I nodded. “Yeah. But help is coming. I was bait, and it went wrong.”

Coraline’s brows rose. “Bait? That’s quite bold.”

“We couldn’t get into the temple otherwise.”

She nodded, a knowing look in her eyes. “The shield. I know. It’s powerful. Is my coven coming?”

“Yes. If I can get out and pull the lever to drop the shield that protects this place. How many other prisoners are there?”

“At least a dozen.”

“A dozen?” It was so many more than I’d expected. They must have been taking supernaturals from other towns as well, maybe organized through someone other than Anton.

Cordelia appeared at my feet. Coast is clear out there. No one in any of the nearby halls. Lots of prisoners, though. Each locked in their own room.

“Thanks, pal.” I looked back up at the witch on the other side of the hall. “Give me a moment, and I’ll get us out of here.”

She nodded, and I ducked behind the door and fumbled in the wrist cuff for a tiny vial of magical acid-like substance that would melt the metal. When Eve had given me these bracelets prior to the party, she’d explained what each of them did.

We had hoped I wouldn’t need them, but we both knew it was a possibility.

The tiny vial glowed yellow between my fingertips. I uncorked it and poured a tiny amount onto the metal lock. I was stingy with it, wanting to preserve as much as possible to help get Coraline out. There was no way I’d have enough to free everyone, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.

The lock sizzled, a tiny cloud of green smoke billowing outward. When the smoke settled, I pulled on the door. It stuck for a moment, then broke open.

Across the hall, the witch grinned at me. “Nice.”

“I’ve got a little more. Step back.”

She disappeared from the window, and Cordelia and I hurried across the hall. I poured the rest of the potion onto the lock and watched it smoke and sizzle. When it was done, I pushed hard on the door.

It popped open, and Coraline rushed out. She was still wearing the crazy feathered outfit that she’d been abducted in, but the plumes were all broken and dirty now. She flung her arms around me. “You rock, Carrow.”

I hugged her back, then pulled away. “We have reinforcements coming—including your coven—but we need to disable the barrier that protects the temple. There’s supposed to be a lever that will drop the protective shield. Do you know where it is?”

“No, but I know some places it’s not. Areas where the weirdos congregate.”

“We’ll want to avoid those.” I crossed the hall and shut my door, so it looked like I was still inside. She did the same to her door. “Let’s go find it.”

“What about us?” A voice whispered.

“We’ll get you out, Beth,” Coraline whispered. “Promise.”

“Beth’s over there?” I hurried to the door and looked through the window.

A woman sat against the wall, looking exhausted and too skinny. Her midnight braids hung down her back, threaded through with beautiful emerald silk that sparkled despite the dim light. She surged upright. “Carrow!”

“Beth. We’ve been looking for you.” I fumbled in my bracelet for another one of the potions that would melt the lock. I only had two more, and I needed to save one in case the lever was behind a locked door. But I could get Beth out at least.

When I looked back up, she’d come to stand at the window. I handed her the potion. “Just use half, and you can use the other half to let someone else out.”

Coraline shook her head. “We don’t want to alert them that something is amiss. There are over a hundred people in this crazy cult, and if they know we’re out, we’re screwed.”

Beth nodded. “She’s right. I’ll hang onto this potion and stay here. If the guards show up, I’ll create a ruckus to keep them from noticing you’re gone.”

“Thank you.”

Cordelia's tiny hand tugged at my leg. I looked down.

If the prisoners hold me up to their lock, I can pick it. She held up two tiny pieces of metal.

I raised my brows. “That’s handy.”

Very.

I looked up at Beth. “How do you feel about raccoons?”

“Fantastic.” She said. “Is Cordelia here?”

I nodded and explained about the locks and her skills.

She nodded. “All right. I’ll tell the other prisoners not to freak out when a raccoon appears in their cell.”

Cordelia scoffed. Freak out? Rude.

I rubbed her head. “You’ve got this, pal. Thanks.”

She nodded, and I left her to it. Coraline joined me, and I gave her one of my two daggers. “Just in case.”

“Thanks.” She grinned and gripped it tight.

We hurried down the hall, passing the cells. The prisoners watched us silently from behind their tiny cell windows. Some of them had heard the exchange with Beth, and whispers were traveling down the hall as each person alerted the room next to them.

“Good luck,” one woman said, and a new wave of fear clutched me.

What if we were too slow? What if we couldn’t find the lever. If we failed these people . . .

I shook the thought away.

We reached the end of the hall, and Coraline gestured to the left. “This way. Guard quarters to the right.”

I followed her left, and we slipped down another hallway. Immediately, I felt the spell that had suppressed my magic fade.

Coraline sighed softly, moving her shoulders in a stretch. “That’s feels good. I hated that spell.”

“Let’s work our way methodically through the temple. We have to find the lever eventually.”

“We can do that. It’s roughly rectangular, I think. We’ll work our way around counter-clockwise.”

“How do you know your way around?”

“We’re taken out occasionally for ‘training’.” She put air quotes around the word. “They’re trying to brainwash us to perform some horrible ritual, but it’s not working.”

“That’s good, at least.”

She shook her head. “For now, maybe. But I think they’re trying to come up with a potion that will force us to do their bidding.”

I grimaced. Shit. “Doesn’t matter. We’re getting out of here tonight and putting an end to all of this.”

She nodded. “I’m going to kill every bastard I see.”

We crossed through a large room that was filled with a shallow pool. Torches gleamed along the walls, shedding a warm, golden light on the glittering water. Golden fish swam over the pale blue tiles. Benches surrounded the pool, and I couldn’t believe how big this place was. “It’s a maze.”

“It’s enormous. I’ve already seen so many rooms, I can’t keep track.”

A dark red line was painted on the ground through the middle of the room, cutting right through the shallow pool. We’d seen a similar line painted through the hallway, as well. The paint was messier than the rest of the tidy temple. I pointed to it. “What’s that? It doesn’t look like it was built into the place but added later.”

“No idea. But I’ve seen them everywhere. If you hover your hand over it, you can feel magic.”

I ducked low and did as she said, feeling the buzz of magic. “Weird.”

We were nearing the door when a noise sounded from up ahead, the scrape of shoes on the floor.

I darted to the wall, tucking myself beside the door. Coraline hid on the other side. She held her dagger up, a bloodthirsty gleam in her eye.

18

Carrow

I pressed myself against the wall, silent and still, waiting.

Finally, a figure entered, the red cloak brilliant in the light. Coraline was fast, as if she’d been waiting for this moment a long time. She grabbed the figure and yanked it to her. He struggled, the hood falling back to reveal a squashed-looking face and black eyes.

Coraline sliced the dagger across his throat. Blood spurted, and she grinned with delight.

He slumped, but she kept the body clutched to her as she met my gaze. “We need to find a place to hide the body.”

I looked out into the hall, spotting a small door across the way. I darted across the empty hall and peeked into the room. It was small and dark. Empty. I turned back to Coraline. “This should do.”

We dragged the body in, then I tore off a piece of the red robe and did my best to wipe up the blood we’d spilled. It wasn’t a perfect job, but it was close enough. I tossed the dirty rag into the room with the body, then shut the door.

Coraline dusted off her hands. “One down, ninety-nine to go.”

“You look like you want to do them all yourself.”

“I wouldn’t hate it.” Her lip twisted in a grimace. “I’m not normally so bloodthirsty, but after seeing what those bastards plan . . . I’ll kill each of them with my bare hands if I have to.”

We started down the hall, and I asked. “What do they plan? Beside raising Anat.”

“That’s enough. It’s the version of Anat they want to raise that scares the crap out of me. Violent and vicious, she’ll see that war breaks out over the entirety of the Earth.”

I shuddered.

We passed a huge room, and something called to me, so strong I couldn’t resist. I stopped to peer in through the enormous doorway.

Awe filled me at the sight of the huge space dotted with columns and the giant statue of a woman. She held an ax and wore a broken crown. It was one of the Egyptian style ones I’d seen in illustrations—the kinds the Pharaohs wore, with two prongs, one on either side. One was broken off, however, the stone paler where it had been snapped away. The damage looked recent.

Anat.

She had been calling to me all along. All throughout this. Those crazy red and white visions were from her, but why?

“It’s the main temple,” Coraline said. “The rest of the rooms are like administrative spaces or something.”