Steadfast

They couldn’t stop until they got through.

One pane of glass cracked, and it sounded like lightning.

Elizabeth raised her hand to knock, but she didn’t even get the chance. Mr. Caldani opened the door. He was nicely dressed, and in his hand he held one of those “cameras” people now had, which captured the illusion of an event for viewing later. Perhaps he was going to see his small son.

Or he’d been planning to anyway. His afternoon was going to go quite differently. This afternoon would make him her possession, and give Elizabeth her best, sharpest weapon against Nadia’s heart.

She managed not to laugh.

“Hi,” she murmured. “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Oh. I—no. Of course not. No.”

“Can I come in?” Elizabeth stepped over the threshold without waiting for an answer. Mr. Caldani looked as if he wanted to object, but her enchantments kept him silent and struggling.

She was close enough now for him to smell her skin. Elizabeth willed him to feel the warmth of her—to believe she was the only warmth in this entire cold, useless world—to think he’d been alone forever and that he couldn’t bear it one moment more.

Elizabeth smiled up at him, almost conspiratorial. “Shouldn’t you shut the door?”

He had to know that was an invitation. He had to know precisely what she was inviting him to do.

Still Mr. Caldani backed away. Still he fought to hold on to his decency—it was almost sweet. “Nadia’s not here.” He had begun to sound desperate. “You can probably find her at school.”

“I’m not here for Nadia.” With that she raised her hand, two fingers touching his shoulder, and she unleashed a spell of desire no man could resist. . . .

Violet light flashed. Mr. Caldani blinked, straightened up, and was affected by her no longer. If he even remembered wanting her, there was no sign. “Elizabeth, I’m afraid I have to go. My son’s in a school play. And besides, I think you should only come by when Nadia’s invited you. Don’t you agree?”

Elizabeth took a couple of steps backward. Her mind was now unfocused, her breathing fast, her cheeks flushed: arousal. Human arousal. She hadn’t felt this so vividly in centuries. All the desire she had meant to inflict upon Nadia’s father was now infecting her.

“Hey, what was that flash of light?” Mr. Caldani said as he firmly guided Elizabeth out onto the front stoop, then pulled the door shut behind them and locked it.

“Flash of light?” She felt as though she’d been awakened from a dream.

“The purple? Never mind. See you later.” With that he hurried to his car. Simon Caldani was no longer affected by her in the slightest.

Whereas she—

Betrayer’s Snare, Elizabeth thought as she staggered along the street that led toward Rodman High.

Only Betrayer’s Snare could have protected that man from the enchantments she’d laid on him, and sent that enchantment rebounding back on her. She ought to have anticipated that Nadia would try this—but she hadn’t, and now, just when her concentration was most necessary, her brain was fogged with crazed desire.

Elizabeth had not felt true physical arousal for centuries. There had been some minor excitement when she’d ensorcelled Mateo before the Halloween carnival, tricking him into kissing her when he believed her to be Nadia, but that was nothing compared to this. Longing infused her, made her bones ache and her flesh clench almost to the point of pain. All the desperation she’d put into the spell for Simon Caldani was now in her, driving her to madness.

Just get to the school, she told herself. Asa will be there. He can be made to serve.

But as she wandered into the school parking lot, she saw someone else first: the tall, dark one who kept company with Mateo sometimes. Was his name Gage?

“Elizabeth,” he said, his face lighting up. He’d never made any secret of his attraction to her, not that she’d ever cared about it one way or another until now. “Hey. What’s up? Just . . . forgot my psych book in my car . . . my car here—” He pointed at the car, then stopped himself. “I’m acting like an idiot around you again, aren’t I? Mateo says I ought to . . .”

His voice trailed off as she raised her hand and cast the spell again. It was far weaker than the one she’d directed at Nadia’s father, but given Gage’s crush on her, it would more than answer.

Gage’s eyes widened. His psychology book fell into the gravel beneath their feet. He pulled her to him, forgetting where they were.

“You’ll do,” she said.

It was like one of his bad dreams, except he was awake.

Cole and his friends all huddled on the floor beneath their desks, hands outstretched to keep back the birds. The windows had all broken, and there was glass all over the floor, and even the teachers couldn’t do anything but scream.

But some of the parents came in, and once there were more of them, they could get the birds back a little—and then Daddy was there at last, scooping Cole into his arms and putting a coat over his head until they were way down the hall. For a while Cole just cried out loud, and he didn’t even feel like a baby for doing it.

“It’s okay, buddy.” Dad ruffled his hair. “It’s okay. It’s all over.”

“What happened?” Cole whispered.

“I don’t know. The birds must have seen their reflections in the glass.”

“But why were there so many?”