In the front stood Dani Darhk and Kingsley. Dani wasn't wearing the Dark Star armor. Instead, she wore black leggings with tears throughout them. Her arms were covered with dark purple sleeves. She'd tied back her braids to reveal the curvature of her jaw -- not at all unlike Daniella's. The tattoos of foreign words and runes crawled up her neck and curved around her ears. Even her fingers were covered with them. The ink covering my arm seemed to burn at the sight of her, even though my presence was masked. The link didn't even know she was close. The burning I was feeling was nothing but my own fear.

   Kingsley stood beside her. Unlike Dani, he wore the armor. His stature was thin and narrow, but he still stood strong. Muscles wreathed his narrow shoulders. The star in the middle of the row on his chest was colored dark blue, instead of purple. He'd finally ditched the baseball cap. I could see his eyes from here. The rim of his iris was black, but the iris itself was white. The pupil of his eye stood out starkly against his pale eyes.

   Dani's lip curled as her gaze landed on the Enforcers -- all thirty of them. They stood in groups of ten, three squadrons glaring her down. The Enforcers looked tiny compared to the Dark Stars, which wasn't easy.

   "Kingsley," her voice said. "You never said we'd have guests."

   His eyes swept over the Enforcers. "I said there was a mild chance."

   "Yeah?" She surveyed the opposition. "How mild for you to not have warned me?"

   He shook his head. "Less than half a percent. Too many events had to align . . . but it appears Fate had another plan."

   Dani's lip curled up. "No matter. At least I get to play with my food." Her eyes lingered in Mark's direction. My hand clenched tightly into Daniella's forearm.

   She raised her voice. "I didn't think the Enforcers were this stupid."

   Captain Lugo stepped out of his line, eyes hard. I could see how his arms were tense, preparing for an attack. "You didn't seriously think we'd allow you to massacre our leaders, did you?"

   Her smile became hungry. "No, I didn't." She tilted her head. "I'll enjoy watching you die."

   It appeared to be a command. With a single movement, all members began rushing forward and across where the barrier had stood. The Enforcers released cries and launched to meet them. The two sides clashed with the clangs of metal and shrieks of animals. Mage colors arose from the Enforcer side and dark magic met them. It was a horrific sight. I felt sick to my stomach.

   Daniella swallowed. I shook my head. "Good luck. Don't die."

   "I'll try," she said quietly. I nodded and stretched my free hand forward. Magic formed into my palm and I shaped it into a rough knife. The hilt dug into my palm as I stretched for the gap. I'd never had the chance to practice, but I'd seen Daniella do it enough. My hand met the gap -- just as it did when I would reach for my staff -- and I jabbed the blade down. Letting go of Daniella's hand, I hauled myself into the gap.

   My feet landed against a dark ground. The noises of the fight became muted. Oxygen trickled into my lungs, but it was already better than before. The air itself was tainted darkly, but I could breathe. Some relief hit me, but not much. I looked down at my arm to see a red string tied around my right arm. It trailed through the gap towards where Daniella stood in the Mortal Realm.

   My eyes darted across the gap. Where every Dark Star member stood, a ghost followed them. A body collapsed against the ground. In the distance, fog covered the horizon from the ground to the sky. It rose like a wall of clouds. Swirls trickled towards each person and tunneled through their body. A small, wispy string around each of their throats pulled the magic into the Mortal Realm.

   The strings were the links that pulled the magic through each source. My arm throbbed in memory of the pain. At least my link is in my arm and not my neck . . . God, that must be agony. Instinctively, I looked down at my left arm -- the inked arm. Another string looped around my forearm, right where the original line had started. It drifted into the Mortal Realm, leading directly towards Dani. It stood dark in color with faint streaks of violet. Complete and utter proof that we were linked together. Stomach churning, I forced myself to focus on freeing the sources.

   I hurried for the first one. My feet moved normally. Now that Dani didn't have the extra specified link on me, I could move at regular speed. I reached the first source, some random guy that appeared to be a neutral. He sat curled into a fetal position on the ground. His hands were shackled together. The string around his throat dug into his skin and caused his breaths to rasp. He couldn't even breathe, but instinct ordered him to try. Sweat glistened down his skin.

   Gripping the red knife, I bent down and grabbed the chain connected to his shackles. He couldn't move as I brought the knife down on them in a powerful slash. It took two cuts before I severed the chain. The shackles turned into sparks and his hands were free. Immediately, rasps tore out of his throat as he sucked in air. I grabbed his arm and pulled him up. Fogged eyes darted across my figure. 

   "Run," I ordered. "You need to run. Any direction. Just go." I gave him a shove. The further he got from the person he was linked to, the less they'd be able to use his magic. I couldn't cut the link, but I could get them away. The farther they were, the more diluted the power.

   I didn't bother to see if he moved. I bolted to the next person. This one was a girl, maybe around fifteen. I sliced off the shackles and hauled her up. Her teeth flashed at me in an exhausted warning. A fae, clearly. I shoved her and ordered her to run.

   The third source I ran up to was another neutral. He was on his knees, somehow halfway conscious. Alarmed, I squinted through the fog of the gap to see the Mortal Realm and the dark user he was linked to. It was the wizard -- it was the bloody wizard I'd met at Simone's. My lip curled. Okay, you brat. Time to get what you deserve.

   I broke off his shackles and helped him upright. The source looked at me blearily, in too much pain to think. It became a routine. I bolted to all of the sources I could reach, freeing their hands and ordering them to run. There were a hundred in the gap, but I didn't allow myself to think about my lack of progress. Every dark magic user down was one less person to handle.

   A voice cut through the gap, loud and clear. It radiated from my right wrist. "Aunt Dani!"

  Daniella's voice echoed through my ears. Apparently, a side effect of the link to Daniella was that I could hear her. Shaking my head, I continued working, half-hearing her voice. I could faintly hear Dani's sharp voice reply.

   "You. What are you doing here?"

   "You need to stop," said Daniella. "You're hurting people."

   Dani seemed disconcerted slightly, as if speaking to her niece was confusing her. "You shouldn't be here."

   "Too bad. I already am. Why are you even doing this, Dani? You've never hated the Council."

   I cut another chain apart. The source groaned. Anger seeped into Dani's voice. I'd only ever heard her angry one other time -- when Alexie had taken the spell for me. "Why do I need a reason, Ella? What if I want to?"

   "No. I don't believe that. You're a good person."

   Dani's laugh sent cold down my spine. The hairs on my arms raised. "You are still a child. Go home."

   Daniella seemed to wince. "Dani, please. I don't want to do this."

   "Do what?" Dani snickered.

   "I don't want to have to get in your way."

   There was a small pause. My heart leapt into my throat. 

   "If you choose to try and stop me, then you'll die."

   "...You won't kill me."

   "What makes you think that? Because we're related? Because I'm human? Give me a break. I thought you were smart. I won't hesitate to slice off your head and throw it to a wolf. I'd probably enjoy it, too. It'd be nice to shut you up. Always going on about what's right and what's honorable. You really are annoying."

   The words didn't affect me nearly as much as Daniella. I heard her rattled breath as she tried to keep calm. My throat closed up as I ran for the next source, my eyes somehow finding Daniella where she stood in the Mortal Realm. She'd managed to intercept Dani before she reached the line of fighting. 

   Daniella's shoulders had flinched when Dani's words hit her. As I watched, she took a deep breath and pushed her shoulders back. Her chin lifted and she slid her foot back. With a smooth swing, she pulled her staff from the clasps and readied it. Her jaw clenched. 

   "Then you'll have to go through me to get past me."

   Dani scoffed. "You're an idiot." She tilted her head, shifted her foot, and attacked. Fiery pain seared up my arm, rocketing like lightening into my spine. A gasp left my lips as I stumbled, landing on my knees. The pain rolled through me in waves. I could barely see Dani's attack through the water in my eyes.

   Magic in the form of spears, chains, and separate spells soared for Daniella from all around her. She lifted her hands over her head with a cry. Something on her arm -- a band I hadn't seen -- suddenly glowed bright yellow. Unfamiliar magic burst from her arm and rocketed out in a shockwave. All of Dani's attacks disintegrated into dust. Dani conjured a shield but her feet were still pushed back several feet.

   The spelled item I hadn't known Daniella was wearing shocked down the link between us. It yanked hard on my wrist. I crashed forward and broke through the gap, a shattering noise filling my ears as I flew into the Mortal Realm and collided with someone. We went down with yelps. The thicker atmosphere allowed me to suck in a breath before the glint of a sword caught my eye. I yelped and rolled away, shoving myself to my feet.

   Shit. Daniella had been wearing a spelled band around her arm. The realization slapped me across the face. The Council hadn't sent her to die. She was a weapon. That band . . . the sheer power of it had cancelled out all of Dani's spells and even made mine malfunction. It had the strength of several mages -- and probably all Council members, maybe even ancient caliber. The Council had sent Daniella as a time-bomb. It kept her alive while proving that Dani was too crazy to let live. 

   We'd been wrong. The Council did have a plan. I'd uprooted their plan instead. Now I had to pray that everyone didn't die because of my arrogance.

   Not to mention, that goddamn band had forced me out of the gap way too early. I'd only gotten to about ten sources when there was more than a hundred in there. Shit, shit! Everything was going wrong. 

   I ducked another swipe of the elf's sword, frustrated. My eyes darted towards where Dani had stood, alarmed, but she was gone. She hadn't seen me appear out of thin air. Pain pricked down my leg as the elf managed to nick it. I growled in anger, clenching my fist and swinging my staff overhead. Magic poured down to the end and slammed into the elf's chest. He soared backwards until he crashed into another Dark Star member.

   "Daniella!" I shouted over the fighting. I'd landed right in the middle of the war zone. She spun around, narrowly missing a swipe from the claws of a vampire. Her eyes widened. I thrust my hands at the ground. Crimson spikes slammed into the dirt and launched me upwards. I soared twenty feet mid-air before cushioning my landing with an explosion of scarlet swirls.

   "Why are you out here?!" She yelled at me.

   "Your bloody protection spell yanked me out!" I shouted back. I knocked aside a thrown knife, momentarily glaring at the fae that'd thrown it. She flashed her teeth at me before an Enforcer rammed into her stomach. "You need to get in there."

   "What?"

   Something exploded nearby. Fire flew into the sky and smoke billowed out in a cloud. We both covered our heads instinctively. My heart thundered.

   "There's too many -- I need to be out here. You need to go in there and free them."

   Her face had no color. "Are you sure?"

   "I'm damn positive!" I turned to the side and used my staff like a bat, knocking aside a dark sphere that had been aimed for my head. Dear God, it's like they're all aiming at me specifically.

   "I'm needed out here, Daniella," I snapped. "I don't have time to argue. You need to start taking out the sources. We have no chance until they're gone."

   A voice crackled into my ear, making both Daniella and I jump. "There's a group attacking City Hall! Don't let them past the front line, or we're going to get overwhelmed!" Zain's voice echoed into my eardrum, already thick with heavy breathing. It had to take a lot to make the speedster out of breath.

   "There's three times as many of them!" replied Captain Lugo darkly. I heard him grunt as he dodged something. "There's not much we can do."

   I rounded on Daniella, my face dark. "Go take care of those sources, damn it!"

   She nodded. A knife formed in her hand and she disappeared a split second later, having gone into the gap. I turned my attention to the nearest Dark Star member, determination causing my face to harden. My mental hand reached for the barrier again, drawing more magic to my body. The humming in my skull increased until it overpowered the ache between my eyes. 

   It was time for the mage Alexie trained to come out and play.