Rage and fear filled me to bursting as I sprinted for them.

Ricketts whirled around, his dagger dripping blood. His black coat whipped in the wind, and his eyes gleamed with power. “Good! You’re here.”

I reached into my satchel and hurled a potion bomb at him. He dodged it, rolling to the ground.

Ana thrashed against her bonds, blood pouring down her shoulder.

Thank fates.

Not a fatal blow.

Ricketts rose to his feet, glowering at me. “You use my own magic against me?”

“Duh.” I grabbed another potion bomb. “I like the poetic nature of it.”

He reached into the pocket of his long black coat and withdrew a round glass vial. But instead of hurling it at me, he threw it to the ground.

I lunged for him, afraid he’d run again. But instead, a great orange cloud of fire burst up from the ground. Ricketts waved an arm toward me, and the flame rushed forward.

I hurled a sonic boom toward the flame, but it sailed right through. Crap!

That never happened. Fire always exploded against my sonic boom. But not Ricketts’s crazy fire.

I dove low, covering my head. The fire blazed over me, singing my back.

I leapt up, drawing one of my daggers from the ether and hurling it at Ricketts. He dodged, but it plunged into his shoulder.

He howled.

Good. Tit for tat. Just like he’d given Ana.

I raised my other blade, but before I could throw it, he shoved something into his mouth. A half second later, the air turned gray around him, swirling until he turned into a tornado.

Crap!

The thing was huge, roaring in the quiet dawn. This was the new magic he’d been given.

It thundered toward me, tearing across the top of the pyramid. My heart thundered wildly as I called on my magic, throwing the biggest sonic boom I could manage.

It cracked loudly in the air and crashed into the tornado, disrupting the wind pattern. The thing exploded, throwing a human Ricketts off his feet.

“Ana!” I ran for her, drawing my sword.

She grinned, her face creased with pain and her shoulder pouring blood. “Bree!”

“I gotcha.” I sliced the bindings at her back, and she tumbled forward.

I tried to wrap an arm around her waist, but she pushed me off. “We gotta fight.”

She grimaced, then threw out one of her protective shields as Ricketts rose to his feet.

I prayed he was almost out of his strongest spells. How many could he fit in those pockets?

The sun blazed bright on him, lighting his face up with a red glow that made him look like the devil. In fairness, the goatee didn’t help matters.

“You two are more trouble than you’re worth,” he hissed.

I edged behind Ana’s shield, powering up my sonic boom.

He hurled another vial to the ground. This time, an ice monster burst forth, eight feet tall if it was an inch. It gleamed in the light of the rising sun. Ricketts waved his arm, and the beast thundered toward us.

Bree charged up her shield, her magic swelling on the air. The luminescent barrier grew, but the ice monster kept coming.

My heart thundered. I drew my sword and shield from the ether, ready to take on the ice monster if I had to. But these things were strong.

Please work, I begged Ana’s shield.

The beast roared as it neared, mouth opening to reveal long fangs made of ice, then slammed into the shield, breaking into a thousand pieces.

As Ricketts stared in shock, I dove low under the barrier and hurled my sonic boom at him. It burst through the air and bowled him over.

I sprinted for him, sword drawn, and leapt onto his prone form, straddling him. Before I could get my blade to his throat, he bucked, throwing me off.

Suddenly, he had a dagger in his hand. He lunged for me, slicing at my side.

Pain seared. Panic rose.

I kicked him in the stomach.

He gasped, rolling away from me, but I scrambled after him. He was climbing to his feet. If he had a transport charm, he’d get away!

But Ana was there, kicking him hard in the shoulder. Right where my first dagger had landed. He howled and flew backward.

I leapt onto him, lining my blade up with his throat, the point of my long sword pressed to his skin.

His eyes fluttered open.

“Why do you want our blood?” I demanded.

“Because of what you are.”

“What are we?” I pressed the blade deeper against his throat. Blood trickled down his neck.

He grimaced. “You don’t know?”

“Tell me!”

He chuckled, a pained expression on his face. “Oh, this is rich. She’ll get a kick out of this.”

“Who? Who is she?” I pressed the blade slightly deeper, enough to threaten. “And what are we?!”

A shadow cut out the rising sun. With my peripheral vision, I caught sight of Ana, Cade, Caro, and Ali walking toward us across the top of the pyramid. More of the Protectorate followed.

Backup.

A few moments later, they stopped, circling us.

Ricketts’s eyes darted around to the rest of the group. A wild kind of fear, then determination, filled his eyes. “I’m dead anyway. She’ll kill me for failing.”

What the—?

He thrust himself up toward the sword, forcing the blade to pierce his throat.

Arterial blood sprayed me.

“Damn it!” I rolled off of him, gagging.

He choked on his blood, then lay still, dead eyes staring toward the sky.

I collapsed onto my butt, chest heaving. He’d killed himself. The bastard had killed himself rather than reveal what we were.

Cade nudged him with his toe. “Smart man.”

Caro nodded. “Son of a demon didn’t want to give up his information.”

“Probably thought we’d torture it out of him,” Ali said.

I looked up, disappointment and anger filling me. “Would you?”

They all shrugged.

“Not likely. But possible,” Jude said. “Depends on what’s at stake. How evil he is.”

Ana stepped forward, pressing a wadded-up cloth to her bleeding shoulder. She kicked Ricketts in the ribs, then spit on him.

Then she met my gaze. “Let’s get out of here.”