We both heard the muffled gasps. Just as Garrett and the others stopped in front of the living room, I craned my neck and froze, identifying the sources of the noise. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were tied up in a couple of armchairs, facing the archway entrance. They didn’t look injured, externally. But they were terrified. Their feelings suddenly exploded through me, dread crystallizing in my veins.
“What the—” Garrett was the first to react to the sight of the Smiths in their chairs. He and Tatyana rushed to release them, when a familiar voice cut through from the den.
“Don’t move, Shifty,” a male said.
Everybody froze, then slowly turned their heads to look behind them. Wade shifted us both to the right wall of the corridor. We had enough of a view from that angle to see… Emily and Emmett, the latter holding a long knife up to Jacob’s throat.
Horror crippled me almost entirely as I tried to make sense of what I was seeing.
“Let me guess,” Tatyana said, then pointed at the girl first. “You’re Emily.” She shifted her gaze and index finger to the guy next. “And you’re Emmett. Together, you’re the infamous Ryder twins.”
Emmett grinned. “I love hearing that. I guess our marketing game is on point.”
“Don’t kid yourself. Those crappy business cards were an absolute waste of paper,” Santana retorted. One by one, a dozen bright green Orishas shot out of her.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Emily warned her, pressing the blade against Jacob’s throat. “Don’t do something stupid, unless you want me to redecorate this den in fresh red.”
The fear I’d been sensing earlier was Jacob’s and the Smiths’, but it had already morphed into paralyzing dread—the kind that shut an entire system down. Mrs. Smith was crying, tears streaming down her cheeks. Mr. Smith was trying to say something, but the tape on his mouth turned his words into muffled noises. My heart broke to see them like this, and the horror they were experiencing almost paralyzed me. Despair smashed into me repeatedly, like debilitating waves that cut my breath off.
I got them in this mess. I’m getting them out.
Garrett gave us a discreet sideways glance. It was his way of telling us to stay back. Wade’s scenario had come true, and I had to learn to trust his judgment better.
“What are you two scabs doing here?” Garrett asked the twins.
“Isn’t it obvious? We were planning a surprise party for you all!” Emily giggled.
“Yeah, bad idea. Security magicals are on their way as we speak,” Santana replied, her Orishas orbiting nervously around her. I could almost feel their frustration. We would’ve loved nothing more than to tear into the Ryders, right then and there. But they’d prepared their playing field—a little too well, in fact.
Emmett chuckled. “We know. But you’re still screwed. We rigged this entire place to blow up into tiny little pieces. The moment you went past those lovely runes outside, you triggered the whole spell. If anyone else sets foot through the door, poof!”
“That’s a bit suicidal,” Santana said.
Emily shrugged. “You continue to underestimate us.”
A couple of seconds went by as I thought about possible courses of action. With the Smiths’ and Jacob’s lives hanging in the balance, there wasn’t much we could do. The Ryders had us right where they wanted us.
“I take it your real goal was to get the kid,” Garrett said, nodding at a perplexed and terrified Jacob.
“Obviously!” Emily exclaimed. “Jakey here is a gamechanger for what we’ve got planned!”
“Why? What makes him so special?” Garrett asked.
Emmett laughed. “Oh, man, you people really suck at your jobs, you know that? Don’t tell me you’re not aware of Jake’s abilities!”
“Enlighten me,” Garrett said, remarkably calm, despite the twinkle in his Esprit wristwatch.
“Nah. I’m not wasting my time with a coven drone,” Emmett replied. “Get me Harley. She’s the one I want to talk to.”
“Emmett, honey, someone broke the battery out back,” Emily said. I assumed she’d finally sensed the dimming in her power levels.
Emmett narrowed his eyes at Garrett. “You found our little gadget already?”
“Mm-hm,” Garrett replied with a smirk. He had no idea what Emmett was talking about, but he played along nonetheless.
“That’s cool. We’ve got enough to turn you all to dust, anyway,” Emmett said. “This day will go down in history, I tell ya!”
“Oh, yeah. Katie’s going to be so proud of us!” Emily chimed in like the little psychopath that she was. “We really brought our A game to this crappy town!”
Referring to the queen of evil as “Katie” sounded odd and downright mismatched, and definitely too cute for the monster that Katherine Shipton really was. But, then again, none of her followers seemed anywhere near the “normal” bar, so I pushed the thought aside.
Garrett groaned, rolling his eyes. “Ugh. Don’t tell me you’re shilling for Katherine Shipton. That’s just pathetic.”
“Why? She’s only the most powerful Dark witch of the century. Soon, she’ll become a Child of Chaos,” Emmett spat. “She’ll command Chaos itself. She’ll decide who deserves the power, and she’ll reward those loyal to her. We’d be idiots not to join her, given what she’s got planned for you and your stupid, bureaucratic nightmares posing as covens!”
“What has she got planned, exactly?” Tatyana replied. “Get two more suckers to kill innocent people, since Finch got caught?”
Emmett laughed again. His guffaw gave me actual goosebumps. “Again with the idiotic assumptions. Shut your trap, Tatyana, and get me Harley. I’ve got a message for her,” he spat. “Harley! I know you’re here, honey! You’re too weak to stay away from an obvious trap! Come on! Join us!”
Wade gripped my wrist, shaking his head at me.
“Okay, let’s up the stakes a little bit,” Emily said. She raised her voice, calling out to me. “Harley, if you don’t get your ass in here in the next ten seconds, I’m going to fillet Mrs. Smith like a fish! Your choice, sweetheart.”
I pulled my hand away from Wade and motioned for him to stay back, then advanced through the hallway slowly enough for the Ryders to see me coming. They both grinned, eyeing me like I was their Sunday dinner.
“There you are!” Emmett exclaimed. “Harley Merlin. The rising star of the San Diego Coven. The lost child of America’s most powerful magical bloodlines. The kid with the grit!”
He and Emily suddenly shifted before my very eyes, their bones cracking and skin rippling as they turned into Mr. and Mrs. Smith—the real ones were still gagged and terrified in their chairs. It was a punch in the gut, but I didn’t want to show them that, so I forced myself to keep a straight face. Laughing, Emmett and Emily reverted to their original forms. This was miles beyond creepy.
“I’m sorry, is this supposed to be psychological torture, or are you trying to kiss my ass?” I asked, putting my hands up. I briefly glanced at the Smiths, who were stunned to see me here, unable to understand anything that was going on. I mouthed an “I’m sorry,” at them, then shifted my focus back to the Ryders and Jacob. “Hey, Jake. Sorry I’m a little late.”
“Uh, it’s okay,” Jacob said, his voice trembling.
“Yeah, we’ve been waiting for you!” Emily cut in.
“I take it the whole storage unit scene was set up to keep us busy while you slathered your filthy magic all over the Smiths’ house and took them hostage?” I asked, my tone clipped. “You must’ve somehow had us followed to time this so well.”
“You’re not as dumb as I thought you were,” Emily replied dryly. I didn’t need to feel her to know that she and her brother absolutely hated my guts. It was written on their fake faces. “But you’re almost half-right. We didn’t have to follow you anywhere. We knew it would only be a matter of time before you found the warehouse, so we had our loyal apprentices rig the daylights out of it. Once we knew you were there, we could come here and set up this fabulous ensemble.”
“How about you tell us what’s with this whole Child of Chaos crap, instead of droning on and on like two wannabe megalomaniacs? What’s the deal with the kids? Is Katherine building an army?” I asked, then smirked. “Or a kindergarten?”
Emmett sighed. “You’d love to know more, wouldn’t you? Sorry, toots, you don’t tell us what to do. You don’t make the rules. We do!”
“Okay. Cool. So, what now? I’m here,” I replied. “At least let the Smiths go. They’ve got nothing to do with this.”
Emily laughed. She was making it very hard for me not to hurl a heavy object at her. “Harley! The Smiths have everything to do with this!” she said. “Who do you think made sure that they took Jakey here in?!”
Oh, no…
“You knew Jake was here from the very beginning,” I murmured, the whole picture looking a lot clearer. I broke into a cold sweat. Jacob had no idea. He was so confused, the poor thing.
“Yes!” Emily said. “We made sure Jakey came here after we found him in the foster system, because we needed him out here for you to find him next. Katie thought of it. Personally, I loved the idea. Emmett wasn’t entirely on board at first, but when he saw you fawning over this new little brother, even he had to agree that Katie is a damn genius.”
“Katherine wanted me to meet Jacob here, for you to then take him away,” I concluded, the full extent of Katherine Shipton’s viciousness slowly dawning on me.
Emily nodded enthusiastically. “And we got the Smiths as a bonus!”
“No, they have nothing to do with this! They didn’t… They don’t know anything!” I shot back.
“Like we care about that,” Emmett said. “Honey, this is all about you. Well, granted, it’s also about this precious little kid here, but it’s mostly about you and how you’re about to watch the people you love die… in agony,” he added, then looked at his sister. “Care to do the honors?”