Devilish Game (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 4)

I pressed my hand to my comms charm. “Eve? We need to find a broken bit of stone that was once part of Anat’s crown.”

“On it.”

I looked up, spotting her darting low to look at the crown then off across the sky.

All around, the battle raged. I slipped away, leaving the witches and my friends to keep the cult occupied. My lungs burned as I sprinted through the temple, searching for a broken bit of stone. It was a distinct shape, but how the hell were we going to find the things in a city this big?

Ten minutes later, when panic was starting to rise, Eve’s voice echoed out of my comms charm. “I think I’ve found something. Meet me at the statue.”

I spun around and raced back to the main room. The halls were full of fighters, witches against red cloaks. The witches were tearing up the ground, using their magic to gouge the stone and destroy the red line. I prayed that we were only destroying the magical shadow of the temple and not the ancient floor itself.

The red cloaks tried to stop the witches, and the fighting was fierce. I dodged blasts of magic that exploded all around, ducking under the flying fists of red cloaks who sought to block my way.

As I sprinted back into the main temple room, I spotted the torn-up floor around the red line. Grey had done his part. Now Eve and I had to do ours.

“Up here,” Eve shouted from above.

I looked up, spotting her. She darted down into the room, forcing her way through the semi-transparent roof. A huge piece of stone was clutched in her hands.

“That’s it!” I grabbed it from her, inspecting the shape.

One of the red cloaks roared, then another. They’d spotted me holding the piece of Anat’s statue, and rage echoed in their voices. They sprinted for me. Eve turned toward them, shooting lighting from her palms.

“Go,” she shouted. “I’ll cover you!”

I tucked the broken piece of stone under my arm like an American football and ran toward the statue. It soared thirty feet overhead. How the hell was I going to climb it with this thing in my arms?

As if she’d heard my worry, Mac appeared at my side, shoving her brown shoulder bag at me. “Here!”

“Thanks!” I shoved the stone into the bag, looped it over my back, then began to climb the statue.

It was rough going, the stone smooth and slick. I found handholds in the dress and kept climbing. All around, the sounds of battle raged. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of more red cloaks converging. Most were bloodied and beaten. They should be dead.

My friends fought them, trying to buy me time as I climbed. Quinn had adopted his panther form, and he tore into the red cloaks viciously. Mac threw potion bombs with deadly accuracy and Eve shot lighting. Seraphia worked steadily in the background, destroying the red line painted into the ground with a pickax that someone must have conjured for her. The witches formed a barricade between me and the attackers.

But the red cloaks were so powerful. They shot massive blasts of magic at my friends, concussive booms that bowled over witches like bowling pins.

I climbed faster, my muscles burning. Finally, I reached the top. I stood on her shoulder as I tugged the bag around to my front.

Weak, I leaned against Anat’s head, my body trembling from the magic that pulsed out of her crown. It felt as powerful as she had felt, and it was all bad feelings. Rage and despair and violence. Her warlike side.

I prayed that magic would adhere the broken piece of the crown to the statue, because I had no mortar or glue. I pulled the broken piece of the statue out of the bag and raised it with trembling arms.

Down below, a shout caught my attention.

It was a roar of rage. Of terror.

I glanced down just in time to see a red cloak at the base of the statue. His hands were raised, glowing a violent green.

I’d seen that green before.

The sorcerers had hurled a blast like that at Grey, and it had nearly killed him. This, however, was far bigger. Far more powerful. I could feel it from there. If that hit me, it would kill me in an instant.

But Grey had seen it, too. He stood at the base of the statue, guarding me. The red cloak was right below him, aiming for me. Magic pulsed as he flung his hands upward, throwing the blast of deadly power right at me.

Grey leapt, putting himself between me and the blast, taking the hit straight on and landing on top of the red cloak.

He lay still.