Sam nodded. “Pretty much.”
“Hmm,” Angelique said, unimpressed. “Wind isn’t my favorite element. It lacks drama.” She whispered something in Latin, and the tornado twisted one last time before it transformed into a vortex of flames. The flames spiraled downward and hit the ground, then spread like they were following trails of gasoline. “That’s more like it.”
“Get off me!” Floyd screamed.
Link, John, and Sampson spun around. Two Darkborns had snuck up on them from the side—and one of them had his hand around Floyd’s neck.
“Let go of her,” Sampson growled, storming toward the guy holding Floyd by the throat. “Now.”
“Stay back,” the Darkborn said, tightening his grip on Floyd. “Or I’ll snap her neck.”
Sam froze, and Link turned to Angelique. “We need a little help, Fire Woman.”
She glanced at Floyd, then went back to aiming her Cataclyst juice at the Darkborns. “I’m a little busy at the moment, but I’m happy to cremate her body if they kill her.”
“Fire can’t hurt them,” Liv said, moving beside Angelique.
“That’s because they’ve never been touched by my fire,” Angelique said, sounding more psychotic by the minute. It reminded Link of the arrogance Sarafine had always shown in the face of a potential threat. He wondered if their powers made all Cataclysts this crazy.
The Darkborns walked through the flames like they had a force field around them, the same way Sampson had repelled the flames the night he saved Link and Rid at Sirene. Another Darkborn stood in the center of the flames, smoke billowing up around her. From this distance, Link couldn’t see much except for her platinum-blond hair. But the woman could only be one person.
Chloe the Butcher.
Angelique cocked her head to the side, studying the blond Darkborn coming her way. “It’s about time. I was getting bored.”
“I thought Cataclysts were dangerous,” Chloe called out as she strode through the blaze in high-heeled boots. She was pulling someone along beside her, her hand clamped around a girl’s neck. “I’m disappointed. This is rather pedestrian, in terms of power.”
Link’s heart leaped until a curtain of black hair swung over the girl’s shoulder.
Calm down. It’s not Rid.
Chloe jerked the girl’s limp body upright, still holding the back of her neck. The girl looked around Link’s age, younger than Angelique. “Maybe Silas should’ve picked your Empath friend instead of you.”
The girl’s eyes fluttered open, her black hair knotted and singed around her ash-streaked face. “Gigi?” she rasped, looking at Angelique. “Help me.”
“Lucia.” Angelique stepped back, clearly thrown by the sight of her friend. She regained her composure, tearing her eyes away from the girl and turning them back on Chloe. “Leave her alone. Or are you afraid to pick on someone who can fight back?”
“Not at all.” Chloe smiled, sliding her free hand under Lucia’s chin, while her other one remained clamped around the back of the Empath’s neck. In one swift movement, Chloe jerked her hands in opposite directions, breaking the girl’s neck.
Liv and Necro gasped as Lucia’s body dropped in the dirt, her dark, lifeless eyes open as if she were staring at Angelique.
Chloe dusted off her hands casually. “I was never planning to fight her, Gigi. I just wanted you to watch her die. Consider it one last gift before you die.”
Angelique’s eyes changed from gold to bright yellow, like a comic book sun. “I’m going to burn the skin off your bones.”
“You made a mistake coming back here, Cataclyst. But I’ll enjoy adding your skull to my collection. You can keep your skin.” Chloe was only a few yards away now.
Angelique raised her arms skyward and began to chant. “From the mouth of the Dark Fire, bring me the heat of flame, the power of a nova, and the heat of a thousand burns. Give your Darkest daughter the power to control any fire.”
It sounded like a whole lot of Caster mumbo jumbo to Link, but something was happening, even if Link couldn’t figure out exactly what.
The Darkborns stopped moving. Every one of them—at exactly the same time.
They looked at one another, exchanging confused and questioning glances. And they weren’t the only ones.
“What are you doing?” Chloe shouted at them. “I didn’t tell you to stop!”
None of them moved or responded in any way, which made Link feel like he’d entered the Twilight Zone. Chloe opened her mouth to yell at them again, but her expression changed from anger to confusion before a single word left her lips. She was still coming, which was more than anyone could say about the rest of her Darkborns, but her movements were sluggish, like she was wading through swamp mud. The other Darkborns stood frozen in place, watching as Chloe pushed forward.
Chloe’s eyes met Angelique’s. “What are you doing, Caster? Is this one of your spells?” Chloe hissed.
“Wouldn’t you love to know? Unfortunately, I’m not in a sharing mood,” Angelique said, but judging by the expression on her face, she didn’t have any idea how she was controlling them, either.
“Get up!” Chloe screamed at her lackeys. A few of the more determined Darkborns struggled to sit up or stand, but none of them could move. “We are the most powerful Supernaturals that have ever walked the earth—born from the Dark Fire itself. Do not let her control you.”