Alex apparently couldn’t hear it. Behind me, he made a small, impatient sound.

“Well?” he demanded. “Is it happening?”

I didn’t answer him. I just couldn’t.

By now Gaby looked terrified, and for good reason. With each passing second, the thudding from her chest became louder. But despite the volume of the beats, the silent, empty spaces in between them grew longer.

If those silences continued to grow, then soon her heartbeats would stop altogether. And neither of us had any idea what would happen to her then. After all, how do the dead die?

Although I couldn’t answer that question, I had a pretty good idea about what was happening to our surroundings. Although it was already a chilly night in the French Quarter, the air was growing colder. Almost unbearably so, to the point where my teeth began to chatter with each falling degree. Shadows started to lengthen and change, shifting from their normal grays to more livid, sinister purples.

“The dark world is opening,” Gaby whispered, “isn’t it?”

I simply nodded and tried not to shiver in the frigid wind. I sucked in another panicked breath; but before I had time to release it, I heard terrified cries coming from behind me.

I spun around and found the young Seers looking far more alert than they had a few seconds ago. By now Annabel had doubled over, moaning in pain, while Hayley and Drew fumbled closer together.

Shocked, I looked up at Alex. He hadn’t moved, nor had he removed the gun from Jillian’s chest.

“How did you wake them?” I demanded.

To my surprise, Alex shook his head. “I didn’t. I only brought one syringe. I don’t know what’s woken them—maybe the cold.”

It made a terrible sort of sense: the unnatural chill of the dark world would force them awake, force them to see this horrible place. That explanation, however, didn’t fully pacify me.

“Let them go before everything shifts over,” I demanded. “The demons just want Gaby and me—this isn’t Jillian’s fight, or theirs.”

Alex shook his head again. “I have no power over that, Amelia. The voices said that if I found a way to open their world and bring you to them myself, they’d reward me by letting me inside. They must be letting in any living person who happens to be nearby.”

Feeling another wave of terror, I glanced back at the young Seers. Although they were awake now, none of them looked like they were in any shape to get away. Not before the netherworld descended completely.

Still, I had to try. I let go of Gaby’s hand and dropped down beside Annabel.

“Run,” I whispered urgently. “Annabel, you have to run.”

She turned her head, staring up at me with bleary eyes. “Amelia?” she croaked.

I realized, dizzily, that this was the first time she’d actually seen me. Hayley and Drew must have seen me too, because they repeated my name in a chorus of confused voices.

And at that moment, another confused voice repeated it as well.

“Amelia?”

My head shot up; and, in the span of one horrified second, my eyes met Joshua’s.

Chapter

TWENTY-NINE

Joshua stood at the highest point of the footbridge, staring down in disbelief at the scene in front of him.

“Run!” I screamed, bolting up. “Joshua, you have to—”

But it was too late. Before I’d even finished my sentence, the world shimmered and changed.

All at once, frost spread in a glittering sheet across the landscape. The metal structure above the wharf groaned in protest as its roof dissolved and its girders turned lurid shades of red and purple. Even the footbridge changed, melting beneath Joshua until it disappeared—swallowed whole by a dune of cold, wet sand.

“Run,” I whispered, finishing the useless command I’d tried to give Joshua before the darkness closed in on us.

I didn’t know whether Joshua heard me or not. But when his eyes connected with mine, I saw a glimmer of understanding in them. Although he’d never seen it, Joshua had listened to me describe this place enough times to know where we were.

Alex obviously knew too.

“Yes!” he crowed, laughing giddily. “I’m home! I’m home.”

I angled my body so that I could see him better. But the maniacal glow in his eyes made me recoil. The sheer joy of being here made him shiver uncontrollably. If he didn’t look insane before, he certainly did now.

And I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

Jillian also watched Alex’s excited display closely. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, she wriggled out of his grip. Unfortunately, she made a crucial mistake once free from Alex’s grasp.

“Joshua!” she cried, stretching out one hand to her brother, who was more than an arm’s length away.

In a flash, Alex grabbed a hank of her hair and jerked her back to him. Then, for extra measure, he lifted the gun into the air and brought the butt of it down—hard—onto her right temple. When she crumpled under the blow, Joshua screamed from the bridge.

I’d never heard him say such a foul word. The odd thing was, I’d screamed the same word.

Joshua and I moved simultaneously, scrambling to rescue Jillian. But Alex anticipated that reaction. With both hands gripped to the gun, he pointed it directly at Joshua and stared me down.

“Tell him to stay back or he’s dead,” Alex told me. “You don’t want his life to end in this place, do you?”

I froze.

“Joshua,” I muttered, holding my palm up to him. “Joshua, honey, stay back.”

He froze, too, although his mouth curled up in anger and frustration. I tried not to look at him, keeping most of my attention focused on Alex instead.

Moving slowly so that he wouldn’t do anything retaliatory, I circled around, placing myself between Joshua and Alex. My eyes flickered down to Jillian—cowering on the ground, bleeding but thankfully still conscious—and then I looked back up at Alex.

“That was unnecessary,” I said.

“Trust me, it wasn’t. I think all of you are underestimating the fact that I’m in control.”

“I know you are. And Gaby and I are staying, I swear. But at least let Joshua get Jillian,” I pleaded. “At least let him take her and his cousins away from here.”

Alex frowned, studying me. Then, unexpectedly, he nodded.

“Fine. Joshua can drag them a few feet back. But I’m not promising that the dark ones won’t take them too. And … Jillian stays right here. As leverage.”

“That’s not fair.”

Alex glared at me. “Life’s not fair, Amelia. I know that better than anyone.”

“Then show a little mercy, for God’s sake.”

While Alex and I argued, Joshua crept over to the young Seers and helped each of them half crawl, half stumble away across the sand. Although Alex didn’t try to stop them, I could tell he watched them closely.

Someone else—someone Alex had temporarily forgotten about—unfroze too.

Apparently Gaby had recovered, because she now moved carefully, almost out of Alex’s line of sight. As I emphasized the unfairness of the situation to Alex, I saw Gaby crouch next to Jillian, whisper in her ear, and then drop something into her open palm.

Midsentence, Alex finally noticed the exchange at his feet. Scowling, he pulled the gun away from Joshua and directed it down at Jillian again.

“Back off, Gabrielle. Or I will shoot the girl.”

Gaby did as he said, sneering at him as she crawled away from Jillian. Once Gaby had moved far enough away, Alex shook his gun at Jillian.

“Stand up,” he ordered her.

Still bleeding, Jillian rose shakily. She faced Alex but kept her eyes on the ground, like she couldn’t bear to look at him. Unaware of her fear—or enthralled by it—Alex reached out to brush a strand of her hair away from the bloody mess at her temple. When she flinched, he laughed.