throwing every bit of anger into Ava Mae to shock her out of control as soon as she submerged. She hoped Ava Mae would be concentrating on holding her breath and not on what her sister might do.
Giselle nodded wearily. “Please, all the way under. I can’t hold this spell much longer.”
Ava Mae waved her hand. “All right, I’m going. I hope you have a towel.” She took a deep breath and ducked under.
A flash of light and an audible crack of sound followed, rending Harlow senseless and blind for a moment. Ava Mae was oddly silent. And still.
Harlow’s awareness returned. There was no water. Not exactly. She lay on her back on hard, damp earth, but the ceiling above her danced and rippled like a sheet of water. Light filtered through, illuminating the space with a faint, diffused glow.
She pushed to her feet, aware that she was at least partially in control of her body again. A look around told her she wasn’t alone. A few others shuffled around her like they were sleepwalking. Some sat against the sloped walls, hunched in the fetal position. Six in total. Another clap of light and sound, and a body fell through the ceiling, landing beside her, head cracking hard on the ground.
Ogun. The man who’d gotten her into this… whatever it was. He lay still. She nudged him with her foot. “Hey. Get up. What have you done? Where the hell are we?”
Another flash of light and sound. She ducked as yet another body fell into the pit. One she recognized. “Oh no.” She forgot Ogun and sank to her knees. “Cy?” She grabbed his shoulders as his lids flickered open. “Are you okay? How did you get here? Were you that intruder in disguise?”
He sat up. “That was me.” He rolled his shoulder and winced. “Damn witches. I’m okay, but my shoulder is killing me.”
“Please tell me Augustine is on his way and that you know what’s going on.”
He stared at her. “Are you… you again?”
“Kind of. I don’t know if it was the fall or what, but Ava Mae seems to be taking a breather.”
“Glad to hear that.” He stood, helping her to her feet. “About the other stuff, I have no idea what’s going on and that includes with Augustine.”
“What do you mean?” That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.
“I was on the phone with him telling him what was happening, but we got disconnected and… then nothing.” He shrugged, then grimaced in pain. “I think my shoulder’s dislocated.”
“I’m really sorry about that. If I knew how to help you, I would.” No Augustine? And Cy was injured. They were in deep trouble.
“I can fix it.” He went to one of the walls, clenched his teeth and then jammed his shoulder into it. He cursed loudly as he worked the joint. “It’s back in.”
Okay, maybe not that deep. “You’re hard-core, you know that?”
He snorted. “Not hard-core enough to keep myself out of here.”
“What on earth just happened to us?”
He glanced up, shaking his head. “That spell paralyzed me, but I could hear everything. Before they forced me into the water, Giselle said something like, ‘Ten down, two to go.’ ”
“Ten down? With you here, there are nine people in this… whatever this is.”
“Some sort of holding cell. Maybe you counted wrong.” He looked around. “No, I count nine, too.” His gaze stuck on her. “You’re Harlow again but you say Ava Mae’s still with you?”
“Yes, I can still feel her in me. But it’s like she’s knocked out.”
His eyes widened. “There’s two of you. That makes ten souls.” He scrubbed a hand across his face and looked around. “There’s no way this could exist below the pond without some sort of spell. This must be a kind of magical holding tank.”
“For people?”
He frowned. “I guess. No doubt the witches are planning something big. No clue what, but it can’t be good. Not if they need souls to make it happen.”
The thought made Harlow shiver. Then something else disturbed her. Someone else. Ava Mae was awake.
What’s going on? Where are we? Why are you still here?
Harlow smirked. Not the end result you were hoping for, hmm, Sister? If anything, the fall into the witch’s holding pit had stripped Ava Mae of some of her power.
No! Ava Mae yelled. I was supposed to have control of the body now, not you. You’re supposed to be gone!
Harlow grabbed Cy’s arm. “Ava Mae’s awake and angry.”
“Fight her,” Cy urged. “You’re stronger. You