Page 34 of Mastering Mayhem

“We’ll do our best to stay out of sight.” She slipped past me and stood at the foot of the bed. “Ash, can you make our bubble of silence mobile?”

“I can do that.”

“She is away from her ward of protection.” I stood and moved toward the door. “We could grab her now. Put her out of her misery if she refuses to cooperate.”

My witch held up a finger. “Everyone is keeping their misery intact. Understood? No more dead bodies.”

I spread my hands, conceding. “I understand, though she did attempt to kill us. You would have suffocated slowly had you not mastered the unlocking spell.”

“She’s in the cemetery.” Miles let the curtain fall into place.

Ember clutched our stolen dagger, filling it with fire magic before handing it to Shade. “Just in case.”

“I don’t…” He started to protest but clamped his mouth shut and accepted the weapon, also accepting his magical limitations. He was the only one of us who could not throw magic at a distance.

“Let’s head out. The moment she grabs the amulet, we move in.” Ember turned to me. “Subdue her, but donotkill her.”

If anyone else spoke to me in this manner, I would make a point to kill Hazel the moment I saw her. But Ember wasn’t anyone else. She wasmywitch, and I would gladly obey her every command.

Or do my best to obey. I could make no guarantees.

We filed out of our tiny room, and though Shade’s cloak turned the world gray around us, we kept to the shadows. Our team remained silent, the weight of the task at hand settling on our shoulders, the fate of this world a heavy burden on our backs.

How easy it would be to grab Ember and whisk her to the Underworld, ridding ourselves of the encumbrance. A witch of her power would survive the transition. Her sister had proven that. She would technically be dead when she reached Hell, therefore unable to return to this realm.

But she would be mine for eternity.

Though, if I took her against her will, she would be certain to make eternity aliving hellfor us both. I chuckled, wondering how Discord was fairing with Cinder. If she were half as feisty as her sisters, he would no doubt be suffering.

“Something funny?” Ember asked, drawing me from my rumination. We had crossed the street and now gathered behind a mausoleum, out of Hazel’s line of vision. She peeked past the wall, pressing her fingertips to the stone.

“Not at all,” I said, my thoughts turning to darkness. Their plan to mend the veil involved bringing Cinder back from the dead. They couldn’t possibly understand the consequences of such an act. Without Lucifer’s blessing, the feat would be nearly impossible, and even with his approval, necromancy was dark magic. They had already cast a phoenix spell to bring me back. What would performing the darkest of dark magic do to their vim…their souls?

“Your sister—” I began.

“Shit. Adrian’s here with his posse.” Ember ducked behind the mausoleum, leaning her back against the white stucco wall. I could see her heart pounding against her chest.

“There’s something—” I tried again to discuss the issue we’d have with Cinder, but she cut me off, holding up a finger.

“Shh. Listen.” She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

“Where’s the amulet?” Adrian asked, his voice grating on my nerves the same way it had when we’d encountered him last.

“Where’s my money?” Hazel answered with a question of her own.

I moved in front of Ember, the urge to pull her into my arms, open a rift, and run to Hell so strong, I nearly did just that. Instead, I leaned to my left, peering around the building to witness the attempted exchange.

The same witches we had encountered before fanned out around Adrian as he scoffed. “Gray, who’s with her?”

His shadow witch narrowed her eyes, and I stepped back, out of view. “She’s alone as far I can see, but…”

I waited a beat or two for Gray to finish—she no doubt had qualms about Hazel’s strength since she had the amulet in her possession—but she trailed off, leaving her opinion unspoken.

“We’ll wire you the money when you hand over the amulet,” Adrian said. “Where is it?”

I peered around the mausoleum again. Hazel had her back to us, and Gray no longer squinted, so I stepped closer to get a better view.

“Mayhem!” Ember whisper shouted, though Ash’s silencing spell still held strong.

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