Page 61 of This Coven Won't Break
I can’t do much until you plug me in, Cal reminds us.
Archer hurries over to the computer. He slips in the thumb drive and lets our resident hacker take over. “Ellen, help me with the paper files. Hannah, you know what to do.”
While they work on prying open the filing cabinets and setting the papers inside ablaze, I pull the glass vial from my bag. At the table in the center of the room, I add a drop of the thick, almost gelatinous potion to the largest beaker.
The Elder’s potion vibrates inside the glass, absorbing the thin liquid that has destroyed covens, sent a young Blood Witch to the hospital, and ripped my own magic away. When there’snothing more to consume, the remaining potion bursts into a tiny flame that leaves behind no trace.
A thrill of something that might be vengeance burns hot in my chest. We’refinallydoing something real.
I move as quickly as I can, but my progress is slower than Ellen’s fire. I scan the room, looking for a better way to do this...There. I grab the metal trash can and toss vial after vial inside. The glass shatters on impact, the drug pooling at the bottom. When I’ve tossed in every last beaker and tranq dart, I dump the rest of Elder Keating’s potion inside.
It sizzles and shifts through the shattered glass, until finally, it’s gone.
That warm feeling in my chest withers away. My part of this mission is done, but it doesn’t feel like enough. It feels like barely anything at all.
Ellen slams the last of the filing cabinets, ash littering the floor around her. “Are we good?”
I’m almost done, Cal says.I still have to purge the external emails. Another sixty seconds. Two minutes, tops.
“Is that it? Is it over?” I glance around the destroyed room. Ellen is dampening the last of the flames, ash on her cheeks. She slams the final drawer closed, and a strange emptiness yawns open inside my chest. Shouldn’t there be more to it than this? Could it really be as simple as finding a way inside?
“We have a lot more to do before this is over.” Archer touches his comms unit. “Are you good, Cal?”
Almost...there. Grab the drive and head out. The hallways are clear.
Ellen crosses the room and wraps me in a tight hug. “I can’t believe we actually did it!”
“We still have to get out,” Archer reminds us, pulling the thumb drive from the computer and pouring a red, squirming potion over the entire system. The metal whines as it collapses in on itself. “Are we still clear, Cal?”
Yes, but you should hurry. The security at Alice’s show is looking restless.
“Understood.” Archer opens the door and steps out. He stops short, grabbing his neck.
When he pulls his hand away, there’s a small dart pinched between his fingers.
20
THE METAL DART DROPSto the floor. A hollow echo rattles around me as the drug-dispensing needle bounces off the tile. Archer sways on his feet, grabbing the doorframe for balance. I catch him as he slips and get my first glimpse of the Hunters in the hallway. Of the tranq guns trained on us.
“Freeze!” A man stalks closer, three more Hunters on his heels. “Hands in the air.”
Ellen steps past us into the hall. “I’m pretty sure those are contradictory commands.” She raises her hands anyway, her power surging with the motion. The air pressure in the hall drops so fast my ears pop, and with a flick of her wrist, gale-force winds whip toward the guards. The Hunters fall back like rag dolls, and Ellen grabs my hand. “Let’s go.”
We run, Ellen dragging me while Archer staggers after us. It takes him a few strides to get his feet under him while the drug courses through his system, tearing apart his Caster magic. Tearing apart the constant connection he has to his potions.
“What the hell, Cal?” Ellen yells and drops my hand. “I thought you said the hallway was clear!”
It was! It is!He types frantically on his computer.They must have noticed the looped footage and overwritten the live feed. I don’t see you anywhere.
“Argue about it later,” I say, my lungs protesting each word. “Get us out of here!”
I’m working on it.A second later, the Hunters are shouting behind us. Alarms scream through the halls, and angry red lights flash warnings from every side.Do you still have a smoke screen?
“No.” Archer’s voice comes out rough and broken. He pushes more speed into his legs and closes the gap between us. “I mean, I do. But none of it will work.”
But why— Cal’s voice dies. He must realize what Archer means.Oh my god. Ryan...
We reach the same stairwell we came down earlier, and Archer yanks open the door. “We’ll deal with that later. Can you tell if the stairwell is clear?”
