Page 78 of Called By Fate

“Isn’t this a surprise?” Reginald calls out, his expression filled with malice. “Mercedes Sinclair, caught red-handed with her hand in our cookie jar,” he tsks. “Do you want to know what we do with people who stick their hands in places they don’t belong?” He pauses for a beat but doesn’t give me a chance to respond. “We cut them off.”

Elian grabs hold of my hand, and I grab onto Ash when I realize what he’s about to do. He tries to shadow us the hell out of here, but he goes nowhere, and his eyes widen. I think he also tries to reach me mentally, but there’s nothing but static between us when I try to send him a mental message as well.

“Not so fast,” Reginald says with a smirk and cackles like a stereotypical villain. It makes me want to claw my eyes out. Or claw his out. That would be much preferred. “We learned our lesson the last time you used that pesky little trick to get away from us. Not this time, I’m afraid.”

From my peripheral, I see Matilda and a few others working on saving the dangling shifters and Weavers, so I focus my full attention on the Elders. I attempt to pull on my own magic, but nothing happens. Figures.

I let their hands go and slip my newly reformed shadestone dagger from its holster and palm it, then hand one of my other knives to Ash. This is why I always come prepared. Locked and loaded. Looks like we’re going to have to do this the hard way, but Gods do I wish the others were here. Mentally, I try to reach out, knowing the Elders have done something to block our connection, but I have to try something even if nothing comes of it. Same as Elian, there’s only static.

I do feel some panic in my chest that’s not entirely my own though, so it gives me hope that Vinson knows something is wrong through our soul bond.

Reginald, Vald, and Vogt are still a ways away, but they're steadily making their way closer to us, though it seems Vogt is struggling with the souls. They’re writhing and slamming against the glass trying to escape and it’s making the ball shake.

Keep them talking, Sadie. You know how they like to rant,I tell myself mentally, trying to sort through my options like Kaos would do. Maybe if I keep them talking, they’ll slip up, and I can figure out a way to get us all out of here in one piece.

Like the night of the challenge, their slimy, awful magic tries to burrow under my skin, seeking to find a way in, but training with Reed has taught me how to protect my mind. I mentally layer shield upon shield over it while I rack my brain for what to say.

“What’s with the ball there, Reggie?” I ask. “Didn’t have any balls of your own so you had to construct one of glass and fill it with souls to feel big and bad? Don’t you know glass is fragile?”

Reginald scowls. “You’ve got quite the mouth on you, girl. Didn’t anyone ever teach you to respect your damn Elders?”

“I do respect them, Reggie. The ones that are deserving of my respect, anyway.” I shoot him a wink and try to think of something else to get him talking because that didn’t work. “I heard you joined forces with that uncle of mine. Speaking of which, where is he?”

That brings that malicious look back to his eyes. “That we did,” he responds. “Is that burning you up inside, knowing we let the man who murdered your entire family into our ranks?”

I don’t dignify that with a response, but I do notice he carefully ignores my question of where Mickey is. Instead, I ask a question of my own. “What’d he offer you, huh? What does that piece of shit evenhaveto offer?”

They’re getting closer. So fucking close. I chance a glance behind us and find a barrier almost like the one in the arena surrounding us entirely, including where Matilda and the other hostages are. Which means none of us are getting out that way.

Elian squeezes my hand in a silent show of support. He’s also worked through all of this in his head and he’s telling me we either get out of this alive, or we go down trying.

Surprisingly, Vogt is the one to answer my question this time. “You,” he says, his tone menacing. A shiver runs down my spine at his words because that could be taken in many ways—all of which I refuse to find out about.

Reginald shoots me a smirk, but honestly, he just looks constipated. Now that they’re a tad closer, I see how rough they’re looking. They look drunk, mad at the thought of getting ahold of my abilities.

“Don’t look so upset, Mercedes. He means your power.” No chance in hell I’ll ever let that happen, but I let him continue. “Yes, your power is going to be the final boost we need to finally take over this world.”

I groan and resist the urge to face-palm. “World domination? That’s your master plan? Can’t you assholes ever be more creative?”

Vogt flicks his fingers and an invisible slap lands across my face. My head snaps to the side and pain blossoms across my cheek, making Elian growl beside me, but I ignore it because that action was extremely telling. The glass ball hovering above him drops slightly and he has to quickly push more power into it to stop it from careening into the ground. The souls are fighting him every step of the way, and I find myself even more drawn to them than before. They must be the key to ending this. I just need to figure out how.

If only someone could give us some more time because as it is, they’re closing the distance between us. They want us, or me at least, alive for something, but I refuse to let them get their hands on anyone else.

“Ash,” I whisper. “I want you to run. You’re human so you should be able to pass through the barrier without issue since you don’t have any power.”

“Hell no,” she snaps. “I’m not leaving you again, bitch.”

Judging by the look of determination on her face and the fierce grip she has on her dagger, there’s no stopping her. I don’t have time to debate with her. The Elders take a step forward and we take a step back. They’ve got us cornered, with no magic, and they damn well know it.

I want to wipe that victorious look off their faces so bad.

“A mouse caught in a trap,” Vald whispers with glee. His beady eyes travel up and down my body. It makes me feel like ants are crawling all over me and I hate the feeling.

“That she is, and you know what’s funny?” Reginald asks, and once again, doesn’t wait for me to answer. “If you had never gone into that room, never touched that doorknob, we probably would’ve never even known you were here until we found the missing guards. You could’ve slipped back to your little safe haven and saved the day. But as they say, curiosity killed the cat.”

I remember the zap the doorknob gave me and curse myself for being so stupid. Of course, they had that room rigged so they’d know if anyone entered it. Probably had it attuned to my energy too.

“That’s the thing, Reggie,” I say, forcing my voice to be more confident than I feel. “We would’ve had to deal with you cocksuckers at some point anyway. No more hiding. It’s time to end this.”

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