I followed Lance’s form, watching until he disappeared into the trees, but I didn’t turn to face Cal once Lance had left. Instead, I stared straight ahead, my eyes riveted to the center of the clearing. “So this is it?”
Cal stepped to my side.
“This is where I’m going to die?”
Cal moved to drape his arm across my shoulders, but I flinched away, shifting a few steps to put some distance between us. “Morgan, you’re not going to die.” I could hear the desperation creeping into his voice, wanting me to believe him, needing me to believe that I would win this battle.
“Won’t he detect your magic?” I waved my hand around. “Won’t he feel it?”
Cal sighed and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. At least I hope he doesn’t.”
“So you’ve never done this before?”
“We usually don’t have advance notice, no. The battle over Lazarus’s bride has historically happened very differently depending on who gets to his Huntress first. The last time, thirty years ago, it was here.”
My heart clenched for him. What he was telling me was that the ground we were standing on was where his mother died. I wanted to reach out and hug him, but then I remembered the ground we were standing on was also where I would possibly die. I crossed my arms over my chest instead.
“But we’ve never had the advantage like we do this time,” he continued.
“Oh?” I cocked my eyebrow again. “And what’s the advantage?”
“Me,” Cal said. “I’m the advantage. I’m the first magic etcher born in two centuries. I’m the strongest on record. You must feel it too, because in you, it’s even stronger.”
He motioned to the lanterns that hung from tree trunks every hundred feet or so. “I’ll use my magic to make those burn tomorrow night, since there won’t be any light with the moon’s eclipse. We’ll have the advantage.”
“And what else? What else have you done? How can you be so sure that you’ll succeed?” My words sounded more like an accusation than a request for information. I couldn’t help but feel betrayed.
“It was an elder with powers like mine who made the cloak. He fashioned it to absorb the essence of the Huntress, concealing her from the wolves. When I came into my powers, I recognized the power signature as being similar to mine, similar but weaker and I knew that I could do better. I managed to jolt it with more power, and it’s held over the years. It protected Kelly and then Candy when we brought them in, and now you. I etched the perimeter of the compound’s grounds as well. This is what I was born to do. I’m the protector.” He took two steps toward me. “I’m your protector.”
I stared up at him. “I want to believe you,” I said as some of my anger drained away.
He reached his hand up to cradle my cheek. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Morgan.”
“Unless I betray you,” I whispered. “And then you’ll kill me.”
He flinched and I took a step away from him, leaving his hand suspended in mid-air where he’d been touching me.
“Listen, Cal. I appreciate you taking the time to etch your magic.” I wasn’t looking at him as I spoke, my tone frosty, sarcasm tinting my words. “How about we just see what happens? You do your job and I’ll do mine.” I turned toward him. “And if you have to, take your best shot.”
He opened his mouth to protest when Lance came back into the clearing. “You all good here? Can we go back now? This place gives me the creeps.”
I moved toward Lance, nodding as I distanced myself from Cal. “Yeah, I’ve seen enough. I was wrong—there’s nothing here that I really needed to see before the battle tomorrow. It’s the things I can’t see—like trust and loyalty—that are going to be the real killers.”
I looked back to see Cal lower his head, his eyes closing briefly.
“You coming, Cal?” Lance asked.
He shook his head. “No, I’m going to stick around here and do some more work.”
“I’d offer to help,” I said, “but the motivation to aid in my potential murder just isn’t there.”
Lance grimaced and shook his head, shooting a look of pity Cal’s way before directing me out of the clearing and into the forest.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The Game Changer
The afternoon of the lunar eclipse had everyone on edge, Cal most of all. It was another four hours until sunset, another four hours until Lazarus would take his human form. The battleground was ready. Cal had spent hours more after Morgan and Lance had left, etching a thicker barrier to trap Lazarus and his pack. As soon as the Huntress made her appearance without the cloak, Lazarus would attack. And as soon as he stepped into the clearing he’d be trapped.