“Here,” Maureen pushed her way in front of Joy. “I can do it on my own.” She glanced around at the kids. “Just make sure they are all touching each other.”
“Maureen, this won’t work if we don’t all try together,” I tried to tell her.
“I said, ‘I got it’,” she hissed, then sighed and placed her hand on her forehead.
I knew what was going on and didn’t press her. All of our curses reacted in different ways, and pride was a tricky one. “We will all try.”
Maureen bit her lip. “Suit yourself.”
The trap caved once more, only this time it wasn’t stopping. I jumped upright about the time Barron jumped ahead and collided with the trap. It stopped, but it wasn’t Barron that stopped it.
“Sebastian.” It was Payne that yelled. I landed in front of him and Isabella. He took off his jacket and was using it to hold her upright. She looked pale as her hands were stretched out in front of her, palms facing the trap. “I saw her swaying.”
“I need more power,” she panted, her eyes closed. I raced toward her. Payne stepped away the moment I gripped her shoulders. I slid my fingers down until my skin skimmed hers. “Here, take mine.” And what once was settled, roared back to life between us. Just like the first time we touched, her darkness seemed starved for my power. Which proved how much she was draining herself to control this trap. The more we held each other, the calmer the feel of our flesh joining became, until now. It didn’t go unnoticed when Isabella practically moaned as she stole from me. My own reacted to hers.
“That’s it,” she whispered, her eyes hardening as she lifted her arms. The trap moved up just as her arms did. “I got it,” she assured everyone. She flung her arms to the right, and it went crashing against the wall and shattered.
She turned around and smiled. “Look at me coming in to save the day.”
I pulled her into my arms. “We make a good team.”
“We do,” she agreed.
I saw a little boy walking up toward us and gestured for her to look behind her. “I think he’s coming to thank you.”
She turned around, and that was when I spotted the change in the little boy. It wasn’t a little boy. It was a gremlin in disguise. “Wait, get back!” I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her backward, but the little boy jumped, transforming into the gremlin. He started clawing at her leg. She screamed, and I called my chain to me. It morphed back into the scythe and sliced the gremlin in half.
Izzie still screamed and gripped her leg. I took in the dark spirals moving beneath her wounds.
“What is that?” Maureen dropped down in front of her and asked.
“Sebastian.” Izzie arms flew out in front of her in search of me, and my heart broke at the sight of it because I was right here beside her and she acted like I was so far away, or maybe it was him trying to pull her away from me and that was the reason she was seeking me out so desperately.
That thought had me livid and torn apart.
I pulled her into my chest, making sure I touched the back of her neck with my hand. She sagged against me, and I stiffened at the feel of her tears hot against my chest. I had never felt so enraged or distressed at the sight of another person’s pain.
The thought of her being anywhere other than with me sent me into a panic.
“I felt him inside the gremlin,” she whispered, gripping my shirt until her knuckles were white. “He’s closer than ever.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.
“I don’t think this was a trap set for us,” Prudence studied Isabella resting in my arms.
“You’ll have to keep her safe.” It was Dad that spoke. He was protective of Mom and all of us, so I understood his words.
“I plan on it.”
“Let’s get the kids back home so we can do the same.” Dad turned toward the kids.
Twenty-One
Isabella
Ikept Sebastian close while the others erased the children’s memories and sent them home. It took a while since there were so many. Nobody asked for Sebastian’s help and I was thankful. Melanie healed my leg wounds with some sort of healing power she wielded, and I was whole again, but only on the surface.
I clung to him desperately, and I wasn’t ashamed of it. I was terrified of the idea of having to let go of him.
