“The Bible kid?” she asked. “The one who came to my house this fall?”

I nodded sheepishly. “I was with him that day. I . . . I wanted to see you.”

For a moment, I couldn’t read her expression. Then I realized that she was trying not to cry.

“It’s . . . it’s good to see you again,” she said roughly, drawing Joshua into another hug before releasing him and wiping at her eyes. Once she’d regained her composure, she turned to the rest of the group. “Nice to meet all of you. I’m Liz Ashley . . . Amelia’s mother.”

I could tell by all the stunned, open mouths that no one except Joshua had expected this turn of events. Still, the Seers managed to handle it gracefully, welcoming my mother into the Seer circle so that she could wait for her turn to receive the glow.

I let Annabel dump a few servings of Transfer Powder into my hand and then moved to the center of the circle to wait for my first nonsupernatural initiate. O’Reilly stepped forward, accepted his handful of Transfer Powder from Annabel, and came to face me. As the Seers linked hands and began to chant, I could see his eyes widen; they only grew bigger when my glow burst forth. But O’Reilly held strong, standing motionless in front of me until I told him to consume the powder. I took a portion of mine as well and then waited with him, praying that something happened.

A full minute passed before a faint orange light began to spread across O’Reilly’s skin. It never grew to that raging brightness that my glow had, nor did it really resemble the glows of the Seers; but still—it was something.

“Man,” O’Reilly groaned, examining the dim light on his skin, “my fire sucks.”

Snickering, Kaylen walked up next to him with her own handful of Transfer Powder. “Step back and watch a pro do it,” she boasted.

Kaylen waited until O’Reilly took her former place in the Seer circle before turning to me with a fierce look. “Let’s do this,” she nearly growled, wearing an intent expression that I imagined she usually saved for beauty pageants—and now, supernatural rituals.

Again, we swallowed the powder simultaneously and, again, the glow took a long time to materialize. When it eventually did appear, Kaylen’s glow was no brighter than O’Reilly’s. So she trotted back to him sullenly, scowling deeper with each playful taunt that he and Jillian gave her.

Finally, my mother stepped into the center of the circle. Like Kaylen and O’Reilly, she came forward with her own handful of the powder. But unlike the other two, she didn’t look confident or afraid. She merely gave me a warm, loving smile and, before I could even ask her to, tipped her palm back to gulp down the powder. I hurried to catch up, wishing that I could hold her hand during this process like I had with Joshua.

Our final gulps must have coincided, because we met each other’s gaze with a mirrored kind of anticipation. Her glow didn’t immediately appear either. But when it did, the entire group of chanters drew back with a collective gasp.

My mother’s glow erupted across her skin like a wildfire, burning kerosene bright. As brightly as mine, in fact. Even better, our respective glows seemed drawn to each other, their flames curling toward each other like magnets.

Like two lines of fire that wanted to join into one destructive blaze.

Immediately the Seers began to speculate about what this meant. It didn’t take them more than a few guesses to decide that maybe she and I had Seer blood after all, that some forgotten genetic trait had made us exceptionally, supernaturally flammable.

But my mother and I knew the truth. Her fire-bright glow had nothing to do with our bloodline—it had everything to do with what she had agreed to. It had everything to do with the example Ruth had set and the sacrifice my mother had agreed to make, right along with me.

While everyone else talked excitedly, I leaned close enough that she could hear my whisper.

“What . . . what did you take?”

“Sleeping pills,” she hissed back. “Almost half a bottle, as I walked over here. I’d bet we only have thirty minutes, maybe an hour, before I can’t stay upright.”

Panic crackled throughout my body like lightning. Were it not for the determined look in her eyes, I would have backed out of our plan right then and there, ordering everyone to flee while Joshua and I raced her to the hospital. But who was to say that the demons wouldn’t smash all our cars to bits before we could leave, and snatch up my mother’s soul anyway?

If we stayed, at least this path would be of our own choosing.

Feeling a little light-headed with fear and anticipation, I turned to the Seers, most of whom had started to try and call forth their own glows. One by one, each of them ignited, until a group of living torches stood next to the earthly fire. When they finished, all of them looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to give the order.

So I decided to take a page from Kaylen Patton’s book. I repressed my sudden swell of terror, threw back my shoulders, and announced, “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Chapter

THIRTY-TWO

Against my vehement protests, everyone insisted that they join me near the entrance to High Bridge instead of waiting on the riverbank below it. This development horrified me. Obviously, I had my reasons for wanting to be up there alone. But I couldn’t stop everyone from coming with me to the bridge—not without giving myself away too early.

So now Joshua walked bravely by my side, showing a level of trust that both awed and wounded me when I thought about what lay in store for us. As we crossed onto the bridge, I glanced back at Jillian and my mother to make sure they followed us; they were the only two people I actually wanted on this bridge, since my plan just wouldn’t work without them.

Of course, there was one positive element to the Seers’ and non-Seers’ presence: eleven people glowing together like pillars of fire near the demons’ earthly fortress couldn’t help but draw some attention.

Fortunately or not, the demons didn’t wait long to prove me right. No sooner had Joshua and I reached the middle of the bridge than a deep rumble rolled like thunder through the river valley. Although the night had been full of stars only a moment earlier, darkness washed over the sky. Whatever it was, it blotted out all light except for the small patches around the few streetlamps that worked along the road.

The netherworld itself, however, hadn’t yet appeared—a fact that, for the first time ever, infuriated me.

“Hey!” I roared into the night, my voice echoing off the twisted metal of the bridge. “Did you guys decide to sleep in tonight?”

Joshua yanked me closer to him and hissed, “Seriously, Amelia? What are you doing?”

“Picking a fight,” I whispered, and then spun back around to face the river.

“Are you listening to me?” I shrieked. “I’m here. Just like you so graciously requested: I’m here.”

And you brought friends.

The words hissed themselves across the bridge, loud enough for everyone to hear. But this wasn’t Eli, projecting one of his warnings. This voice belonged to a demon: I could tell by how amused it sounded, how it seemed to slither over my skin.

I didn’t have the chance to respond to it before a thousand shrieks, all blended into one horrible sound, pierced the night air.

“Wraiths!” I cried, pointing to the edge of the bridge where the first tendrils of black smoke had already begun to creep over the railing.