of those kind smiles, then held it up before him so that everyone could see.

“Two symbols, each representing a powerful faction. TheUmbra Fratrum,” he said, showing the circle and flame symbol before turning the pendant around to show off the circle and the tree. “And the Everwood Coven. Bound together by duty and by blood.”

Suddenly, Modi closed his fist around the pendant and squeezed, causing the clay to shatter inside his strong grasp.

“No!” I cried, reaching for his hand. “That’s mine!”

My grief was a sharp cut to my heart. That necklace had been my anchor, the one proof I still belonged to something. It was also my last connection to Heidi. Now it was nothing more than dust.

What was I without it?

“Asmodeus!” Archer roared, his rage rushing through the bond in response to my sadness at the loss of my family heirloom.

“Peace!” Modi said, holding out his hand. “Look!”

We all froze, our emotions forgotten and replaced with pure shock as there in Modi’s hand, covered in the dust of the crushed clay that had concealed it, was very obviously, the third piece of the Fallen Key.

A flat silver circle each side intricately carved with the same symbols that had adorned the clay that had hidden it.

“I give you…Sloth,” Modi said, a touch of reverence in his tone.

“And it’s just been hanging out there, hiding in that clay all along?” Vine asked, shaking his head and laughing. “Such a Sloth move.”

Now that he’d revealed it, I could feel it, the slow, lazy tug of emotions that were imbued in the silver, the feeling of lethargy that emanated from it removing just about every care I had.

“Delilah,” Modi said, and I had to blink a few times to clear my head. “It’s time.”

“Absolutely not,” Archer cut in. “I will gut you where you stand.”

“I only need a few drops,” Modi protested, not at all concerned about Archer’s threat. “You know it has to be done, Leraje. It’s the only way.”

“Then I will be the one to do it.” Turning to me, Archer sighed, picking up my hand and holding itin both of his.

“My love,” he started, but I cut him off.

“It’s blood, isn’t it? He needs my blood?”

“It’s the only way to bind the pieces,” he explained, sounding truly sorry.

“Well, are we going to use my knife or yours?”

For a second he just stared at me, then a slow, dirty smile crept across his handsome face.

“You truly are my match, aren’t you?”

“Looks that way.” Holding out my hand, I watched as he transformed one finger into a sharpened claw, then pressed it into the pad of my finger, the puncture quick and nearly painless. Not releasing my hand, Archer directed my finger over the silver pendant, squeezing a thick drop of blood onto one side, and then the other, before sliding my finger into his mouth. His tongue traced over the wound, the forked end caressing my flesh in a way that I certainly enjoyed. Archer hummed his satisfaction as the wound closed, then pressed a kiss to my palm, leaving me breathless.

“Now the diamonds,” Modi pressed, his eye on the horizon. “Quickly.”

I passed him both stones, and he muttered several words that I didn’t know before pressing them to each side of the silver pendant.

In an instant, there was a wave of magic, a pressure like a sonic boom, and I was nearly knocked off my feet. The shockwave rolled outward in a ring of light, rattling the shutters, guttering the lanterns, and sending a shiver through the very bones of the earth. The air smelled sharp and metallic, like lightning striking too close. For a long heartbeat, none of us breathed.