A Darker Past (The Darker Agency #2)(78)

“Ghosts,” I said, understanding.

“Witch ghosts,” Mom said. She shoved Cassidy aside and grabbed Kendra’s arm. “Hurry. You have to trap him.”

“Trap him?” she squealed. Her eyes grew wide as Frisbees, and she shook her head. “Are you insane?”

“Kendra,” my mom snapped. She grabbed my hand and Kendra’s. “Focus!”

“Oh my God,” I yelled, remembering that we had sort of an ace in the hole. “I totally forgot about this.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out the glass that Lukas took from the floor of the Town Hall. The glass from the mirror imbued with the missing Belfair magic. The last shard left.

Cassidy was power hungry. She’d sacrificed her own people and her daughter, so it shouldn’t have surprised me when she made a grab for the glass. Kendra was quicker, though. She took the piece from me and jumped back.

Mom glared at Cassidy. “The spirits won’t be able to keep it up much longer. Cass, if you’re not going to help us, back away.”

She wasn’t giving up so easily. “Give me the glass. With it, I can trap him.”

I stepped between Kendra and her mother. “Your track record for backstabbing just shot through the roof. You think we’re going to hand over a chunk of über-magic? A minute ago you were willing to feed your only daughter to a demon for this thing.”

Cassidy stiffened, and a smirk spread across her lips. The expression of someone who holds all the cards. “You have no choice. I have the spell.”

“Are you kidding?” Kendra balked.

“Kendra, that glass will kill you. The power is too great. Give it to me.”

My friend faltered. To me, Cassidy was as transparent as air, but to Kendra, she was still her mother. Her coven leader. “Lorna was on to something. Helping people is a good use of the coven’s power.”

Gressil let out another roar. The spirits surrounding him were starting to wane, and it wouldn’t be long before he was free and lighting us up like Roman Candles.

“Kendra,” Mom said. She laid a hand on her shoulder. “We’re out of time. This is your choice. Give her the glass or absorb the power and trap Gressil in the box.”

“Please,” Cassidy pleaded. “I’m sorry. Give me one more chance. I will make you proud to be a Belfair.”

Lips pressed thin, Kendra sighed. “Lorna makes me proud to be a Belfair, Mom. Not you.” She lifted her hand and opened her palm, the small shard of glass in the middle. “Never you.”

She closed her fingers, making a fist around the glass, and brought it to her forehead. A blinding flash of light followed, and Kendra gasped, her entire body going ridged and pale. The sound of Cassidy’s scream as she charged forward was drowned out by Gressil, who was almost free of the prison. We needed to do this.

Now.

I reached for Cassidy as she lunged for Kendra, but she slipped past. It didn’t matter, though. Kendra had it all under control. She brought her hand away from her head and opened her fingers. The glass was gone. “Too late.”

It took more than that to derail Cassidy Belfair. She matched her daughter’s grin with a wicked one of her own, and folded her arms. “All that power didn’t help Lorna without the spell.”

“The spell. Good point. I’ll be needing that, too.”





Chapter Thirty-Two


Kendra placed her palm flat against Cassidy’s forehead. The skin beneath it glowed bright white, and with each moment that passed, the little ribbons of that light traveled down her fingers, along her arm, disappeared under the sleeve of her shirt before reappearing on the side of her face and seeping into the skin.

The center of her eyes turned gold. Cassidy gasped and stumbled away. “What—what did you—you took the spell. How did you do that?”

She opened her mouth, but Gressil’s scream cut her short. The spirits were almost all gone. There were only three remaining, and it was obvious they were struggling to keep him rooted—and they were losing.

“You will pay for this,” he roared.

“Blah, blah, blah,” I said. “You bad guys need new material.”

Mom smacked me across the back. “Don’t taunt the demon.” She turned to Kendra. “Can you do this?”

Kendra nodded and took a deep breath. “I think so.” She stepped around Mom and me, and walked over to the demon like she was marching down death row. Terrified. She was absolutely terrified.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed, either. The demon let out another roar. “Foolish child. Having great power doesn’t mean you can wield it. I am almost free, and when I am, you will beg for death.”

“You can do—” The rest of my pep talk was lost as the air was knocked from my lungs. Something black and massive hit me, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mom go down as well. Kendra screamed, and I managed to squirm onto my back despite the ten-ton weight on top of me. Hellhounds.

The one hovering above me snarled, snapping its jaws twice before throwing back its head and letting out an ear-bleeding howl. Thick, yellowish slime oozed from between its razor teeth. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t wiggle my fingers into my pocket where a quartz-tipped pocket knife sat in wait.

“Sorry, boy,” I said as calmly as possible. “No treats today. Come back tomorrow.” Or, yanno, never.