Mr. Crandall shook his head bleakly, his hands pressed into Miller’s side trying to stop the bleeding. Clearly Miller had been wrong, or lying. “Find out if the Morgans have a healer in their bunch,” Mr. Crandall snapped at his son.
A.J. unclipped a walkie-talkie from his belt and took a few steps away.
“Come on, Miller,” Riley said. “You’ve been hurt worse than this before.”
Miller had lost his glasses in the fight. He seemed to have trouble focusing, but when Jax glanced at the wound again, he knew the problem wasn’t Miller’s eyesight. Jax’s stomach lurched.
“She okay?” Miller mumbled to Riley.
“Yeah,” said Riley. “She’s right here.”
Evangeline leaned over Riley’s shoulder. “I’m fine. You saved us.”
Miller closed his eyes. “Worried I was . . . too late . . .”
“Miller,” growled Riley. “Stay with me. Hey!” He smacked Miller’s face, like Michael had done to his daughter, but not as gently. “I order you to—” Riley didn’t finish the sentence. Jax figured even the Pendragon voice couldn’t command someone to stop dying.
“’S okay,” whispered Miller. “Was tired of being here without Alanna anyway.”
That was the last thing he said. A.J. and Deidre were on the walkie-talkie, ordering some vassal with healing talent to the top of the pyramid, but there wasn’t any point. Mr. Crandall sat on his heels, swearing under his breath. Riley just knelt there, saying nothing.
Jax rubbed his eyes with the heels of both hands. He hadn’t even liked Miller.
Evangeline put a hand on Riley’s shoulder. “I’m really sorry,” she said. “But you don’t have time to grieve now.” He looked up, and Evangeline indicated the sky. “I’m not sure how to fix this either, but I need your help to try.”
Riley looked once more at his dead friend, then staggered to his feet. “Tell me what you want me to do.”
Evangeline led Riley to the altar, and Jax followed. When the train of her gown caught on the foot of the table, Jax said, “I’ve had it with this.” He grabbed up handfuls of the fabric and started cutting it off with his dagger.
“Yes, do that,” said Evangeline. “He picked this stupid dress. I reject it, and him, and everything he stood for.” She gripped the Pendragon blade in her right hand and held out her other one to Riley. He shifted Excalibur to his left hand and entwined his right hand with hers.
Jax hacked the last of bit of excess dress off and backed away.
Evangeline took a few deep breaths, her brow rumpled in concentration. For a moment, she looked like she had no idea how to start, but then she spoke up loudly. “I reject everything that happened here tonight. That man spoke nothing but lies.”
She looked at the crate. “Niviane of the Lake was a great queen, and she was allied with two great men, both of whom are represented here tonight. The three of them together conceived a plan to stop magic being used to subjugate the innocent. I stand by what they did, even if it imprisons me for the rest of my life.”
Riley watched her, looking uncertain and waiting for his cue, while Evangeline addressed the sky. Who’s listening? Jax wondered. Is it God or Nature or the whole Universe? Please, whoever it is . . . He found himself praying. Listen to her.
“Niviane will be returned to a proper grave once the spell is repaired,” Evangeline said. “We have the blade she gave Arthur to seal their alliance, which was returned to her on his death. And we are heirs to the Pendragon and Emrys lines, with full right to claim their spell as our own.”
Tegan appeared at Jax’s side. “We can help,” she whispered. She slipped her hand into Jax’s, wrapping her slim fingers around the hilt of his honor blade. Then she held out her other hand to her brother, who caught it and reached out to his father. A.J. and Mr. Crandall approached Jax’s other side, and A.J. offered a hand to Jax, honor blade and all. Catching on, Jax gripped A.J.’s hand and his dagger together.
Evangeline nodded approval at them and continued, “Like the original casters of this spell, we are joined by our vassals and brave allies. A friend of the Pendragons sacrificed his life to the cause—”
“Brother,” Riley said abruptly. “Miller Owens was engaged to my sister. He was supposed to’ve been my brother.”
“Brother,” Evangeline repeated. Her voice wavered. “Your brother and my brother both died preserving the eighth day.”
“And Jax’s dad,” Riley added.
“Siblings, parents, and allies,” Evangeline said, lifting her face to the sky, “all committed to keeping the eighth day where it belongs—one isolated day, one shared world, one rotation of this planet on its axis in the span of a second. By their will and by ours—this shall be done.”
Jax stared at the sky. It was purple and cracked like an egg.
“You will listen to us,” Riley shouted over the wind that whipped hair into his eyes. He yanked his and Evangeline’s clasped hands into the air. “I command the forces of the universe to obey—in the name of the heirs to Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon!”
The forces of the universe had no answer for him. Riley glared at the sky and added a few swear words to his command, but his face reflected the glittery sheen of cracks that weren’t going anywhere.
“It’s not enough, son,” shouted Mr. Crandall. “You’ve got to give it something else!”
Give it something else? What else could the universe want? Jax shifted his feet uneasily. Wylit had wanted to enhance his spell with a human sacrifice. Riley had that corroded relic of an iron dagger in his hand, and Evangeline was standing there in that awful white dress, just perfect for . . .
Panic crossed Riley’s face, and he looked at Evangeline.
“Man up, Riley,” A.J. called out.
Evangeline stared at Riley, white lipped. “Do what you have to do,” she whispered.
“No!” Jax shouted, pulling his hands free and lunging forward.
A.J. tackled him, and Jax hit the cobblestones with almost two hundred pounds on his back.
Riley swung their joined hands down and around Evangeline’s back. The hand with Excalibur went behind her head, and he hooked the back of her neck in his elbow. Then he pulled her close and kissed her.
Jax would’ve gasped, but A.J.’s weight didn’t allow him any space to breathe.
Oh, right. Melinda said strong emotions would enhance magic, too.
When Riley let go of Evangeline, she staggered backward, bumping into the altar. Her eyes were wide and startled. She and Riley stared at each other a moment, and then they looked up to see if the world was still ending.
A.J. eased off, and Jax sucked in air and rolled over. The cracks were already closing, fading to nothing in the normal purple of a Grunsday night sky.
“Dang, I think that did it!” Riley gave Evangeline the sappiest grin Jax had ever seen, still holding her hand.
She blushed pink.
And then she vanished.
Mr. Crandall looked at his watch. “Thursday. Right on time.”
39
THE MEXICAN AUTHORITIES were on-site within minutes, but they weren’t very interested in getting involved. When informed that the Morgans were a private security force foiling an act of terrorism by a drug cartel, the local police backed off, leaving the Morgans to clean up the casualties and haul away the survivors.
It took both Crandalls to get Riley off the pyramid. His legs failed him halfway, and he almost took a nosedive down a staircase. After that, Mr. Crandall and A.J. kept their hands on him, and once they were on the ground, they forced him to sit on the stone steps while a Morgan vassal checked him over.