A thunderous round of cheers and applause. It was bullshit, of course. No demon or angel would interpret this as anything but blackmail. Yet the lie was enough for them to sit quietly as Jaz took center stage and prepared for the summoning.

Lucas’s voice came over my earpiece. “We’re in the garage now. We managed to successfully reroute the external video to show images from an hour ago, covering our entrance. The two outside guards have been disabled. We’re going to use glamour spells to allow Elena and Clayton to impersonate them and attempt to breach the next security point.”

Less talk, more action, I wanted to say. But when Lucas is stressed, Lucas explains. So I kept my mouth shut until he finished, then whispered, “Sounds good.”

I clicked on the feed into Jaz’s earpiece. “Compound breached. Stall.”

He said nothing, but I thought I heard a derisive snort. No one needed to tell him to stall. Rushing wouldn’t help Hope and it wouldn’t help him.

“Before I begin …” Jaz said. A rustle of impatience rolled through the audience. “What I am about to attempt is very dangerous, to myself, to Giles and to Ms. Adams. So I will need your complete attention and silence. Also, I know there are fellow necromancers in the room. I must warn you …”

Don’t try this at home, kids, was the gist of his message. That and making it clear that what he was doing was not a standard necromantic ritual, and therefore would not resemble any they were familiar with. In other words, covering his ass so he could pull off a bullshit fake rite, and drag it out as long as possible.

I hate giving bad guys credits for ingenuity. Hate it more when I find myself mentally taking notes.

As Jaz droned on, Adam and I listened to Lucas’s updates.

Elena and Clay had made it into the stairwell. They’d disabled the guards without raising the alarm. A twenty-man tactical team had now entered the garage. Elena and Clay were approaching the final security point, where they’d take out the last—

Another voice came in behind Lucas’s, muffled, talking fast, urgency bordering on panic.

“What’s going—?” I began.

Lucas cut off the comm link. I glanced at Adam.

“It’s okay,” he murmured. “A minor hiccup. He doesn’t want us overhearing and panicking.”

Great, but silence only made me panic all the more.

I glanced back at the video screen. Jaz was lighting candles on a table. Lighting them very slowly, reciting gobbledygook about dark and light forces and balance. Giles stepped forward and offered to help with the lighting, but Jaz waved him aside, saying he had to do the ritual alone.

“Lucas?” I whispered. “Anyone? What’s going on?”

Sierra glanced back at me. “If you two keep whispering, I’m going to kick your asses out.”

“Sorry,” Adam said. “Just getting impatient.”

“Severin? Sierra?” A voice crackled over a radio left on the table. “We have a breach.”

“Shit!” I said, leaping to my feet and forgetting, for a second, to use my guy voice.

Sierra didn’t notice. She scrambled up and grabbed the radio. “Sierra over. Repeat.”

“They’ve breached the compound. It’s a Cabal. Or all the Cabals. I don’t know.” The young man’s voice rose as he spoke.

I slid up behind her, as if trying to hear better. Adam followed.

“Cool it,” Sierra said. “Have you activated the doors?”

“We’re doing that now,” said the guy on the radio. “The van was driving up, and they saw dozens of them, and they called it in, but then the Cabal guys saw them and opened fire and they’re dead. They’re all dead!”

“Okay, you need to—”

I grabbed the radio and backpedaled as Adam leaped between me and Sierra.

“Relax,” I said, emulating Sierra’s bark. “You need to relax. Everything’s under control. This is all part of the plan. Do not interrupt Giles.”

A screech of pain. I looked up to see Adam grappling with Sierra, his fingers glowing. Severin had jumped from his chair. It crashed to the floor.

“What’s—?” the voice on the other end began.

“Hold your fire,” I said. “Everything’s under control.”

I snapped off the radio as Severin ran at Adam. I cast a binding spell. It didn’t work. I could feel the power surge, but nothing happened. The room was warded. Our glamours had stayed intact. Apparently we just couldn’t cast in a warded area.

I lunged at Severin. His fingers latched onto my arm. I felt a blast of cold. Then agony as my flesh began to freeze. I managed to punch him in the stomach hard enough to make him let go. Then I kicked his feet out from under him and—

A grinding noise across the room stopped me. I looked over to see a steel door sliding over the entrance into the auditorium.

Back at the laboratory in New Orleans, when they sounded the alarm, they’d sealed off the infirmary with a solid steel door, one Jeremy’s strength and Adam’s fire couldn’t breach.

I ran. There was still enough of a gap to get through—

Severin grabbed my leg. He yanked me down. Then he held me there, fingers biting in, the cold so excruciating that I howled.

Adam stopped grappling with Sierra and threw her aside. He dove at Severin and caught his leg.

“Let her go,” he said, his voice a rumble, eyes glowing.

Severin gasped. He could feel the fire blazing. He didn’t let go, but as Adam wrenched at him, feeling returned to my leg, fire melting ice.

I kicked Severin off and hobbled to the door as Lucas came back on the comm link, telling me they were now in the building.

The steel door was closed. I glanced at the video. Inside, the audience had heard the doors sealing.

“For your protection,” Giles said smoothly. “Mr. Scott is just about to begin the ritual.”

He must know what had happened, but he wasn’t letting it interfere with his summoning. I quickly updated Lucas.

Adam and Severin were on their feet, facing off. Sierra bore down on them. I leaped in her way and let my glamour fall.

Sierra glowered at me. “You stupid little bitch. Haven’t you learned your lesson about interfering?”

“Yes,” I said. “I learned that I owe Balaam some payback for his interfering at the Nasts. Starting by taking out two of his faithful servants before they can interfere.”