The tendrils of distorted light snapped into Eros’ chest, brightening as they made contact, penetrating right through his battered tuxedo. The older man seized up with a gasp as though a knife had been inserted between his ribs.
“Not…going back,” Ben said in a strained voice, “into a fucking cage.”
Eros’ grip on the gun shifted with a quiver. He began to bring it to his own head, but as though Ben changed his mind, his grip loosened and dropped the weapon altogether. All at once, his body began to seize.
I moved in beside Ben. A tear snaked down his cheek, face glinting eerily in the strange light. His arms shook from the effort of the spell, a vein pulsing in the side of his neck.
Eros was fighting it—teeth bared, trying desperately to maintain control over his own mind. Ben groaned, sagging under his own spellwork. I lunged to help him.
“Get back, Sylvia!” Ben’s voice became a hoarse gasp at the tail of my name.
But he had been alone and tortured long enough. If I left him, he might not finish what he’d started.
Carefully inserting myself under his wings, I wrapped my arms around him instead, supporting his arms in their outward position. I flapped my own wings harder to help support his weight.
“I’m here,” I said in his ear. “Take whatever you need.”
Tears of effort welled up as I poured every ounce of strength and peace I could muster into Ben. I’d never seen him like this: ferocious, primal in this raw, utterrage. He made a small noise of protest, but I didn’t back away. Slowly, I felt the tug on my magic, the same as he had done in the storage room. But this time, I let go and allowed it to flow into him.
The magic brightened into a blinding flash. I heard Father take a sharp inhale, staggering away from its radius.
With a cry, Ben dropped his arms around me, and the spell faded. We regarded Eros as we held each other, wings flapping to steady our flight. The older man was left slumped on the floor. He was breathing, blinking—but utterly slack apart from that. His eyes darted around desperately, faint sounds coming from his throat, while his lips didn’t respond.
Horror and righteous satisfaction rippled through me in tandem as I realized what Ben had done to him.
He had trapped him in his own mind. Alive, but a prisoner in his own body.
“Are you okay?” I asked, studying Ben’s pale face and sweat-soaked hair.
“I’ll be fine once I throw up, I think,” he said, putting a hand to his chest.
With a deafeningbang, the doors exploded outward.
An overwhelming combination of fresh air and smoky heat rushed into the vehicle. Eyes stinging, I squinted until I could discern three human silhouettes standing with their backs to the flames. It might have been a terrifying sight if not for the profuse familiarity.
Lee and Delilah stood side by side, the latter’s hands enshrouded with defensive magic that curled up her bare arms toward her shoulders. And standing menacingly with a massive gun slung over his back wasJon. He caught sight of Rhett trying to orient himself after spilling out of the vehicle. Just as Rhett was beginning to stand, Jon seized him by the collar and threw him back to the ground.
In one sleek, furious motion, Jon had the gun in his hands and was pointing it down at him, his face a warring mask of disbelief and brutality. I spotted him wince, favoring his right arm over the left.He’s hurt,I thought with an ache. But he was still on his feet. Heart still beating.
For his part, Rhett knew better than to say a word or fight back. Breathing heavily, he put his hands up in reluctant surrender.
Coughing, Cliff rose to his feet. Delilah set her sights on him at once and bristled. “You—”
“Wait!” Zia was the first fairy out in the open, Rowan close at her back. “Don’t hurt him. He saved us. Him and…” She peered back into the vehicle, uncertainly at my father, who still stood in the shadows beside the guard’s corpse.
But as the others followed Zia’s gaze, their attention became fixed on Ben and me emerging from the ruins of the vehicle.Ben could barely stay upright in the air, his eyelids fluttering with exhaustion, and I couldn’t support the two of us for much longer. Slowly, inch by inch, our joint flight was sinking toward the ground.
“Benny!”
At the sound of Lee’s voice, Ben gave a choked sob and suddenly had the strength to fly without my aid, pulling away from me. Immense relief flooded Lee’s expression as the fairy landed in his outstretched hands, and he hugged Ben to his chest fiercely.
I flitted to Jon, practically collapsing onto his shoulder as I hugged his neck. He kept a hold on the gun, but his breath shuddered as he tilted his head toward me with a gentle nudge of affection.
“Mi vida,” he whispered with a note of pleading. “You’re okay?” I didn’t miss the waver in his deep voice, how he was barely holding himself together, the same as me.
“Yes.” One of my weakest lies to date. “You?”
“Oh, you know me. Never better.” But the simple action of shifting his weight made him curse in pain. Again, he favored his right arm like he was bending the left as little as possible.
