There was a searing, crackling noise as the seraph blade met flesh and the Follower began to burn. He staggered away, clawing at his burning flesh, before tumbling to the ground.
"Seraph blades!" Emma called. "Everyone! Use your seraph blades!"
Lights blazed up through the cavern and Emma heard the murmur of voices calling the names of angels. Jophiel, Remiel, Duma. Through the haze of light she saw Malcolm with the bent copper knife. He ran a hand along the blade and it sprang back under his fingers, as sharp as it had been originally. He placed the tip of it against Tavvy's throat and sliced downward, slitting open the little boy's Batman T-shirt. The worn cotton curled open, revealing his thin, vulnerable chest.
Emma's world seemed to drop away. In the chaos of the room, she was still fighting, her seraph blade flaming as she plunged it into one Follower, then two, then three. Their bodies crumpled all around her.
She tried to push through them, toward Tavvy, just as she heard Julian's voice. She whirled around but couldn't see him--and yet his voice had been clear in her ears, saying, Emma, Emma, move aside, away from the tunnel.
She jumped aside, skirting the body of a fallen Follower, just as she heard a new noise: the thunder of hooves. A sound pierced the room, something between a howl and the crash of an enormous bell. It bounced off the walls, a brutal echo, and even Malcolm looked up.
Windspear exploded from the mouth of the tunnel. Julian sat astride him, his hands buried in the horse's mane. Mark was behind him, gripping his brother's belt. They seemed to blur almost into one person as Windspear leaped.
Malcolm gaped as the horse hurtled through the air, smashing through the protective barrier. As Windspear sailed over the table, Julian flung himself from the horse's back, falling heavily onto the flat stone surface beside Tavvy. Emma felt the bone-jarring shock of his pain go through her own body.
Mark kept his seat as Windspear swept over the table and landed on the other side of the circle. The circle itself, now pierced, began to writhe like an illuminated serpent, the runes flaring up one by one and then going out.
Julian was pulling himself up onto his knees. Malcolm snarled and reached for Tavvy--just as a figure dropped from the ceiling and knocked him to the ground.
It was Kieran. His hair shimmered blue-green and he raised a blade that was the same sea color. It plunged down toward Malcolm's chest, but Malcolm threw his hands up. Dark purple light exploded from his palms, hurling Kieran back. Malcolm rose to his feet, his face twisted in a snarl of hate. He flung out a hand to crush Kieran into dust.
Windspear gave a scream. The horse whirled around, hooves raised, and punched them into Malcolm's back; somehow Mark kept his seat. The warlock went flying. The horse, red eyes wide, reared and snorted. Mark, grabbing a fistful of Windspear's mane, leaned down, his other hand outstretched toward Kieran.
"Take it," Emma heard him say. "Kieran, take my hand."
Kieran reached up, and Mark pulled him upright, hauling him onto Windspear's back. They swung around and charged at a knot of Followers, the horse scattering them, Mark and Kieran reaching down to finish off the living dead with strokes of their swords.
Malcolm was dragging himself to his feet. His once-white jacket was liberally stained now with dirt and blood. He began to move toward the table, where Julian was kneeling over Tavvy, tugging at the chains that bound him. The protection circle surrounding them was still sputtering. Emma took a deep breath and raced for the table, leaping into the air.
She felt a wavering snap of electricity as she passed through the broken circle, crouched, and flung herself upward. She landed on the table in a kneeling position, beside Julian.
"Move away!" was all she had time to gasp. "Julian, move!"
He rolled away from his brother, though she knew that letting go of Tavvy was the last thing he wanted to do. He slid to the edge of the table and rose to his knees, leaning back. Trusting Emma. Giving her space.
A blade made by Wayland the Smith can cut anything.
She swung down with Cortana, a few inches from Tavvy's wrist. The edge of the blade sliced through the chain and it fell away, rattling. She heard Malcolm scream, and a flash of violet fire split the room.
Emma slashed down again with Cortana, severing the other chains holding Tavvy to the table. "Go!" she shouted at Julian. "Get him out of here!"
Julian caught up his little brother in his arms. Octavian hung limp, his eyes rolled back. Julian leaped down from the table.
Emma didn't see him vanish into the tunnel; she had already whirled back around. Mark and Kieran were trapped at one end of the room by a group of Followers, Diego and Cristina at another. Malcolm was advancing on Ty and Livvy. He raised his hand again--and a small figure flew toward him, holding up a blazing seraph blade.
It was Dru.
"Stay away from them!" she shrieked, her blade shining between them. "Stay away from my brother and sister!"
Malcolm snarled, curling his finger toward her. A rope of purple light coiled around Dru's legs, jerking her off her feet. The seraph blade rolled away, sputtering against the stone. "I still need Blackthorn blood," Malcolm said, reaching down for her. "And yours will do as well as your little brother's would have. In fact, you look like you'd have a lot more of it--"
"Stop!" Emma shouted.
Malcolm looked up at her--and froze. Emma was standing upright on the stone table. One hand clutched Cortana. The other held the candelabra of Hands of Glory.
"It took you a long time to collect these, didn't it?" she said in a cold voice. "The hands of thirteen murderers. Not so easy."
Malcolm released Dru and she scuttled away toward the far side of the room, scrabbling at her belt for another weapon. Malcolm's face contorted. "Give it back."
"Call them off," Emma said. "Call off your Followers, and I'll give you back your Hands of Glory."
"Deprive me of my chance to regain Annabel, and you will pay with agony," he snarled.
"Can't be worse than the agony of hearing you talk," Emma said. "Call them off or I'll cut these disgusting things into tiny pieces." She tightened her grip on Cortana. "Let's see if you can do a magic spell with those."
Malcolm's gaze swept the room. The bodies of Followers littered the cavern, but some of them were still on their feet, pinning Diego and Cristina in the corner of the room. Mark and Kieran were astride Windspear, both laying about themselves with blades. The horse's hooves were stained red-brown with blood.
The warlock's hands clenched at his sides. He turned and spat a few words in Greek, and the remaining Followers began to fall, crumpling to the ground. Diego and Cristina dashed over to Dru; Kieran brought Windspear to a halt and the faerie steed stood still as the dead fell dead once again.
Malcolm charged toward the table. Emma ran the length of it, sprang off the end, and landed lightly on the floor. Then she kept running.
She ran toward the rows of chairs that had been set up for the Followers, down the aisle between them, and into the shadows. The faint glow of Cortana gave enough light that she could see a dark corridor between rocks, snaking away into the hill.
She plunged into it. Only the glowing moss on the walls gave any illumination. She thought she could see a glimmer in the distance and pressed on, though running with the heavy candelabra was making her arm ache.
The corridor forked. Hearing footsteps behind her, Emma plunged to the left. She had only been running for a few yards when a glass wall loomed up in front of her.
The porthole. It had grown larger, filling nearly a whole wall. The massive lever Emma remembered protruded from the stone beside it. The porthole glowed from within, like an enormous aquarium.
Behind the glass she could see the ocean--it was radiant, a deep blue-green. She could see fish and drifting seaweed and strange lights and colors beyond the glass.
"Oh, Emma, Emma," said Malcolm's voice behind her. "You took the wrong path, didn't you? But one could say that about so much of your life."
Emma s
pun and jabbed the candelabra toward Malcolm. "Get away from me."
"Do you have any idea how precious those hands are?" he demanded. "For the fullest potency, they had to be severed just after the murder was performed. Setting up the killings was a feat of skill and daring and timing. You can't believe how annoyed I was when you took Sterling from me before I could collect his hand. Belinda had to bring me both of them so I could discern which was the murdering instrument. And then Julian calling me for help--a stroke of luck, I have to say."
"It wasn't luck. We trusted you."