would explain where he spent his magic.
“There’s tension on it.” Clay sounded surprised. “The way it hangs into the water makes it hard to tell.”
The thick links made for a sturdy but heavy chain one of the teens must have pilfered from a parent.
“Pull,” the daemon told him, gripping the chain. “For Rue.”
The guys put their backs into hauling the chain out of the murky pond, link by slimy link, while I kept a wary eye on the water for any traps Taylor might have set. Colby peered over my head, helping, though I wanted nothing more than to send her up to a high limb to watch from there or even back to my SUV.
But the familiar was out of the bag now. Good luck stuffing her back in it. I would have to allow Colby to make her own decisions about how—and if—she used her powers. To rob her of choice would make me as bad or worse than the Stag or Taylor.
“It’s stuck.” Clay braced his legs. “There’s definitely something down there bumping the sides.”
“Then I’m going in.” I lifted Colby in the air. “I hope there aren’t leaches.” I shuddered. “Colby, you’re my lookout.” I stripped down to my bra and panties, grateful the daemon saw the floorshow instead of Asa. “Guys, I’m going to lower myself using the chain. Don’t panic if you feel it jerking.” I hesitated. “Actually, do panic if you feel it jerking, but light wiggling is fine.”
“Bad idea,” the daemon grumbled. “New plan.”
“We don’t know what shape the girls are in.” I refused to voice my darkest worries. “I have to do this.”
“She’s right.” Clay looped extra chain around his fist for a better grip. “The time to act is now.”
Taking his advice to heart, I followed the chain into the water, my hand sliding over the slick links. Fear I might drop my wand into the abyss forced me to leave it behind, but I wasn’t happy about it. After murmuring a spell for illumination in the hopes the burning globe would light my way, I filled my lungs with air and let myself sink.
Hand over hand, I hauled myself into the darkness with my eyes slitted against the filth of the water.
The ball of light drifted slowly ahead of me, but visibility was low. I didn’t see the cage until my guide dipped between its wooden bars and bounced off a pale shoulder.
Scooping the light into my palm, I shone it side to side until I located a thick root piercing the enclosure. I braced a hip on the wall, dug my toes into the muck to brace myself, then jiggled until the cage jerked free.
Once I verified it was clear of entanglements, I gave two hard pulls to signal to the guys I was done.
A hard yank knocked me into the opposite wall as the cage shot past me. Shoving off the packed mud, I hooked my fingers into the bottom of the cage and rode it all the way to the surface.
The second air hit my face, the daemon was there, his arm an iron band around my waist as he dragged me to shore.
Coughing and spluttering, I watched Clay secure the chain to hold the cage above the water.
Now that I could see the whole picture, I wish I hadn’t opened my eyes.
Camber and Arden huddled together, their fingers laced, and their heads bowed until their hair tangled.
“Are they…?” Clay stepped into the water. “Did you check for a pulse?”
“No,” I rasped, my throat sore like I had been screaming. Maybe I had been.
Slow to leave my side, the daemon joined Clay in pulling the cage onto shore and unhooking it.
“There’s no door.” Clay scratched his head. “The bottom must be hinged.”
On trembling legs, I stood and joined them. Upon closer examination of the cage, I wanted to kill Taylor all over again. “He grew it around them.”
There were no hinges, no seams, no doors. No escape. The entire piece had been twisted from roots and vines that had slithered under and around the girls until it finished weaving the spoked dome over them.
No wonder they had been screaming. They were terrified. He had sealed them in and made me listen.
The spell he used on the fae girls he preyed on wouldn’t work on humans. Their souls were too faint, too ephemeral, to make consuming them worthwhile unless there was no other food source available.
But there were petrification spells, freeze spells, sleep spells, any number of