agree to you taking a trip now, with the deadline so close. And if you left without a word, she’d know you were onto her. She’d find you, for one thing, but first she’d take out Jane and all the other people who are trying to help us. There’d be no one left to stop her, and then you would be gone, for real. I know it’s scary, but your best chance is to wait.’
‘And you can’t let her guess that anything is wrong,’ Jane added, glancing back up when Annette remained silent. ‘She thinks you believe that you two are rebuilding your family. It’s the only reason you got out alone today, and it’s the only way you’ll avoid getting tied up for the next five days.’
‘Literally,’ Malcolm agreed, squeezing Annette’s hand for emphasis. ‘She’s done that to both of us before; she wouldn’t hesitate with someone she needs as badly as you. You have to make her trust you enough to let you move around freely until the moment comes when you can escape.’
‘Is this the kind of thing you two had to do?’ Annette asked plaintively. This time, when she tilted her face up to include Jane in the question, her eyes were soft and completely without resentment. ‘Was there all this . . . horribleness, back before you ran away?’
Jane locked eyes with Malcolm for a moment, remembering how carefully they had planned their own escape from Lynne. It hadn’t worked at all the way they’d intended, so it was impossible to be as naïvely optimistic this time as she had felt back then. But Annette already looked miserable, and there was nothing to be gained from telling her the whole truth. ‘It was a little like this,’ she admitted, ‘but we have much more outside help this time, and a better idea of what we’re up against. It’s still scary, and we still have to be really careful. But we are going to get you out of this.’
Malcolm nodded in emphatic agreement, and Annette managed a wan smile. Jane smiled back, and some of her imaginary hope began to feel real.
It’s going to work,
she repeated to herself, and it sounded a little less implausible every time.
She’s with us now, and it’s going to work
.
Chapter Twelve
S PIRITS IN THE Montagues’ brownstone had started to flag a little under the uncertainty of their planning, but the news that Jane and Malcolm had finally gotten Annette’s cooperation brought new life to the little group. Jane herself felt absolutely elated for three whole days. But then the doubts started to creep back in, and by the morning of their planned attack she was thoroughly worried about the enormous task in front of her. It was all well and good to be able to get into the mansion, and great that Annette had agreed not to be in it, but there was still no way of knowing what might be waiting for them on the other side of that door.
Jane had every confidence that whatever Hasina needed for her spell
would
be there, of course. The mansion was Lynne’s fortress; she wouldn’t trust her preparations anywhere else. But there was no way to know for sure what form those things would take, or how they would be guarded. Dark magic required dark materials, and nightmares crept back into Jane’s sleep, full of grinning skulls, pools of blood, and fire, always fire.
To compound her worries, the timing of their assault on the huge stone house was perilously uncertain. Annette had reported overhearing Lynne mention something about ‘midnight’ to her twin cousins, but Lynne’s meeting with Jane in Central Park had been sometime midafternoon, which meant the spell could easily take place several hours earlier. Annette’s information had divided their group and created a creeping sense of uncertainty. Jane had decided that the consequences of arriving late were worse than those of being too early, but she could tell that Malcolm, in particular, had serious reservations about her decision.
So when Malcolm approached her that morning, asking if he could help Annette get to
‘And you can’t let her guess that anything is wrong,’ Jane added, glancing back up when Annette remained silent. ‘She thinks you believe that you two are rebuilding your family. It’s the only reason you got out alone today, and it’s the only way you’ll avoid getting tied up for the next five days.’
‘Literally,’ Malcolm agreed, squeezing Annette’s hand for emphasis. ‘She’s done that to both of us before; she wouldn’t hesitate with someone she needs as badly as you. You have to make her trust you enough to let you move around freely until the moment comes when you can escape.’
‘Is this the kind of thing you two had to do?’ Annette asked plaintively. This time, when she tilted her face up to include Jane in the question, her eyes were soft and completely without resentment. ‘Was there all this . . . horribleness, back before you ran away?’
Jane locked eyes with Malcolm for a moment, remembering how carefully they had planned their own escape from Lynne. It hadn’t worked at all the way they’d intended, so it was impossible to be as naïvely optimistic this time as she had felt back then. But Annette already looked miserable, and there was nothing to be gained from telling her the whole truth. ‘It was a little like this,’ she admitted, ‘but we have much more outside help this time, and a better idea of what we’re up against. It’s still scary, and we still have to be really careful. But we are going to get you out of this.’
Malcolm nodded in emphatic agreement, and Annette managed a wan smile. Jane smiled back, and some of her imaginary hope began to feel real.
It’s going to work,
she repeated to herself, and it sounded a little less implausible every time.
She’s with us now, and it’s going to work
.
Chapter Twelve
S PIRITS IN THE Montagues’ brownstone had started to flag a little under the uncertainty of their planning, but the news that Jane and Malcolm had finally gotten Annette’s cooperation brought new life to the little group. Jane herself felt absolutely elated for three whole days. But then the doubts started to creep back in, and by the morning of their planned attack she was thoroughly worried about the enormous task in front of her. It was all well and good to be able to get into the mansion, and great that Annette had agreed not to be in it, but there was still no way of knowing what might be waiting for them on the other side of that door.
Jane had every confidence that whatever Hasina needed for her spell
would
be there, of course. The mansion was Lynne’s fortress; she wouldn’t trust her preparations anywhere else. But there was no way to know for sure what form those things would take, or how they would be guarded. Dark magic required dark materials, and nightmares crept back into Jane’s sleep, full of grinning skulls, pools of blood, and fire, always fire.
To compound her worries, the timing of their assault on the huge stone house was perilously uncertain. Annette had reported overhearing Lynne mention something about ‘midnight’ to her twin cousins, but Lynne’s meeting with Jane in Central Park had been sometime midafternoon, which meant the spell could easily take place several hours earlier. Annette’s information had divided their group and created a creeping sense of uncertainty. Jane had decided that the consequences of arriving late were worse than those of being too early, but she could tell that Malcolm, in particular, had serious reservations about her decision.
So when Malcolm approached her that morning, asking if he could help Annette get to
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