Zeran ducked and rolled out of the way of a can that Tisha Thomas had accidentally hurtled too close to his head. She didn’t have any defensive magic, so she was taking the battle to the darkbringers the old-fashioned way.

“Oops!” Tisha shouted. “So, Zeran, I was wrong about you. Sorry!”

“Just try not to take my head off,” he said, dashing to his brother’s side.

Frankie and I joined the fight. “About time you showed up,” Winston said, casting me a crooked grin. “Thought we would have to save the day again.”

I knocked back two darkbringers with my staff. “We couldn’t let you have all the fun.”

“Where’s Eleni?” I called out to Zeran as his animation formed next to Darkzilla. It was another collection of objects from the room, and it was massive.

“Haven’t seen her,” he answered over the roar of the fight. “You’re the first to get here.”

I staggered, barely raising my staff in time to block a blow. Eleni wasn’t back. She wasn’t back. I glanced around quickly, looking for a clock. It had been over two hours since we’d parted ways at the library. My sister was always punctual. Always. If she wasn’t back, something had gone wrong.

Twenty-Six

WE NEED A RIDE

I SWUNG MY STAFF and sent god symbols flying at the darkbringers closest to me. Zeran’s and Billu’s animations were inflicting their fair share of damage on another group of darkbringers. Even Winston, Tay, and Candace had knocked several darkbringers out cold. Every time we defeated a darkbringer, the other godlings dragged them to the corner of the main hall where Frankie had created a forcefield to hold them.

Eli stood off against Carran with the ghost army lined up between them. The ghosts were frozen in place. “You’re the last darkbringer left,” Eli said. “You should give up while you still can.”

Carran grimaced as she looked around the hall. The rest of the darkbringers had been neutralized, but she cracked her knuckles. “I have no intention of giving up, ghost boy. I will not be bested by the likes of you.”

“You know the thing about ghosts,” Eli said, smiling. “They’ll help if you ask nicely. But you keep trying to bend them to your will. They don’t like that.”

“Ghosts are meant to be tamed,” Carran countered. “They aren’t alive, nor do they need to be asked nicely.”

Carran’s blue skin had gone a shade paler. Her hands were balled into fists, and she was shaking. Eli was sweating buckets, literally. It streaked down his forehead and soaked through his shirt.

“You can’t win this one, Carran,” Eli spat. “These ghosts are stronger than the ones you snatched from me at JMS.”

“I . . . won’t . . . give . . . in,” Carran said, struggling to get every word out.