Terror surged through Amelia, throwing her back to the past and the crash that had taken everything meaningful from her life.Not this time, not this time, not this time…Amelia repeated to herself, squeezing her eyes shut.This time, the meaning of her life was in the car again – in the back seat – and she would let nothing harm him.
“Damn it!” Constantine shouted.
Amelia looked around. They were on a dusty forest path. Outside Antambazi.
“We made it!” He slammed his fist against the steering wheel.
Amela took a deep breath. “Pull over for a moment.”
“Have you lost your mind? There’s no time…”
“Please, Constantine.”
He hit the brakes hard.
She faced him. “Presiyan is a traitor. In my coat, there’s a letter I want you to give to Mikhail.”
“What are you doing?” His gaze tracked her hand as she reached for the door handle.
“I still have work to do in Antambazi. Take care of Mikhail.” Amelia stepped out of the car without looking at the rear seat. One glance would be enough to change her mind.
“Amelia, get back in the damn car!” Constantine yelled.
The Sacred around her wrist shimmered faintly, as if the necromancer’s tone had angered it. “When you read the letter, you’ll understand…”
“Get your arse in here, or I’ll come out and stuff you into the boot myself if it’s the last thing I do!”
She slammed the door and sprinted to the portal. Reaching the palace before the Queen was imperative. She would hide the Shifting Net somewhere and use it at her next chance to collect the other Sacreds. The Queen wouldn’t be able to prove Amelia had helped Mikhail and Constantine escape – no one could claim they’d seen her near the laboratory.
Just as she was about to leap into Antambazi, Constantine’s arm locked around her waist. “You crazy woman! You’ve completely lost it if you think I’m leaving you in that nest of vipers! Do you want Mikhail to rip my head off, for God’s sake?”
Amelia kicked helplessly in the air. “I have to find the rest of the Sacreds!”
He started dragging her to the car. “You’ll get them another time!”
“Please, let me go! I need to return Mikhail’s ring.”
“Do you think he’ll care about that ring? He’s already sacrificed it once to keep you safe.”
“I’m safe…” Amelia’s voice trembled with desperation. She tried to plant her heels into the ground, resisting Constantine’sefforts to shove her back into the seat. They were wasting so much time arguing. “The Queen trusts me. Gea collected the Sacreds for me. I can’t leave now…”
“Oh, yes, you can!” Constantine growled in her ear.
A new emotion ignited within her. Despair morphed into resolve. “Let me go!”
With stunning speed, the Shifting Net – in bracelet form, now – unwound itself from her arm and sprang over Constantine’s head. He released her, reaching for it, but the threads had already begun to grow, unfurling into a mesh of tendrils that engulfed him. In seconds, they expanded into a vast living net, tightening around his body and knocking him to the ground.
“Constantine!” Amelia knelt beside him, pulling at the net, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Tell your damn pet to get off me, for heaven’s sake!”
“I… I don’t know what to do.” Her eyes darted over the net. “Let him go!” she shouted at the object. The Sacred didn’t react. “I think… I think it’s angry because you wouldn’t let me go…”
A distant noise caused Amelia to turn her head. The sound of an engine signalled an approaching vehicle.
Inside the net, Constantine resumed his struggle against the net’s hold while Amelia clawed at it from the outside, tugging frantically and muttering under her breath.
“Please, please, please…”
