Claire looked at the ground. “I’ll tell her.”
Eva pressed her fingers to her eyelids to stop the tears. “Thank you. There is someone who can vouch for me. But I can’t say anything more. I have to go.” She looked at Claire. “I’m so sorry, Claire. I hope you can forgive me someday. And . . . Liam, too. He’s been appointed governor, but he’s faking his loyalty. He’s sick over what he did.” She touched Claire’s arm. “Marcus wasn’t supposed to die like that. He and I had a plan. . . .”
Claire recoiled from the touch. “How dare you?”
Eva faltered. “I’ve said too much. My driver . . .” As she stepped back and turned toward the gate, she added, “Aaron is plotting an attack. He uses the tube. Did Charlie tell you? Because I told Matilda.” Now she was just babbling, and it didn’t matter—Claire hated her, and Eva understood why. It was senseless to try to explain herself. She dropped her eyes. “Good-bye,” Eva said.
Just then a shout rang out. And then another, followed by a piercing scream. Soon screams filled the air.
Eva turned to look. Bounding toward the group of children was a huge black creature with gleaming white teeth and a screech that chilled her blood. And behind the creature was a figure in a black cloak running toward them. It was Aaron.
“Aaron, no!” Eva screamed. She ran to the children and began to pull them to their feet. “Run to the mansion!” she told them. “Go!” She turned around and ran toward the screaming panther, trying to get between the beast and the children. With a sinking heart, Eva knew that she didn’t have any magical spell components to stop the panther, and her elemental magic was of no help—neither rain nor ice would stop the beast, and fire out here in the open would only serve to put Artimé in grave danger.
There was only one thing Eva could do to stop the panther. Her legs weren’t as strong as they once were, but with all her energy Eva ran and threw herself in front of the children as the panther opened up her mighty jaws.
Claire was scrambling to put up a protective glass wall and herd the children to the mansion. As they ran, screaming, Claire looked back over her shoulder to see Eva Fathom leaping, putting herself in harm’s way. The creature pounced, knocking Eva’s frail body to the ground, and the beast’s fangs took hold.
In the distance, Aaron Stowe watched in horror. What was Secretary doing there? “Panther!” he yelled. “Just scare them! Come back! Release! Retreat!”
But it was too late. Secretary was down. And the Panther wasn’t letting up. Aaron panicked. “Secretary!” he whispered. He shoved his hand into his pocket, pulled out the two heart attack spells, and sent them flying at Panther, yelling, “Heart attack!” as he did so.
The heart-shaped components sprouted wings and flew straight and true, hitting Panther in the side. The beast stopped cold, held her position for a second, and then toppled over to one side in the grass next to Eva Fathom.
Neither one moved.
A second later Artiméans streamed out of the mansion to defend their world. Aaron stared. And then he turned around and ran as fast as he could back into the jungle.
With all the children safe inside, Claire rushed back outside and pushed her way to Eva’s side. The nurses were already there. But there was nothing they could do. Eva Fathom was dead.
For what seemed like an eternity, no one knew what to say. Eva Fathom had sacrificed her life for the sake of Artimé.
“We should summon Alex so Carina can come,” Claire said quietly. She looked at Mr. Appleblossom, who nodded. “She threw herself in front of that panther. If she hadn’t, it would have gotten the children.” She shook her head, sickened by the frightening beast. “Where in the world . . . ?” she said. She’d never seen anything like it.
The nurses covered Eva Fathom’s body, picked her up, and brought her inside the mansion. Claire couldn’t tear her eyes away from the beast lying still in the grass. Next to it were two used heart attack components. “Who cast these?” she asked, looking around.
No one claimed the deed.
“Whoever did it most surely saved lives,” Claire said. But she felt uneasy inside. Had her ears played tricks on her, or had she heard Eva shouting to Aaron, of all people? Was he responsible for the creature’s attack? Or for its demise? Claire hadn’t seen anything in her haste to protect the children.
“Reluctant heroes in our midst, perhaps?” suggested Mr. Appleblossom, and then he declared, “May paybacks for a good deed never lapse.”
Claire frowned, sizing up the creature. It was bigger than a man, but not nearly so big as Simber. “I’m pretty sure this panther’s not dead,” she said as Gunnar ran out to join them. “She took a double hit, but I believe the spell will wear off eventually even if we don’t release it.” She looked up. “What’ll we do with her? She’s actually very beautiful when she’s not charging toward you.”
“Look at those fangs!” Haluki said with a wistful smile. He touched the panther’s back. “I’m glad she’s not dead. I know her. I’ll take her back where she belongs.”
Claire twisted her neck to look at him. “You know her? How is that possible? I don’t remember ever seeing her before. Did my father make her?”
“Yes, he did,” Gunnar said, nodding. “Call everyone to go inside, and keep them there until the panther and I are long gone. All right?”