“Prudence, please?” Cyrus gestured to the woman I’d bitten that Thomas had just been killed over. “As we discussed?”

A woman with silvery-blonde hair standing just beside Cyrus threw her hands up and dark navy-blue magic shot out of her palms. XVII was Marked on her left forearm. The star. Wait—but it was too late. I realized too late what was happening. The Star’s magic speared through Sweyn’s face without slowing down, then spread wide and slammed into everyone, blocking the path to where the dragons sat just beyond the open wall on my right. Before I could blink, everyone it hit dropped to the floor.

The Strength Card leapt forward and grabbed Everest, throwing him over his shoulder, then bolting for the archways. I screamed and charged after him, ready to throw my magic into his back. Akecheta was outside. He had to have a plan here. He wouldn’t let his father-in-law be hurt. Everest wasn’t even fighting back. That wasn’t like him. I only made it a few steps before green vines coiled around my legs. I flew forward but pale arms grabbed me before my face hit the stone.

“REDD! GET HER OUT!” Cyrus yelled from behind me somewhere. “Warren, SUN!”

Redd? Warren? Is this Coven filled with the same families? There were also Bishops and a Proctor. Bright sunlight flashed in my peripheral vision, but I was completely hog-tied and being carried out, so I couldn’t see what was happening behind me. I craned my neck back to look for Everest. He was now being dragged through the snow by the Strength Card. Why? What did I miss? He still wasn’t fighting back though. I’d seen first-hand the level of fighter my soulmate was, so this made no sense.

Unless he was faking it.

“They’re awake. MOVE!” Prudence ran by us.

Sweyn screamed.

My pulse skipped. The vines around me tightened, digging into my skin even through my dress. I tried to see what was going on but all I saw was chaos. Sweyn and the rest of the vampires were chasing after us and catching up quickly. They were panicked. Sweyn’s face was flushed as she screamed orders. The sentinels flew around the Cards carrying me and raced ahead. I craned my neck back to look for Everest. The Strength Card was still dragging him across the snow, heading for that main archway out front. The one that prevented magic from working inside Avolire.

“Everest!” I shouted. “¿Qué ocurre?”

Cyrus spun around in front of me, throwing blue lightning over my head. Bright sunlight and orange flames shot across the snowy lawn. A dozen sentinels sprinted right by the Cards carrying me, going straight for Everest with panicked steps. Everest’s black magic swerved around the sentinels to hit the Cards. The second that black smoke hit them, they vanished from sight.