When Erin and I arrive at the first camp, still on the land of Arizona, I summon Natalia instinctively. She appears from thin air, mid-conversation with someone, it sounds like it was an argument.

"What the hell?" she demands, looking around confusingly. "Theresa, seriously, not a good time."

"You're part of my team now, remember?" I say. "I need your help right now."

"With what?" she mutters, eyeing up Erin with a scowl. It's no secret that the two of them dislike each other, because they're both level fives I'll probably have to accept that they'll always be in competition with each other, but there's more important things than that.

I look across the dry land towards the enormous building with fenced gates locked around it. There's no one else here and I'm angered by that. When I told the covens to leave the mortals alone, I didn't think they'd abandon their posts at the camps. The mortals have been left here to die.

"Oh," Natalia breathes. "That looks like a few hours of my life that I'll never get back."

"Why did you bring her here?" Erin mutters.

"Because she's a level five and she's also my advisor," I say. "And despite her hatred of everything that moves, she's a damn good witch."

"She doesn't take her job seriously," Erin says. "She hasn't trained for it. She's a liability."

"Says the one dressed like she's about to sell a house to a teenage boy," Natalia says. She laughs hysterically to herself.

"Are you drunk?" Erin demands. "Why did I ask that? Of course you are."

"It's called living, little girl. You should try it."

"Enough!" I say. "Whatever problem you two have, save it for later. I need to focus."

"I told you, it's useless," Erin says, as I walk towards the fence. "You can't break the spell!"

I touch the fence and I sense the magic from within it. Erin is right, it's powerful. I can't sense what exactly it's tied to, but I can feel that it isn't a person. The magic is strong, and unpredictable, but there's a tiny hole that allows me to see through its barricade. I use my manifestation to push that hole outwards, willing for the spell to break. I close my eyes as the fence begins to rattle. Softly, and calmly, I breathe new magic into the fence. It conflicts with Amara's magic and the fence reaches a boiling temperature, too hot for me to touch. I step backwards in anger as the fence refuses to break.

"Told you!" Erin shouts.

I clench my teeth and I hold the amulet tightly. "Samara," I say in a low voice. "The sooner the mortals are free, the sooner I can focus on the demons."

A green light forms around the amulet, and attacks the fence. I smile to myself as I join in, I touch the metal fence again, absorbing the heat that would have otherwise left me in agony. I find the hole and I continue to push it outwards; it's getting bigger and bigger; it's almost covering the whole shield. What I didn't expect, was that it would exhaust me. When the fence cracks open and the spell fizzles out, I step back and lose my balance, falling to the floor.

Natalia runs towards me and helps me up, despite insisting that I'm alright, she ignores me and tightens her hand around my arm. I start to feel dizzy, and sick, but the relief of breaking through the spell outweighs my health.

I glance at Erin, whose jaw hasn't quite shut yet, and I grin at her. Natalia takes me back to her, and we keep our distance from the fence as the whole thing starts collapsing. We cover our eyes as a wave of dust sweeps over, and then everything is silent.

"I am officially terrified of you," Erin whispers.

"I'm not," Natalia says as she pats me down. I slap away her hand. "That was quite some magic you just generated; I'm surprised you're still conscious."

I pant heavily as I regain my strength. Natalia chants an incantation and the door of the building bursts off from its hinges. Inside the doorway, there is only darkness. We stare at that door, hoping there's still something to save. What if we're too late?

"If there's two hundred people in there, we're going to need more help," Erin says.

"Come on," I say, becoming impatient. "What are they waiting for?"

"Maybe they're dead," Natalia says.

At the sign of movement, I gasp and grab Natalia's arm. I've waited for this moment for so long, and having it come true is everything. However, when the first man walks into the light of day, I suddenly realise nothing is what it seems.

"It can't be," Natalia whispers.

I turn and glare at Erin. She's speechless, which is a first. More of them leave the building, but they are spaced out and calm. There isn't anywhere near two hundred people in there, and the more of them that emerge, the more it becomes clear that we've all been manipulated.

"They're not mortals at all," Natalia says. "They're Slayers."

"This doesn't make any sense!" Erin says. "Why wouldn't Amara tell me that?"

I count them all as they stand around the building in a tight huddle, glaring at us from afar. There's ten of them. A unit. She didn't imprison mortals, she imprisoned units.

"This was Amara's endgame," I say. "She wanted to scare Sam into giving himself up, but he never noticed that they were missing."

"How could he not notice that?" Natalia says.

"She took units, there was no one left to report them as gone."

"So, the hundred mortals in California, what was that about? Surely if she wanted him dead that bad she would have mentioned this. Why go to the bother of creating a spell that could survive her death if she didn't want him to know about it?"

"Why are they not attacking us?" Erin whispers from behind us. She's cowering, and I don't blame her.

"I don't know," I say. "Something doesn't feel right."

More of them start appearing. They transport in, as though they've been summoned, and around one hundred Slayers crowd the entrance to the building. Erin is terrified, Natalia is baffled, and I am curious.

I walk towards them cautiously; they don't even seem phased that I'm here. They whisper among themselves, and then their heads snap up at me. Natalia flanks me, and she stops as I stop.

"What the hell are they doing?" she says.

The man that walked out first keeps eye contact with me in a sinister way as he steps away from his unit. He is huge, with black hair and a dark series of tattoos that cover his bulging arms.

"We are grateful to you, for setting us all free," the man says.

I scan my eyes around the others. "All of you?"

He nods. "You didn't just break the spell of this fence; you broke every spell. You must be the new Elder."

Now I know something isn't right. Why is he being nice to me? Since when were Slayers nice to Elders?

"A different face, but a similar presence," the Slayer says. "You're too young to be inheriting the responsibility. I hope it doesn't drown you."

"Who are you?" I say.

"It doesn't matter who I am," he says. "What matters is that the job will still get done."

I glance down to the holster tied around his waist, and that's when I see the blade. It's red, with the symbol of a flame. Natalia sees it, too, and she reacts first.

"The Slayer that killed Joey's family," she whispers in my ear.

"What job?" I demand. "What did Amara tell you to do?"

"To. . . kill the Malachi," he says. "You are the Elder, you should know that."

I exchange a look with Natalia.

"The Malachi betrayed us," he continues. "He harboured a witch and refused us access to the castle to keep her safe. We lost members of our units because of his selfishness. You have my word; the Malachi will die!"

"You need to put them all back," Natalia mutters. "Now, you need to put them back now."

"Erin!" I shout.

"I'm right behind you," she says, very distantly.

"I'm sorry," I say to the Slayer. "But I can't let you do that. Erin, what the hell is happening?"

"Amara used representational magic alright," Erin says. "I was just wrong about what she used it on. The fences aren't anchored, their minds are."

The Slayer smiles at me in a twisted and sadistic way and I take a deep breath as I realise I'm going to have to kill him. It isn't an easy choice to make, but I can't have a psychotic murderer running loose and under Amara's spell. I will his death, which scarily comes easy, but he's on his knees for barely four seconds before he rises again.

"Erin," I hiss.

"It's representational magic, Theresa!" she shouts. "You can't kill them!"

"Only trap them," Natalia says. "Which is what Amara realised."

"That hurt," the Slayer says as he squares up to me.

I might not be able to kill them, but I buy us some time by sending a wave of air their way. The Slayer gasps as he's knocked off his feet and I place a temporary shield around their bodies, trapping them in a bubble of noisy wind. The Slayer yells viciously as he thrashes his hands against the shimmer.

"I killed the moth; how come I can't hurt them?" I demand.

"Because Amara's magic is just a tad bit better than mine!" Erin yells at me.

"How do I get them back into the camps?"

"Why are you asking me like I have a clue about this?" she says. "I don't know what spell she used on the fences; I've never seen representational magic used on minds before. But unless their anchors are destroyed, you can bet your ass that they're not giving up."

"Theresa, there's over a hundred of them," Natalia says. "That's a lot of anchors."

"What if they're not tied to individual anchors?" I turn to Erin and she's one question away from hitting me, but I give it to her anyway. "Can they all be tied to the same anchor?"

"Yes," she breathes. "It's possible. It's also possible that the anchor she tied them to is a person. It's also possible that it's a dolphin in the freakin' Atlantic Ocean. Do you want me to spell it out any clearer? This magic is dangerous and she's taken it to the next level."

"She created immortals," Natalia says. "An army of them."

"That's impossible," Erin laughs. "They're unkillable, they're not immortal. Nature, no matter how powerful you are, won't allow it. It's why you have to tie their lives to something. But that something can be an object that might never be found."

"She wouldn't tie them to an object," I say. "She'd never allow Slayers to live that long immortally. It's got to be a person. And someone that she assumed wouldn't live long, or would at least outlive Sam."

As I keep my attention on securing the shield, I notice Natalia is glaring at me.

"She left you alive in California," she whispers. "After you saved Megan, you were knocked out. I didn't understand why she did it, she didn't even have an explanation for it. She just walked around you like you weren't even there. Even during the battle, she tried everything to avoid killing you."

"What are you trying to say, Natalia? That I'm anchored to dozens of Slayers? Well your theory has a flaw, because she definitely tried to kill me in the gateway."

"But that's after she realized you were going to become Elder and you could keep them locked up. If she killed you in the gateway, they would have gotten their minds back and they'd still be pissed at Sam. It was the last attempt of getting to him. If you hadn't have become Elder, then all of the Elder magic would have been sucked from the fences. The Slayers would have gotten out anyway."

I think about it, more deeply than I'd like to. It always confused me why Amara left me alive, I didn't have an explanation for it either, I just assumed it was because she still needed me to fulfil Vienna's order. But, there was a more sinister reason. I never even realised I was being anchored to so many lives. With me out of the castle, Sam is going to open his door to Slayers again. He'll have no idea that he's letting in an army sired to kill him. An army that won't tire and can't die. . . unless I do.

"It can't be true," I say.

"Oh, for the love of-"

I flinch as Erin charges at me, she slashes a knife from the middle of my arm to the inner of my wrist. I hiss at her as blood drips down my skin, but I realise quickly why she's done it when I see her observe the Slayers. I'm scared to look, but I have to. They hiss too, and a long gash of blood appears on each of their right arms.

"Whatever happens to you, happens to them," Erin says.

My wound begins to heal instantly, and so do theirs. The Slayer has worked it out, and he narrows his eyes at me through the ripples of the shield. I can't comprehend this information. It was Amara's last laugh, and even in death, she's still destroying my life.

"What do we do now?" Natalia says. "You can't hold them here forever."

Something changes within me. I feel a pull, like a magnetic force is taking a piece of my mind. I blink at the air, wondering why it's my problem. I remove the shield and I watch as they vanish one-by-one, the leader is the last, and he nods at me.

"What the hell did you do that for!" Natalia squeals.

"Like you said, I can't hold them here forever."

"Yeah, but don't you think you should at least warn Sam before you send an army of delusional pyschos his way?"

"No," I say. "I don't. I don't owe him anything, he made my life a living hell in that castle."

Natalia widens her eyes at me, or rather around me, and she steps away from me. "Your aura isn't very natural right now. I've never seen it that colour. Look, whatever has happened between you and Sam, it can be put right. I was there when you two were together, okay? I don't know what else to call it apart from magic. It was magic. You were like one. You care for him, I know you do, so why are you killing him?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I say. "He means nothing to me."

"Oh no," Erin mutters. "He was your darkest truth. Seriously? You and the Malachi? Is this a family thing?"

"Theresa." Natalia grabs my shoulders and turns me to her eye-level. "What is. . ." Her eyes drop to my chest and before I can stop her, she grabs at my amulet and rips it from my throat. The burning makes her scream, but she survives it, throwing the amulet across the ground.

"What are you doing!" I yell, trying to run towards the amulet. Natalia casts a spell that paralyses me, and as I feel my body cover in concrete, I begin to realise how free I feel.

"Natalia, stop the spell," Erin warns.

"I'd stay out of this if I were you," she replies.

"Why do you care?" Erin demands. "The Malachi is a murderer. He's murdered more of our kind than any other Malachi in history."

"I care because Theresa cares. You didn't see them together. That amulet has done something to her head, she's forgotten her feelings for him."

"That's the process of becoming Elder! It changes them!"

"If Theresa learns that Sam has died because of her, then she'll turn to the dark side, just like I did! And trust me, there is nothing in this world more dangerous than being careless. Theresa made me care again, and before that, I would have burned this city to the ground."

"She's not you," Erin shouts. "You're a witch, she's an Elder. Big difference."

"Yeah, and the difference is that she can burn the city to the ground." Natalia waves her hand and the amulet moves even further away, almost out of sight. She stands in front of me and I try to scowl at her, but I can't move any part of my face. "I'm sorry, Theresa, but you have no idea what you've just done."

My hand breaks through the invisible concrete, followed by my feet, and then my entire body bursts through the spell. Natalia backs away, standing in between me and the amulet. I glance down at the amulet in the distance, and I cock my head at Natalia. My eyes are low and I'm ready to do anything to get it back.

But, then, an overhead dark cloud catches my attention. It drifts over me like a blanket, and the entire sky becomes darker. Thunder rumbles and the ground shakes. Something grabs my ankle and pulls me along the floor, I scream as I am dragged over rough sand and rocks. Natalia and Erin run their hardest to get to me, but I am travelling so fast that they become blurs in the distance.

When it finally stops, I am turned over onto my back. The black, shadowy creature towers over me, its screeching howl impounds my ears. Its head almost drops from its standing body as it forces me to look inside its glowing holes of evil. Without the amulet, I'm defenceless against it, just like I was at the castle. It found me. Wherever I go, it will come for me. It shows me a bleak and miserable future. The world is nothing but ash and skeletons, the people are sending prayers to the sky as their skin is melting from their bones. Finally, it shows me the castle. I see Sophia burned alive; I hear her screams. Curtis is impaled on a piece of wood; Megan is torn to pieces by a creature with ten legs. I watch all of their deaths, and I can't stop it. It's eating my energy of grief. But then, the creature looks into my heart, and finds something that even I'm startled to find. I watch Sam's death as though I'm right there in the room with him. He is stabbed through the heart, over and over again, until he is too weak to stand, until he is too weak to breathe.

"Get up!" I cry. "Sam! No!"

The creature's head snaps away from me and it gurgles as though its choking. It steps backwards, observing me from a safe distance. I kick my legs as I rush frantically to stand up, I need to go, and I need to go now.

"You warned me," I say. "You were warning me all along. You gave back what Samara took. If you're not the enemy, then who is? What do you want from me!"

You are the one, the creature says inside my head. You see.

"See what?" I demand.

Look closer.

My eyes are locked onto its giant holes and it shows me something that I can't ever unsee. I gasp when it's over. Knowing what I know, what the hell do I do with it?

"What are they?" I say.

The creature turns its head upwards towards the sky. I follow its direction, but the sky is empty, it is blue again, cloudless. I drop my eyes to find it gone.

"Theresa!"

Erin and Natalia continue to run at me. I search for the creature in every corner of the desert, but there's only the three of us here.

"Are you okay?" Erin pants. "Oh my god, your chest."

"Forget my chest, it will heal," I say. "Besides, every injury slows them down. I need to go back to the castle."

"Hell yes you do," Natalia says. "Do you want me to come?"

"No," I say. "Take the amulet back to the house. Keep it safe. There's something I've got to do and no species is going to like it."