“Feeding?” I repeated. “Like, taking their blood?” I grimaced. That was why it had swallowed Sonja, then. Collected her. Why there were no bodies left behind.
“The power in their blood,” Iris said, in a tone that said I should have somehow known that. “Kin blood still carries the power of the Old Race. A trace of it, at least. Guardians would be best, but right now it still seems to be picking easy targets. Those with the most Kin blood in their lineage. But it’s not going to do that forever. Right now, we still have a chance—but sooner or later, the Beneath is going to have enough power to send all of its Harrowers through, and then it will be the end of the Kin, and the future will be fixed. Unless you stop it.”
“This from the girl who told me she’d let the world burn,” I snapped. “Forgive me if I’m having a little trouble believing you’d care.”
“I told you I wouldn’t let it have my family.”
I crossed my arms. “You can’t just put this all on me.”
“It is on you. You’re the only one who can kill Verrick.”
“How? I’m not even a Guardian! I couldn’t fight him even if I wanted to, which I don’t. Fighting Harrowers by sharing their powers is your thing, not mine.” I’d done that once with Susannah, and I never wanted to do it again. Even now, months later, I still remembered what it had felt like—the chill of the Beneath seeping into my flesh, the way its corruption had crept up into me, whispering into my thoughts, the surge of hate I had felt bubble within.
“The Circle,” Iris said. “You used its power before.”
“I released its power. On you. I’m all out of flaming magic tricks.”
She leaned toward me, her thin hands tightly clasped. Once again, her voice came out like a hiss. “You’re both connected to it. You and Verrick. That’s how you can kill him. That’s what you have to do. The Beneath will go back to sleep, and all of this will end. Unless, of course, you’d rather the rest of us die so your friend can live.”
“I guess it runs in the family,” I shot back.
Elspeth slid off the bed and moved toward me. “Audrey—”
“No,” I said. “This all started because of her.” I looked at Iris, sitting there calm, in control, while Gideon was out there somewhere, alone in the city. I felt anger coil inside me, hot and heady, and let it burn. My mouth twisted. “Why don’t we do an exchange? How about this: We kill you, instead.”
Elspeth had reached my side. She grabbed my arm, but I yanked myself free, shoving her away.
Iris only seemed amused. “And that would accomplish…what, exactly?”
“It would save me having to listen to you, for a start.”
“You really think you could?”
“You really think I won’t?”
She met my gaze unflinching. “Yes.”
The trouble was, she was right. I’d struggled with killing Susannah. I’d hesitated when fighting a Harrower. As much as my anger fueled me, that was all it was—anger. I switched tactics. “Then you know there’s no way I would kill my best friend. Ever.”
“This is getting us nowhere,” said Elspeth.
Iris didn’t even glance at her sister. She kept her gaze pinned on me. “Fine. Let’s try math. I’ll keep it simple, since I know that’s not your best subject. We won’t count the thousands of Kin who will die if Verrick is allowed to live. We’ll use a smaller number. Four. I’ll even count them for you: Elspeth. That little blond girl. Your mother. Leon. You love them, too, don’t you?” Her eyes took on that hard glitter again. “Does your boyfriend know how hell-bent you are on protecting the demon that murdered his parents?”
That subject was still raw, painful, making my stomach knot. I heard the echo of Leon’s voice in my ears, telling me Gideon didn’t deserve to be saved. But I didn’t let it show. This was a knife I knew how to twist. I matched Iris’s tone. “I’d ask if yours knows what you’re up to—but, that’s right, he’s dead.”
She did flinch, then. I saw the words hit her, saw her recoil just slightly. A tremble moved through her. One of her hands made a fist. But instead of a ready retort, all she said was: “Weigh it, Audrey. Them or him.”
I rose to my feet. “I’m done listening to you. Are you going to drive me home, Elspeth, or should I call a cab?”
Elspeth looked between Iris and me, a troubled frown creasing her face. “I’ll take you.”
“This isn’t going to go away,” Iris said. “It’s going to get worse. You know that.”
I stepped outside and shut the door with a slam.
“You’re not going to tell Grandmother, are you?” Elspeth asked as she pulled up in front of my house.
I was still seething, all twisted up into knots. I fought the urge to lash out; it wasn’t Elspeth I was angry at. For all my resistance and denials, part of me wondered if Iris was right. The uncertainty was there, lurking in the darkest corner of my thoughts, a little voice I tried to drown out. I pushed it away, withdrew from it. No, I told myself. Even acknowledging the possibility felt like a betrayal. I shook my head slowly, deliberately, and found Elspeth still looking at me, awaiting my response. “I won’t tell,” I said. “Just…be careful. We don’t know what Iris is really after.”
“She’d never hurt me,” Elspeth said with quiet conviction.
Exactly what I’d said about Gideon and his family. The echo did nothing to improve my mood. “If you say so. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Wait,” Elspeth said. She reached to grab my arm, then seemed to think better of it. “Audrey, if it’s the only way to stop the Beneath, you have to consider it.”
“You may trust Iris, but I don’t. I can’t.”
Elspeth looked down at her hands. “I’m not stupid, you know.”
I started to respond, but Elspeth cut me off.
“The thing is—I thought I’d never see her again,” she continued. “For all these months, I thought she was dead. And part of me even thought it would be better if she was. So…I do understand, okay? I’m not lying to myself. I know what she did. I know who she is. I know what the Guardians will do to her once they find her. But she’s my sister.”
As simple as that.
Love changes the rules, I thought. For Elspeth, too.
“You don’t want to believe her,” she said. “That doesn’t mean she’s not right.”
“It doesn’t mean she is.” I leaned back into the seat, staring up at the roof. From outside, I heard the crash of thunder. “Even if I believed her…I wouldn’t even know how to begin to do what she’s talking about,” I said. In the months since I’d released the Astral Circle’s power, I had sensed my connection to it—but it didn’t go beyond connection. The feeling was tenuous and vague, something I didn’t fully understand. It was always there, at the edge of my consciousness, a heightened awareness. But nothing more. Whatever link I had to the Circle didn’t seem likely to help us. “There has to be another solution. A real solution. Mr. Alvarez said he was going to contact the elders at the other Circles and see if they had any ideas.” Before he’d decided to quit the Kin, anyway.
Elspeth hesitated. “Grandmother has been in touch with some of the other leaders, but nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Can we at least agree that murder should be a last resort, not a first one?”
“I’m really sorry, Audrey,” she said, her voice catching.
I didn’t look at her. “Me, too.”
I climbed out of the car and hurried toward my house. Another downpour had begun, and I nearly slipped on the rain-slick grass that crept up around the walkway. Once inside, I kicked off my dripping sandals, then looked around the darkened house. Mom and Mickey had departed, though the faint smell of coffee still hung in the air of the kitchen.