"Possibly, or maybe he suffers from some sort of mental illness. I'm more inclined to believe it was possession, however." A pause. "I can't believe I just said that. At any rate, Ramirez will be going back to Africa to see if anyonea"or anythinga"strange is in the area before heading to Romania."

"Have you talked to Aunt Julie about this yet?"

"I met with her earlier today. She's still running down some leads on Australia for me, but will be spending time on this. Hopefully she'll have more information by the time you and Cruessan deploy."

We talked through some logistics, then I hung up and stared at the ceiling for a long time. Both the African shamans were dead. The Australian shamana"assuming the missing physicist was the person the monsters wanteda"had disappeared and was presumed dead. The Chinese shaman hadn't been identified and might very well be dead. Then we'd have the next eclipse in the fall, and Jorge would be in its direct path. And who knew what would happen in Montana. Maybe if Will and I were out of the statea"and had taken our knives with usa"people here would be safe, but I doubted we'd get off that easily.

All of a sudden, it felt like the other side was gaining a lot of ground on us.

"What does this mean, Tink?" I asked. Zenka had been strange, and I wasn't sure she was entirely good, but she'd told me things I needed to knowaand had died for it.

That we are not as in control of the situation as we need to be. You and I will have to work together even more closely going forward. Which won't be easy. Tink sighed, and it sounded like a lonely wind in the trees. You still don't trust me, not completely.

"You haven't given me enough reason to," I said.

I let you have the girl and I didn't even complain about it. Her tone suggested she'd done me a favoraand that she had planned to play that card to manipulate me all along.

"Let me?" I said, unsettled and more than a little angry. I should've known there was a catch. "Get something straight, Tink. I waited to hear from you as a courtesy that night, but I was going to be with Ella even without your blessing, no matter how badly you punished me later. Like you said, I'm human and I deserve a little happiness. Pulling crap like this is what keeps us from being on the same page. Like killing Brandt so Will could have his knife."

We didn't kill him; those demons did.

"Oh?" I said, getting angrier by the second. "Then why didn't you give Brandt extra abilities like me? His knife-spirit was super-charged and ready to go the second Will laid hands on the bronze handle. The two of you could've boosted Brandt somehow instead, but you didn't. Are you really willing to sacrifice someone to change hands?"

Besides, they had changed hands before without letting someone die. Why didn't they do it this time? They'd done it with Mike and I, when we were in the woods that nighta"

That stopped me cold as a new, scarier thought formed. "Waitawhat about Uncle Mike?"

What about him?

Her tone was terse, and I could tell I was homing in on truth she didn't want me to know. I cleared my mind, pushing her out of the way to think about the night Tink and I had been brought together. Mike had been her first wielder, but she said she'd been looking for me all along. If that were truea "Uncle Mike was digging around in his bag for his knife and came up with a plain old hunting knife instead. That backpack wasn't very big, and your knife is nine inches long. That'd be hard to miss, even in the darka"

I let out a soft gaspahad they planned that, too? A river of ice plowed through my gut and I growled, "You hid it from him! You hid the knife so he wouldn't find it to make sure I found it instead. Mike could've died that night, but we got lucky and I killed the monster before it had a chance to finish him off. You would've let him die!"

Silence.

"Well?"

We can't control the monsters, Matthew. We can only control the human variable.

Control the human variable? What did she think I was, some kind of algebra problem? "So is that a yes? Were you willing to let my uncle die to ensure I'd become your wielder?"

It's not that simple. Certain things have to happen. We do what we must to ensure that our proxies are in place. Sometimesasometimes it leads to unfortunate consequences.

"Tell that to Brandt's family!" I snapped. "Did you even think about how he'll be missed by people who cared about him?"

The blood of innocents is on our hands either way. The best wea"and you as a wieldera"can do is minimize the loss. I've told you this before. Loss is inevitable, and the sooner you realize bigger forces are at work, bigger than you can possibly comprehend, the sooner you'll understand. You need time to wrestle with this alone.

She retreated in a huff and I got up to pace my room. Not for the first time, I wondered what I'd been saddled with when Tink and I came together. The spirits killed Brandt and they would've sacrificed Mike. Maybe the spirits were Good, but were they good? Would they allow other wielders to die? And if so, what else would they be willing to do to win this fight?

Without an outlet for how completely furious I was, I marched over to my closet door and punched it.

I spent the rest of the night nursing bloody knuckles and wondering just where this fight would take me...wondering if, in the end, I'd save the world only to lose everything that mattered to me.

Chapter Thirty-One.

The flight to D.C. seemed to take forever. I still wasn't speaking to Tink. She wasn't speaking to me, either, except for the occasional mental slap-upside-the-head or groans of annoyance when I kissed Ella goodbye.

None of this boded well for the mission to Australia. Eventually one of us would have to back down, and I was certain it would be me. Like usual.

Will, on the other hand, wouldn't stop talking about his knife-spirit. "I've been having trouble sleeping because it, um, he likes to do fly-bys. Not that I mind; it's kind of cool, actually."

"Are you getting along with him okay, though?" I prodded Tink to see if she'd chime in. Nothing.

Will shrugged. "It's like having an assistant football coach in my head. *We'll whip you into a fine wielder!' Or *give me all you've got, William!' All he needs is a whistle and a pair of ugly gym shorts and he'd be Coach Shaw."

I laughed at the mental image of a tiny Coach Shaw stomping around in Will's skull, ordering him to run his forties faster. "That sounds annoying. Then again, has he popped you in the forehead yet?"

"Nah." Will's grin was pure evil. "He doesn't get jealous when I'm with Penn. In fact, he seems kind of proud of me."

"Lucky you." And my knife-spirit used the most meaningful night of my life as a bargaining chip. How was that fair?

Tink huffed a breath in the back of my head, and I had this image of an angry fairy pouting in a corner of my head, her little gossamer wings quivering with annoyance.

Wowamaybe I was finally going crazy.

Will and I arrived at the Pentagon late Monday afternoon, in a rush to find out about our next deployment. In the last two days, the Australian military had reported four more suspicious deaths, including a report from an American hiker who said her husband had been killed by a "mutant pin cushion."

Badass Aunt Julie, dressed in her class B uniform, was waiting for us just inside the security checkpoint. Will stared at her, looking faintly scared, as we waited in line. After watching her head-butt a monster in Australia, he'd developed a mild case of hero worship.

Once we made it through the metal detector and the heavily armed marines standing guard, Aunt Julie barked. "Cruessan!"

Will snapped to attention. "Yes, sir! Ma'am! I mean, yes, ma'am!"

She let him stew a moment before smiling gently. "Relax. It's just a meeting, okay?"

Will went limp. "Yes, ma'am." He shook his head at me. "The colonel said I'd get a team of my own. How do I handle that?"

I hadn't realized how nervous he was about the meeting, thinking his constant fidgeting on the plane was because he was keyed up about the op. "You have nothing to prove. They have to prove themselves to you. Any of them act like it's a big joke when they find out you're only seventeen, fire them."

"Justafire them?" Will ran a hand over his dark hair. Now that he was going on an operation as a true wielder, he'd followed my example and shaved it down in a military buzz-cut. Penn had been really pissed at me about that.

"Yeah. You need to be comfortable with the guys who will have your back," I said, thinking about crazy-man Tyson. Would he still be alive if I'd told the colonel I didn't want him on my team? Too late for that, but maybe I could prevent Will from making the same mistake.

"Cruessan, you don't have to worry about the commander on your team," Aunt Julie said, leading us down the hall at a brisk trot. "He's familiar with the program and will do everything to keep you safe."

"Yeah?" Will said, eagerly. "Perfect! Is he a good commander, too? He must be to get selected for the Pentagram Squadron, right?"

"The captain's pretty good. I'd trust him to have my back," Aunt Julie said. "He's the right choice for you, Cruessan. You'll see."

Will's shoulder's relaxed a fraction. "That's a relief, ma'am."

"And there's more," Aunt Julie said, "The general added some additional staff to this trip to help out."

Something about her tone worried me. "Who?"

Julie sighed. "General Richardson wants intel on the ground this time. So he's sending his best out to Australia."

His best? What did thataoh, crap.

I exhaled slowly, shocked that the general would do this now. "He assigned you to our op? What about Kate?" I asked. "What's going to happen to her?"

"My parents are going to take her while we're in Australia," Aunt Julie said. "She'll be fine with them for a few months."

"Couldn't he send someone else?" I asked, unable to push down the dread this mission was starting to conjure up. Both my aunt and uncle were going over? Plus Will, not just as backup, but as a wielder? The risk to my family had gotten too high. "Katie's just a baby."

"And I'm the expert on Australia," Aunt Julie said. "I'll see things no one else would. You were in Afghanistanayou saw what I could do, and I'm part of the reason you were successful there. You need me." She turned and gave me a look that would send a serial killer running if he met her in a dark alley. "Let's be clear. If you think I'm going to leave my baby's futurea"and the future every other baby on the planet, for that mattera"in someone else's hands, then you need to think again. I'm necessary to the mission, and that's more important to Kate than me being home right now."

Will and I exchanged shocked looks. I got what Julie was saying, but if Will or I messed up, my baby cousin might end up two parents short. I shot Will a look and said in a low voice, "Listenawe bring the two of them back alive, understand? Baby Kate doesn't get orphaned on our watch."

Will nodded. "If I have to die trying, man. I'm completely serious."

After a ten mile stroll through a warren of hallways, we found Colonel Black, Uncle Mike, Johnson, and another lieutenant I didn't know.

"Well, look at that! Captain Johnson," Julie said, going to give Johnson a hug. "Good to see you."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "WaitaCaptain Johnson?"

"That promotion I've been pushing for finally came through," Uncle Mike said, smiling.

I went to shake Johnson's hand. "You totally deserve it, Captain."

Johnson nodded. "I do; I'm not going to lie. Got my nose broken, nearly got blown up a few times, almost became monster food once or twice. I'd say that's enough for a promotion." He smiled at Will. "But it has more to do with me leading a wielder team now."

Will's jaw fell open. "You're my CO?" He grabbed my arm and gave me a shake. "You hear that? Johnson's my CO. Johnson's my CO!"

Laughing, I pulled my arm out his grasp. It wasn't easy; Will could give a boa constrictor a run for its money. "I heard you the first time, dude. Congrats, though. You won the lottery on that one."

Colonel Black cleared his throat loudly. "Okay, meet and greet's over. Find a chair."

We all scurried to sit. Will didn't take the seat next to mine; instead he sat between Johnson and the new guy. He was getting the hang of this pretty quickly.

The colonel took his place at the head of the table. "First, I'd like to introduce Lieutenant Nguyen. He's transferred into the program on Captain Parker's recommendation, and requested to be part of Captain Johnson's team."

Nguyen waved to the crowd, then settled back in his seat. I decided I liked him. He looked at ease, but focused. His almond-shaped eyes stayed fixed on the colonel, but I had the feeling he could tell me what was on the wall behind him, because he'd already memorized the room. This was a guy who had an idea of what he was signing up for and did it anyway.

"Captain Tannen," the colonel, looking uneasy (which had me kind of worried), nodded at Aunt Julie, "Has received some interesting intel over the last few days, and it seems to have a direct bearing on our operation, so we need to brief you before you head over."

Aunt Julie nodded. She'd assumed her ultra-serious-don't-mess-with-me expression. "I've been continuing my research into that coven of witches, Nocturna Mauraa""

The door to the conference room banged open. "Sorry I'm late!"

Will and I leapt to our feet as Dr. Longtree, the lady professor from Canada, came bustling into the room. This time, instead of wacky, mismatched clothing, she had on a beige pantsuit and heels. I did a quick check on her eyesa"brown, not jade-green. Good.

"Dr. Longtree?" Will asked. "Where'd you come from?"

"I'm here at the behest of Captain Tannen. Matt put us in touch." She smiled at us. "And I promise I'm not possessed this time."

Lieutenant Nguyen's eyebrows shot up. "Did she say possessed?"

Aunt Julie stood to shake Dr. Longtree's hand and glanced over her shoulder at Nguyen. "Lieutenant, that might be the least weird thing you hear for the next hour."

Once everyone was settled again, Aunt Julie said, "So you all know I've been working with the CIA to find out more about Nocturna Maura's alleged participation in a human trafficking ring. Dr. Longtree, we discovered, has been studying modern witchcraft and knew about the organization."

"Yes," Dr. Longtree said, looking eager to lecture everyone. "Unlike modern Wiccans, who practice *white magic,' this group of covens practice the black arts and worships some kind of Dark Goda""

"Here we go," I muttered.

"a"and their goal is to bring him into the corporeal world." Dr. Longtree pulled some file folders out of a bulging briefcase. "I've had trouble locating details, but they operate out of Australia."

"How did you find out about all this?" Uncle Mike asked, shooting Julie a suspicious look.

But Dr. Longtree was nodding. "Of course, how would a professor have inside details the CIA wouldn't know? That's actually the easiest question to answer, Major. The coven's leader used to be an anthropology professor, like me, and we met at a few conferences."

There are no coincidences, I thought. "And this professor is from Australia?"

"Yes," Dr. Longtree said.

"Matt, you asked me once if this could be related to Dr. Hughes-Burton's disappearance," Aunt Julie said. "Dr. Ann Smythe, the woman we believe to be the leader of Nocturna Maura, started teaching at the University of Western Australia a few years ago. Not long after, Dr. Hughes-Burton transferred to Canada."

"And I was doing significant research into Nocturna Maura at the same time," Dr. Longtree added. "It took me months to locate primary sources but eventually I made contact with a few women and a man who used to be devotees but had left the organization. We were supposed to meet for coffee, but they backed out."

"Wait," Captain Johnson asked. "I didn't know men could be witches. Aren't they wizards?"

"You read too much Harry Potter, Captain," Dr. Longtree said, smiling. "Men and women can be practicing witches in certain religions."

"Why did your contacts back out of the meeting?" I asked, sensing this was important somehow.

"I thinkawell, I think maybe I rattled a few cages, so to speak. They seemed frightened and told me they couldn't talk to me anymore." Dr. Longtree gave me a significant look. "That was a few days before Dr. Hughes-Burton disappeared from her lab at Carlton and a few weeks before I was possessed. I must've stumbled too close to something they really didn't want me to know."

I let out a slow breath. The man who killed Zenka had been possessed, too. There had to be some connection there. Were these witches involved in the war somehow? Were they helping the enemy take out the shamans before we got to them?