“You want a challenge?” I snarled, the words barely human as I gripped a dagger in either hand. “I’ll carve one into your flesh.”
Her smile widened as she flicked her wrist, and suddenly the air was filled with tarot-like cards. They whistled through the air toward us, deadly and precise.
Pfft! As if we couldn’t dodge thrown playing cards! Not to mention our armor, enchanted with every ward and protection I’d been able to buy or barter, would shed the magic like water if a card happened to hit us.
I dove right as Zane rolled left, spells exploding around us as the cards hit the walls and floor. As Z circled around, Amabel tossed cards wildly at the tornado of chaos that was my brother, too focused on him to notice me.
Using the couch as a springboard, I launched forward. Her eyes flicked up at the last second, widening with alarm as she twisted aside, but not nearly fast enough to a dhampir at full speed. I tackled her hard, my shoulder slamming into her ribs with enough force to drive the air from her lungs and snap at least three. Momentum sent us sliding along the marble floor into the wall next to the grandfather clock. Its pendulum swinging wildly, it crashed down on us, and gears flew as plaster dust settled around us.
“End of the line,” I growled as I climbed out of the hole in the wall, dragging her by her hair.
Zane leaped in to kick the rest of the magic cards from her hands, and that’s when she started fighting like a cornered animal, all nails and teeth, but I barely felt it through my armor, let alone the haze of fury that consumed me.
“You’re done,” I snarled, pinning her to the floor as Zane approached with Hexenfänger held ready.
The metal collar gleamed in the sunlight, its inner spikes catching the sun like tiny daggers. Amabel’s eyes widened in recognition and fear. She knew what it was, what it would do.
Good.
“No,” she gasped, real terror crossing her face for the first time. “You can’t— Mother will—”
“Mommy isn’t here.” I snapped the collar around her throat with savage satisfaction.
The effect was immediate. All the Dark energy that had been swirling around her vanished like a candle snuffed out. Her body went rigid, then limp, as the Hexenfänger’s enchantment took hold. The collar looked deceptively simple, just metal and symbols, but it was one of the most powerful devices ever created.
“Struggle all you want, witch bitch.” Zane crouched next to me, holding the fae-enchanted rope Cas had used on Eluned. “The more you fight, the deeper those spikes dig. Painful for you, endlessly entertaining for me.”
Amabel’s eyes burned with hatred as I flipped her onto her stomach and Z hog-tied her with ruthless efficiency. The rope further dampened any residual power she might have tried to access. Together with the Hexenfänger, it ensured she was as harmless as a kitten, just one with the soul of a demon.
“All tied up and bloody,” Zane smirked. “Not a good look for you, Amabel.”
The satisfaction of seeing her subdued only partially quenched what burned in my chest. What Ireallywanted was to make her feel every ounce of pain she’d ever inflicted on Seri, to carve that suffering into her very bones, but I’d settle for this.
For now.
“She’s done,” I said as I stood. “Let’s check on—”
The words died in my throat.
Everything around me blurred, the rush of battle fading into a ringing vacuum of silence. My stomach plummeted, my body freezing mid-motion as my eyes locked on Cas where he still sprawled across the threshold.
He wasn’t moving.
A shiver shot down my spine, cold and sharp as a blade. My ears strained, desperate for a sound,anysound, but all I could hear was the faint whistle of the wind through the broken door.
For one horrible second, my mind refused to process what I was seeing. Casimir, our leader, our foundation, the strongest of us all, reduced to a lifeless heap on the floor.
Then my legs moved before my brain could catch up.
“Cas,” Zane whispered, sprinting ahead.
We reached his side faster than an eye could blink. His skin was ashen and cool to the touch. Only the shallow rise and fall of his chest and the faint heartbeat I could hear confirmed he still lived. Panic clawed at my throat, worse than any battle fear I’d ever known. There was no wound I could bandage or enemy I could fight, and the helplessness threatened to drown me.
“That illusion web is still on his face and neck,” Zane snapped. “Scrape it off, but not with bare hands.”
I swiped at Cas’ face with my gloved fingers. It worked to wipe away the sticky web, which dissolved the moment it lost contact with his skin. Ripping off Cas’ helmet with one hand, I pulled out a glass vial from my chest bandolier with the other. I tore the cork out with my teeth and dribbled the contents slowly over his chin and neck, letting the holy water wash away anything that lingered, just to be sure.
“He’s seeing something in his mind?” I asked as I worked.
