I paused. I couldn’t lie. My throat constricted as I forced the word out. “Yes.”
Kadar smirked. “That’s all I wanted to know.”
He disappeared a moment later, his red skin fading in a flurry of smoke and his eyes shifting back to the midnight gray that I adored. He’d gotten what he wanted, and now he was giving the reins back to Raffe. Why did you make me say that? You smug pendejo!
“Santana?” Raffe murmured.
“Is it you?”
He nodded. “It’s me.”
I grabbed the key from the side and rushed toward the glass box, letting him out of his cage. He strode out and scooped me into his arms, swinging me around before bringing me back into a tight embrace. I wrapped my arms around him, my fingertips toying with the back of his soft, black hair. Gripping him tighter, I buried my face in his neck, inhaling the fresh, clean scent of him. A touch of something sweet and burnt lingered underneath, like spun sugar at a town fair. My Orishas chattered with nervous excitement, bubbling happily inside me. They liked the feel and scent of him as much as I did.
He pulled away slightly, his hands moving to cup my face. My heart stopped beating as he leaned in, time slowing around us. His gaze lingered on my lips, my own fixed on his handsome face, anticipating the deliciousness of his next move. A gasp slipped from my throat as his lips grazed mine, the touch of his mouth searing my skin. I pulled him closer, kissing him back with every fiber of my being. It was everything I’d been hoping for and more.
With surprising strength that made me giggle against his lips, he lifted me up and carried me over to the table, where he set me on the edge. He gazed down at me for a moment, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. I stared back, my heart thundering in my chest. He smiled and tilted my chin up, before leaning down to meet my eager kiss. Every nerve ending in my body was ablaze, my skin flushed and hot, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. The slightest pressure of his lips on mine felt like the world had stopped spinning, and the stars were somehow aligning. I couldn’t get enough—every sense was amplified tenfold, intensifying everything.
Somehow, I had a feeling we had Kadar to thank for this.
Twenty-Six
Santana
In a haze of complete happiness and full-body tingles, I wandered back to the living quarters. Humming to myself, I couldn’t wipe the smile away from my face. Every time I replayed the kiss in my head, I wanted to do it all over again. I could still feel the graze of his lips on mine. Really, Santana—humming? You’ve never hummed a tune in your damn life, you sap. Still, the tune wouldn’t stop. I was too damn happy to make it stop.
Letting myself into my room, I flopped down on the bed and pulled a pillow to my chest. I grinned like an idiot as I gazed up at the ceiling. Those kinds of kisses only happened in cheesy romcoms, usually in the rain. Rain would’ve been nice.
I jolted upright. A spark of electricity shivered through my nerves, but not the good kind that had been there moments before. The Orishas started to whisper around me, their voices getting louder and louder in a cacophony of panic. It felt like a thousand alarm bells ringing at once in my brain.
The magical charm I’d given Marjorie… it was going off.
“Take me to her,” I urged the Orishas. I jumped off the bed and hurried for the door. My palms shone a bright blue, my eyes burning with the light of the spirits as the wispy forms of the Orishas danced around my field of vision. They shot off down the hallway, and I followed, sprinting with every scrap of energy I had left. No way, Shipton. You are not ruining tonight for me!
I leapt down the stairs two at a time and powered along the corridor toward the Aquarium, keeping an eye out for anything moving in the shadows around me. It was almost one in the morning. Clearly, the spy had waited until they thought everyone was in bed and used that peace and quiet to strike at Marjorie in the dark. Fury surged through my veins. Whoever this punk was, I wanted to strangle them for all the hell they were putting us through.
I followed the Orishas past the banquet hall, the path looping back around and leading me toward the Aquarium instead. They seemed to be tracing the scent of wherever the charm had been. I only hoped I wasn’t too late.
Rounding the corner that led up to the Aquarium doors, I skidded to a halt as a figure jumped out of the darkness. My heart leapt into my throat, fearing it might be the spy. I’d been two seconds from slamming straight into them. However, as I calmed my racing pulse and steadied myself, I saw there was nothing to worry about. Catching my breath, I grasped Marjorie by the shoulders. She’d evidently crept out of the shadows at the sound of my footsteps approaching, though my presence had done nothing to shake the panicked expression in her wide eyes. Her whole body was trembling, her lips bitten raw with nerves.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m here now,” I murmured, pulling her into a hug. She gripped onto me for dear life as I moved her back into the shadows. If someone was watching her, I didn’t want them to see us standing in the hallway. I’m not making this easy for you, you bastards. You want her, you’re going to have to go through me and my Orishas.
“I was so scared,” she whispered, her tears drenching my t-shirt.
“What happened?” I pulled away, looking her dead in the eyes.
“Someone knocked out my security guards,” she replied, her voice shaking. “They got the one outside my door first, then they took out the one in the chair at the foot of my bed. They tried to come for me next, but I managed to get away. The security guard… well, the guard held her back so I could run. I don’t know what happened to him. Oh God… do you think he might be—”
“Wait, her?” I cut her off. There was no time to worry about the guards now.
Marjorie nodded. “Yeah, the one who—”
A fireball whizzed past my face, hitting Marjorie square in the shoulder and knocking her back. She sprawled across the floor, her face contorted in a grimace of pain. Smoke smoldered from the hole in her gray hoodie, but the damage didn’t look too severe. Knowing she was in a lot more trouble than a simple burn, I whirled around to face the assailant. Right, you’ve really pissed me off now.
Going into attack mode, every cell pumped up with the energy the Orishas fed into me, I scanned the darkness beyond. A figure stepped out.
“You,” I growled.
Stella Chan stood in front of me, a half-smile on her lips. Before she could take another step, the Orishas swept toward her, launching a barrage of fierce energy in her direction. The blue-tinged sparks singed Stella’s skin, prompting her to duck and dive to avoid them.
Using them as a screen, I charged at Stella and knocked her to the floor. With savage fury, I clocked her in the jaw with a neat right-hook and wrapped my hands around her throat, squeezing hard. Meanwhile, the Orishas continued their onslaught of fiery rage. If I could just get her to slip into unconsciousness, I’d be able to restrain her properly and call for help. Stop wriggling! Her dark eyes met mine as she pressed her palms flat to the ground, a tremor of an earthquake rumbling underneath. She rolled out of the way as a tree shot up, slamming hard into my ribs.
I gritted my teeth, a sharp punch of pain searing through my right side. Ignoring it, I scrabbled to my feet and tackled her to the floor once again. We both went down hard, her fingertips clawing to get hold of Marjorie, who was struggling to sit up. The Orishas swirled around Stella’s wrists, trapping them behind her back, while the others darted in and out of her skin in an attempt to freeze her in place. After my ill-advised spell in New York, I wasn’t as strong as I could’ve been. Every pulse of the Orishas sapped me of what little energy I had left.
Hang back, I urged them. Please, hang back for a moment. I’ve got this.
The Orishas did as I’d asked, except the ones who swirled around Stella’s wrists. I straddled her back and shoved her face into the cold marble, pressing my knee between her shoulder blades. My breath came short and fast, my lungs burning with the strain of trying to keep her under control. Thanks to the LA Coven’s bootcamps, she was in crazy good shape and was way stronger than me.
Without warning, she twisted out from under me and kicked me halfway across the corridor, her boot cracking into my sternum and knocking the air out of my struggling lungs. A second rumble followed, though I managed to dive out of the way of another tree as it shot out of the ground. Jumping back up, I wrestled with the branches of the tree as they curled toward me, the twigs snapping at my face like bullwhips.
Up the hallway, Marjorie stood on shaky legs, trying to harness the power of her Air Elemental abilities. A gust of icy wind blew open the doors of the Aquarium up ahead, the surging squall whistling toward Stella. It knocked her off her feet as she tried to grasp at Marjorie, who fumbled to create a second gust of wind. That gave Stella the window of opportunity she needed. I lunged forward to stop her from reaching Marjorie, missing her by half a foot. Stella’s hand locked around Marjorie’s wrist.
Marjorie’s eyes turned black, her Clairvoyant powers taking over at Stella’s touch. She began to judder violently, her knees giving way as she crashed into the ground. Stella tried to haul her back up onto her feet, but she wouldn’t budge. Somehow, the Clairvoyance was keeping her frozen to the floor.
“What’s going on?” Dylan sprinted around the corner, with Tatyana in tow.
Her icy blue eyes fixed on Stella. “We heard a loud crash.”
“It’s Stella—the spy is Stella! She’s trying to take Marjorie,” I shouted, holding my side as another spike of pain shot through me. The Orishas were flitting around me, worried about my wellbeing. I didn’t have the strength to send them after Stella again. The cost of every blast was becoming too much for me to handle.
Tatyana’s eyes glowed white as she drew on the spirits around her, using their powers to supercharge her own. Meanwhile, Dylan took off, barreling toward Stella and severing the link between her and Marjorie. Stella flew back against the wall as Dylan scooped Marjorie into his arms and set her down a short distance away. Recovering quickly, and evidently seeing that she was fighting a losing battle, Stella shot two huge fireballs at Tatyana and me and used our evasive reflexes to make her getaway.