“If Sage opens the tunnel now, they’ll destroy Seelie in minutes,” Tegan spoke into our minds as she lifted her hands up. “We have to get to the archway. I need to not use my magic. Frankie, hit ‘em with a wave.”

My stomach was in knots, but I wasn’t about to disobey my Coven Leader. I threw my hands up and pushed my magic out. Pink and blue flames rolled into the first round of sentinels. Another wave of blue flames rolled in right after mine with dark-red magic swirling around it. Lennox held two wands in each hand, expertly shooting magic like she held machine guns. Orange lightning streaked left and right. Rivers of lava shot across the ground. Sentinels went down one after another but more just popped up in their place like the worst weeds in a garden. Even the ones we hit were getting back up.

Sweyn leapt out from behind some trees and shouted in a language I’d never heard.

Creatures dropped from the trees. My stomach sank. We weren’t going to survive this. There was no way. We barely escaped alive last time, and we’d only been fighting one enemy at a time. More vampires rushed for us. The trees rustled above our heads, then Unseelie knights landed all around us. My Coven-mates cursed and fought back. I fired magic without stopping but it wasn’t going to last. We were going to lose energy and strength.

Then Libby dove out from behind a tree, unsheathed a gnarly dagger from her thigh, and slammed it into the back of a sentinel’s head. Red blood splashed onto her chest. She yanked her dagger and screamed, “NOW!”

Saber, Malik, Shi-Shi, and Braison emerged from the shadows and sprinted for us. They sliced and diced on the run, dropping creatures and vampires on the fly. Libby raced after them while shooting her red lightning into Unseelie faces. Saber slid in front of me, immediately turning her back to me. She wielded two long swords like they were nothing more than daggers. Malik and Shi-Shi took the back side of our group, working together to rip vampires to pieces. Braison was to my left, right in front of Tegan, and his magic nearly took my breath away. Dark smoke shot from his hands right into the chests of our enemies. They dropped dead instantly. They were protecting us. They’d made their allegiance known. Their betrayal was undeniable now.

Sweyn’s red eyes nearly bugged out of her head. A vein pulsed down her forehead as she screamed. She raced forward, her eyes locked right on me and Tegan. She flung her wrists and red magic spilled from her palms. I gasped and threw my hands up just as thick black smoke appeared out of thin air and swallowed hers whole.

Sweyn gasped and jerked back, her red eyes wide.