“We have this,” he said, holding up the small chain.
It only took us a second to realize the implications. We’d enchanted the jewelry we’d given her to be able to track her. If she was still wearing any of it…
Riley hurried over, large feet thudding on the stone floor. The four of us huddled around the bracelet, casting the necessary spells.
Aaand…a whole fucking lot of nothing. The magical equivalent of radio static in a deserted area.
Enzo swore under his breath, abruptly smacking his forehead with a loud crack. “The motherfucking mirror. It might still be at her mother’s place.”
“Let’s go,” Heath said.
“Wait—maybe we shouldn’t all go,” Riley reminded us. “What if Harris wakes up?” He glanced at me, “Or your dad?”
“I’ll go,” Enzo said, grabbing his jacket. “I gave it to her. It’ll be easier for me to spot.”
“I’ll come—”
“No.” The fucker interrupted me. “I was there not long ago. I strengthened her mother’s memory charm that you must have fucked up.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he snapped, tone cold. “You stay here. In case your dad wakes up.”
Fuck! Hands clenched, I gave in, knowing he was right. “Fine. Get your ass back here as soon as possible or I’m coming after you.”
He snorted and I refrained from introducing my fist to his big, Italian nose.
CHAPTER 2
SIERRA
UNDERWORLD
I woke up in complete darkness, the air around me thick with bad energy that made my skin crawl. It was suffocating, like a weighted blanket over my face. Was I dead?
I sat up, gasping, my heart pounding like a fist against my ribcage as I tried to process what was happening. This couldn’t be real. It couldn’t be. My eyes searched through the nothingness, struggling to find even a glimmer of light, but only shadowy figures—slightly lighter than the surrounding darkness—flitted like mist. As I latched on to the tiny amount of shade difference, my eyes began to adjust to the shades of gray amongst the darkness, becoming clearer like an old black and white film.
Mottled corpses in various states of rot littered the flat, bleak landscape. The spirits floating around them seemed to avoid touching the decaying flesh and bones that may have once been their bodies.
Were they the lingering remains of people who had lost their way, souls stuck in limbo? Was I one of them?
My stomach churned as I forced myself to stand. I might have thought it was a bad dream, but the place reeked of death, making me gag. I turned in a circle, taking in the bare, gray landscape and realized that there was no escape.
Was this where I belonged now, in this bleak afterlife?
Yet … I inhaled. Exhaled. Felt the breath on my face, my heart pounding, the sharp, cold ground beneath my feet. Surely, I wasn’t dead?
“Why am I here?” I spoke aloud, testing my voice. It sounded hoarse and unfamiliar even to myself.
The spirits drifted closer, their faces twisted into cruel smirks.
“The chosen one speaks,” they hissed in unison, snickering.
I shuddered from cold and fear. “What do you want from me?”
Gaping holes formed where mouths were and they shrieked, a piercing sound that felt as if it could shatter my bones as well as my eardrums. I fell to the ground with my hands over my ears, desperate to shut out the noise.
They circled around me as the sound of rushing wind increased and barreled through the arid land. As it grew stronger, the spirits’ shrieking changed from menacing to terrified. They split like tattered silk in the air, hissing as they were swept away.
I shut my eyes against the wind, and wispy fingers brushed my skin, sending ripples across my skin.
“Go away,” I whimpered.
“They are gone now.”
I opened my eyes. More spirits milled about me, but they were different from the ones before.
“What’s happening?” I asked, my voice trembling as much as my hands.
“You hold the key to our freedom.”
“And their destruction,” said another.
“I don’t understand,” I whispered as I stood, blinking back the tears gathering in my eyes from confusion and fear.
“You must cull the field and reap the four or be forever bound with us to this realm of darkness,” boomed another deep voice.
My flesh pebbled and my blood went icy as those words rang through me. Cull the field … Reap light and dark? Why was that so familiar? Oh, god. The prophecy!
Come, Reaper, and cull the field
