When I reached him, I held onto Desmond's arm to keep him in glamour as we were jostled by media and other people who were allowed inside the strip of barricades that led to the countdown stage.

I looked around us at the dazzling lights and the colorful indescribable brilliance of the square.

We weren't looking to see the sights. We were looking for Amory. And I didn't know how we were going to find him in time to stop him.

My senses felt almost overwhelmed by the press of hundreds of thousands of people around the barricades and the bustling energy of so many souls anticipating the drop of the ball down the flagpole atop the building. My ears rang with the sounds of countless voices and the smells of so many bodies packed together was almost too much.

Everything was so intense, the noise at such an extreme level that if I didn't have such excellent hearing, I might not have heard my phone when it finally rang thirty minutes from midnight.

Desmond shuddered and said, "He's here," before I had a chance to answer the phone.

"We've got him," Angel said when I answered. "Battery Park." She sounded breathless. "I don't think he knows we're watching him."

I looked at my team. "We'll be right there."

"We won't let him out of our sights," Angel said and disconnected.

"Battery Park," I said just as I saw Rodan on his phone and frowning.

"Joshua called," Rodan said. "The Sorcerer just arrived through the portal at Waterside Plaza."

"What?" I said and the five of us looked at each other.

The phone rang again. I felt frantic as I looked at the caller identification screen. "Olivia," I said as I rushed to answer.

"Hudson Yards," she said. "Hurry."

Ice called. Then Nadia called for Mandisa who never talked. Both reported Amory having come through the portal they were watching.

"What is going on?" My heart beat faster. "How can this be?"

"Decoys." Desmond looked grim. "Our only hope is to figure out which one of the five is the real Amory ... in time to stop him."

THIRTY-NINE.

Friday, December 31.

Minutes from midnight.

Time was ticking past.

The more time that passed, the more frantic I felt to find the Sorcerer.

Imagine by John Lennon began pouring from enormous speakers everywhere and chills rolled through me as thousands of voices joined in on the lyrics.

I looked up at a giant clock on a countdown screen and my heart started thrumming. "Little more than three minutes until the ball drops."

"Amory will feed off the energy of so many souls gathered together in one place." Desmond's eyes appeared intense, focused, as he searched the square with his gaze. He looked nothing like the harried, distracted artist I'd met just days ago.

"Where is Amory? We are running out of time. What if we fail? What if he escapes back to the Otherworld?" My thoughts swirled as the panic I'd started to feel earlier only grew more intense with every word Lennon sang. Every word that brought us closer and closer to the ball dropping.

"Imagine all the people living life in peace..."

Peace. There would be no peace if we didn't stop the Sorcerer.

Screams jolted me.

I cut my gaze to the direction from which I'd heard the sounds of raw terror and pain.

There were too many people. I couldn't get a good look-but then I saw colored lights starting to flash in the night.

My eyes burned white-hot with my fury. It was already happening.

Lennon's words of peace continued and I held on to them as if they might make a difference in what happened tonight.

We'd hoped to take on Amory before he made it here and that hadn't happened. We had to take him here.

He had to be close. The exchange of essences was already happening and Zombies were already being left to rip apart anyone who wasn't a Sentient now inhabiting a Host body. If we didn't stop the Sorcerer, half a million Zombies would tear the city apart.

Trackers started appearing around us, bringing in Amory look alikes. One group. Two. Three.

Four. Four different Amorys.

Where was the fifth?

"And the world will live as one..."

I looked toward the countdown stage as the last line of "Imagine" trailed off.

The former president and his wife pressed the button to drop the enormous Waterford crystal ball from the top of Times Square One.

Three huge screens below the ball started showing the one minute countdown. The loud sound of a ticking clock filled the air as the countdown began.

59, 58, 57 ...

And then I saw him.

I saw Amory.

The Sorcerer was on the stage, striding toward the center.

45, 44, 43 ...

"There!" I shouted and started running in that direction, dragging Desmond with me as I pushed our way through the reporters and other people crowding the inside of the barricade.

30, 29, 28 ...

A blast of orange light from the Sorcerer.

Everyone was blown from the stage.

I didn't have time to think about them and whether or not they were still alive.

21, 20, 19 ...

Amory stood at the center of the stage and spread his arms wide.

Desmond, Colin, and I reached the base of the stage, to Amory's right.

Power crackled between Amory's hands like bursts of static electricity as the oblivious crowd started the final countdown aloud.

10, 9, 8 ...

Desmond made it onto the stage.

Green sparks dripped from his fingertips.

Amory spotted Desmond.

Shock crossed Amory's features.

The surprised expression on Amory's face was replaced by an obvious realization that Desmond couldn't be a threat. After all, he'd taken Desmond's powers.

7, 6, 5 ...

I glanced at the crowd. Thousands and thousands of glowing stones being held up even as some exchange of essences was starting to happen. The rest of the changes were imminent. The exchange was inevitable.

If we didn't capture and contain Amory in a stone, he was on his way to a mass overthrow of our city.

Amory held open his arms again.

4, 3, 2- Desmond shot an immense burst of power at Amory.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

The sound of thousands of voices pounded the air.

Fireworks exploded and exploded from the top of Times Square One.

Amory stumbled back from the power of Desmond's magic, his concentration on his spell broken.

He whirled, fury on his face.

"Auld Lang Syne" echoed throughout the square. Voices of those who hadn't a clue what was happening joined in on the traditional New Year's song.

Desmond's gaze was focused, intent, as he tossed the keystone on the stage between him and Amory.

Both fury and arrogance were in Amory's eyes.

Instead of coming to a stop between the Sorcerers, the stone rolled to the edge of the stage.

The stone tumbled off.

The stone had fallen off the stage!

Adrenaline pumped through me. I started toward the stone.

Something grabbed me. Something strong. Holding me back.

I drew one of my Dragon-clawed daggers and whirled. The Zombie went for my throat. I ran my blade through its chest.

That was only enough to cause it to stumble back. I jerked my weapon out from its chest. No time to finish it off.

I realized the entire stage was surrounded by Zombies. Two more Zombies walked in front of me. I dropped and rolled between them and was back on my feet and diving for the stone.

A second before I would have grabbed the stone I realized my mistake.

No protective cloth.

I looked at the stage and saw the cloth lying between Amory and Desmond.

"Start spreading the news..." Frank Sinatra's original rendition of New York, New York carried over the confused chaos of the mass of people.

A battle raged between the Sorcerers. The green glow of Desmond's magic stretched out, meeting the brilliant orange light of Amory's power at the middle of the stage.

Something grabbed my shoulder.

I reached for the hand, twisted my body, then flipped the Zombie over so that it flew away from me and slammed into a barricade.

Even through the countdown I heard more terrified screams.

It was happening. Happening too fast.

If we didn't stop Amory he would seal the new Hosts. Something that I didn't think could be undone in a mass way.

Desmond was the only one we knew who could save us and he had to live to do that.

Sinatra continued to sing.

I focused my air element on the cloth and swept it through the air, straight to my hand.

Another Zombie was in my face and I gutted it.