It’ll cover anyone we missed... including Detective Archer if he’s too close too soon.
Alice’s magic leaves my body in a rush, and my knees give out beneath me. I fall to the soft ground and glance up in time to see more police arrive. Fire trucks connect to the hydrant, dousing the flames. Lady Ariana, Ellen, and a few others provide the fire enough strength to resist the onslaught of water.
But I lose track of their fight when a dark sedan turns off the road and makes its way toward the front of the building. No. It’s too soon. “Not yet!” I yell into the comms. “It’s not safe.”
I’ve been thinking...
Archer goes quiet on the line, and I turn, searching the woods for Cal. Is he hearing this, too? He must be, but I can’t find him in the crowd, and there isn’t time.
“Whatever it is, Archer, don’t. You’ll lose your memories.We’lllose you.”
You won’t need me after today. His car stops behind the line of fire trucks, but the air is still saturated with the potion.I promised that we wouldn’t give in to the Hunters without a fight, but that fight is over.
Cal appears at my side, searching through the trees for Archer. His face has gone ghostly white. He’s heard everything. “Ryan, please. Don’t do this,” he says, voice thick with emotion.
It’ll be nice to stop hiding things from Lauren, he says, almost wistful. Then he clears his throat.It’s been an honor working with both of you. Now I have some Hunters to arrest.
“Archer, no!” But it’s too late. The detective steps out of his car and pulls the comms from his ear, letting it drop to the ground and crushing it under his heel so no one else will notice it. He turns toward the stirring Hunters, focused and unafraid, but then he stumbles, catching himself on the front hood of his car.
He presses the heel of his still-injured hand into his temple and falls to his knees as the potion strips away a lifetime of magic.
I start forward, but Mom grabs my hand. “You can’t,” she says, her voice thick with emotion. “We can’t be seen.”
“But Archer—”
“Made his choice.” Mom turns to Cal, who also looks ready to bolt. “Ryan has been considering this since you finished the potion. It wasn’t a snap decision.”
“You knew?” I ask, feeling fragile and heartbroken. “We could have stopped him.”
Mom soothes away the hair stuck to my face. “It was his choice, Hannah. We have to respect that.”
A loudboomcuts off my reply. The pharmaceutical company collapses in on itself. Dirt and debris fly in every direction, but a gust of wind—Elemental-enhanced wind—keeps the shrapnel from hurting anyone.
When the dust settles, another officer kneels before Archer and helps him back to his feet. When he stands, confusion creases his brow. He looks from the collapsed building to the dozens and dozens of employees sitting up in the lawn, watching with horrified expressions as their work falls down before them.
Then Archer’s gaze narrows, and he calls for backup. He races toward the Hunters on the front lawn, shouting for someone to freeze.
He and another officer haul Benton’s parents to their feet.Their wrists are handcuffed behind their backs, and Mom pulls Cal and I close, wrapping an arm around our shoulders.
“Ryan is a good man,” she says. “He’ll be okay.”
My heart breaks all over again. Even without his memories of magic, he still kept his promise. He stopped the people who took my dad from me.
“I can’t believe it’s over,” I say, and Mom presses a kiss to the top of my head.
Cal stares into the sky, a failed attempt to keep the tears at bay. I reach for his hand, and he squeezes tight. “We can’t let Keating get away with this.”
I watch as Archer guides Mr. Hall into the back of his car and slams the door shut. A thrill of victory washes over me, but Cal is right. This isn’t over.
Not yet.
33
THE NEXT FEW DAYSgo by in a blur.
Cal and the rest of the Council don’t get a minute to relax. Several teams are tracking Elder Keating—theformerElder—while several others analyze the personnel files Cal managed to steal from Hall Pharmaceuticals. They identify every possible Hunter, and just like Wes admitted to Archer, there were fewer than a hundred in all.
Now, none of them remember magic exists.
