“Binding doesn’t work!” Savannah said as she raced toward them. “I already tried. Use something else!”

I cast a shock bolt and flung my hand at MacKenzie. Nothing happened. Shit! Paige must not know it. What does she know? Think, think…Fireball!

I cast the spell just as Lucas threw MacKenzie into the wall. The ball hit the empty space between them, and nearly singed Lucas’s face. He shot me a “be careful” look, grabbed MacKenzie by the right elbow, and squeezed hard enough to make her yelp…and drop the knife. As MacKenzie dove for the knife, Savannah cast a sorcerer pull-spell, and yanked it out of the way. I ran forward and kicked it into the dining room. Paige’s body might not be equipped for lightning-fast roundhouse kicks, but it could manage that.

“Oh, Lord, why hast thou forsaken me?”

We all turned to MacKenzie…or what had been MacKenzie. She stood in the middle of the hall, arms raised to the ceiling, tears streaming down her face.

“Have I not served you well, Lord?” she cried. “Did I not do it all for you? Your faithful servant on earth? And for that you punish me?”

“What the hell?” Savannah muttered.

“She’s changed,” I said. “It’s someone else.”

The newcomer turned on me, red-rimmed eyes blazing. “It was you, wasn’t it? You betrayed me.”

She dove at me. Lucas kicked her legs out from under her and she crumpled to the floor. As I ran for her, Lucas started to cast a spell, and I stopped short, before I got in the line of fire.

Jaime—or whoever was in Jaime—looked up at Lucas, and her eyes filled with genuine terror.

“D-don’t hurt me,” she whimpered. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do it. It was all her fault. Victoria’s. Please don’t hurt me anymore.”

Lucas hesitated. I started to cast a spell, but he stepped in front of the woman on the floor, who’d begun to sob.

“Wait,” he said. “This isn’t your Nix.”

“And it’s not an innocent bystander, either. It’s one of her partners. That hurt she’s talking about—it ain’t from heaven.”

He hesitated, then started to step away. The woman leapt up. I lifted my hands in a knock-back spell, and Lucas wheeled to grab her, but she lunged out of our paths and raced into the dining room, heading for the knife. Savannah was closest. She turned and ran after the woman.

“No!” I shouted.