I clasped my hand around the potion vial. Such a thin layer of glass separating me from an elixir that could give whoever took it everlasting life.
I looked up at Aphrodite again as they lectured the theater on how lucky they were to be there, and I felt sick to my stomach. No matter what any of us claimed or how much territory someone controlled in this town, none of us were magic’s master.
Movement from the corner of my eye grabbed my attention. Morales and Volos were inching toward their guards. The pair of security goons were too busy listening to Aphrodite to pay adequate attention to the two most dangerous men in the room.
Morales caught my eye and nodded. I scratched my cheek to indicate that when they made the move, I’d be ready.
“Now,” Aphrodite proclaimed, “I will ingest the potion to finally merge my masculine and feminine energies, thereby perfecting my nature and becoming immortal.” They looked at me. “This potion was created by Kate Prospero, niece of Abraxas Prospero, the betrayer. Once I ingest this elixir, I will ascend as the supreme coven leader of all of Babylon!”
They paused, as if waiting for applause, but none came.
The speech made me pity them. I used to sort of admire Aphrodite’s gumption, but now they’d let my Uncle Abe’s bullshit get to their head. How many other people had been destroyed because he’d betrayed them? How many more would fall before he was done?
“Katherine, the potion, please.”
Aphrodite smiled down at me. The lights caught the stubble growing in on the right side of their face. It made the sweat on their upper lip shine. Aphrodite imagined themself a god, but they were just a person. Another victim of magic’s seductive force. I wondered if they’d even had a choice when a wizard turned them into a hermaphrodite as a child.
“Kate,” they snapped, “now!”
I raised the vial with my left hand. “I’m sorry you suffered,” I whispered. “But this won’t fix things.”
They frowned at me. Those lunatic eyes cleared for a moment, and I swear, in that brief instant, I saw something wholesome in there. But just as soon as it appeared, the lucidity evaporated.
Aphrodite snatched the potion from my hand. They raised the red liquid high, like an offering to a fickle god. Then they popped the cork and tossed it back in one gulp.
For a moment, the red liquid clung to their lips like blood. Their tongue darted out to get every last drop.
Time slowed. I stared transfixed, waiting for the miracle.
From far away, I heard my name. Beyond Aphrodite, bodies spun into chaotic motion.
Aphrodite lay their head back against the crossbars and smiled beatifically. The bones of their face undulated beneath the skin, as if reknitting together into a more cohesive structure.
Out of the chaos, I recognized the faces of the team as they emerged from the crowd to rush the stage. Mez deployed some sort of magical explosive that stunned the guards nearest the stairs they’d come up. Then Gardner was behind him, grabbing Morales and pulling him to safety.
Someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me off the platform. I fell back onto the floor, landing on someone solid. “Katie, we have to go.” It was Volos. “It’s not safe.”
I couldn’t take my eyes of off Aphrodite. The light hit their face like a beacon.
“Kate,” John said more forcefully this time. But then he turned to fight one of the guards who’d come forward.
I moved close to the cross. I had to watch. Had to see the ascension.
At first, it seemed like things were going according to plan. Aphrodite’s face changed, losing both its softness and its hard edges. But then the blisters appeared.
And the screams began.
Smoke billowed from their ears. The body vibrated and shook. Charred patches appeared at intervals, shot through with pink and red tissue. The air filled with the scent of burning human flesh.
All around, people ran and shouted. Someone called my name. I spun and watched Duffy barreling toward me, as if in slow motion.
Just behind him, Fontina raised a gun and pointed it at the detective’s back.
Several thoughts occurred to me in a rush even as time slowed. Duffy threatening to report me to Internal Affairs. Me threatening him for snitching. Morales killing that dirty cop to save himself.
It would be so easy, I thought.
Even as my ego campaigned for an easy fix to my problems, my instincts had already made my decision.
I ran at Duffy and pushed him off to the side. He shouted and went down, falling off the stage.
Behind me, Volos screamed my name.
Deprived of her original target, Fontina aimed the gun at me.
She smiled and pulled the trigger.
A flash of color appeared. I thought it was my life passing before my eyes. However, at the exact moment I should have felt the pain of the bullet ripping through my flesh, a body tackled me.
My first thought was that somehow, Volos had managed a superhuman feat and made it in time to save me. But when I rolled over, I realized that the body on top of me was too round and small to be his.
Yü Nü fell back into my arms. Her blood coated my hands.
Strong legs pressed into my back, supporting me as I held the sorceress. I looked up to see Volos standing over us with a gun. Without a second’s hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
Fontina fell into a puddle of blood-stained chiffon and Southern-spiced curses. She wasn’t dead, but she was done being a problem for the time being.
Up on the cross, the Hierophant threw back their head and screamed a column of flame.
Volos knelt next to me and the sorceress. “You two all right?”
I shook my head because I wasn’t sure of anything. Yü Nü hadn’t moved since we fell.
Volos took her chin and gingerly touched the horn. “Ow, shit!” he hissed, pulling his hand away.
Yü Nü’s horn began to glow. Heat radiated through her body, seeping into my skin. “Don’t touch the horn,” she said with her eyes still closed.
My relief was short-lived. A keening wail came from center stage.
Gregor stood beneath the cross. Tears poured down his face. He removed his gun from his holster.
“We’ve got to move,” Volos said. He lifted Yü Nü to carry her away. “Come on!”
I rose slowly, letting them go on without me because I was unable to tear my gaze from the drama unfolding at the cross. Gregor’s lips moved in silent prayer. Then he pointed the gun at the column of flame, right above the heart. “I’m sorry, my love. I’m so sorry.”
He pulled the trigger.
Someone grabbed me from behind and forced me to move. I turned to look over my shoulder. It was Volos. He’d come back to get me.
Just like he always will, I thought.
As he pulled me away, I watched five armed cops, including Shadi and McGinty, open fire on Aphrodite’s bodyguard.
He fell dead at the foot of the person he’d loved. Above his too-still body, Aphrodite’s corpse smoldered.
As I was carried away, people shouted and fussed. They seemed far away—or maybe that was me. I turned to look one more time at the tableau onstage.
Several men had found fire extinguishers and were dousing the last of the flames. I thought about that charred house where they’d found Basil’s body—also shot and burned.
Some might call that justice.
But to me, it all seemed like such a fucking waste.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Three days later, reporters packed the hospital’s conference room. Next to me, Morales sat in a wheelchair, looking handsome and wounded. His arm was in a sling and a bandage covered the large gash across his forehead. He’d been instructed not to speak during the press conference due to the cocktail of pain potions flowing through his system. I stood between him and Gardner, trying not to look as ambivalent as I felt.