“I’m also half naked,” I complained, as the cool evening breeze danced along my bare legs, curling beneath the now much shorter dress.
“Well, I’m not sure what happened to your underwear, but that seems like a you problem.” Mex chuckled, reaching into her Rip and retrieving what appeared to be a pair of yoga shorts. “You can have these,” she said, holding them out. “I promise they’re clean.”
I slid them on under what remained of the poofy dress, blushing, but Mex said nothing further, so I lifted my chin and pushed past her, choosing to ignore her cheeky grin.
“This way.” Marching up to the next wall of greenery, I raised my hands and repeated the action, clearing the way through the hedge and opening a direct path between us and where I could feel the relic was hiding.
It was at the third wall that Mex stopped me again, raising a finger to her lips as she tilted her head to listen.
Straining my own ears, I fought to pick up any hint of what Mex had heard. We were so deep in the maze that, at first, all I caught was the sounds of the night—the gentle wind through the boxwood leaves, the chirp of an occasional late-season cricket, and the now-distant soundsof the ruined party in the house behind us—but after a moment, I realized what had stopped her.
Voices. Several voices, actually, but two were louder than the others.
One with a gentle French lilt, the other angry and guttural.
“Let me go!”
“Tell me where it is, or I’ll rip out your pretty little throat.” The awful words were followed by a snarl that could only belong to a hell hound. At my waist, Pandora shivered in her pouch.
“Je ne sais pas de quoi tu parles!”
“Blood sucking bitch! Where is the Key?”
The sound of sharp slap rang through the night, followed by a scream, and I could feel my heart racing, fear for Genevieve slithering up my spine.
She may have been a vapid, spoiled vampire, but she didn’t deserve to be beaten for it.
“We have to help her,” I whispered.
“Fuck!” Mex swore, rolling her eyes. “That woman causes me nothing but trouble.” Looking to the side, she took in our location, finally deciding to head to the left. “Stay close and follow me.”
Creeping along the hedgerow, I did as she asked, reaching to untie Pandora’s pouch at my belt at the same time.
“Are you ready?” I asked my hedgehog familiar, staring into her bright black eyes as she snuffled at me. “Alright, then. You know what to do.” Pressing a kiss to her twitchy little nose, I set her down gently, tucking her beneath the branches of the hedge where she waddled out of sight. “Be careful,” I added to her retreating behind.
Catching up to Mex, I saw that she was peering around the corner, face crumpled in disgust as she gazed into the center of the maze.
“The fucking Order is in my city,” she hissed, her distaste palpable. “I told Archer this would happen.”
I could sense them, the witches of the Order, their magic tasting rancid and bitter on the wind.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’d hoped we could recover the relic and be gone before they caught up with us again.”
“I’m surprised they regrouped so quickly. After you rocked them hard in Boston, I figured they’d need some time to get their shit together.”
“Not as long as we’d hoped, it seems.”
“If they leave with Genevieve, we’ll never find the diamond in time. Samhain is almost here.” Glancing up, she took in the stars where they dimmed in the brightening sky. “One day left, and you still have to find the third piece. It’s now or never,cher. What do you want to do?”
I knew what Archer would want me to do; turn around and leave.
Reaching out to him through the bond, I could feel nothing but rage. Pure, burning hatred, to be more specific. And while that emotion burned brightly, there was no pain, no indication that he’d been hurt in any way. Knowing he had Vine with him made me feel a little less guilty about leaving him, but I knew if we allowed Genevieve and the diamond to escape us now, she’d be gone for good.
I had to press forward; there was no other choice.
Everything—my entire life, really—had come down to this moment.
I just had to hope I was strong enough to survive it.
